GETTING STARTED
Admitting defeat is hard. No one desires it, but when defeat comes, it is all in how you handle it. Today’s passage shows the appropriate way to respond to a situation that we are powerless to control. Many times God uses circumstances to show where we should surrender, and where we should walk in faith toward victory. Sometimes defeat or victory has to slap us in the face; but, how much better would it be to experience the process of trusting God before events even come to pass?
- Can you think of a time when God made it obvious through your own experience, or the testimony of someone else, that he was moving with or without you?
READ THE WORD: JOSHUA 2:1-24 (ESV)
2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.
8 Before the men 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, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.”17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. 23 Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.”
English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
DIGGING DEEPER
(Today’s questions focus on verses 2:12-24. Verses 1-11 were covered previously.)
- How did Rahab know the Lord had given Israel the city of Jericho? What had she heard?
- When has an account of God moving through circumstance (like Rahab hearing the stories of God’s deliverance of the Israelites) created a movement or awakening of faith, or fear, in you?
- How were the lives of both Rahab and the men in each other’s hands? In what way did Rahab “surrender” to preserve herself and her family? What was the deal she made?
- In verse 24, the two men spoke with confidence of something that had not yet come to pass. In what area of your life do you feel God is showing you to be confident of his ability to deliver a victory?
RESPOND TO GOD
In this passage we see that God’s reputation preceded him, even in an unbelieving city. The stories of his goodness and favor upon Israel struck fear in the hearts of those in Israel’s way, before the Israelites had even reached the city. Rahab saw this and knew that there was only one side to be on in this scenario. By providing shelter for the spies and making a deal with them, she communicated a preemptive, individual surrender. Surely her confidence in God’s hand on Israel only further fueled the boldness with which the men could report to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands.”
- Pray that God would clearly show areas in your life where surrender is needed (like Rahab), and where a not yet realized victory should be claimed (like these men).
