The Successor - Joshua #2

The Lord said to me,.."I will test my people with a plumbline. Amos 7:8 (TLB)

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The Successor - Joshua #2

Joshua’s Orders to the People

The Precious Word of God

Joshua 1:10–11 Then Joshua gave orders to the officers of the people: ¹¹ “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan River and take the land the Lord your God is giving you.’ ”  (NCV)

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people—These were the Shoterim (see on Ex 5:6 and De 20:5).

Command the people, saying, Prepare your victuals—not manna, which, though it still fell, would not keep; but corn, sheep, and articles of food procurable in the conquered countries.

Within three days you shall pass over Jordan—that is, the third day, according to Hebrew idiom—the time allotted for getting ready before the encampment in Abel-Shittim broke up and they removed to the desert bank of the river where no victuals were available. At the same time Joshua himself convened the two and a half tribes which had settled east of Jordan, to remind them of their promise (Nu 32:1–42) to assist their brethren in the conquest of western Canaan. Their readiness to redeem their pledge and the terms in which they answered the appeal of Joshua displayed to great advantage their patriotic and pious feelings at so interesting a crisis.

You shall pass … armed—that is, marshalled under five leaders in the old and approved caravan order (see on Ex 13:18).

All the mighty men of valour—The words are not to be interpreted strictly as meaning the whole, but only the flower or choice of the fighting men (see on Jos 4:12).

Joshua 2:1 (NCV)

Spies Sent to Jericho

Joshua 2:1 Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent out two spies from Acacia and said to them, “Go and look at the land, particularly at the city of Jericho.”So the men went to Jericho and stayed at the house of a prostitute named Rahab. (NCV).

Faith is manifested by an active, persevering use of means (Jam 2:22); and accordingly Joshua, while confident in the accomplishment of the divine promise (Jos 1:3), adopted every precaution which a skilful general could think of to render his first attempt in the invasion of Canaan successful. Two spies were despatched to spying out the country, particularly in the neighborhood of Jericho; for in the prospect of investing that place, it was desirable to obtain full information as to its site, its approaches, the character, and resources of its inhabitants. This mission required the strictest privacy, and it seems to have been studiously concealed from the knowledge of the Israelites themselves, test any unfavorable or exaggerated report, publicly circulated, might have dispirited the people, as that of the spies did in the days of Moses.

Jericho- the two spies … came into a harlot’s house—Many expositors, desirous of removing the stigma of this name from an ancestress of the Saviour (Mt 1:5), have called her a hostess or tavern keeper. But Scriptural usage (Le 21:7–14; De 23:18; Jdg 11:1; 1Ki 3:16), the authority of the Septuagint, followed by the apostles (Heb 11:31; Jam 2:25), and the immemorial style of Eastern khans, which are never kept by women, establish the propriety of the term employed in our version. Her house was probably recommended to the spies by the convenience of its situation, without any knowledge of the character of the inmates. But a divine influence directed them in the choice of that lodging-place.

The unkept secret was told the king—by the sentinels who at such a time of threatened invasion would be posted on the eastern frontier and whose duty required them to make a strict report to headquarters of the arrival of all strangers.

Joshua 2:3 (NCV) So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house. They have come to spy out our whole land.” 

Rahab took the two men, and hid them—literally, “him,” that is, each of them in separate places, of course previous to the appearance of the royal messengers and in anticipation of a speedy search after her guests. According to Eastern manners, which pay an almost superstitious respect to a woman’s apartment, the royal messengers did not demand admittance to search but asked her to bring the foreigners out.

The time of shutting of the gates—The gates of all Oriental cities are closed at sunset, after which there is no possibility either of admission or egress.

The men went out—This was a palpable deception. But, as lying is a common vice among heathen people, Rahab was probably unconscious of its moral guilt, especially as she resorted to it as a means for screening her guests; and she might deem herself bound to do it by the laws of Eastern hospitality, which make it a point of honor to preserve the greatest enemy, if he has once eaten. Judged by the divine law, her answer was sinful; but her infirmity being united with faith, she was graciously pardoned and her service accepted (Jam 2:25).