Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

Joshua the commissioned soldier/leader of the nation of Israel, encounters one the most interesting scenes. A man standing solitary with his sword drawn, what a sight that must have been to first see. Ever the leader, Joshua did not back down from his responsibility as a leader, he could have called and told another to go forward to see this person and challenge him. Joshua could have ran backwards and sheltered himself within the nation of Israel and had others to investigate. Not Joshua, he had a mission, and a God that would enable him. There was the promise, and if that wasn't enough God had already brought them through too much in the last 40 years.

Joshua's challenge: Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? What a question to ask. Most people would've already assumed in today's time that this was clearly the enemy, they would've launched a barrage of attacks because of distrust and ignorance. Instead of looking out and seeing that this person just might be an advantage, or a help. How many times in our lives do we just see somebody and assume that they are the enemy, because of what we might have heard about them. Maybe it is because they hang out with people that we might not particularly like, or they dress different. Because we are such a jumpy nation of people, I believe sometimes we just need to evaluate the situation, and just sometimes ask the question...Art thou for us, or our adversaries.

In the end Joshua receives the answer he is looking for, and then the most humbling thing happens...as the leader of the nation of Israel he understands that he is not the most important guy around, he bows in the presence of the Lord and submits to His commands. What if we were to submit to the commands given in the Word of God. God's Word is not our enemy, neither is the man of God, or those that God puts into our lives to give us direction and help. We must be willing to first access the situation, then if they are for us, submit to listening to the conditions of the command.