Joshua 2:22-3:13.  So the story continues.  Rahab sent the spies in to the hills to the west and told them to wait for three days.  Then they could return east across the river to the Israelite camp.  After three days they returned and gave a good report to Joshua.  Much better than the spy mission Joshua went on forty years before (See “Intro to Joshua”).

The story is pretty simple but there are a few things I would like to mention.   Remember, this is it sort of).  About 600 years before this God promised Abraham that his descendants would have this land.  Now the Israelites are ready to enter.  But first a few instructions.  The Ark of the Covenant was to be carried before the Israelites as they journeyed into the promised land (This was one of the items used in the Tabernacle (I think I mentioned the Tabernacle in the post 2/23/12 or the “Intro to Joshua”).   The Ark was a wooden box covered with gold. On top it had two angel statues.  Inside were stone tablets with the first ten rules that God gave to Moses and a stick that had been part of a miracle in Egypt. When the tabernacle was set up only a Priest could approach it.  Only Priests could carry or touch it.  It represented God’s presence.) The Israelites were to stay about 1000 yards behind the Ark.  During the wandering in the wilderness the Israelites always followed the Ark.  During the day it would have a column of smoke above it and at night light would come up from it. Remember that there are about two million people here plus animals and carts.  Quite a caravan.  The Israelites were to “consecrate” themselves for the journey.  The word means to “prepare for something special”.  And they were assured that something special was going to happen the next day.  Notice too that the author makes a special point that the priests carrying the ark were Levites.

God then told Joshua that, starting that day, He would exalt Joshua.  Exalt means to lift up, it’s kind of like what happens after a sporting event when all of the players lift up a coach or another player.  They are showing the world who they think is the greatest or best.  God was going to lift up Joshua in the eyes of the Israelites.  They knew God had been leading Moses, now they would see that God was leading Joshua too.  Joshua then told the Israelites that they could be sure that God was with them because of what they would see the next day.  The Jordan River would separate and they would cross over on dry ground.  The miracle would give them assurance tha God would be with them and that He would push out the people that were living in the land.  This whole process mimics what had happened forty year before with Moses when they left Egypt.  The rules, the Levites, and the miracle all point to God leading.  Tomorrow we will look at the miracle a little closer.

Scholars like to say that the distance between the Ark and the people was because God wanted to make a real point of His holiness (being pure and separate).  The way the sentence is constructed in Hebrew is like, “Stay Back!”  Like on the back of a fire truck.  Don’t get too close.  The reason given by the author is that the people would know which way to go because they had not gone this way before. Some say the wording points to more that just a physical path but also to a spiritual attitude of keeping God in front and remembering that He is special.   It seems that the point is they really needed to let God lead and needed to see that He actually was leading.

If you have read “The Old testament Connection” you know God is in the process of restoring the relationship between mankind and Himself.  But it is not a general relationship, God and Mankind as a group.  It is a specific relationship God and individuals.  In the book of Revelation (Revelation 5:9)  we see angels in Heaven praising Jesus because his blood paid the price for people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. It may seem like a lot of time went by from Abraham to Joshua but God is working out His plan. 2 Peter 3:9 says God is not slow about his promise to come and rule the earth.  But He wants to maximize his kingdom.  He is not willing for any to perish but want all to turn back to him.  The reality is many will not turn back to God but many will and it all takes time.  Time to be born, to grow up, to hear, and to respond.  The Israelites waited over 600 years to be born, to grow up, to hear, and to respond.  And still really it was not enough time.  As we saw in our reading in Judges they went their own way again pretty quickly.  Even after a miracle like water standing in a pile like a wall.  They needed God in them each day.  They needed the gap closed from 1000 yards to 0.  They needed a ride on the fire truck with God at the wheel. That is what we all need our lives to be.  We need god up close and personal and for that we need Jesus.   By his death he gave us access to God (See Ephesians 2:11-22).  But we need to “consecrate ourselves”, we need to “sanctify Christ as Lord of our hearts”  (1 Peter 3:15).  Those words, “consecrate” and “sanctify”, mean the same thing, “set apart” or “dedicate”.  We need to dedicate our lives to God.  We need to follow His way not our own (that is what “repent” means) and we will enter the ultimate promised land.  God help me follow your way.  Be the driver in my life.  Slap my hand if I try to grab the wheel (not too hard though, please).  Thank you for letting me be a member of your kingdom.  Help me be patient as we wait for others to come too.  Let me call out to others as we pass by and reach out to help them on board.  Thank you God for your mercy and patience.

