Book of Joshua - Ch. 2, Vs. 9-24 (12/14/2003)

We are in Joshua 2 verse 9. I can't see you back there.

Come up here, please.

Now, we're in Joshua chapter 2 verse 9.

And she said unto the men... Who is she, Dennis? Yes.

She said unto the men,

I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

Now, she had gleaned quite a bit of information. It's likely that this only from conjecture, having heard of their successes against the

Amorites, their colossal numbers, and seeing the state of terror and dismay which the inhabitants of her own land were reduced.

So, she's a very intelligent woman. She has figured out a lot of things.

Of course, the providence of God, as well as his own word, often terrified the wicked.

Yet those terrors which do not lead to repentance will do them no good.

They are but forerunners of their destruction. Verse 10.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did unto the two kings of the

Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, shy on an og whom you utterly destroyed.

Now, it's been some time, hasn't it, since they crossed the Red Sea? How long a span is in here,

Greg? Over 40 years. And it's still talked about.

Well, how long has it been to us since the Red Sea? However long it is, it's still talked about.

And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you.

For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in the earth beneath.

She confesses that God is God. This confession of the true

God is amazingly full. Let's look at it. And as soon as we had heard these things, the

Red Sea and everything else, our hearts did melt. I wonder if our hearts will melt.

That's going home. Neither did there remain any more courage in any man.

Greg, isn't it amazing how God can turn the hearts of man?

He just turns it wherever he will. He can cause them to fear, to rejoice.

And all the time that he does that, man thinks it's his decision.

Then she says, the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in the earth beneath.

David, how much more full could that be? God in heaven and in earth.

Well, as if she had said, I know your God to be omnipotent, omnipresent.

And in consequence of this faith, she hid the spies, risked her own life in doing it.

But how had she this clear knowledge of the divine nature?

Dennis, how did she know these things?

That's the most amazing statement. She must have received this instruction from the spies, with whom she appears to have had a good deal of conversation.

Or she had it from the supernatural influence of God upon her own soul.

Which was it, David? Yes, it had to.

And again I say, isn't it amazing? You're sitting there thinking.

And you think this and you think that. God guides your thinking.

She probably made a better choice, better use of the light that she had received than the rest of the countrymen.

We know she made good use of it. God increased that light.

12. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the

Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token.

Greg, what is it that she's wanting? Alright, but what about this token?

Dennis, you have any thoughts on that?

Alright. David, expand that a little. That's what it was.

The token was some object. Something physical, as she could see. Your God, who is the only true

God. So she owns his worship. One imminent act.

Whereof is swearing by his name. My father's house, my near kindred, which she particularly names.

Husband and children, it seems she had none. And for herself, it was needless to speak.

It being a plain and undeniable duty to save their preserver. The word's true token, either an assurance that you will preserve me and mine from the common ruin, or a token which

I may produce as a witness of this agreement and means of my security.

This is all that she asks. But God did for her more than she could even dream.

You remember afterwards she was advanced to be a princess of Israel, the wife of Solomon, and one of the ancestors of Christ.

Who would have ever thought that she was in the line that Christ came from,

Joy? It's mind -boggling to us, because we can only see the physical.

Thirteen, and that you will save alive my father and my mother and my brethren and my sisters and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

Now, Dennis, she didn't ask for her husband or her children.

Why didn't she? Besides that, she didn't have any.

But she wants to make sure that all of her family is saved from this destruction.

David, she seems to have no doubt but what the slaughter is coming.

Is that right? She had learned either from the spies or otherwise that all of the inhabitants of the land were doomed to destruction.

I can't help but reflect on Sodom Hussein this morning.

Caught him down in a hole just like a rat. Well, destruction is coming, and therefore she obliges them to enter into a covenant with her for the preservation of herself and her household.

Now, I'm going to make a statement that I know is true, but I haven't liked it since I heard of it way back in my teenage years.

How many of you remember in the Civil War that Sherman burned everything across the

South? He just drew a line to the ocean, and he burned everything.

How many of you remember that? Well, I remember it personally.

That was the only way the North could win, and win quickly. Now, there may be some other way for Bush.

I don't know. But I would say this is the only way that he will win is to kill all of those people.

Now, that sounds hard to us. God slaughtered nations.

All of the people in the promised land. Well, let's move on.

Verse 14. This was a solemn pledge on their part.

A virtual oath on their part. Though the name of God's not mentioned.

Now, was there any doubt in the mind of these spies, David, that they were going to win?

No doubt. And the words were added not as a condition of their commitment, but as necessary for her safety, which might be endangered if the private agreement was divulged.

So they come to an agreement on both sides, and one that cannot be broken without somebody knowing it.

