1 April 2020 – Joshua 4:1-7 Tuesday, Mar 31 2020

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” – Joshua 4:1-3

Reminiscent of the Exodus, the LORD has dramatically delivered His people through the Jordan. Now, it is the LORD who speaks and who directs how this event will be memorialized. “This literary design of the author impresses again that the LORD initiates all that is happening, as indeed God Himself accomplishes all that is necessary for the salvation of His people. It also reinforces that Joshua is the LORD’s chosen leader whom He is exalting (Harstad).”

Representatives from each of the tribes are involved in gathering the stones for the memorial. Significantly, they don’t simply gather 12 stones from the river. They gather 12 stones from where the Ark was still being carried in order to draw attention to Yahweh’s gracious and powerful first act in conquering the Promised Land on behalf of His people.

Why build such a memorial? The answer is simple, even if it is rather humbling: We need to be reminded of the LORD’s great acts of deliverance because we are by nature (fallen nature that is) a forgetful people. Just as children were intended to ask at Passover, “What makes this night different from other nights?” – a question which would lead to parents retelling God’s mighty saving acts on behalf of His people – this stone memorial was intended so that when children asked “What does this memorial mean?” – parents would explain how the LORD miraculously brought them into the Promised Land.

Adolph Harstad writes:

For God’s people in the NT era, it is the Word and Sacraments that memorialize. God’s accomplished acts of salvation and that inculcate the faith in younger generations. Parents are to teach their children the Scriptures “from infancy,” even as Timothy was so taught. Every time a Baptism takes place in church, it is a golden opportunity for parents to teach their children about the significance of their own children having been baptized into the body of Christ and into the Christian faith. As they teach, the parents too recall their blessings of being a baptized child of God.

While the Israelites recalled and celebrated their redemption when they saw the stones that served as a “sign” and “memorial,” NT Christians celebrate their redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ in a memorial meal: the Lord’s Supper. When Christ instituted it, He commanded, “This do in my remembrance.” The Supper is far more than a pile of stones. It does provide an excellent opportunity to teach children about Christ’s passion and atoning death, since it has a kerygmatic purpose: “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 15

Q. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit.

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31March 2020 – Joshua 3:14-17 Monday, Mar 30 2020

So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. – Joshua 3:14-17

The LORD had promised. The LORD delivers on His promise. Experiencing the faithfulness of God in this miraculous way was intended to build up the faith of the Israelites and to give glory to God. One of the astonishing things about all of the great things that the LORD does for His people is that the covenant people seem to so quickly forget God’s power and faithfulness when faced with either great challenges or sustained ease. This means that a key part of living a faithful Christian life is actively remembering the faithfulness and goodness of the LORD acting on our behalf. We do this primarily through celebrating the means of grace, chiefly the word of God, the sacraments, and prayer. Adolph Harstad comments:

Like God’s NT miracles, the amazing act at the Jordan is not designed merely to entertain or provide physical benefit alone (See John 20:30-31). [The miracle the LORD performed] at the Jordan inspires faith in Him at the same time that it authenticates His chosen leader, whose primary ministry prepares for the greater NT “Joshua.”

God’s power over the waters that He created from nothing is emphasized in Scripture from the beginning. It is further seen in the flood account, the Red Sea miracle, the amazing act at Israel’s crossing of the Jordan, and Jesus’ ability to walk on water and to calm the waves made of it. Water, which is a basic substance of this creation and a necessity for life, must bow to the LORD to serve His purposes of both judgment and grace (e.g., the pursuing Egyptians were drowned, and the Canaanites will be conquered, whereas the Israelites pass through on their way to life with God). His people are to stand in awe and in faith.

Christians are reminded by this miracle that when we “tread the verge of Jordan” by God’s grace, our fears can sink and our faith can thrive. Ours is the powerful and gracious “Lord of all the earth,” who cause the waters of Jordan to rise in a heap to let His people pass. He is Jesus, “attested by God to you by miracles and portents and sign” (Acts 2:22). By his greatest miracle, His own resurrection from the dead, we inherit far more than the land of the Canaanites; we own “an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and unfading – kept in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:4).

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 15

Q. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit

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30 March 2020 – Joshua 3:9-13 Sunday, Mar 29 2020

Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” – Joshua 3:9-13

It is instructive to pay attention to how Joshua speaks about God in order to reassure the Israelites. Joshua doesn’t play on ethnic pride by saying, “You can do it! You are children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Nor does Joshua try to convince them that he is a military mastermind with a brilliant plan for battle. Rather he points to the people to their God.

