The Commander of The Lord’s Army

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. 00:00:04 Speaker 2: The people of Jericho are terrified of us. Our very presence on this side of the river has broken their morale. Every rumor in town confirmed it. But they are on high alert. The city is fortified and they are preparing for a siege. 00:00:22 Speaker 3: And what of the walls. We've taken fortified cities before, But their walls were built into the basalt rock formations, footholds for our climbers. 00:00:32 Speaker 4: And we have no siege towers, ramps or scaling ladders. What are we going to do? 00:00:39 Speaker 5: I have given you every place for the soul of your foot will trend just as I promised Moses. No, wouldn't stand against us. Lord, as you live, I would be with you, just as I was with Moses, either not to leave you nor abandon you. 00:01:04 Speaker 6: Click the link of the description to grow closer to God. There you'll find daily prayers, Bible plans, sleep stories, and so much more, all on the prey dot com app. Click the link of the description to get started. 00:01:19 Speaker 7: You heard the latest rumors Rehab Rahab feigned interest in Yasib. She had dealt with many self important members of the King's council in her profession but Yasib was perhaps one of the more insufferable. He leaned forward conspiratorially to tell her secrets. She probably already knew. Rahab had many spies throughout the city, and news always came to her ears first. Men were far more likely to share information to her. 00:01:50 Speaker 1: Girls. Pleasure was a much more efficient way of gaining information than torture or fear. Dealing with secrets was yet another source of Rayhab's influence in Jericho. There was a reason Raehab owned a house in a city where so few other men or women could boast the same. H. 00:02:10 Speaker 7: No, tell me, master, Yesib, what have you heard? 00:02:13 Speaker 4: The castle is abas you see, the Amorites and Canaanite kings to the west are scared. They're all beside themselves, worrying about those Hebrews outside the city. 00:02:24 Speaker 2: Ah, but not concerned enough to send aid to augment our defenses. 00:02:29 Speaker 4: I assume, no, not so concerned as that they're worried. They'll come for them next when they're finished with us first Sihan and Oji and now us. And you heard about what their god did down the plains. 00:02:42 Speaker 5: With the river. 00:02:44 Speaker 1: Rahab nodded. She had it was remarkable and she also knew about the fears of Jericho suffering the same fate as the other Amorite cities. It was all anyone could talk about lately, and understandably so. She also had the assurance of the oath of the two Israelite spies, Caleb and Salmon, promised that her family would be spared when the city was inevitably sacked, but who could say how long they could last within the walls if the siege dragged on too long. Rayhab's kindling of faith still burned, but it waned as each day played out. 00:03:23 Speaker 3: Has the castle received word on whether or not the Israelites are on the move. 00:03:29 Speaker 1: A careful question. As the days went by, the city had become a dangerous place, even more than it already was. Food was worth more than gold, and thieves would gut you for an extra portion. With the sealed city gates. Traders patroning her businesses had also dried up. Her only customers were Yasib and men like him, desperate and lost enough to spend the last of their coins on fleeting, meaningless nights of pleasure as the world around them went to hell. 00:04:02 Speaker 4: They don't know when the attack will come, I don't know why they haven't passed their advantage yet, but I suppose then I wouldn't be here drinking with you if they moved already. 00:04:16 Speaker 1: Rayhab laughed with the cynical official, and they both drained their cups before she led the man upstairs. She sighed at the truth of his words. No, if the Israelites had already taken the city, she would not be here at all. She would have to wait just a little longer for her rescue. About two miles away, on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites had just observed Passover. They had eaten unleavened bread and roasted grain from the ample produce of the land. Gone were the days of daily manner. Israel would eat from the crops of Canaan from now on. Joshua called his counsel to his tent to receive an update on how the men, especially the fighting men, were recovering from their recent circumcisions. It had been one week since their crossing of the Jordan. Since then, the Lord had commanded Joshua to circumcise the generation born in the wilderness. The Israelites had obeyed the command, but the soldiers were understandably wary of being incapacitated so close to their enemies. The men on Joshua's council, with the exception of Finnahaus, were circumcised as infants on their eighth day, as was the custom of their forbearers, but the practice had not been observed in the wilderness. Joshua did not envy them having to endure the procedure as adults, but he applauded their obedience to what the Lord commanded. This was a necessary step in preparation for taking the promised land. Eliezer agreed wholeheartedly and affirmed to the other councilors and the recently recovered Finnahass beside him. He gently squeezed his son's hand and rallied the room. 00:06:05 Speaker 3: Yes, we'll be ready. In more ways than one, the Lord has rolled away the disgrace from Egypt. At last. It is fitting that our men will bear the covenant mark when they go into battle. 00:06:15 Speaker 1: Finnahaus nodded boldly. On behalf of his generation. His uncle Ishamar took the opportunity to voice the unspoken question before them. 00:06:24 Speaker 4: Yes, yes, And now that the men have recovered and passover has been observed all good and worthy things. We come at last the point of action. When do you plan to lead the armies to Jericho? 00:06:38 Speaker 2: I happen to agree with Ithamar. What is our strategy with Jericho, Joshua, Now that the men have recovered, should we build siege towers or ladders to climb the walls? I have the archers and metal workers prepared for our attack. 