Today, our journey through names of our Triune God provides us a glimpse from the angelic perspective. Found in both the Old and New Testaments, Christ’s title of Captain opens new vistas for the believer!
We first encounter the name with Joshua. As he prepared for the battle of Jericho
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. Joshua 5:14-15
Earthly battles can cause us to wonder if God is for us or against us. The Captain’s message to Joshua is important for us to hear: our battles are actually the holy ground of eternal purposes. Scripture continually reiterates that God is for us—there is no doubt of that. Recognizing that Jesus is the Captain of the Angel Armies will not only bolster our courage for life’s battles, it places those battles back in their proper realm. God’s purposes are the focus of the Captain. Lining up under the authority of the Captain assures victory!
As we consider Christ’s role as Captain of the Angel Armies, our hearts will sing with the angels as we ‘look’ at the birth of Christ. The incomprehensible truth of the leader of angels accepting the vulnerability and limitations of a helpless human infant awes my mind! No wonder the angels ‘long to look into’ this matter of salvation—their holy, all-powerful leader submitting Himself to save fallen humanity is breathtaking, is it not?
With the New Testament context of the title of Captain, the picture of Christ as grows even richer:
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Hebrews 2:10
The Captain of the Angel Armies is Captain of our Salvation! The all-powerful leader of the angels, the Creator and Sustainer of all, submitted to sufferings that He would fulfill the purposes of God: bringing fallen humanity to glory. The reality of the Captain’s humble submission to suffering to bring salvation to me reveals the love of God in a special way. As Captain, Jesus commands the powers of heaven to assure the victorious completion of the perfect will of God. May the Spirit of God illumine new facets of Christ’s beauty to each reader’s heart.
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