Joshua 2:9-11 "And she said unto the
men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is
fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
(10) For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea
for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the
Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly
destroyed. (11) And as soon as we had heard these things, our
hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because
of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth
beneath."
Part of Joshua's preparation to go into the Promised Land was to send two spies into the land. It is interesting that they first came to the great walled city of Jericho. That is an interesting point because forty years prior to this Moses had sent twelve spies into the land. Part of their report concerned the "great walled cities" of the land. Ten of those twelve spies made their determination partly based upon the great cities of Canaan. I can only imagine that Jericho was one of those cities which the spies observed. Joshua now sends these two men and they actually enter the city. They lodge at the house of Rahab, who was a harlot. The king finds out that the spies are in the city so Rahab hides them on the roof of her house. She sends the king's men in the wrong direction as they are seeking to find the men. She is used as an instrument by the Lord to save and protect these two men.
But she also was used by the Lord in another manner. Thus we come to our text for today. Rahab gives a report to these two men concerning the heart condition of Jericho. She used such definitive language in describing what has been going on in the hearts of the people for the past forty years. Yes, the negative thinking of ten men robbed Israel of forty years of living in a land that had been promised and already secured by God. Notice the words of Rahab: "I know the LORD hath given you the land." How did she know that? You can only imagine that the word preceded them as the Army of the LORD swept across the lands on their way to Canaan. "Terror is fallen upon us and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you." What a difference would have been made if the ten had stood strong in the promises of God. "We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea. We have heard what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites. When we heard these things, our hearts melted within us and there was no more courage in any man." Wow!
For just a moment, look at two pictures that were probably happening at the same time. Ten of twelve spies came back with a negative report. We saw great walled cities and the people are giants in the land. We saw ourselves as grasshoppers. The people became so frightened that their hearts melted within them. It could well have been that at that same moment, the scene within the walls of Jericho was of that same type. The people's hearts had melted and they had become reconciled to the fact that God was going to give their city to these peculiar people called Israelites. Because the people listened to the report of fear from the ten men, an entire generation of men died as the people wandered around.
What can I learn from this? We sing the song many times, "Standing on the Promises." Do I really believe what I'm singing? Am I really standing on the promises of God? Or, am I standing on those things that my eyes can see? When God places something on our hearts to do, you can be certain that He already has the outcome in His hand. We are simply called upon to trust and obey. We will see this especially in the next few chapters. God bless us that we will practice the art of listening to God and following Him.
Part of Joshua's preparation to go into the Promised Land was to send two spies into the land. It is interesting that they first came to the great walled city of Jericho. That is an interesting point because forty years prior to this Moses had sent twelve spies into the land. Part of their report concerned the "great walled cities" of the land. Ten of those twelve spies made their determination partly based upon the great cities of Canaan. I can only imagine that Jericho was one of those cities which the spies observed. Joshua now sends these two men and they actually enter the city. They lodge at the house of Rahab, who was a harlot. The king finds out that the spies are in the city so Rahab hides them on the roof of her house. She sends the king's men in the wrong direction as they are seeking to find the men. She is used as an instrument by the Lord to save and protect these two men.
But she also was used by the Lord in another manner. Thus we come to our text for today. Rahab gives a report to these two men concerning the heart condition of Jericho. She used such definitive language in describing what has been going on in the hearts of the people for the past forty years. Yes, the negative thinking of ten men robbed Israel of forty years of living in a land that had been promised and already secured by God. Notice the words of Rahab: "I know the LORD hath given you the land." How did she know that? You can only imagine that the word preceded them as the Army of the LORD swept across the lands on their way to Canaan. "Terror is fallen upon us and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you." What a difference would have been made if the ten had stood strong in the promises of God. "We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea. We have heard what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites. When we heard these things, our hearts melted within us and there was no more courage in any man." Wow!
For just a moment, look at two pictures that were probably happening at the same time. Ten of twelve spies came back with a negative report. We saw great walled cities and the people are giants in the land. We saw ourselves as grasshoppers. The people became so frightened that their hearts melted within them. It could well have been that at that same moment, the scene within the walls of Jericho was of that same type. The people's hearts had melted and they had become reconciled to the fact that God was going to give their city to these peculiar people called Israelites. Because the people listened to the report of fear from the ten men, an entire generation of men died as the people wandered around.
What can I learn from this? We sing the song many times, "Standing on the Promises." Do I really believe what I'm singing? Am I really standing on the promises of God? Or, am I standing on those things that my eyes can see? When God places something on our hearts to do, you can be certain that He already has the outcome in His hand. We are simply called upon to trust and obey. We will see this especially in the next few chapters. God bless us that we will practice the art of listening to God and following Him.