We should be careful in promising only what is practical and right.

That's so necessary in our life. Sometimes when asked something to do something, we'll promise most anything.

And as I said last Sunday and the Sunday before, it's easy to promise at the beginning.

But when we make such promises, we should conscientiously and faithfully fulfill them.

Because God holds you to it. If you promised

God that you would quit smoking, or that you would do this or that, be very careful in that.

Because you must fulfill it. Voluntary on your part.

All right, 15. Then she let them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

Now, she had a window that looked out to the countryside,

I would say. Either the wall of the city made a part of her house, or her house was built close to the wall, so the top of it were above the wall, with a window that looked out to the country.

As the city gates were now shut, and the gates were set in this wall for what?

Joy. For protection.

See, there was no national government. Every community was a government unto itself.

But since there was no way for the spies to escape through the gates, this was the only way.

Through the window. Greg, God has said, through Jesus our

Lord, that he will never put upon you anything you cannot handle.

Do you believe that? Now, that way does not exclude death, but it would be an escape.

And in order to do this, she let them down through the window, in a basket suspended by a cord or rope, till they reached the ground on the outside of the wall.

So, she takes a rope. Rope might have been, everybody might have had a rope,

I don't know. I believe this rope was a good size, and the color that she was going to hang a piece of it in her window.

And she lets them down through a basket. I don't know if they made one trip or two trips.

Whether the rope was long enough to reach the ground, I don't know. But the spies escaped.

And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourself there three days, until the pursuers be returned.

And afterward, may ye go your way. Now, she had to do this ahead of time.

She had not let them down yet. And she mentions a mountain.

I take that to be some of the mountains where Jericho was surrounded or encompassed.

Which also there were many, many caves. In that part of the world, caves are very numerous.

They were to hide three days. Why three,

David? I don't think she just makes a rash statement.

Now, it was not three full days, but it could have been a part of a day, and then a full day, and then a part of a day.

And they count that three days. And the men said unto her,

We will be blameless of this thine oath, which thou hast made us swear.

Now, they said, or had said, namely before she let them down, of course, it being very improbable either that she would dismiss them before the condition was agreed on.

Now, put yourself in her place. You're dealing with foreigners, a very powerful foreigner.

They are Israelites. She has acknowledged their

God. She's doing everything to protect them, and she's doing everything to help them escape.

Greg, do you suppose that they thought of the basket and rope? I think she did.

This could not, this probably was not the only time, but we're not told of any others.

Well, she would discuss with them, or they with her, about such a mighty thing after they were let down.

When others might overhear them, they discussed it inside the room.

The plans were made, and she let them down. And they say that free from guilt or reproach, if it be violated, namely, if the following conditions be not observed.

So they set up some conditions for both to observe.

18. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by, and thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's household home unto thee.

Now, the Bible says she hung a thread. I doubt if that would have been what it was.

I think it was a piece of the rope. A thread would not be seen.

At least, I couldn't see it. As they come into the land, there seems to be no doubt,

Dennis, on anybody's part, but they're coming into the land. Now, a point

I made last week I want to refresh. Moses sent twelve men.

Jacob sends three, or two. Which is it? Two. Why the difference,

Dennis? All right.

It's good to look over, as much as you know, what prospects you have, to know the whole picture as far as possible.

But when you start, don't look at the whole picture. Look at what's ahead of you.

Work toward a goal, and all of the time, all

Joshua has to do is to take Jericho, one city, into the land that is over Jordan and near the city.

This line of scarlet, probably the same with which she had let them down.

That would be very fitting, that it may be easily discerned by the soldiers when they come.

19. And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless.

20. And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon you.

Now, what kind of an agreement was this?

Give me both sides of it, Joy. All right,

I think it's important that we see that they go not out of the house.

What does that bring to mind, David? All right.

Greg, can you add to that? That's right.

So, isn't it strange that it's just repeating with different things the same idea?

Our head, we will be willing to bear the sin and shame and punishment of it be upon him so as to kill him, those that go out, those that stay in.

20. And if thou utter this business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

What's that mean, Dennis? If she would do what?

So, agreement was made in secret, only to her and her family.

It was prudent to make her life depend on the secrecy. Had it been otherwise, she might have been tempted to give information not only concerning the spies but concerning the designs of the

Israelites. So, it was protection for the Israelites as well as the spies and for herself.

But her life being at stake, added to every other motive. She kept the secret for the sake of her own personal safety and that of all of her relatives.

And she said, according unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away and they departed and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Now, here's a woman, lives in a town, is known all over the town.

They have heard about the Red Sea Crossing some 40 years earlier.

