"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...and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?" (Josh 5:13-15).

During the above event in the life of Joshua, the children of Israel had just crossed over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan. As they prepared to do battle with the inhabitants of the land, Joshua had an encounter with what some theologians referred to as a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. In this encounter, Joshua was no doubt greatly encouraged as he was reminded that the captain of the Lord's armies was with him and his people. But before he realized who the man standing in front of him was, Joshua asked, "Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?" (Joshua 5:14). In other words, Joshua was asking, "whose side are you on, our enemies or us?" The man with the sword drawn in his hand responded, "Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come." One preacher said of this response: "The captain of the armies of the Lord didn't come to take sides, He came to take over." When Joshua realized who he was talking to, he fell on his face in worship and said, “What saith my Lord unto his servant?” Jesus is the captain. Don't try to get him on your side. Make sure you're on his side. Don't try to get God to take up your cause; make sure you're fighting for his cause.