Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 1-4.

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The Book of Joshua begins with God commissioning Joshua to lead the Children of Israel in Moses’ place.  We may not have a leadership role as Joshua did, but God has commissioned each of us to a task.  In giving us that task, God assures us that no matter the dangers and challenges of that task, He will be with us as we undertake it.  He will never leave us, nor will He forsake us.  He just asks that we be strong and courageous and do as He directs.  God promises that He will be with us wherever we go so that we need not be frightened nor dismayed.  Trust in God and do as He commands.  Remember, those commands can be summed up in two commands:
“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.”
And
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Faithfully do those things and you need not fear any man nor anything for God will be with you.

Then we come to the account of the spies and Rahab.  First, I want to note that Joshua sent only two spies into the land in advance of the invasion.  A generation earlier, Moses had sent twelve spies.  Ten of Moses’ spies gave a bad report which led the Israelites to fear invading.  This time, the two spies are analogous to Joshua and Caleb from the previous set of spies and they gave a positive report.  This made the Israelites confident to invade.   I am not sure I am making a correct connection here, but I wanted to comment on it so that I give it more thought going forward.  More important to this story is Rahab’s part.  God had commanded the Israelites to not make any deals with the people of the land.  We are intended to understand that the deal which the spies made with Rahab did not violate that command.  The difference being that Rahab recognized the God of Israel as the God over all creation and submitted herself to Him.  She chose to join herself to God’s people, rather than seeking to remain outside of them.  Rahab feared God and chose to submit herself to Him.  Actually, this shows us a difference between those who are saved and many others.  According to what Rahab said, and I believe it to be true, all of the people of Jericho feared the Israelites because they saw what God was doing for them.  They all feared God, but only Rahab was willing to act and submit herself to Him.  Even today, many people fear God, but most of them are unwilling to subjugate themselves to Him.  One note, God honored Rahab’s submission by choosing her line to bear His Son.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.