Joshua 2:1-21.  I had network problems this morning and the blog site also was down most of the day.  I lost the whole post this morning and had to redo it.  Then I couldn’t publish it.  Sorry this is getting our so late.  I hope it is helpful.  This is a very interesting and controversial story.  The controversy is because of how Rahab handles the soldiers who come to her door and because of  the deal the spies make with her.  In Proverbs 6:16-19 it is clear that god considers lying a sin (Sin is an archery term that means we missed the mark.  In our lives not doing the things God wants us to do is sin).  In Deuteronomy 7:1-6 God told the Israelites to destroy of ban the people of the promised land when they took it over.  They were told not to make any treaties with them.  The reason given in theses verses is so that the Israelites will not turn away fro God.  In Deuteronomy 20:16-18 the instructions were even more clear, the inhabitants were to be killed.  But in Deuteronomy 20:10-15 we see that they were allowed to leave people alive in cities that were further away.  The issue seemed to be staying pure and true to God.

Most people think that Rahab lied to the soldiers about the spies.  But I wonder if she did.  Now she clearly did not tell all that she knew.  When she was asked to bring out the men who had come to her house she admitted that they had come.  She then told the soldiers that she did not know where they had come from.  It is possible that when they first came to her house that she did not know where they were from.

Rahab had clearly heard about the Israelites and their God.  She had even come to the point in her life of believing that the Israelite God was the one true God. She had rejected the gods of her own culture. She even knew his personal name Yahweh.  Not only did she believe in Yahweh, her belief influenced her actions.  In James 2:21-25 Rahab is commended for her actions with respect to the spies.  Some scholars point out that that passage does not mention her “lies” when commending her.  Perhaps that is because she did not lie.

In Hebrews 11:31 she is listed as one of the Old Testament people who was an example of extreme faith.  In Hebrews 11:2 we see that God affirmed theses people.  There is no doubt that that does not mean that God approved of all of their actions but these two parts of the New Testament clearly link what she did to save the spies with her faith.  It seems that God was in favor of what she did.    Rahab is mentioned one other place in the New Testament.  In Matthew 1:5 she is listed as an ancestor of Jesus.  This of course does not mean that she did not lie, David is also listed and he was an adulterer and murderer.  Rahab might have lied and she certainl was a prostitute but God accepted her in spite of her sins.

Rahab then told the soldiers that at the time that the city gates were to be locked that the spies left and that she did not know where they had gone.  Again this could have been true, they could have left, gone somewhere that she did not know about, and then have returned.  So again she may have been telling the truth, just not all of it.  She then told the soldiers to chase after the spies and suggest that they might even catch them.  Again  tricky but not necessarily a lie.  Later she lets the spies down out of a window so that they could escape and tells them to go west, away from the river, and to hide until the soldiers gave up.  She clearly was good at strategy but I don’t know that she lied.

Because of her faith in who God was and what He was doing Rahab knew that the Israelites would take over her country so she asked the spies to protect her.  The spies assured her that she would be protected if she did not give them up and if she and her family would stay in her house during the attack.  She would also have to put a scarlet thread in the window to identify her house.  This part of the story would cause any Israelite to remember the Passover  (Exodus 11:4-12:13) where the Israelites were protected from the last plague that God used to get Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt.  If they would mark their door frames with blood and stay in the houses god wouldnot destroy their firstborn.  If they left, however, they would die.  The New Testament identifies the Passover as a symbol of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus would make for our sins (Read “The Old Testament Connection”).  An Israelite reding Rahab’s story would see the Passover provisions being applied to this Canaanite prostitute.

But God always had more in mind that just the Israelites.  The promise made to Abraham what that one of his descendants would save the world (Genesis 12:3).  Galatians 3:8 tells us that Jesus was that descendant and that it through our faith that Jesus is applied to our lives.  Rahab had received who God was and what He was doing into her life.  By faith she had believed in Jesus 1400 years before he was ever born (see John 1:12).

God is a loving and forgiving God.  I don’t know if Rahab lied or not, she certainly was a sinner, as are all of us.  I also don’t know if the spies technically broke a rule or not but they certainly seemed to support the intentions of God when we take the whole story together.  Peter tells us that God doesn’t want any to perish.  But purity is important too.  I’m glad I’m not god having to balance all of this out.  But he is God, no problem for him.  Lor thank you for being forgiving.  Thank you for loving me in spite of who I am and what I have done.  Thank you for offering your love and forgiveness to the who world.  It is clear that there are rules, Rahab could only be saved if she obeyed.  We see now that Jesus was the way to safely.  Thank you for the way and thank you for telling us.  Let my life please you and give me wisdom to do what is right in difficult situations.