The Captain of the Lord's Host, Part 2a

We have been studying the book of Joshua, the book about victory and the man of victory, Joshua himself. And we have just completed chapter 5 and about to embark on chapter 6. But we can't yet Approach chapter 6 until we cover some more ground, and you're going to see why this evening. And I want you to help you understand that chapter 5 is about preparation for battle. How do you prepare to face the enemy? How do you prepare your soul, your life, so that you can go to battle and come out the victor?

Because in Joshua chapter 6, the walls of Jericho come tumbling down. And Israel is. Victorious. And the whole book of Joshua is about how the nation of Israel wins the battle, and how Joshua, the man of victory, leads them. To more and more victory. And we need to glean from the book of Joshua the principles that are there so we understand how we are to live that victorious life. That life that honors the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we began by talking in chapter 5 about the principles. And we told you that principle number one that prepares you for leadership is the principle of obedience.

Obedience is what we're going to call the method of victory. Obedience is the method of victory. There is no victory for the disobedient, there's only victory for the obedient. And so we've told you that when you go through life and you are facing battles, to be prepared, you must ask yourself: is there an area in my life in which I am disobedient to God? Is there an area in my life that I refuse to follow him? Is there something that I'm not doing that he's told me to do or commanded me to do? Because if you're not doing those things, You'll never win.

So, obedience is the method to victory. And then, number two, remembrance. Remembrance is the motivation for victory. If I need motivation, what motivates me is to remember that my God is the deliverer, that my God is the defender, that my God is the redeemer, that my God is the savior, and that's why they kept the Passover. And that's why Joshua would lead them in that Passover memorial, because it was a memorial to God, their deliverer. And they needed. To always remember that if they were going to win any battle, they had to depend upon the one who would deliver them.

So obedience is the method of victory and remembrance is the motivation for victory. And then reverence, which is point number three, is the means of victory.

Reverence is the means of victory. And we saw that where Joshua bowed down before the pre-incarnate Christ in Joshua chapter 5. The man had drawn a sword. And Joshua came to him and went to the man and asked, Whose side was he on? His side or the other side? And the man responded, I'm on no one's side. I am the captain of the hosts of the Lord. And he bowed down before him because reverence is the means to victory. Listen, God is always seeking true worship, those who worship him in spirit and in truth.

need people who will honor him and revere his holy name. And Joshua did that. And we know the Bible says in Revelation twice that we are to honor and worship only God and Joshua.

Would not bow down to anyone else but to the Lord God of Israel. So we have obedience, then we have remembrance, and then we have reverence, and then we have severance. Sever because Joshua said to the captain of the Lord's host, What is it you want me to do? And he said, Take off your shoes because you're on holy ground. Now, you'd think that there'd be a lot more for the captain to say than just take off your shoes, but there needed to be a severance. There needed to be a removal of those things.

That hinder me from being all that God wants me to be. I can't live in sin. I can't engage in sin and expect to win the victory of the battles that I face. And so God says to Joshua, you take off your shoes because you're standing on holy ground.

Severance is what we call the might of victory. Principle number five is allegiance. Allegiance. Not only did Joshua remove his shoes. But the Bible says that Joshua did as he was told.

Joshua was a man of great allegiance. And allegiance is what we will call the measure of victory. How far you go in winning depends on how loyal you are to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Joshua was a man who demonstrated great allegiance, great commitment, great loyalty to the captain of the hosts. The Lord. And that's where we ended last week. That's all reviewed. You with me so far? Everybody on the same page. We're all together, right? Here we go. Now, listen, this is going to be so good.

This is so exciting. I am so excited about sharing this with you tonight. Because it goes beyond this. Because let's say you have been here the last couple of weeks and you have listed the five principles and you know what they are, you're seeking to fulfill them, and you've gone into battle against the enemy. You've gone to face the foe and you're losing. Because people say, Well, I'm prepared to fight, but when I get into battle, I tend to lose. I realize I need to be obedient to God, and so I seek and ask God to make sure that I am.

Doing those things he wants me to do. And I really want to remember he's my deliverer, he's my savior, he's my defender. And I really try to sever all those kinds of things that hinder my walk with him. I revere him, I worship him. Him, I honor him, and yes, I am loyal to him, but it seems like when I go into battle, I face defeat day after day after day. I can't win. I can't win over my depression. I can't win over the enemy that I face in my neighborhood. My attitude. Seems to be wrong. I just can't keep it on the right page.

My marriage gets worse and worse because I constantly fight with my husband or I constantly fight with my kids. It seems to be going downhill. And I see to be sliding with it. And yet it seems to me like those principles I'm trying to apply to my life. Why is it I can't gain the victory? Why is it it seems like I keep losing? If God says I'm a victorious one, if God says that I am an overcomer, why is it I'm not overcoming?

What's keeping me from winning the victory? That's what I want to talk about tonight and next week because we need to understand that before we ever engage in battle. And that's Joshua chapter 6, the Battle of Jericho. So, hopefully tonight, next week, I'm going to help you understand why it is, even though you prepare for battle, you go down to defeat. For that, you turn to Genesis chapter 32. And what we have in Genesis 32 is God telling Jacob. What he needed to do. And God will manifest him in the form of a man again in that Christophany where Christ, the pre-incarnate Christ, would manifest him again.

