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JOSHUA 1–3

Week 11, Day 4

Moses is dead; and now Joshua, Moses’ assistant, will carry on. He is assured that God will be with him as with Moses, and he must therefore be “strong and very courageous” and “act in accordance with all the law. . . . Meditate on it day and night” (1:7-8).

Sometimes the Lord surprises us by the people he employs. One would hardly expect a prostitute to be the key human figure in the invasion of Jericho—and one certainly wouldn’t expect her to become part of the lineage of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5) nor heralded as an example of both faith (Hebrews 11:31) and works (James 2:25). But perhaps that’s because we become so absorbed with outward appearances while God looks at the heart. Rahab, plying a rough trade in a pagan city, nevertheless had such a capacity for God that she would put her life on the line for what she was coming to believe.

Forty years earlier, ten of the twelve spies melted in fear before the inhabitants of the land, but now the two-man scouting party reports that “the LORD has given all the land into our hands” (2:24). But first the people must sanctify themselves (3:5) to be ready for the conquest; and before they can see God’s power at the Jordan River, they must step forward in faith (3:15-16).

PRAYER: Give me the grace, I pray, to see the potential you have invested in every human being, including those I might scorn. Amen.

What connection do you see between the miracle of crossing the Jordan River and the crossing, a generation earlier, at the Red Sea?