14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” 15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
They have just crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, renewed their identity and are getting ready to conquer the Promised Land. The Lord demonstrated that Joshua is their new leader just Like Moses had been their leader. Now Joshua finds a man between himself and his objective Jericho. He doesn’t recognize him and so asks if he is for the Israelites, or for their enemies. Neither. The Lord does not take sides. We are either on His side, or He is against us. He is the owner of the team, not us. The Lord was the One who was going to win the battle, not the Israelites. And notice that everyplace the Lord shows up turns holy. If the place where you gather to worship does not seem holy, maybe it is because the Lord hasn’t shown up lately. If people just stand and are unaffected by being there, then maybe the Lord isn’t showing up. When the Lord shows up, we are compelled to respond to His holiness. Off come the shoes! My prayer is that we would make space for the Lord to show up, that our agenda and pride would not get in the way of Him having His way with us.
The Arnold Journey 