But he would do it to Jacob this time. But what he does is so significant that it helps us understand what it is God wants to do in your life and my life, and it will answer the question: why is it I go down to defeat when I've done everything I can to prepare? for the battle, I still seem to be losing. And Genesis chapter 32 gives us that answer as we begin to understand this one, this pre-incarnate Christ who comes and literally wrestles With Jacob. Now, listen to what the Bible says.

Chapter 32, verse number 1. Now, as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. We'll stop right there. Jacob is in Haran. He's with Laban, his father-in-law. He's been there two decades. He's been there 20 years. Now we know why he's there. Because 20 years earlier, he was involved in a plan with his mother to deceive his father Isaac. And the whole plan was so that he would receive a blessing from his father. Put hair on him. He smelled like his brother. His father didn't recognize him. He heard his voice, but Jacob said he was Esau.

And so Isaac blessed Jacob. And then Esau returns from hunting because his father had sent him out to get that savory stew for him. And he returned and wanted the blessing, but he couldn receive it It because the blessing had already been passed down to Jacob. And Esau said 20 years earlier, when my father dies. I'm going to kill Jacob. Good old sibling rivalry at its best. I'm going to kill Jacob. So Jacob's mom says, listen, you got to go. You got to go. I want you to go to Laban's house. I want you to go to Haran.

I want you to stay there until the anger of your brother subsides. Now, listen, in that whole scenario, you can read about it earlier in Genesis 25. That that what took place sorry Genesis 27 what took place there is that Jacob's mom said You do what I tell you to do. And may the curse be upon me. And she loved her son so much that she wanted her son to receive the blessing. And she would do all she could to even deceive her own husband to make sure her son got the blessing. And when she sent her son away, she did not know that she would never see him again.

One year passed. Seven years passed, four years passed, she dies. She never sees her son again alive. But God says, In Genesis chapter 31, verse number 3, Then the LORD said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.

You. God says to Jacob, while he lives on Haran, you go back to the land of promise. You go back to where you need to be, and I will be with you. You get the picture? It's been 20 years. 20 years. And God is so good, and God is so gracious, and God is so kind that in chapter 32, verse number 1, as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Now, God, God knows that Jacob's a little fearful. And so he sends some angels to meet him. They're the welcoming committee. And when he gets there, the Bible says, and Jacob said, when he saw them, this is God's camp.

So he named the place Mahanaim, which means two camps. Now some think it's two camps because Jacob had a camp and the angelic hosts was another camp. That could be or maybe he saw it as the angels Encamped before him and encamped behind him, and saw it as being surrounded by God's angels, and that's why he named it two camps. We don't know for certain. But we do know this: that the angels met him there. Now, they didn't have to. God didn't have to do that for Jacob, but it's all part of the process of chapter 32.

It's all part of us helping to realize what it is that keeps us from winning the victory. God said. You go back to where I need you to go, and I will be with you. Now, that should be all you need, right? But God goes way beyond that and gives him all these angels to meet him. They put out the welcome map. Yo, Jake, it's good to see you, man. Glad to have you back. We're so glad to see you. Jake's like, oh, man, how are you doing? Sl high five, this angel, that angel. It's great to be with you guys.

Thanks for being here to welcome you back. It's good to be here. So God was so good to Jacob. Now you'd think that that would be enough to secure him. But God knows, that Jacob knows, to get back to where he needs to be, he's going to have to face his brother Esau. Listen to what the text says. Verse 3. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. See, he knows he's going to have to meet Esau. God knows, God knows that Jacob's going to have to face Esau.

God knows that Jacob knows that Esau said, when my father dies, I'm going to kill my brother. So in the back of Jacob's mind, he's probably thinking, I wonder how Esau is doing. I wonder if he's still a bitter man. I wonder if he's going to try to kill me still. I wonder what he wants to do. So God tells them, number one, I'll be with you.

Number two, sends the angels. There they are. They encamp around them. Remember what Psalm 3, verse number 7 says? That the angels of the Lord encamp around those who fear them and rescue. Them. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. Listen to Psalm 46. It says, God is our refuge, his strength, and very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling Pride.

We fear the Lord. We don't fear man. Therefore, we take refuge in God and God alone. And the Bible goes on to say, in verse number 7: The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Verse 11: The Lord of hosts. Is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. God is with us. What did God say to Jacob in Genesis 31? Go back to where you're supposed to be, and I will what? I'll be with you. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. He is with us. The Lord of hosts is with us. Now you will note that there's a verse in Psalm 46 that says, verse 10.

Cease striving and know that I am God. Now folks, let me tell you something. That is Jacob's problem. He never stops contending and striving en to know That the Lord is his God and the Lord is with him, even though he is the child of promise. More about that in a minute. But we need to understand that God is our refuge, our very present help in time of need. So Jacob sets out. But Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them, saying, Thus you shall say to my lord Esau, Thus says your servant Jacob.