LORD your God. This designation uses the covenant name of Yahweh (translated by LORD in all caps), to remind Israel that Yahweh is the covenant keeping God. He has promised. He will deliver on His promise. To the covenant name Joshua adds “your God” to remind the people that this covenant keeping God has entered into a family relationship of covenant loyalty with them. They are His people. He is their God.

Living God. This designation reminds the Israelites that they aren’t worshipping blocks of wood. It is sometimes said that Religion is about man’s search for God, while Theology is about God’s search for man. Joshua is doing theology. He is reminding Israel that Yahweh is the living God who chose them, who promised the land to Abraham and to His offspring, and that this living God will act to bring His promises to pass. In the Bible, “Living God” is commonly used when the author is emphasizing the power of the LORD and the fact that the LORD is a God who acts on behalf of His people and for His own glory.

Lord of All the Earth. This beautiful designation for God stands over against henotheism and reminds us of one of the central functions of Genesis 1 and 2 in the history of redemption. Sometimes people confuse monotheism and henotheism. Henotheism was the belief that each nation could have only one God. For Israel, this God would be Yahweh. Yet, if Israel was henotheistic, the Canaanites could have their own god or gods. But the Bible doesn’t teach henotheism – that there is only one God for the people of Israel. The Bible teaches monotheism – that there is only one God who created the heavens and the earth. If the Jews were tempted to think in henotheistic terms, they would have wondered whether or not their God was going to be able to fully conquer the so-called gods of the Canaanites. But Yahweh is not merely the God of Israel. He is the Lord of all the earth. Christians sometimes still need to hear this reminder. Jesus isn’t just King over His Church. He sits on the throne of the universe and governs all things.

Please note: The word rendered “Lord” in “Lord of all the earth” is not Yahweh but Adonai. One of the downsides to using LORD in all caps to render the covenant name of God is that it is easy to ignore this convention when we are simply reading through the Bible. Adonai is a title for God that emphasizes His absolute sovereignty. This is one of the main things that Israel was supposed to learn from Genesis chapter 1. The God who was delivering them out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, is the God who spoke the entire universe into existence. They didn’t need to fear anything or anyone in Canaan – so long as the God who is absolutely sovereign over everything that exists was with them – and neither do we! It is not surprising, therefore, that Joshua would repeat this title – Lord of all the earth – twice, as he encourages God’s people to prepare to cross the Jordan.

It is, therefore, not surprising that Joshua doesn’t assembly the most valiant warriors in Israel’s army to be the first to cross the Jordan. Rather, the Ark of the LORD will go first, for the battle belongs to the LORD!

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 14

Q. What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

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28 March 2020 – Joshua 3:7-8 Friday, Mar 27 2020

And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” – Joshua 3:7-8

Adolph Harstad writes:

What is the LORD’s aim in performing a miracle at the Jordan? The immediate answer would seem to be to transport His people into the Promised Land. But that aim He could fulfill in some les spectacular way – with a human engineering project involving ropes, rafts, or boats. The LORD, as the text explicitly states, has planned an awesome act at the river for several father-reaching purposes. The first is revealed in 3:7 and the last is made explicit at the very end of the account of the two chapters: according to 4:22-24, the miracle shows all peoples that the God of Israel is the only God who is strong to save.

The LORD Himself state[s] the first immediate aim of His miracle to being to exalt Joshua in the eyes of all Israel. The author will present this aim as fulfilled in 4:14. The LORD Himself will see to it that Joshua receives the honor due his divinely given ministerial office and the respect necessary for governing the covenant nation at this critical time of the conquest of the Land of Promise. After this special day no one in “all Israel” will be able to accuse Joshua of usurping the office left vacant by Moses’ death. The nation will experience something from the LORD that will magnify Joshua in their eyes.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 13

Q. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

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27 March 2020 – Joshua 3:1-6 Thursday, Mar 26 2020

Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it.” Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them. – Joshua 3:1-6

Who will lead Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land? We might be tempted to think, “Just as Moses led Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, Joshua will lead Israel, through the Jordan, and into the Promised Land. That isn’t entirely wrong, except we should note that it wasn’t Moses but the LORD who led Israel out of Egypt. The LORD went before Israel as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day. At one point, this theophany moved from in front of Israel to behind Israel to protect Israel from the pursuing Egyptian Army. The LORD was Israel’s defense and the LORD was Israel’s guide. He still is!

