Christ Revealed to Moses and Joshua

I read Joshua 1-14 this morning, and in Joshua 5, we have the passage where the Lord appears to Joshua. This passage is very similar to Exodus 3 where God commissions Moses to lead the people of Israel, and in Joshua 5, the Lord appears to Joshua confirming that he is now Moses' successor.

Exodus 3:1-6
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Joshua 5:13-15

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Both these men recognized that they were in the presence of the Almighty God, and interacted with God in a way that showed reverence and respect. Both were commanded to remove their shoes for they were standing on holy ground. God revealed Himself to Moses as I AM, and to Joshua He was the Commander of the Army--the preincarnate Christ revealed to man in all His power. 

And the God who was revealed to these men is the same God who is revealed to us today in His Word, for "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Let us worship Him for who He is.