Who was the commander of the army of the LORD in Joshua 5:14?

In Joshua 5:13–15, the leader of Israel, Joshua, has a conversation with the “commander of the army of the Lord” (verse 14). This commander appeared to Joshua near Jericho, before that fateful first battle in the conquest of Canaan. The personage held a drawn sword in His hand.

Joshua approached the person and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” (Joshua 5:13). The man’s reply was curious: “Neither,” he said, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come” (verse 14). Joshua’s question was natural enough. Upon meeting an armed man on the eve of a battle, he asks, “Are you on our side, or on the side of our enemies?” The man’s response is key: He is neither an Israelite nor a Canaanite. He is the commander of the Lord’s army. The better question for Joshua to have asked was, “Are we on your side?”

When the man identified Himself as the commander of the army of the Lord, “Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence” (Joshua 5:14). Abram had the same reaction to finding himself in the presence of God (Genesis 17:1–3). Significantly, the commander does not tell Joshua not to worship Him; rather, He tells Joshua to take off his sandals, “for the place where you are standing is holy” (verse 15). This is exactly what the Lord God told Moses at the burning bush encounter (Exodus 3:5). Joshua addresses the man using a Hebrew word that means “master” or “lord,” indicating the level of respect Joshua had for the person with whom he spoke.

Based on this information, there is only one possible identity for this person. The commander of the army of the Lord was a theophany, a visible appearance of God Himself. Two verses later (in Joshua 6:2), it is clearly Yahweh who tells Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” The commander of the Lord’s army is none other than God Almighty.

This is not the first time in Scripture that God had made His presence known in a physical manifestation. The Lord God appears to Abram in Genesis 17:1 and again in Genesis 18:1. The “angel of the Lord” appears to Hagar in Genesis 16:7, after which time she claims to have seen God (verse 13). The “man” who wrestles with Jacob in Genesis 32 has divine characteristics, and Jacob concludes, “I saw God face to face” (verse 30). In each case, we have human interaction with God the Son—the Logos, through whom God communicated Himself to others.

Joshua, then, encounters a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus identifies Himself as the commander of the Lord’s army teaches Joshua who is really in charge. Joshua may be the human commander of Israel, but the true leader is the Commander who stands before him with drawn sword. Joshua understood his role, responded with worship, and asked the only appropriate question: “What do you want your servant to do?” (Joshua 5:14, NLT).

Jesus is the Lord of hosts, and it is He who must fight the battle if we would win. We have many enemies to combat: Satan, the world, sin, and the flesh. We need Christ to go before us, sword in hand, into battle. He is the Commander of the Lord’s army, the Captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10), and the one through whom we are granted victory (1 Corinthians 15:57). The Commander of the Lord’s army alone has the wisdom, the weaponry, and the wherewithal to emerge victorious over our true enemies.