This is why Joshua chapters 3 and 4 focus so clearly on the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was the sign of the LORD’s presence with His covenant people – a sign that Israel had experienced from the giving of the Ten Commandments on Sinai through the rest of their wilderness travels. In the wilderness, God had used the Ark to direct Israel’s movement. At the start of each stage of the journey, Moses would speak the poetic words quaoted in Numbers 10:35 as the ark set out:

Arise, O LORD!

May Your enemies be scattered;

            May those who hate You flee before You!

Then, when the ark would come to rest at the end of each stage, Moses would speak the refrain in Numbers 10:36: “Return, O LORD, to the myriads of Israel’s thousands.”

Thus, the movement of the Ark not only signified the presence and leadership of the LORD, it revealed His presence and guidance to His covenant people. This is also true of the sacraments and the preaching of the word of God. Adolph Harstad writes:

As the OT ark of the covenant brought both judgment and salvation, so too the NT means of grace can be abused, resulting in condemnation – even though God desires them to bring salvation. Practices involving the means of grace that are contrary to their divine institution and purpose incur God’s wrath and punishment (e.g., 1 Cor 11:27-34). Likewise, the ark by itself is not to be thought of as a freewheeling magic box with inherent powers that can be manipulated, any more than the bread and wine of communion are to be credited with intrinsic power apart from Christ’s promises and His command to eat and drink. Later, Israel will attempt to use the ark as a kind of talisman, with disastrous results (1 Samuel 4-6). Thus the OT too shows that God’s means of grace are not ex opera operato; they must be employed reverently in faith and in concord with God’s word (e.g., 2 Sam 6:5-11), and when received in faith God pours out His blessing (e.g., 2 Sam 6:12).

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 12

Q. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?
A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.

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26 March 2020 – Joshua 2:22-24 Wednesday, Mar 25 2020

When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.” – Joshua 2:22-24

“We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” That is what the Apostle Paul said. That is what the two faithful spies say as well. Adolph Harstad writes:

The account of these two agents is far different from the withering report of the ten disbelieving spies from among the dozen sent to reconnoiter Canaan thirty-eight years earlier. Those past and these present spies saw the same basic conditions in Canaan. The difference is that these two young men give their analysis from a stance of trust in God’s promises. From their perspective of faith in the LORD, their account is like the earlier minority report of Joshua and Caleb and the antithesis of the “bad report” given by the majority of ten.

It is easy to manipulate bare facts to make them line up with one’s outlook. If the two spies had not accepted the LORD’s assurance of triumph in the upcoming war against Canaan, they could have presented before Joshua a bleak and discouraging picture of slim changes for taking the land. They could have emphasized Jericho’s strong city walls, the vigilant king, citizens bent on protecting their city, a surging river, and the fact that they narrowly escaped being captured by the king’s soldiers. The chances of finding victory, according to that faithless interpretation, would have been like finding a needle in a flax stack. But the two emissaries see the bare facts in the light of Yahweh’s promises. In faith they conclude, “Indeed, the LORD has given into our hand the whole land.” They have not slighted any facts, not evening the frightening ones: “They reported to him all the things that had happened to them.” The obstacles and formidable challenges, however, do not blind them from seeing the truth that the LORD keeps all His promises.

Faith in God’s promises makes all the difference in the way we report on the condition of our lives. Without Scripture-based trust that the LORD controls all things for the good of His people, it is easy to give a negative report like that of the ten spies in Numbers 13. The realities surrounding God’s people today may include some of the same evils faced by ancient Israel. The catalogs of sins practiced by Israel’s neighbors but forbidden to Israel in Leviticus 18 and 20, for example, include idolatry; various kinds of sexual immorality including homosexuality; ad child sacrifice. Christians today face increasing intolerance and persecution. There are terrorist attacks; the possibility of nuclear holocaust; economic uncertainty; loss of employment; problems of health; pollution; moral decay all around; the deterioration of schools; experiments in cloning humans; the specter of abortion, euthanasia, and the culture of death. Within the church there are scandals; disregard for the sacred Scriptures; acceptance of false doctrines; abandonment of salutary worship practices; the appointment of unfit persons to church offices; and widespread unfaithfulness, even apostasy.

