Who’s Side?

 March 22, 2024

“So they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”” —Joshua 1:16-18 

Moses, the only leader they had ever known, was dead. Across the Jordan was the Promised Land, the very place filled with the giants their fathers had feared. Joshua was in charge now, but was he up to the task? Could he do half the job Moses had done? All sorts of questions must have been on their minds…except one: “Are WE ready for this?”

That’s the question they should have been asking. Instead, they presumptively affirmed their readiness. I wonder what Joshua thought when they put in the words, “Just as we heeded Moses in all things…” Joshua had been there. He knew how well they had listened to Moses. It must not have been very reassuring. No wonder a week or so later, God sent his angel to meet him. He needed reassuring, but he also needed to understand God’s ways; that it wasn’t a matter of whether God was on their side, but whether they were on God’s side.

It’s easy to portray our hopes and desires as God’s will, God’s plans. A lot of people have gotten caught up in some devilish schemes by leaders who claimed to have heard from God when they were using God’s name to bolster their own egos and plans. The wise leader doesn’t pin his hopes upon human enterprise or ingenuity, and neither does he caste his own plans as God’s will. The better way is that of the apostles in Acts 15:

”For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:“ —Acts 15:28 

“It SEEMED good…” I like the sound of this much better than, “The Lord said…” Sometimes the latter is true, but often it is not. The former hints at asking whether we are on the Lord’s side, the latter, whether God is on our side. I think the former is better.