God's Perspective

At Joshua Chapter 5, there is a scene that I often contemplate. When Joshua was about to attack Jericho, an angel of the Lord appeared with a drawn sword and Joshua asked him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” And the angel replied, “Neither.”

Neither.

Human perspective is good guys versus bad guys, but God’s perspective is the truth: only God is good. The angel then proceeds to tell Joshua that he comes as the commander of the Lord’s army. The angel is basically explaining to Joshua that he is not there because of man’s interests, but because of God’s. He is not there as part of Joshua’s army, but as part of God’s. A distinction is being made here. When Joshua asks what message the angel has for him, the angel tells Joshua to remove his shoes because he is standing on holy ground.
Think about that.

When Joshua asks the angel what his message is, the angel draws Joshua’s mind to the truth of God’s holiness, “The place where you are standing is holy” (v. 15). He draws Joshua’s mind away from the good guy/bad guy perspective and puts it on God’s perspective, which is that God is holy and we need to be reminded of who we are in light of that. We need to be reminded that we are all in need of God’s holiness and salvation from our sinful tendencies.

There is a war that rages all around us in the spiritual realm that, for the most part, we cannot perceive except through the actions of its human victims. Dark matter and dark energy compose 95% of the known universe, only 5% of the matter that makes up our universe is visible to the human eye. Thus scientists call the remaining 95% that we cannot see “dark matter.” What scientists don’t realize is that our world runs parallel to a vast reality of what the Bible repeatedly refers to as “heavenly hosts” (Ps 33:6 & 103:21; Nehemiah 9:6) or the "heavenly places" (Eph 2:6; 3:10). Paul plainly tells us that we do not war against flesh and blood, but against “rulers…powers…world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

Whether we like it or not, we are part of this war and it is not a war of human good guys versus human bad guys. It is a war against God’s holiness, a war against God’s interests and there are many people, alas, even in today’s church, that are on the wrong side--having capitulated to their fleshly weaknesses, they continue in sin and reject any true surrender to the Holy Spirit. Quantum entanglement of human with the divine Spirit of God’s holiness-- it will be your only hope in the days ahead. The only armor that can stand against what the Bible refers to as “wickedness in high places” is the full armor of God. Make sure you have it. (Ephesians 6:14-18).

𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘗𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮. (Eph 6:10-13)

𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. (2 Pet 1:3)

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. (1 Pet 2:8,9)

"𝘎𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥, “𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥." (Daniel 12:9,10)