Yet while resting on God’s promises we can be both realistic and hopeful – even joyful. We can report that we are “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Rom 8:37). Even the cataclysms that will accompany the end of the world are signs of hope for the believer. In the middle of events that will cause people to faint from terror, believers can stand up, lift up their heads and proclaim this message: Contrary to all appearances, our redemption though Jesus Christ draws near! See Luke 21:25-28

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 11

Q. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

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25 March 2020 – Joshua 2:15-21 Tuesday, Mar 24 2020

So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.” Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on usunless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.” “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window. – Joshua 2:15-21

Adolph Harstad writes:

The faithfulness of Rahab does not end when she secures the oath she wants. With a rope, she lets the spies down through a window in her house. It seems that she lived within a chamber of a casemate city wall that was Jericho’s defense. Rahab urges the spies to head for the hill country toward the west, while the pursuers are searching toward the east, in the direction of the Jordan. It is this detail of her continuing faithfulness that James notes as a second proof of Rahab’s living faith: after “she received the messengers,” she “sent (them) away by another road” (James 2:25). The hills in the area have many nooks and caves or hiding. In caves a few miles to the south, the Dead Sea Scrolls remained hidden for about two thousand years, some in three-feet tall clay jars. Two clever agents, though twice as tall as those jars, could hide in similar caves for days without notice, especially with their pursuers chasing the wrong way. …

The spies state the conditions of the oath with great care. Oaths using the LORD’s name call for clarity so that they may be followed precisely. The importance of not violating such an oath is highlighted by the Second Commandment: “You shall not lift up the name of the LORD your God in vain, because the LORD will not deem innocent someone who lifts up His name in vain.” Later, a hasty oath carelessly sworn by Israel to the Gibeonites also calls for a clear understanding of the stipulations of the oath so that there will be no confusion at the critical time of attack in the chaos of battle. …

The function of the cord of scarlet thread may be purely practical. It may serve as an outstanding marker of the house that Israel will safeguard. Scarlet may have been an ancient equivalent of today’s “optic orange” (worn by hunters and highway workers for safety). The author mentions no further significance of the cord and its color, nor does the NT.

Nevertheless, Christian interpreters from the time of the early church down to the present have attached symbolism to the blood-colored cord and have associated it with the cleansing blood of Christ. The former “woman of scarlet” was “justified” or declared righteous through the scarlet-colored blood of the Lamb, whose sacrifice was prefigured by the sacrifices of the covenant nation of which Rahab became a member. Especially relevant may be the Passover lamb, since Josh 5:10-12 will narrate the celebration of the first Passover in Canaan, and St. Paul declares, “Christ our Passover, has been sacrificed.” The fact that Rahab’s family is kept safe in the house marked by the scarlet cord may also remind us of the first Passover, forty years earlier in Egypt, when the blood of a lamb on the doorposts and lintel marked and saved the families of Israel form the death of the firstborn.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 10

Q. How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

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24 March 2020 – Joshua 2:8-14 Monday, Mar 23 2020

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.” – Joshua 2:8-14

It is instructive to compare what Rahab tells these two faithful spies with what the ten faithless spies told Israel nearly a generation earlier. The spies reported …

… the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” … “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

The conclusion is key. “We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” But even 40 years later, Rahab tells a different story with three big points:

1. We know that the LORD has given you this land;
2. The dread of you has fallen upon us; and
3. All of the inhabitants of the land have melted before you.

And isn’t it interesting that Rahab traces this knowledge all the way back to the LORD drying up the Red Sea during the Exodus? The faithless spies, and the stiff-necked people, may have forgotten how great their God was, but the people of Jericho had been terrified of Him for 40 years! They were terrified of the LORD, but only Rahab feared Him with the reverent awe which flows from faith.

By the grace of God, Rahab, with true faith, makes a beautiful confession of the LORD using His covenant name Yahweh: “For Yahweh your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” And as the LORD so frequently does, He will use the faith of one person to ultimately deliver her entire household from death.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 9

Q. What is the work of creation?
A. The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

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23 March 2020 – Joshua 2:1-7 Sunday, Mar 22 2020

Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. – Joshua 2:1-7

As Joshua sends spies into the land of Canaan, we naturally think back to nearly four decades earlier when Joshua, Caleb, and ten other men were sent as spies by Moses into the Promised Land. That mission ended in complete disaster, as ten of the men brought back a bad report – that there were Giants in the land, and that there was no way that the Israelites could conquer them. Only Joshua and Caleb were strong in faith. They didn’t deny that the occupants of the land seemed far too formidable for Israel to conquer, but their faith wasn’t in Israel but in Israel’s God. Now only Joshua and Caleb of those 12 spies gets to enter the Promised Land. Joshua must have been thinking back to that critical turning point in Israel’s history as he now sends out spies under his own authority. It is interesting to note the differences between the two missions. Adolph Harstad writes:

