The Daily Word of Righteousness

Crossing the Jordan, #4

And he said, "Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, "What saith my lord unto his servant?" (Joshua 5:14)

While Joshua was musing on the plains of Jericho a powerful warrior appeared before him with a drawn sword in his hand.

The courageous Joshua approached him and demanded to know whose side he was on.

The man was on neither side. He was there to do God's will. We need to remember that God is not attempting to march to our drum. He has His own battles, His own victories, and we are to enter God's war against God's enemies.

We American Christians need to understand that this mighty warrior from Heaven is not here to do our bidding. We even have ministers today praying to the Holy Spirit instead of to Jesus, or to the Father in Jesus' name. They are attempting to move Heaven to empower what they think ought to be done. This is the False Prophet.

The False Prophet wants the two horns, the power of the Lamb, but his voice is that of the dragon. The voice of the dragon is the voice of Antichrist, of King Self.

The people of Pentecost, of the Charismatic movement, because of incorrect, unscriptural teaching, are seeking to administrate the Kingdom of God. Only the Lord Jesus, and those whom He directs moment by moment, are the administrators of the Kingdom of God.

What does this mean to us? It means we are to cease running ahead of Christ with our ministries and gifts, and all our Charismatic knowledge of the ministries and gifts, and return to the Lord Jesus to find out what He wants us to do at the present time. There is rest in this. There are the quiet waters of Shiloah.

But to rush forth to save the world according to our own understanding is not the will of God. God wants us to listen to His Son, Jesus, and do what Jesus says.

Are you willing to cease from your spiritual ambitions and wait before the Lord until you know what He wants you to do? I am!

The man proved to be the captain of the Lord's army. The armed warrior probably was Michael, the commander of the warrior angels. However, many Bible scholars view this personage as Christ Himself.

The man with the sword in his hand reminds us that the battles of the Lord always are fought by two armies—the army of saints and the army of angels. Many Christian programs to further the Kingdom of God have failed because the believers did not wait for the Lord of Armies to march with them.

It appears that godly Christian people are so angry at the increasing sin in the earth they are ready to take action. Some aggressive behavior is being demonstrated in the United States. Individuals have been put in jail for resisting the practice of abortion, for example.

God is not ready to attack the sin in the world but He is ready to attack the sin in the Christian people. If we attack where God is not attacking we will do little more than bring violent persecution upon ourselves. We must learn to wait patiently and diligently on the Lord. We have not passed this way before. (from The Land of Promise)