00:06:53 Speaker 1: The five pairs of eyes in Joshua's trusted council were all fixed on him eagerly. Shua still wasn't used to that part, the silence of others waiting for some profound plan of action. He wasn't like Moses. He didn't have the voice of the Lord continually whispering in his ear. Joshua hesitated. It wasn't that he didn't have ideas of how to mount a defense against the walls of Jericho. He spent years combing through ideas and learning all he could about military tactics. Joshua knew they could only go forward now. They couldn't retreat or go around Jericho. To leave their women, children, and livestock on the plains of Jericho would mean death. They were vulnerable and with nothing but the river at their backs. They would be easy targets. Jericho had to be taken first. The question was how Joshua winced. When he realized that he had gone too long without responding, he tightened his jaw and sighed. He had to let go of the pressure of being exactly like Moses. The Lord had called Joshua. As Joshua, he had to lean into what he knew best. He was a strategist and soldier, a man of the marching from the moment he was plucked from his flock into the inner circle of Moses. He had been a fighting man, and fight he would. But Joshua was a good soldier. He wouldn't march without a command. He needed to seek the Lord. He turned to his council with a raised chest. 00:08:30 Speaker 3: I know we have waited a long time for this. Some has been decades, and for others an entire lifetime. And oh, you all look to me to lead as you once did Moses. But I would call on you brothers to wait a little bit longer. The Lord has not yet revealed to me the next move, but he will. He mustn't move until he gives the command. We cannot go forth without his guidance. Together, we will be strong. We will be courageous. Rak chas amats. We will not be discouraged, for the Lord, our God is with us. 00:09:11 Speaker 1: The same five men pounded the table green with Joshua's stirring speech. 00:09:17 Speaker 4: The fact it we will be thrown a MAT's we will be courageous. 00:09:22 Speaker 6: The Lord, our God is with us. 00:09:29 Speaker 1: Joshua woke well before dawn and found himself walking along the banks of the Jordan River. The white noise of the waters intermixed with the faint tunes of songbirds rising. All was calm. One would never know that a monolithic wall hoarding thousands of bloodthirsty Canaanites were only a few miles away. Joshua found little peace as of late sleep eluded him. The morning was still dim and a ghostly glow of fog lingered over the coursing body of water. Joshua could scarcely make out the river below its banks in the darkness. Joshua's breath was barely visible in the dark, cool morning air. As the sun started to peek over the ridge of the mountains, the faint silhouette of Jericho was appearing. The impending sunrise was beginning to light the famed palms preceding it. A sudden stillness behind Joshua caused the hairs on his arms to stand on end. The river noise seemed far away. Joshua's hand instinctively reached for the blade on his left hip. He freed it from its scabbard a half a second later and whirled around to face the threat. A man stood on the bank before him, the sunrise silhouetting his frame. Metal armor gleamed in the pre dawn. He stood about twenty paces away, and a great sword and shield donned each arm. Joshua squinted into the steadily expanding sunrise and crouched in a practiced defensive stance. 00:11:07 Speaker 5: Who are you? 00:11:08 Speaker 3: What's your business? 00:11:09 Speaker 1: The man remained silent, but continued his slow pace toward him. Joshua rolled his neck back, bracing for a possible fight. The man stopped about twenty feet in front of him. He clearly wasn't one of Joshua's men, none of them dawned such immaculate armor, and he didn't seem to be Canaanite, especially since a Canaanite soldier would miss the opportunity to ambush him. 00:11:35 Speaker 7: The man seemed to be neither. 00:11:37 Speaker 5: Friend nor foe. 00:11:39 Speaker 1: Then there was the stillness that accompanied him. It was an other worldly stillness. The earth rippled slightly underneath the man's feet. Joshua peared closely at the warrior, donned in the armor of a commander, yet wearing no banner or crest. That's when a thought passed through Joshua's mind. Memories of old stories re emerged in his consciousness. He remembered the story of Abraham and the King of Salem. He recalled the adversary that wrestled with Jacob. He thought about the way Moses described the burning bush pulsing with power. These thoughts gave way to a question, which Joshua shouted into the distance between them. 00:12:26 Speaker 2: Were you for us? For our enemies? 00:12:29 Speaker 1: Joshua could not read the man's expression, as his helmet and the position of the sun obscured his face from view. Nor did he move, not to strike or attack, but not to lower his weapons in peace either neither a simple answer but far from comforting. 00:12:48 Speaker 2: Then who are you? 00:12:49 Speaker 3: I have come as commander of the Lord's army. 00:12:53 Speaker 1: Recognitions smacked Joshua in the face, though he did not understand fully He dropped his weapon immediately and bowed low with his face to the ground in homage. 00:13:05 Speaker 3: And tell him that I will want to say to a servant, remove the sandals from your feet. 00:13:11 Speaker 6: For where you are standing is holy ground. 00:13:15 Speaker 1: Joshua scrambled to do as he did, resumed his subservient position on the banks of the river, and waited to finally receive the Lord's direction. 00:13:31 Speaker 6: If today's reading moved you, the pray dot Com app is where you can go deeper with daily prayers, Bible plans and more. Download it free link in the description. 00:13:41 Speaker 1: This prey Dog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabager and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People. Narrated by Paul Caltefianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron M. Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot Com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed the Chosen People, please rate and leave a review.