1. Joshua sends just two spies, not one from each of the twelve tribes, as Moses did earlier. Their number may correspond to the number of spies in the earlier mission who were faithful, that is, the duo of Joshua himself and Caleb. While representation from all twelve tribes will be called for later to illustrate the unity of the covenant nation (e.g., Josh 4:4-7), Joshua does not follow that procedure here.
2. Joshua speaks secretly to the two agents [This isn’t completely clear in the NIV, but the Hebrew accent marks make clear that “secretly” is connected with “saying” and not with “sent.” That is, Joshua sent the spies on a secret mission that the rest of Israel didn’t know about. – Pastor Booth]. If the two return with a report of massive city walls, a surging river, harrowing experiences, and – from a human point of view – slim chances for success, the whole nation will not hear. The spies will report to Joshua himself, as 2:24 will show.
3. While the spies are to gather information on the land as a whole, they will center their efforts on one part of Canaan: “Jericho.” Joshua would know from meditating on the Torah (as God directs him to do “day and night” in Joshua 1:8) that the LORD is not expecting him to take the whole land in a few months or even a single year. … The LORD through Joshua will drive out the Canaanites “little by little” over some years so that the land will not become desolate and the wild animals proliferate from too few Israelites in a “spacious land” (Ex 3:8).

It shouldn’t surprise us that the spies would find their way to a prostitute’s house. This was a matter of significant wisdom. The home of a harlot, with her bad reputation, probably wouldn’t attract too much attention because some traveling men choose to visit there. The fact that her home was in the city wall offered them easy access – and hopefully an easy escape if things went badly.

LORD willing, we will say more about Rahab’s faith tomorrow, but it is important to see that the lie she tells the king’s men is born of faith. She has switched sides. She is now showing loyalty to Yahweh. Therefore, in a war, hiding Yahweh’s soldiers from the enemy’s forces is both an act of courage and an act of loyalty. Normally, everyone we speak with is owed the plain truth. This is one of those very rare occasions when loyalty to the LORD was consistent with, and even required by faith. We all understand that when soldiers spread false information to the enemy, or simply camouflage themselves to appear different than they are, that they are not violating the Ten Commandments. This is the very thing that is going on in Joshua. A holy war is about to begin in Jericho – and Rahab the former harlot … is on the LORD’s side! Both the letter to the Hebrews (see 11:31) and James (see 2:25) celebrate Rahab’s faith.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 8

Q. How doth God execute his decrees?
A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

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22 March 2020 – Joshua 1:16-18 Saturday, Mar 21 2020

Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!” – Joshua 1:16-18

Joshua has just charged the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to fulfill their commitment before God to cross the Jordan and help their brothers conquer and possess the land of Canaan. At first blush their response might not be all that encouraging “Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.” Joshua, after all, had spent the previous decades as Moses’ assistant. He knew exactly how the people had treated Moses – and it wasn’t always pretty. “If this clause had been spoken by their rebellious fathers – the generation that came out of Egypt – these words would be tragically hypocritical. If this generation were to listen to Joshua in the same way that the previous generation had listened to Moses, then Joshua would have to expect years of exasperating leadership of unfaithful people, as did Moses (Adolph Harstad).”

Thankfully, the LORD had raised up a new generation. They had seen their fathers die in the wilderness due to their faithlessness and, by God’s grace, they were eager to trust in the LORD and to inherit the Land of Promise.

Their commitment to Joshua almost seems over the top. First, instead of saying “We will fulfill our vows to the LORD by going with our brothers to conquer Canaan.” They say: “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.” They are pledging essentially unlimited loyalty to Joshua. Second, they say, “Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death.” If you are reading this in a comfortable sitting chair at home this could easily seem extreme. But we need to remember that Israel was about to go to war, and effective militaries need to have extreme measures for dealing both with deserters and with traitors. More importantly, the people were recognizing that Joshua had been raised up by the LORD for this special role. To rebel against Joshua would be to rebel against the LORD. Of course, if this was true with God’s ancient people and Joshua – how much truer is it in terms of our obedience to Jesus Christ?

As Adolph Harstad points out:

This pledge is in harmony with Deuteronomy 1:15-20, where God promises to raise up a new prophet like Moses and requires the people to listen to him. The LORD Himself will punish anyone who fails to listen (Deuteronomy 18:19), and any false prophet who speaks words not from the LORD will die (Deuteronomy 18:20). This promise of a new prophet is not, however, fully realized in Joshua (who is never called a “prophet”). It will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Word of the LORD made flesh; apart from Him there is no salvation, only death.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 7

Q. What are the decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

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