Let’s look in the Old Testament for some more evidence. In the book of Joshua, we see that Joshua also saw Michael the Archangel. This account also presents a strong case showing that Michael is Jesus:
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 to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.
And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. Joshua 5:13–6:2
This account in the book of Joshua is very important because we can now “nail down” who Joshua saw. Joshua met the captain of the Lord’s host and then we find that it is the Lord! Joshua worshiped Him, and He did not stop Joshua in his worship. In fact, The Lord actually encouraged Joshua to worship Him! This is very significant.
In addition, in the next two verses, we see that the “Captain of the host of the LORD” is now called “The LORD”. The original Hebrew word is “Yahweh” (YHWH) which refers to the true God. It is the proper name of the one true God. Thus the Scriptures itself identifies this person, the captain of the host of the Lord, as God or Lord.
This being is definitely not a created being! He accepts worship and actually encourages that He be worshipped. In addition, He is identified as the one true God, Yahweh!
In Revelation, when John tried to worship an angel, the angel told him not to do that: “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10) We are not to worship created beings. We are fellow servants with the angels, who serve God. Thus, angels will not accept worship. We are only to worship God!
So, what Joshua saw was the Lord! Joshua is told that this ground is holy and he is to take off his shoes. He is in the presence of the Lord. Thus, the Scriptures identify this Being as God and He actually accepted the worship and the reverence that Joshua gave Him, which no created being of heaven will do. He actually invited Joshua to worship and reverence Him!
We also see that Jesus accepted worship when He was on earth! Many times, Jesus accepted the worship of the people around Him (A few examples: Matthew 14:33; 28:9,17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; Hebrews 1:6).
This Divine Being must be Jesus Himself because Jesus said that no one has ever seen God and that He is the one who has communicated with man:
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 1:18
Joshua had talked to this Divine Being face to face.
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 1 Peter 1:10–11.
It was the Spirit of Christ that has always been communicating with the prophets of old.
So, if the Spirit of Christ had inspired the prophets of the Old Testament, then it makes very good sense to say that Joshua talked to Jesus. After all, Jesus is the word of God! Jesus has been the one who has communicated with man. This is why “No one has seen God at any time”. What they saw was Christ!
Lets look at it from another prospective. In much of the Old Testament, this Being is identified as the angel of the Lord, but to Joshua, He identifies Himself as the captain of the Lord’s Host! Who is that? Who is the captain of the Lord’s Host?
In Revelation 12:7 we see that Michael is the one that led the angel forces in Heaven.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, Revelation 12:7
Now we find that the angels in Heaven are called Michael’s angels and that Michael leads His angels in battle against Satan! So, we can see that Michael is indeed the Captain of the angels. He is their leader.
Putting Joshua 5 and Revelation 12 together, we see that Joshua saw a man who identified Himself as the Captain of the host of the Lord. The man also encouraged Joshua to worship Him and in Joshua chapter 6, He is identified as being the Lord.
This agrees with the original meaning we had for Archangel: “chief of the angels”. Thus, He is their commander, the Commander of the LORD’S army in Heaven, the army filled with God’s angels.
So, this must be Michael the Archangel, the Captain of the host of the Lord, who is also the Lord! He is a divine being who accepts worship!
The Word is the Captain of the Host (TNDL)
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