Who is the Man with a Sword n Joshua 5:13?

Hi, thanks for asking.

It is the Archangel Michael?

One take would be that it was the archangel Michael, for Revelation 12 tells us about Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon (Satan) and his dragons. So being that Joshua met with the Commander of God’s army would makes sense that it was actually the archangel Michael.

However, in Revelation, when John tried to worship the angel, the angel then rebuked him because he (the angel) is also a servant of the Lord, like John, and is not to be worshiped. So if anybody in the Old Testament were to worship and angel of the Lord, then such would’ve been a sin, unless that angel was in fact God the Son in the flesh. That’s why I (and many others) recognize that each time “the angel of the Lord” appeared in the Old Testament, and the patriarch that it appeared to would worship him, make a sacrifice to him, build an altar, and/or a covenant, it could only have been the Lord God Himself (God the Son) in the flesh.

Giving Reverence vs. Worshipping

Now, to give “reverence” to an angel was not worshiping, but just revering it. Both the NIV and NLT say that Joshua gave reverence to the Commander of the Lord’s Army, which means that this could have been the angel Michael. However, the NRSV says that Joshua “fell on his face to the earth and worshiped”. So in this respect, whether Joshua “gave reverence” to the Commander, or actually “worshiped” him, may be the answer to this question (I apologize, for I don’t remember much of anything from my Hebrew class in seminary, so I couldn’t tell you which meaning best fits the word used for there).

The Subject as “Lord”

Another question to ask is what did Joshua actually say after that? Because in the NRSV, Joshua called him “my Lord”, whereas the NIV doesn’t say that at all, and the NLT includes a note that says, “or ‘lord’.” So that’s another question when looking at this. And you may want to look at other Bible versions (I was just looking at the ones in front of me at the time)

So did Joshua refer to the angel as “Lord” (referring him to God), or lord (as one to be revered above himself)?

So to speak of doing the will of the Lord, I would have to say it was not the Lord in the flesh here, but Michael, the Archangel, also because:

1. We know that Michael’s the head warrior of God’s army (from Revelation);

2. When Joshua asked if he’s for them or against them, he answered, “Neither” and that he’s there to do the will of the Lord.

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