Gleanings from Joshua

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

September 22, 2021

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

Scripture records a multitude of "things" which come in sets of three. For example ... Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; spirit, soul, and body; faith, hope, and love. We also see three types of people: the true born-from-above Christian believer, the morally "good" religious folks, and the morally "bad" or "evil" folks in the world. Likewise, we see three types of true believers: those who are born from above, disciples of Christ Jesus, and overcomers. Gideon's army is prophetic of those three types of believers.

The first natural-level war among men that is recorded in the Bible is found in Genesis, Chapter 14. Four "good" kings (Genesis 14:1) fought a big battle with five "bad" or "evil" kings (Genesis 14:2). This appears to be another re-enactment of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which was, and still is, forbidden by the Lord God. It is not too difficult to discern that which is "evil," but discerning between that which seems "good" to our carnal minds as compared to the will of God? Ah, that is another matter! That war undoubtedly involved tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of men. Scripture says that the "good" guys won and that they captured Lot and all of his possessions as a prisoner. Note that Abraham never considered being involved in that war on either side. He had no interest whatsoever in that worldly war until he heard that his nephew, Lot, had been captured by the good (or religious) guys. In Genesis 14:20, after Abraham and his 318 men, with the Lord as commander-in-chief, had defeated the thousands of good guys and rescued Lot, Melchizedek said to Abraham, 

"And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave Him tithes of all." 

Note that it was God, not Abraham, who delivered the religious, morally good army into the hands of Abraham. Therefore, Abraham's true enemies (and ours as well) are the "good" religious folks. This fact is also stated in Psalm 55:12-14, 

"For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company."

Scripture reiterates that same principle in Joshua, Chapter 5, verses 13-15, 

"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? 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? And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."

Those three verses are the most important verses in the whole book of Joshua. More importantly, those three verses plus the events that immediately preceded and the events that immediately followed give us the whole plan of God for His chosen people over all of time. The Lord's victory at Jericho was the first victory inside the geographical boundary of the Promised Land. That example lays out for us the keys for all victories in the life of every believer. Let us see why.

First, we need to remember that Joshua was the Lord's choice to be the human leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses. As such, Joshua was the general, the commander in chief. He was responsible to make all of the decisions and to lead the people into the Promised Land.

Joshua 1:1-3. 

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,

2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

Verse 3, among other things, speaks of the power of God over every obstacle of man. The phrase, "the sole of your foot" also has great prophetic significance, as we will see shortly.

Joshua 3:14-17, "And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; 

15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) 

16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

17And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan."

"The priests bearing the ark of the covenant" speaks of the leaders in the church who are filled with the Holy Spirit. The waters of the Jordan rose up upon an heap when their feet (barefoot, no sandals or shoes) were dipped in the water. (More about bare feet later.) The priests stood in the water until all the people passed over the Jordan River on dry ground. That included 40,000 men of war.

From Joshua, chapter 4, when the priests came out of the Jordan river bed and their feet were upon dry ground, the waters returned to their normal position. The purpose of that crossing, from Joshua 4:24 was, 

"That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever." 

Forever includes today. Do all Christians today fear the LORD our God? The result of that miraculous crossing was two-fold: first it served to build up the faith of the Israelites, and second, the enemy nation became very fearful. The enemy was shaking in their boots. Today, unfortunately, too many Christians seem to be shaking in their boots.

In Joshua, chapter 5, the males were circumcised, which speaks of being separated from the flesh and separated unto the Lord. From Romans 2:29, circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not of the letter. Note that up to this point, the Lord used elders to accomplish His purposes with His chosen people.

Joshua 5:10-12, "And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.

12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."

Manna was for the wilderness; the fruit of the Spirit comes from the Promised Land. And what is the Promised Land? The Promised Land is not a land at all. The Promised Land is Jesus. So Jesus leads us unto Himself. Jesus is the only One who can lead us to Himself.

As commander-in-chief, Joshua undoubtedly made at least one reconnaissance run from Gilgal to spy out the fortifications at Jericho. Being in charge, he had a lot of planning to do to determine how to take the city. According to tradition, the walls around Jericho were 30 feet tall and twelve feet thick. Joshua 2:15 says that Rahab lived in a house that was built on top of the wall. When Joshua saw how fortified the city was, he probably had no idea what he and his men could do to take the city, which in the natural realm seemed impregnable and impossible.

Let us read again Joshua, Chapter 5, verses 13-15.

13 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? And He said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.

