Holy Ground

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

HOLY GROUND

Josh 5:10-15

10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. 13 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 for our enemies?" 14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" 15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

NIV

On the surface, it appears that when they were able to eat from the land of Canaan, the Lord would no longer feed them. However, on a deeper level, it is the Lord who promised Abraham and his descendants this land and once the Israelites entered it, all the food of the land was from the hand of God. We might sometimes think that we do not see God providing for us because we can provide our daily needs and even our needs for years to come. We wonder why Jesus wanted us to include, “Give us this day our daily bread” in the prayer he taught his disciples if we can get our own daily bread. Just as he stopped sending manna as soon as they were able to eat their daily bread from the land. However, he led them there so they could possess the land, and enjoy the fruits of the land, which may be seen as holy ground. We know the land of Israel is rich in agriculture even to this day. But what we learn here is that all we do have is still from the hand of God. He brought us to where we are and has given us gifts and talents so that we might enjoy the fruits of the place where we live. Of course, that is not taking a world view, but simply a view of our own lives, as we believe Joshua and the Israelites were only seeing their lives based on where they were at the moment, as they followed God. They did need to live on faith, believing He would take them to the promised land. We too must live by faith believing Jesus will come and take us to the promised land, the true place of holy ground, for the Lord will be present. We also still look to the Lord for all our daily needs, for our very life. We are forever thankful and praise His Holy Name for all that He has provided for us. The second truth is regarding this commander of the LORD’s army and his presence before Joshua. From what we gather from the statement of this person who stood before Joshua, he was not a created angel, but none other than the person of Jesus Christ, the Captain, the Prince of all the army of Yahweh. Just as when Yahweh first appeared to Moses in that burning bush, the place where Jesus stood was holy ground, and like Moses, Joshua was told to take off his sandals. We wonder as we spend our personal time with the Lord, or even when we gather together in the sanctuary and especially when we sing, “This is holy ground, we’re standing on holy ground, for the Lord is present and where he is, is holy. This is holy ground, we’re standing on holy ground for the Lord is present and where he is, is holy”, if we should not take off our sandals, for the place we are standing is holy ground.