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."
"And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there." (Joshua 2:1) If we remember, one of the things that struck fear into the hearts of the 10 spies was the fact that Canaan had "great walled cities." Their fear spread throughout the camp and as a result, the men who were 20 years and older were not allowed to go into the Promised Land. What they didn't know was that their fear was a worldly fear and at the same time, God was striking fear into the hearts of the people of one of those great walled cities: Jericho. Notice what Rahab said unto the 2 spies who were sent into the city: "I know that the LORD hath given you the land... For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea... and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites... And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt." Isn't God amazing? You see, all those men who died in the wilderness could have experienced this same report if they had simply believed and obeyed the Lord.
Rahab was not some super bionic woman. No, actually we are told that she was an
harlot. When you look at the lineage of Jesus in the book of Matthew, you will
see that she was one of the "misfits" that is listed. She became the
mother-in-law of Ruth who was the grandmother of David. Yes, God's amazing
grace transformed this harlot named Rahab into an amazing piece of history
whose line came down to Jesus. I repeat the question from above. Isn't God
amazing? He is able to use anyone that He chooses to be whatever He intends us
to be. He used Rahab to be the source of assurance that God was going to give
the great city of Jericho into the hands of Israel. We will look more at this
tomorrow, the Lord willing, but for today let us meditate upon the fact of
God's providential power in preparing the victory for Israel even 40 years
before it took place. The people of Jericho had been waiting for 40 years while
expecting the arrival of Israel and now they are on the outskirts of the city.
God is great! God is good!
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His promise
Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord"
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more