I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now, and I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants, and I have sent to tell my Lord that I may find favor in your sight. Jacob says, Go before me, take all these gifts, give them to my brother Esau, that I might gain favor in his sight. So they go. And it says in verse number 6, the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore, he is coming to meet you. And 400 men are with him. We got news for you, Jake.

Listen, Esau knows you're coming. In fact, he's not waiting for you to come to him. He's coming to meet you. And he's not alone, he's coming with four. 400 men. What's the next verse say? Very simply, this. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. Why? Now, why would Jacob be greatly distressed and greatly in fear when God says, you go to where I want you to go and I'll be with you?

And not only that, he sent a host of angels to meet him when he crossed over the Jordan and arrived back into the land. God sent this host of angels to meet him to show him that the presence of God, the protection. Of God, the persevering power of God was with him. And yet, and yet, Jacob has a plan. I'll round up these donkeys and these sheep and these servants, and you tell my brother Esau that they're going to be gifts for him. You give them to him. And they come back and say, he's coming to meet you.

And he was distressed. He was fearful. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two companies. For he said, if Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape. So he divides his group of people into two camps, thinking that if he separates them and Esau comes and attacks, he attacks one of them, the rest can escape. That was his plan. But why is it Jacob just didn't trust the Lord? Why is it When the Bible says in Psalm 56, verse number 3, At what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

Or Isaiah chapter 12, verse number 2, Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. Why is it Jacob just couldn't be afraid? Why couldn't he just trust the Lord God? Why couldn't he just remember what God said? Remember the whole preparation for battle is obedience, which he was, and number two, remembrance.

Why couldn't he remember what God said? Why couldn't he remember what God did by sending the host of angels to greet him when he arrived? Same reason we don't remember.

And what happens is that he begins to enact a plan. To somehow gain favor in Esau's eyes. He's not trusting the Lord. He's trusting in his own initiative. He's trusting in his own p to persuade his brother. You ever been there? God tells you what you need to do. You say, that's great, God, I'm going to do it. And then you go out and you begin to set things in motion the way you think they ought to be going. Try to control everything. That's what Jacob's doing. But like us, Jacob has another good idea.

He's going to pray. When all else fails, pray. So here goes Jacob. Ready? Verse number 9. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who did say to me, Return to your country and to your relatives. And I will prosper you. Stop right there. He begins his prayer by appealing to God's promise. Now, that's a good thing. I'm going to commend Jacob right here. He's doing a great thing. He begins to pray, Oh, God of Abraham, oh God of Isaac. Oh God of my fathers, who came to me and said to me, this is what you need to do.

Now that's a great prayer. Whenever you pray and say to God what God has already said, that is a great prayer. Because what you're doing is you are appealing to God based on the fact that He has already promised you something. So we're going to commend Jacob here for what he's doing because he is appealing to God based on what God's already said. God, you've said this, and I'm coming to you based on what you have already said to me. I'm going to appeal to the faithfulness of God. I'm going to expect God to keep his promise.

That's a good thing, isn't it? God doesn't lie. God never fails his own. God always speaks the truth. And so you go to God and you appeal to Him based on what He's already said. He's appealing to God based on His promises. That's a great prayer. And then he says this, I am unworthy of all the loving kind and of all the faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant. For with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now have become two companies. He says, I am Unworthy. Not only did he appeal to God's promises, listen, he ac his position.

His unworthiness. I am unworthy. Wait a minute. Jacob's the seed of promise. He is the prototic. He is the number one son.

Yes, he is the number two one because he came out second. But the prophecy was that the older would serve the younger, and that the prophecy. Promised seed would come through Jacob, not through Esau. So, why is he unworthy? You'd think he'd be worthy, right? But no, he says, I am unworthy of your loving kind. I am unworthy of your faithfulness. Folks, let me tell you something.

That is a great prayer. Because you know what? So many times we go to God expecting him to do for us because we do think that somehow we're worthy. We're worthy of him, or he's worthy to have us in his kingdom. That he's better off because we're Christians than if somebody else is a Christian instead of us. We tend to think very highly of ourselves. He saw himself as nothing. He saw himself as unworthy of God's loving kind and God's faithfulness. He saw himself truly for who he really was. That's a great prayer.

See, we see ourselves as worthy. We see ourselves as good. And so we always ask the wrong question. We always ask, why is it That bad things happen to good people. Know the answer to that is they don't. They don't. Here's the right question. Why do good things happen to bad people? That's the right question. The Bible says there's none good, no, not one.

So, why can we say, why do bad things happen to good people when the Bible says there's none good, no, not one?

There's none who seeks after God, there is none who is righteous. But somehow we think that inherently we are good people. So why is it bad things happen to me? I'm a good guy. And that's the wrong question. Because the answer to that question is they don't. The right question is: why is it that good things happen to bad people? That's where a God of loving kind and a God of faithfulness Is like a megaphone. He shines and sounds loud. See, the right question is why is it that good things happen to such bad, evil, worthless, rotten people?

And the answer is because God is good. He is loving. He is kind. He is gentle. He is merciful. He is faithful. He is forgiving. See, we have the wrong view of God. That's our problem. But Jacob, he saw himself as unworthy.