Joshua 3

 

Above chart from http://chrisedmondson.blogspot.com/2010/07/joshua-book-of-conquest.html

(1) *Early the next morning Joshua and all the
Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the **Jordan
River, where they camped before crossing.

• *Early the next morning:
• Joshua doesn't suffer from procrastination. He's had his marching orders, he
  receives the report from the two spies and he moves - that's a leader.
• "Procrastination is 'the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today.' "
  - - Dr. Wayne Dyer
• During the American Revolution, it is reported that Colonel Rahl, commander of the British troops
  at Trenton, New Jersey, was playing cards when a courier brought an urgent message stating that
  General George Washington was crossing the Delaware River. Rahl put the letter in his pocket and
  didn't bother to read it until the game finished. Then, realizing the seriousness of the situation,
  he hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack. It was too late. His procrastination
  was his undoing. He and many of his men were killed, and the rest of the regiment was
  captured. Unlike Colonel Rahl, Joshua was one commander who didn't hesitate to take action.
  When faced with tasks that are frightening or disagreeable, many people choose to put them off
  as long as possible. They find excuses to avoid unpleasant situations or make difficult
  decisions. But what a mistake that is. Often it only makes matters worse. If
  you are faced with a challenging situation, don't procrastinate. Trust in God's strength and wisdom.
  Claim His promises of presence and protection. Then, get up "early in the morning" and go to it.
  At the end of the day, you'll be glad you did.
• General McClellan is often mentioned as someone who procrastinated with disastrous effects and was eventually replaced by Lincoln.
• Genesis 22:3: The next morning Abraham got up early...
• **Jordan River: God told the people of Israel to wait three days at shores of the Jordan River (Joshua 1:11).

(2) *Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp,

• *Three days:
  
  • Whether the latter two are the same three days spoken of in chapter 2:11 seems to be rather
    unclear; but the spiritual lesson of three days is the most important, speaking of resurrection,
    thus Israel acting in "newness of life," the energy of resurrection power.
  • See notes about the number three on chapter 1 verse 11 at http://joshua-biblestudy.blogspot.com/2011/08/joshua-1.html.
  • Although the Jordan River was only about a hundred feet wide most of the year, during the spring
    flood season it overflowed its banks and became up to a mile wide.
  • There must have been a lot of conflicting thoughts going through the minds of the people waiting
    through those three days, just as there are for us when we're faced with our own inadequacy and
    impotence to have any effect whatsoever on circumstances. Some of them would have said, "Let's
    go back to Shittim." It was a lush oasis of acacia groves, a beautiful setting. Or, "Let's spread
    out with the two and a half tribes and take it easy and be safe. Why take the risk? It's comfortable
    here." Stepping out into the unknown can be scary, but you can't progress by standing
    still. How many people fail to reach their potential and fully use their God-given talents
    because they're afraid to move out of their comfort zone?

(3) giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the
*Levitical priests carrying **the Ark of the Covenant of the ***Lord
your ***God, move out from your positions and follow them.

• *Levitical priests: Usually the ark was carried by the sons of Kohath (Numbers 4:4,15).  The fact that it was carried here by
  the Levitical priests shows the significance of this particular event (also the cloud apparently was not visible).
• *the Ark:
• The ark is referred to 14 times in these 17 verses.
• What’s so important about the Ark? It represented the person and promises of God. It pointed
  to the fact that as the people of Israel set out to cross the Jordan, invade, and possess the land,
  they must do so not in their own strength, but in God’s, for it was God Himself who
  was going before them as their source of victory.
• We read now nothing more of the movement of the pillar of cloud and of fire,
  so prominent at the Red Sea and during the wilderness journey.
• The ark of the covenant of the Lord appears in the foreground to lead the way and made a way through
  the overflowing waters. Taken up by the priests, carried towards the river, as soon as the priests
  touched the brim of it, the waters were stemmed back, till all the people had passed over on dry
  ground.
• The ark with the blood-sprinkled mercy seat is the type of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  It is the type of our Lord going into the deep waters of death to make a way through them for His
  people. The distance between the ark and the people was to be two thousand cubits. It illustrates
  the fact that our Lord had to do this work alone. Peter declared that he would go with Him into
  death, but the Lord told him in John 13:36, "“You can’t go with
  me now, but you will follow me later.”" There was none with Him, when He made the way,
  but He takes all His people through death into resurrection life and glory.
• The Shekinah Cloud of Glory had been the symbol of God’s presence with His people during
  the Wilderness Wandering period, but now it was replaced by the ark of the covenant which sat in
  the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle.
• The ark had been in the middle of the procession before (Numbers 12:17), but
  then the pillar of cloud led them. Now the ark with the law, the mercy seat and the presence
  of the Lord, would go before them. They were to follow it spiritually, too.
• **Lord: YHVH (Yahweh).
• ***God: Elohim

(4) Since you have *never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a **half mile behind them, keeping a clear
distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”

• *never traveled this way before
• Have you ever come to such a place where you can move forward or sit still? Moving forward
  in faith is not always easy - the key here is following the Ark (Jesus).
• Here, they are to have the Ark lead them - Jesus is to lead us. Too often, we say to the Lord
  (and I've been guilty of this), "I'm doing this and going this way, are you
  following me? Are you going to help me do what I want
  to do?"
• **half mile: Hebrew about 2,000 cubits. Some see this as the source of the rabbis’ limit for a Sabbath day’s journey - the "Sabbath Day's walk". God required that they keep some 1,000 yards behind the ark. This was for two reasons. First, to respect the holy nature of the ark of the covenant. But also, it was to make sure that everyone a clear view of the ark. Israel would accomplish
  this impossible task as they set their eyes upon God’s presence, and followed only after His presence.

