A Right Response

Reading: Joshua 2

Welcome and Prayer (Ps. 125)

Sermon

Last week, the author gave a dialogue focused narrative which laid the groundwork for the remainder of the book of Joshua. In modern literature, this type of thing is called exposition and we usually use it to provide important background that the author will not have time to “show” through the actions or events of the narrative. In the case of our passage last week, it was setting the stage for the Israelite conquest of the land of Canaan, providing necessary context for the actions of the Israelites. In that passage we learned that Joshua received instruction from the Lord and he in turn gave instruction to the people of Israel to prepare them to enter the land and begin the conquest. After receiving the Lord’s instructions, Israel responded in readiness to obey the Lord and, by extension, Joshua. Running throughout the narrative in that chapter was the main theme of the book of Joshua, God is faithful to his promises and will be with Israel generally and Joshua specifically as they conqueror the land. This week we begin to move in to the drama and action of the conquest of Canaan so let me set the stage for you. I won’t be going through the narrative analysis handout point by point like I did last week but I will try to give a good overview. Though we do not see direct obvious presence of the Lord in the narrative he is definitely at work. Joshua wants to start the conquest with something that every good military commander craves yet can never get enough, information. To that end he sends out two Israelite men to spy out the land, especially Jericho. Now I know I had this image of Jericho on my mind of some great walled metropolis but in actuality, Jericho was a relatively small city. They did have walls but instead of imposing stone walls, think more of earthen dykes with a stone retaining wall for the first 15ft of the wall then an additional 20-26ft tall mud brick wall that was about 6ft thick, still imposing but not what I initially pictured. This outer fortification is where Rahab’s house would have been with an inner ring protecting the central portion of the city. All told, the main population of Jericho during the time of Joshua would have been right around a thousand people. That said, all the people in the surrounding villages would have sought shelter from attack inside the walls of Jericho so when Israel invaded, there would have likely been between 2k and 2500 people sheltered in the city when Israel attacked. The was also well prepared for a siege with a natural spring in the center of town and, according to scripture, the harvest being just brought in. Though, from a human perspective, Jericho wasn’t a particularly large or imposing city, it still would have been nearly impossible for Israel to capture without a miracle. Nearly immediately after the spies arrive in Jericho they are discovered by some of the agents of the king and have to go into hiding. The place they choose, the house of a prostitute, would have been the best place for gathering information in the city because she was a woman for hire and would have known a lot about many of the goings on in the city because of her business. Because of her house placed in the wall and the fact that the soldiers of Jericho didn’t question what she told them, Rahab was likely a respected and affluent member of Jericho’s society. In spite of her past we see that she had already turned to the Lord before the spies arrived and when they were with her, she asked to be spared. The spies agreed to spare her and her entire family on the condition that she keep their presence and mission a secret. When the spies returned to Joshua, they gave a report, not on the land and strength of the people in it, but instead reported on the Lord’s faithfulness and his fulfillment of his promise to give the land to Israel. At the center of the action in today’s passage is the central theme of the passage, that God is the Lord over all, even his enemies.

What is a right view of God? (two presented in the passage)

Terror / Distain (King and Soldiers of Jericho)

First we are given the wrong view

The Canaanites

Movement in the right direction

Before, the Canaanites only had scorn for the Lord and his people

Terror is not enough. (Js. 2:19)

The Canaanites were no better than the demons

Fear / Respect (Rahab, The Spies, Joshua)

We are next given the correct view

Prov. 9:10

Rahab in contrast to the other Canaanites

She responded in fear which led to faith

The spies in contrast with the previous spies

Previous spies had a greater fear of men (Num. 13:32-33)

These spies have a strong fear of the Lord

“What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

What is the right response to Him? (again, two are presented)

Fighting against the Lord

The people of Jericho displayed their terror and tried to resist Him

Their fear motivated rebellion instead of faith

Faith in the Lord

Rahab’s response to the knowledge of God’s power was to turn to God in faith

She sought to make the Lord her fortress (Ps. 18:1-3)

She was given the privilege of joining the people of God and eventually being a part of the line of Christ (Matt. 1:5)

The spies responded in faith to the power of the Lord

They knew that the Lord was greater than any of the Canaanite strength (Ps. 18: 31-40)

Invitation

If anyone here has not experienced the freedom that comes with knowing our risen savior, I urge you to accept this invitation today! Christ calls all who would hear and obey to join him in eternal joy. He simply asks that we acknowledge and repent of our sins, believe that He died for our sins and confess him as Lord, continue living your life in obedience to his call! Additionally, if there is anyone here who is not a member of this church and you feel the Lord calling you to membership here I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about membership.

Any questions or need of prayer, I will be up here ready to pray with you this morning. Or, if you aren’t comfortable coming up this morning, you can stop by my office or call/text me and I would be happy to sit down with you.

Benediction

Prayer

2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.