Joshua 5 : 13, What's the Meaning of the Captain of the Host of the Lord?
1) Direct Answer
“The Captain of the host of the LORD” in Joshua 5:13–15 is the LORD Himself appearing in a man-form—the pre-incarnate Christ—coming as the Commander of Heaven’s armies to take charge of Israel’s battles.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Joshua falls on his face and worships Him, and He accepts it and says, “Loose thy shoe… for the place whereon thou standest is holy” (Joshua 5:14–15). That matches the burning bush where the LORD said the ground was holy (Exodus 3:5). Created angels do not accept worship (Revelation 22:8–9), but this One does, which shows He is God.
- He appears with a drawn sword (Joshua 5:13), like the One who judges by the sword of His mouth (Revelation 19:11–15; Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17).
- He comes as Captain—just as Jesus is called the “Captain of our salvation” (Hebrews 2:10). The same LORD who led Israel now leads His people to victory by His Word.
- The “host of the LORD” are His armies—both the heavenly host and His covenant people on earth (see Exodus 12:41; Psalm 103:20–21). He is supreme over both.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- If this were a mere angel, he would refuse worship, but he receives it and declares the ground holy—so this is the LORD.
- Joshua asks, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” The answer is higher: “Nay; but as Captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.” In other words, the question isn’t whether God is on our side; the issue is whether we are under His command.
- The drawn sword shows the battle is the Lord’s; victory comes by exact obedience to His Word—just like Jericho fell when Israel followed His instruction.
4) Reinforcing Statement
It’s not three Gods. The one God, who later was manifested in flesh as Jesus Christ, stood before Joshua as the Captain of the LORD’s host. He still leads His people today, and every wall falls when we stand under His command.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
To take on the whole armor of God
62-0701 §66
Look at the day of ... when Jehoshaphat come down, and got off of his grounds. And he met Ahab. And Ahab ... always an axe to grind. And he said, "Does not Ramoth-gilead belong to us?" He said, "Sure. Joshua, in dividing the land, give it to us." Said, "All right. But you know, Jehoshaphat was a good man, but just out of his place. That's what's the matter with many a man today, in some of these spiritual morgues---icicles hanging down in them, the thermometer, spiritually speaking, ninety below zero. Go in there,...
And thy Seed shall possess the gate of His enemy
62-0121M §81
When the first battle ... his first conflict he had with them, the walls was so big they could run a chariot race on top of them. How is he going in to get them? They run from him, got back inside. The enemy will do, too. But you'll take the gate of the enemy. Said, "Lord, what must I do?" He was walking around one afternoon, meditating. He seen a man standing with his sword drawn. Joshua pulled his sword, and said. "Are you for us? Are you for our enemy?" He said, "I'm the captain of this host." "What must I do?"...
Blind Bartimaeus
56-0407 §25
"And think of it, within five hundred yards of where I'm sitting, the great Joshua was walking one day, and he come over to kind of look around the walls of Jerusalem, because ... or, the walls of Jericho: they had all closed up, by the fear of our people. And he seen a man standing with his sword drawn, and Joshua the mighty warrior, running, drew his sword to meet Him. He said, 'Are You for us? Or are You for our enemy?' "And the man said, 'Nay, I'm the Captain of the host of the Lord.' And Joshua, the prophet, t...
An Absolute
63-0127 §78
Paul had the same absolute, the same pillar of fire, the same Holy Spirit, the same God. Not the "I was," or "I will be"; the "I AM" (present tense, always). Joshua had an absolute. That's when he met the chief captain ---the host of Israel's chief captain---and He told him to march around the walls. They was all fortified in with... Oh, man! You talk about hard to get in! Hard to have a revival in there, because no one would let him in. They was all closed up on him. But he met the chief captain. He told him what...
The great warrior Joshua
55-0119 §34
Joshua, the savior... Moses, a type of the church organization, who brought the law and so forth, failed. How did he fail? Glorifying himself instead of God. Is that right? So is the church today, trying to see who can build the biggest church, who can get the best dressed crowd, who can get the mayor of the city and all the celebrity into the church. That's what the program is today. As the Baptist said, "A million more in '54." I don't care, a million more what? That's it. A million more joiners? You haven't got...