Verse 13 says that Joshua was by Jericho, surveying the fortifications of the city. He looked and he saw a man over against him with His sword drawn in His hand. That was a surprise to Joshua ... something he was not expecting. It was an unsought for visitation. Joshua did not know who the man was. The same thing happened when the Lord apprehended Paul, who said, "Who art thou, Lord?" (Acts 9:5). Of course, the man with the sword drawn in his hand was Jesus, in pre-incarnate form. The Lord is not on the side of the "good" religious folks, and of course He is not on the side of the "evil" folks, as in Sodom and Gomorrah. He is likewise not on "our" side, as stated clearly in Joshua 5:13. It is just the opposite. Hopefully, we are on His side!

Moses said (Exodus 12:26), "Who is on the Lord's side?" Elijah (1 Kings 18:21) essentially asked the same question of the people of God: "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word." Amazing response! Simply amazing!

Jesus told Joshua that He had come as the captain of the host of the Lord. Hebrews 2:10 says that Jesus is the Captain of our salvation. Jesus told Joshua that he was no longer in charge of the forthcoming battle at Jericho. That was probably a big relief to Joshua because he had no idea how to take the city. Joshua probably sensed a new-found, glorious liberty. We too can partake of the glorious liberty that is found in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:21) provided that we also agree in both word and deed that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

Judges 2:1-5.

1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.

That angel of the Lord was the Lord Himself. From verse 3, the Lord had put His sword back in his sheath. He said He would no longer fight for His chosen people. Bochim means "weeping." The Lord weeps for His people when they no longer obey Him. It is a fearful thing when the Lord no longer fights our battles because no man, when left to his natural ability, is a match for the enemy.

Back to Joshua 5:14.

14 And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto Him, What saith my lord unto His servant?

Joshua had heard the voice of the Lord before, as recorded in Joshua, chapter 1 and verses 1-3. But this was the first time that Joshua had seen the preincarnate form of Jesus. No wonder that Joshua fell on his face and did worship. We see a similar event in Job 42:5-6, when Job said, 

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 

Isaiah had a similar experience, as recorded in Isaiah, chapter 6. God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). That means that it is possible for every Christian to have the same experience.

Back to verse 15 of Joshua, chapter 5.

15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

"And Joshua did so!" Wow! There is another whole message in those four words! Jesus said, in Luke 6:46, 

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" 

Joshua then was barefoot and on his face before the Lord. This is the same command that the Lord gave to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3:5-6. 

"And He said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God." 

Are Christians today barefoot and on our face before the Lord?

Hebrews 4:12-13.

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Do you think that same prescription and command from the Lord might be useful for us? Now I do not believe that the dirt where Moses and then Joshua stood was any more holy than the dirt in my back yard. Probably the standard teaching is that it was the presence of the Lord that made those locations holy. That is certainly true. However, I believe the Lord is saying more than that. The question is, what is the significance of the Lord telling Joshua, and others, like Moses and Isaiah, to take off their shoes (sandals)? Of course, there were no socks in those days. Our shoes speak of that which comes in contact with the dirt, the filth of the world and all of the worldly systems. That gets us into the significance of foot washing.

The Bible begins in Genesis with man being naked and open to the Lord, and they had no shame (Genesis 2:25).

Isaiah 20:2-4.

2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

It is rather amazing that many of the Old Testament saints, like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, and others, heard the voice of the Lord clearly. Did they know something that we Christians today don't know or don't walk in? 

3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

The word "shame" can be translated as nakedness or disgrace. It is rather humiliating or undignified to take off one's shoes, particularly in that time period, when removing one's shoes meant to walk barefoot. It was a very humbling experience. But the Lord wants every Christian to walk in humility. The word "humility" or "humble" signifies "of low degree, brought low, insignificant, weak and poor." It takes on the form of unselfishness. It means to come low to the ground. Humility is a quality of the mind, of our will. It takes a decision on our part. It is not whether we are right or wrong, but the attitude of our hearts. Are we willing to humble ourselves, even if we are right? It is easy to be humble when we are alone, but what happens when we are in our church, our community, or among our friends or family?

1 Peter 5:5-7. 

5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.

2 Chronicles 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Note that in both 1 Peter 5:6 and 2 Chronicles 7:14, the first requirement for us to walk in victory in Christ is humility. Both verses clearly say the we must humble ourself.

Now let us see the Lord's plan to take the city of Jericho, which is recorded in Joshua 6:2-5.

2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

The Lord said "I have given," past tense. It was still to be worked out in time, but the outcome was certain. 

