Bob Russell
October 30, 2024
In preparation to conquer the Promised Land, Joshua sends two spies to scope out Jericho. God arranges an unlikely encounter between these two spies and a prostitute, who becomes part of the lineage of Jesus.
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Joshua 2:1-6 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies
from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they
went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2 The
king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight
to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab:
“Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have
come to spy out the whole land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and
hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they
had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I
don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with
them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the
stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)
Romans 5:13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law
was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no
law.
Hebrews 11:31 (NLT) It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute
was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she
had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
James 2:25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute
considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and
sent them off in a different direction?
Leviticus 19:11 (CSB) Do not steal. Do not act deceptively or
lie to one another.
Proverbs 12:22 The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights
in people who are trustworthy.
Ephesians 4:25 (NLT) So stop telling lies. Let us tell our
neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
·
Speak truth in every conversation.
Joshua 2:7-9 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on
the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had
gone out, the gate was shut. 8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she
went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you
this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live
in this country are melting in fear because of you.
Deuteronomy 2:25 This very day I will begin to put the terror
and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you
and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.
Deuteronomy 11:25 No one will be able to stand against you.
The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on
the whole land, wherever you go.
Joshua 2:10-11 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water
of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon
and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely
destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s
courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and
on the earth below.
Exodus 14:21–22 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the
sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and
turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went
through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their
left.
Joshua 2:11-14 for the LORD your God is God in heaven above
and on the earth below. 12 “Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you
will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me
a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my
brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from
death.” 14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell
what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives
us the land.”
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
·
When facing spiritual battles: put on the full
armor of God and pray on all occasions.
Joshua 2:15-24 So she let them down by a rope through the
window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 She said to
them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there
three days until they return, and then go on your way.” 17 Now the men had said
to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when
we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which
you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your
brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If any of them go outside your
house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be
responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on
our head if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we
will be released from the oath you made us swear.” 21 “Agreed,” she replied.
“Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied
the scarlet cord in the window. 22 When they left, they went into the hills and
stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and
returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down
out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him
everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The LORD has
surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear
because of us.”
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