Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or our enemies? Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” (Joshua 5:13-14).
One thing to note about an attribute of God is that God doesn’t take sides in petty human affairs. Now this may sound weird. But the truth is that He will only take sides with those who are on His own side, meaning those who trust and obey Him.
God therefore cannot be used to settle scores in human affairs, rivalries, and the likes as men love to do. God is interested in those who are on His side and those are the people He will side with to fulfill his predetermined purpose in the world.
Why do we need to take sides and why is it dangerous to be neutral in unbelief? Already, there is a cosmic battle going on which is so fierce but sadly most people cannot imagine its scope and dimension in the spirit realm and their affairs.
“But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil, has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:12).
Before the pronouncement above, the Bible makes us understand that there was a war of rebellion in heaven and the devil suffered a massive defeat and was driven out of heaven and confined to the earth with his angels waiting for God’s eternal judgment.
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”. (Revelation 12:9).
It is a spiritual battle which manifests in human beings for good or for evil; it is a battle which takes advantage of human ignorance, limited spiritual senses, sin, and disobedience to the will of God.
It’s a battle being waged by Satan against men, strengthened by Satan’s wiles and deception. For example, whenever a man, in pursuit of selfish ambition, takes up his weapon to wage a war of self-preservation against others he is immediately under satanic influence, fighting on the side of God’s enemy. No matter how justified it may be in his mind.
The truth is that we are only on one side of the divide in this raging battle between God and Satan- it’s either you are on God’s side or the side of the devil whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not. In this battle, men are either being used by God or by the devil depending on who they surrender themselves to.
The good news is that men were not left alone to fight in this battle of life. God introduced his son Jesus to the scene to take up the challenge against Satan on behalf of oppressed and deceived men saying: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil”. (1 John 5:17).
And how God wishes and longs that men are cognizant of this divisive battle so that they may quickly settle the cosmic question in their hearts: are you on the Lord’s side?
There is no neutral side in this raging battle.
When you give your life to Jesus as your savior you not only take sides with God you also turn over all your battles to Him who comes as the Captain of the Lord of Hosts. The same One who appeared to Joshua is the ever-living Jesus who is ready and able to deliver you from sin and the rampaging war of the enemy.
To be on the Lord’s side you have to be willing to live in total surrender to His will, in obedience to his word while accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior, in word and deed.
Why do we have to do this if we must see victory in our lives? Simple, because “the battle is the Lord’s” and not ours as rightly proclaimed by King David in 1 Samuel 17:47.
God is the source of power to those who take sides with him and he determines the outcome of the battle of their lives.
Reading
Joshua 5