She knows that the army is coming. The army is on the other side of the river and the river is at flood stage.

Now, can you see anything on the part of the town that would cause them to not worry,

Greg? Well, the town is really concerned because the river is at flood stage.

There's no bridges. What? No, but they've got a little time.

That's right. They know they're coming, but they don't know when.

So until we know when, I'm not going to prepare myself. Yes.

Does that remind you of anything? David, that's what this harlot did.

She knows they're coming. She knows that all of the people are doomed.

But she doesn't broadcast it. She quietly goes to her family and gets them to come to her house.

She convinces them. Can you see the urgency on her part? In the window forthwith, partly that the spies might see it hung out before their departure, and so the better known it is at a distance, partly lest some accident might occasion a neglect about it.

They're not the only ones that know now. When they get back on their side and it's noised about, they will look for that rope.

And they went and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned, and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

You know, all we have to do is follow God's instructions, not be anxious or concerned.

We certainly can protect ourselves. But even that he guides.

These men hid from the enemy that was pursuing them.

Ray had a harlot. There's other names.

We don't know if she was or if she had formerly been, but that's beside the point.

If God will use a harlot in his bloodline on earth, certainly we have opportunity.

And they continue then when they leave on the road to Jordan and the places near it, but not in the mountains.

So the two men returned and descended from the mountain and passed over and came to Joshua, the son of Nun, and told him all of these things that befell them.

Greg, this was the news that he wanted. And they said unto

Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all of the land, for even all of the inhabitants of the country to faint before us.

Now, Greg, are they, well, they're not discouraged, are they?

They think they can take it. Now, David, had they been promised this promised land?

By the very name promised land. They occupied about a tenth of it.

How different was this report from the report brought by the former when

Moses sent a man, Joy? They found that all the inhabitants of the land were panic -stricken.

Now, the people had heard the great exploits of the Israelites on the other side of Jordan as they had destroyed the potent kings of Amorites and took it for granted that nothing could stand before them.

This information was necessary to Joshua to guide him in the forming of the plan of his campaign.

What I started to say a while ago, the land had been promised to them, but they could take it only as they possessed it.

Dennis, why didn't God just drive everybody out? And you had to work for that.

They had to fight for it. That's not unlike today. He does not just drive your enemies away without you doing anything.

God insists on our cooperation. Well, it may be asked, did not

Rahab lie the account that she gave to the officers to take to the king of Jericho?

She said, there came men unto me. I answered, she certainly did. And the inspired writer sets it down, the fact as it stood.

He didn't change one bit of it. She told a lie.

Then you might ask, well, was she not rewarded for it? Not for the lie, she wasn't.

She was rewarded for her hospitality and faith, but not for the lie.

Well, you ask, could she have saved the spies without telling a lie?

Dennis, could have.

We don't know how, but she could have. Though nothing worse than an innkeeper, half of the nicer distinctions between truth and falsehood, living under a most heathen nation, depraved people,

I say again, she may not have looked at a lie like we look at a lie.

To us, it would have been a lie. There is a lax morality in the world that recommends a lie rather than the truth.

That's so true today. We're bombarded on television.

A politician does nothing but lie. People do nothing but lie.

There is a lax morality in the world that recommends a lie rather than the truth.

When the purposes of religion and humanity can be served by it, when it benefits you, it's all right to lie.

Well, you've asked a very good question. I don't know the answer.

I know that I stand for God and the law. I know that his religion is an eternal system of truth and can never be served by a lie.

But what do you do about camouflage? What do you do about deceiving the enemy? Somehow, that's not a lie.

Somehow, it is. The old saying, let us do evil that good may come from it.

God didn't plan it that way. The way he planned it, it works. So I don't know,

Roger. Camouflage itself is a lie. Well, we have to look at their motive.

We have to look at the motive of ourselves. You cannot do evil and expect good as far as man's concerned.

Though the hand of God was in everything that concerned the Israelites, they were taught to consider that by his might alone they were to possess the promised land.

I don't know if they all believed that, but his will will be done.

Yet they were as fully convinced that if they did not use the counsel or the prudence or strength which they had received from him, they would not succeed.

Hence, while they depended on the divine direction and power, they exercised their own prudence, put forth their own strength, and thus they were workers together with him.

I see it no different today. If our motive is right, we don't need to lie about it.

As we cannot expect any success either in things spiritual or temporal unless we walk by the same rule and mind the same things as our

Lord did. I don't know the answer. I guess it would depend upon the immediate situation.

Know this, that there is nothing. You can do nothing except the will of God.

Even if you do it in rebellion, it's the will of God. Not the rebellion, but his will.

Well, I've run over five minutes, but we're...