Loose Your Shoe From Off Your Foot - Joshua 5:15

In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “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, Are you 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 says my lord unto his servant?”, and in chapter five and verse fifteen of the book of Joshua, we learn how, “the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot” where we read,

And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot; 

for the place whereon you stand is holy. And Joshua did so.

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The verse reads, “And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot;” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and the captain” which means “and the prince, ruler, leader, chief, chieftain, official and noble” “of the LORD’s host”  or “the army or company of soldiers belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and is the proper name for the One True God” “said unto Joshua” which means “uttered, declared and proclaimed to Joshua whose name means Jehovah is salvation”, “loose your shoe from off your foot” or “slip, drop off and clear away your, Joshua’s, sandal separate and away from your, Joshua’s, physical foot”. Joshua or the writer shared how the prince and ruler belonging to Jehovah God’s army or company of soldiers instructed “Joshua” to take his “sandal” or “shoe” off his physical foot. 

 

The verse goes on to say, “for the place whereon you stand is holy. And Joshua did so.” Joshua continued with the words, “for the place whereon you stand” or “because, since and on account that the location upon which you, Joshua, are erected and standing” “is holy” which means “exists as separated, sacred and pure”. “And Joshua did so” or “and Joshua whose name means ‘Jehovah is salvation’ took off his shoe”. Joshua or the writer shared how the “captain of the LORD’s host” told him to take his shoe off because he was standing upon sacred and pure ground, and “Joshua” obeyed him.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how the “captain of the LORD’s host” gave instruction to “Joshua” to remove his shoes because the ground he was standing upon was “holy” ground. Moses was told the same at the burning bush, (See Exodus 3:5) and because the “holy” Son of God was in his presence, “Joshua” needed to heed this command. God is holy, and He wants us to be holy as well. (See Leviticus 20:7; 1Peter 1:15-16) This is only possible when we have a personal relationship with His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the grave after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and put His holiness within us and remind us when we stray away from His perfect will. 

Next time we begin a new chapter and learn how, “Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".