3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

We should note that Joshua did not tell the people the whole plan of the Lord, so they walked by faith. He only told the people what to do each day when it was time for them to do their part. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). According to the best estimates, Jericho at that time was a walled city with a perimeter of about 6 miles. Walking at a pace of 20 minutes per mile would require about 2 hours to traverse the city one time. From Joshua 6:10, the 40,000 men plus the priests were not to speak but to be in silence. The only sound came from the blowing of trumpets. This they did for 6 consecutive days.

Joshua 6:15-16. 

15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

To encompass the city 7 times would require at least 12 hours. That is why they started at daybreak. By the time that they started the seventh march around the walls, they must have been quite weak and tired. Ah, but that is when the Lord can really use us. For when we are weak, the Lord is strong. The Israelites had also been warned in verses 18 and 19 not to take any of the spoil for themselves. Everything was to be dedicated to the Lord; nothing for the people. The spoils of victory belong to the Lord. We are not to take any of the glory for the victories that God has won.

Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

Sadly, in Joshua, chapter 7, Achan, in disobedience to the Lord, went after the spoils of Jericho, for which he was stoned. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day. "Achor" means trouble.

Joshua, chapter 8 then describes the Lord's victory over the city of Ai. From Joshua 8:2, the Lord allowed the Israelites to take part of the spoils. Why the change? Because the Israelites had learned their lesson from Jericho. They learned that we cannot take the spoils; we cannot take the glory from the victories that God has won. But if our heart is right, the Lord will allow us to share in His glory.

Now let us consider the pithy statement, "He who has the gold has the power." In reality, the Lord Himself has all of the silver and the gold. He created it and He owns it. So the Lord alone has all of the real power. He is all-powerful, all knowing, and omnipresent. If we claim anything for ourselves that belongs to Him, we are asking for big trouble! We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can take nothing out. Whatever we have received is by the grace of God.

The Lord's purpose is that His Word might become flesh within us. Christ in you, the hope of glory. We can memorize every word in the Bible and totally miss what the Lord is after. That is the same principle that the Pharisees operated in when Jesus walked the face of the earth. We must be doers of the word and not hearers (and/or speakers) only. Probably every Christian church will proclaim that they believe all of the Bible is true. What they are actually saying is that they believe that their interpretation of the Bible is true. There is a difference.

The world is going to be what it is going to be and no man can reverse it. The religious sector is going to be what it is going to be and no man can reverse that either. All of man's efforts to "make the world a better place to live in" will come to nought.

No man, through his own efforts, can be like Jesus. No man except Jesus could live up to the Mosaic law. Likewise, no man except Christ Jesus can live the "Christian" life. That requires the power of the Holy Ghost working within us as we cooperate with Him. However, let us search the Scriptures to see the relationship of Jesus, in the form of a Man on earth, with both the "world" and the "religious" folks. Jesus said that He did not pray for the world. Should we be like Jesus?

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. John 17:9

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.  

Revelation 18:4

Who is "her"? Revelation 18 states very clearly that "her" is Babylon the great. Babylon, of course, is not a geographical location over in the Middle East. It is a spiritual state or realm. From Genesis 11, which records the natural foundation or beginning of Babylon, it represents man's attempt to reach heaven by man's "good" works, as motivated by man's carnal mind. We are all born with Babylon in our hearts. So, in turn, we must come out of Babylon in our heart. Sooner or later, we will have to come out from both the morally good religious folks as well as the morally bad worldly folks or else the Rock will fall on us. It seems to me that it would be better to "come out of her" now, rather than later, at the fulfillment of the last Feast of Blowing of Trumpets. Unfortunately, there are too many lovely believers who are not even aware that they need to "come out of her."

In Acts, Chapter 1, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the 120 disciples returned to Jerusalem where they were shut in in an upper room, awaiting further instructions from the risen Lord. We could say they were shut in with God for those 10 days.

In Genesis, chapter 7, after Noah and his family and all of the animals had entered the ark just as the flood began, the Lord shut Noah into the ark.

We might recall that when Joshua went on his recon mission to survey the fortifications around Jericho, he went alone. When Joshua met the Lord with his sword drawn in His hand, Joshua was alone with God. Because of Covid, we all have had a long time to be shut in with God. There is a wonderful song titled "Shut in With God." The best rendition of that song that I have heard is by Donna Carline. Some of the words are the following.

Of all pleasant places on land or on sea. 

There's no place on earth that is sweeter to me 

Than to kneel at the feet of my Master and Lord, 

For there I'll be shut in with God. 

Shut in with God in a secret place, 

There in the Spirit beholding His face.
Gaining new power to run in this race. 

Oh I love to be shut in with God.

What an amazing, awesome, loving, wonderful God we serve! Amen.