Joshua 2
Some
battles seem too big for us.
Many of us
reach an uneasy truce with our battles.
Maybe your battle is with anger.
Maybe your battle is with lust.
Maybe your battle is with envy.
Maybe your battle is with lying.
We all have battles.
Jesus has
saved us. We are going to heaven. However, the battle with sin and victory in
this life continues. We accepted Christ
and received new life, but we still struggle with sin.
Is the
promised land of our salvation just for the future? Is it just for heaven, or is it for this life
and the next? I believe it is for this
life and the next.
The things
that happened to Israel are an example for us.
As the Children of Israel were to enter into the Promised Land, so, we
too, are to enter into our promised land.
Hebrews 4:1 calls it entering into his rest when it says, “God’s promise
of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some
of you might fail to experience it.”[i]
A
generation of Israelites died in the wilderness. They never entered the promised rest. They never entered the Promised Land. Hebrews 3:17 says of them, “And who made God
angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the
people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?” Hebrews 3:19 sums up the lesson we learn from
this generation. It says, “So we see
that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.”
We were not
brought out of the Egypt, otherwise known as the world, in order to end up
corpses in the wilderness.
Joshua led
the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan.
He led them into the Promised Land.
He led them into their rest.
However, it was a battle. Three
times God said to Joshua, “Be Strong and courageous.” (Joshua 1)
Joshua’s job would take courage and strength. However, the promise of God’s presence
accompanied it. God promised that no one
would be able to stand up to Joshua.
In Joshua
chapter 2, Joshua makes his first tenuous expedition into the Promised
Land. It is not an assault. It is not a bold move. He looks at the situation. Verse 1 of chapter 2 says, “He secretly sent
out two spies.”
I do not
understand what Joshua is thinking. He
could stand on his side of the Jordan and see the other side. He could look and see the walled city of
Jericho. What is he hoping to find
out? We do not know the answers to these
questions. However, we do know what
Joshua found out. He found out that God
had prepared the way before them.
As we look
at our battles, we too will find that God has prepared the way before us.
Look at
Joshua 2:1.
Then Joshua secretly sent out two
spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the
other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of
a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
I do not
think these were immoral men. One of the
commentaries I read said that the word translated “prostitute” could also be
translated “Innkeeper.” However, they
could have entered town and asked for a prostitute just to stay in disguise,
pretending to be weary travelers doing what weary travelers do. Whatever the reason, how likely was it they
would by pure chance end up at the house of the one person who would feed them,
hide them, protect them and advise them?
How is it that they just “happened” to stay the night at Rahab’s house?
God had
prepared the way.
As you set
out on your first tenuous expeditions to claim your promise, you will find that
God has prepared the way. Others have fought
the same battle you face. For example,
if your battle is anger, you will find that many have fought that battle. Or, if your battle is lust, you will find
that many have fought that battle.
The story
continues. Look at Joshua 2:2-3.
But someone told the king of
Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab:
“Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to
spy out the whole land.”
Busted! Joshua may have sent the spies out secretly,
but the enemy was not fooled. He knew
why the Israelites were there, and he was out to stop them. He was king.
This was his city. He was there
to protect it.
As you set
out on your first tenuous expeditions to claim your promise you will find that
the enemy is there and will not like you poking around in his territory.
Rahab’s
quick thinking saved the men from certain death.
Look at
verses 4 through 7 of Joshua chapter 2.
4Rahab had
hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I
didn’t know where they were from. 5They
left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with
them.” 6(Actually, she had
taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid
out.) 7So the king’s men went
looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the
Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s
men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.
Rahab was
ready. It says here that she had hidden
the spies. It does not say she was
warned in advance, but somehow she knew and she prepared a hiding place. She had hid them under flax bundles. She then diverted the search. She directed the king’s men to search in the
wrong place.
I cannot
say that you will be hidden under bundles of flax. However, God does promise in 2 Corinthians
10:13, “When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can
endure.”
