THE HOLY SPIRIT IN JOSHUA
Brothers and sisters,
As you study the book of Joshua, you will vividly see the Spirit of faith, boldness and courage at work. To begin his ministry after the death of Moses, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous. See Joshua 1:6-7
So Joshua set out following the Lord’s direction to lead the children of Israel to their Promised Land. Miraculously by the hand of the Lord, they crossed the Jordan and camped on the other side. The Lord directed all of Israel to be circumcised. This was a type of the new birth. Then they observed the Passover feast a type of the celebration of Jesus Christ our Passover Lamb. After that, this happened:
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” 14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” 15 Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so. Joshua 5:13-15 NKJV
Bible scholars differ on who the Commander of the Lord’s army could have been. Some believe it was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ they call theophany. However, any “appearance” of either God the Father or the Lord Jesus Christ prior to His birth on earth or after His ascension to heaven had to have been manifested by the Holy Spirit. It is very possible that Joshua was seeing an open vision of the Lord Jesus. All visions are a communication by the Holy Spirit anyway. (See also Isaiah 63:9)
So the Holy Spirit came to prepare Joshua for the conquest of Jericho; the first city to be captured in the Promised Land. He proceeded to give him very specific strategic supernatural directions on how to take the city. His sword was drawn in His hand as the commander of the Lord’s army. God was revealing His personal presence and His powerful provision in every battle to Joshua. He was also revealing the presence of angelic hosts that would accompany Joshua and Israel in every battle. This is why He revealed Himself as captain of the Lord’s army (Lord of angels.)
In the new covenant, the Holy Spirit is introduced to us as a Strengthener. Jesus, before He left earth said: “However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. John16:7 Amplified Bible. The Spirit of God is the One who comes to strengthen and give us courage for the harvest. (See Acts 1:8)
Later in the book of Joshua, we see the Spirit of God manifested through the gift of special faith and the working of miracles. Joshua commanded the sun to stand still to give his armies enough time to win the battle and it did. (See Joshua 10:12-13.) The sun stood still at the command of a man! That was no ordinary faith. It was the gift of faith. It took special faith and the working of miracles, a gift of the Holy Spirit to stop the sun. A miracle is a supernatural intervention to the natural course of events.
In our time, it is the Holy Spirit who comes to give us boldness and courage to do the work of the ministry. In the book of Acts, when the apostles were commanded not preach any more in the name of Jesus, they prayed for boldness. See Acts 4:28-31 When they had prayed, the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. The Holy Spirit is the “Lord” of the harvest. He’s the One who comes to give us boldness to take our inheritance, to preach the gospel and to manifest the Word we preach in the lives of the people. He is our advantage!
Brethren, by the power of the Holy Ghost in you, be bold, strong and of a good courage!
