Joshua 2:1-24

Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009
Lesson 11: We can have faith that God will do big things in our lives.
Bible Study: Joshua Sends Spies to Jericho (Joshua 2:1-24)

REVIEW:  We left the Israelites in Joshua 1 as they prepared to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

Background Jericho

Jericho may be one of the oldest cities known on earth with archaeological evidence suggesting some of the earliest humans were here. 
Archaeology has unearthed remains that date back to 9,000 B.C. .. the Bible dates Creation to be 4,000 B.C.
Archaeology suggests that Joshua conquered the city around the beginning of the 13th-century BC. (1290’s B.C.)  … the Bible dates it at 1451.B.C. . . . much closer!

This city is well known from a biblical perspective because of the story of Joshua's siege (Joshua 6), Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), and Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).

Very little of the Jericho, which would have existed at the time of Joshua's siege, remains to this day. Joshua is recorded as having completely destroyed the city. This would have been consistent with the standards of the time for invading armies. Joshua cursed the town, and it was not rebuilt until ninth-century BC. (300 - 500 years later!)

·    What "big thing" do you believe God wants you to do in life?
·    What is helping you move towards achieving this “big thing”?
·    What is hindering you?

Joshua 2 (vv.  1 – 24)

Rahab receives and hides two Israelites (vv.  1-7)

1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”
3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”
4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) 7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

The Knowledge of God directed the spies to the house of Rahab.  God knew where there was one that would be true to them, though the spies did not. 
That which seems to us to be accidental, is often driven by God to serve great ends.
It was by faith that Rahab received those with peace, against whom her king and country had war.
We are sure this was a good work; it is so spoken of by the apostle, James 2:25 and in Hebrews 11:31 … and she did it by Faith
Those only are true believers, who find in their hearts to venture out for God
The spies were led by the special providence of God, and Rahab entertained them out of regard to Israel and Israel's God
Not twelve, as Moses did, because those were to view the whole land, these but a small parcel of it.
Probably Israel had but one friend in all Jericho: and God directed them to her! Thus what seems to be most accidental, is often to serve the great ends of God.
For those that acknowledge God in their ways, He will guide them with his eye.


Rahab and the spies (vv.  8-21)

8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
14 So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.”
17 So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.”

Rahab had heard of the miracles that the Lord did for Israel. .. Another reason for their wanderings!
She believed that His promises would certainly be fulfilled, and his threats!
and that there was no way of escape but by submitting to Him
The conduct of Rahab proved that she had the real principle of Divine faith.
Those who will be conscientious in keeping promises, are cautious in making them ... The spies make needful conditions.
The scarlet cord, like the blood upon the doorpost at the Passover, is similar to the sinner's security under the atoning blood of Christ
The same cord Rahab used for the saving of these Israelites, was to be used for her own safety.
What we serve and honor God with, we may expect He will bless, and make useful to us.



The return of the spies (vv.  22-24)

21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
22 They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. 23 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”

The report the spies brought was encouraging.
All the people of the country faint because of Israel.
They have neither wisdom to yield, nor courage to fight.
Those terrors of conscience, and that sense of Divine wrath, which dismay the ungodly, but don’t bring them to repent, are fearful forebodings of approaching destruction. But His Grace still abounds to sinners … let them go to Christ immediately and all shall be well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joshua was a great general, born a slave in Egypt.
40 years old at time of Exodus (one of spies),
80 years old when he received his commission,
110 years old at his death.
He was a man of prayer, courage, dependence upon God, faith, leadership, enthusiasm, and fidelity. He is a type of Christ in name and work.
Joshua shows that a man of average ability may become a
leader in the church. He received his call not in flaming letters
across the sky, but from an old man, who knew God and knew
Joshua, and saw that he was fitted by God to be a leader.

PURPOSE:  Completes redemption out of Egypt. Salvation is not only a redemption from hell, but it is a redemption to heaven.

TRANSITION:  Up to this point Jehovah had spoken by dreams, visions, or by angelic ministry. Now a new method is introduced. The Law of Moses is the written voice of Jehovah (Joshua 1:8).

Chapter 2 — Spies are sent in, not to see if they could enter the land, but to explore the best way. The report of these spies is in verse 24. God turns aside to save the harlot Rahab. She believed God (vv.
10-13; cf. Hebrews 11:31). The mayor of Jericho could have been saved had he, too, believed God. No one needed to have died.

Matthew 1  The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.

Rahab’s house was against the outer wall of Jericho and yet it was preserved, as promised, when the walls of Jericho came down.  In 1907-1909, German excavations of this Jericho site found some houses still standing against a lower wall while everything else had been demolished.

Abraham’s days: 
Genesis 15:16 -- But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Count with me please from Abraham (around 1900 B.C.)  : 
 1. Isaac -- 2. Jacob -- 3. Joseph -- 4. Moses/Joshua (1400’s B.C)
God gave the Amorites over 400 years to “get right”