God knows
what we need and prepares the way before we set out.
The men
were led by providence to the right place to stay. Their hiding place and safety were prepared
before them. Next, we will see the
information Rahab gives them.
Look at
verses 8 through 11 of Joshua chapter 2.
8Before the
spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. 9“I know the LORD has given you
this land,” she told them. “We are all
afraid of you. Everyone in the land is
living in terror. 10For we
have heard how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you
left Egypt. And we know what you did to
Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you
completely destroyed. 11No
wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing
such things. For the LORD your God is
the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
What
incredible words! “I know the LORD has
given you this land.” This came from one
of the residence of the land. She had
not lived under Moses’s leadership. She
had not eaten Manna. She had not seen
the miraculous hand of God defeating Pharaoh’s army. She had only heard about all these
things. What is more, she informs the
spies that everyone in the land has heard.
“Everyone in the land is living in terror.” “Our hearts have melted in fear!” “No one has the courage to fight.”
If Joshua
and the spies needed confirmation of God’s leading, this was it. God said to Joshua, “You are the one who will
lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would
give them.” (Joshua 1:6, NLT) The information Rahab gave them was
confirmation. Victory was guaranteed.
In our
battles, we have the same kind of information.
In John 16:33 Jesus says, “I have told you all this so that you may have
peace in me. Here on earth you will have
many trials and sorrows. But take heart,
because I have overcome the world."
Some say
there is no battle to be fought. Based
on Romans 6:11, which says, “So you also should consider yourselves to be dead
to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” And, based on other verses in Romans 6 that
say to yield control to God, some say that we are passive. However, these verses are not passive. The New Living Translation gets Romans 6:13
right when it says, “Give yourselves completely to God.” This giving ourselves to God or yielding is
not passive. “The just shall live by
faith.” (Romans 1:17) This certainly is the truth of Scripture. In addition, we are called upon to put on the
full armor of God. Furthermore, we are
called upon to stand firm. All these are
acts of faith, and they are also pictures of battle.
Many people
have gone before and have given testimony to the life of faith. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip
off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us
up. And let us run with endurance the
race God has set before us.”
God has set
a race before us. He has prepared the
way. However, there is the sin that so
easily trips us up. Sin in general will
keep us from entering the rest God has promised. Unbelief in particular is the most grievous
sin. However, each person has a sin that
easily trips him or her up. I find I
have many. Whether by natural
tendencies, upbringing or training we all have places in our life that will
trip us up.
These
places are like Jericho. They have
strong walls. They have armies.
When Moses
sent the twelve spies, ten of them came back and said, “They have strong armies
and walls we cannot do this.” Perhaps
you have fought with your favorite sin all your life and are convinced you
cannot defeat it. Listen to the voice of
Rahab. She said, “For the LORD your God
is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” (Joshua 2:11, NLT)
Jesus died
to set us free. It is possible to be
free.
I am not
talking about sinless perfection. The
Scripture is clear, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves
and not living in the truth.” (1 John
1:8, NLT) God has prepared the way
before us, but have we failed to take Jericho?
Rahab
believed God, and because of this, she took action. She arranged with the spies to save the lives
of herself and her family. Because of
her faith, God has honored her with a place in Scripture, a place in the
ancestry of Christ and we can assume a home in heaven.
The spies
who had gone out secretly on this tenuous expedition came back with this
report. “The LORD has given us the whole
land,” they said, “for all the people in the land are terrified of us.” (Joshua 2:24, NLT)
The first
step in being free is being willing to take the first step. If you are willing to send out your spies,
you will find that God has prepared the way.
If your
tongue is your Jericho, you will find the Scriptures have an answer. If your temper is your Jericho, you will find
the Scriptures have an answer. If your lust is your Jericho, you will find the
Scripture has an answer.
[i]
Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation. Copyright © 1996,
2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Excellent. I so enjoy road2answers. Thanks, Joe, for feeding this missionary-pastor.
ReplyDelete