(5) Then Joshua told the people, “*Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”

• *Purify yourselves:
• “Purify” is the Hebrew qadash and here it means, “consecrate yourselves,
  set yourselves apart, prepare yourselves.” This points out personal responsibility
  versus Exodus 19:10 where Moses consecrates the people. This also shows that they are about to enter
  not just a physical battle, but a spiritual battle.
• The language in the Old Testament for consecration, "sanctify", is language which on the one level
  suggests separation. But interestingly, on the other hand the idea of "shining."
  So that taking those ideas together, it seems to suggest that we give ourselves unreservedly to
  the Lord in such a way that we separate from the agenda that characterizes the world and as a consequence,
  we begin to shine. As we give ourselves and walk into His presence, God’s
  own glory begins to reflect itself in us and upon us.
• God does not use unclean vessels. For believers, those saved and cleansed by the work of Christ,
  this command for consecration demonstrates the necessity for cleansing through confession or getting
  right with God and with men in order to be used of God and to experience His deliverance. To experience
  God’s power, protection, and deliverance, we need to prepare our hearts and deal with the
  known sin in our lives through confession.
• Exodus 19:10: Then the Lord told Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them
  today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing.
• When something was consecrated it meant that it was purified and set apart for a sacred use. Today,
  it means to be “spiritually prepared”.  God will not use us unless we are ready to be used.
• Turning away from sinful behaviors.  It is not only recognizing when we are doing what is wrong, it is being truly
  repentant (that is more than being simply “sorry”).  It means we make the changes necessary to stop wrong behavior.
• Adopting a Godly attitude.  We must be soft, teachable, humble before the Lord.
• Living an obedient life. The person set apart for God does what God has
  commanded. They start by being obedient in the little things of life such as: honesty, integrity,
  humility, love, respect, and reverence.

(6) In the morning Joshua said to the priests, “Lift up the *Ark of the
Covenant and lead the people across the river.” And so they started out and went
ahead of the people.

• *Ark of the Covent ant: The central thing in chapter three is not purification or consecration,
  it is the presence of the Ark of the covenant of God. The Ark of the covenant, was a little
  box, the size of an ottoman. It was made under the command of God to be a physical symbol
  of the presence of God. It was more than that: a physical symbol of the very throne
  of God. That’s why the cherubim were built onto the end of it, covering the mercy seat
  of gold that was placed on top of the ark. It was between the cherubim that God would make Himself
  known to his people. The New Testament tells us in detail what this box means. Just as Joshua’s
  experience in leadership is a miniature of the way in which God will bring salvation to His people
  in Jesus Christ; so this box, the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, which has the mercy seat, and the
  tables of the law written on tablets of stone in its heart, is a miniature of the true Ark of the
  covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a display in Old Testament terms, of where men and women have
  to look in order that they might be brought into the blessings of God’s salvation. That’s
  why Hebrews tells us that Moses and Joshua had faith to cross the Red Sea and the Jordan. Now, what
  you have to do is to fix your eyes on Jesus who is author and finisher of our faith. That
  is why you are to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us, as you cross from condemnation
  to salvation.
• Faith leads us into greater victories than law ever could.

(7) The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin
to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will
know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses.

(8) Give this command to the priests who
carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the *banks of the Jordan
River, take a few steps into the river and stop
there.’”

• *banks: The edge of the water not the bank which, at this time of year, was under
  water. After going to the water, the priests would wait for the water below them to flow away, then
  go to the middle with the ark.
• We usually want the river to be dry before we even make a step; but God was calling Israel
  to step out in faith.
• What do we gather from this? It reminds us of our part in the plan of God. We must
  learn to step out in faith and obedience to the principles and promises of Scripture. It reminds us
  of the need to rest in God’s promises. They were not to run down into the waters, but they were
  to ACT. This is just like the words of Moses in Exodus 14:13-14
  when they were hemmed in with the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh and his chariots behind them:
  But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue
  you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you.
  Just stay calm.”

(9) So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the
Lord your God says.

(10) Today you will know that the living *God is among you. He will surely drive
out the **Canaanites, ***Hittites, ****Hivites, *****Perizzites, ******Girgashites, *******Amorites,
and ********Jebusites ahead of you.

• Deuteronomy 7:1: When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about
  to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites,
  Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous
  than you.
• Genesis 15:16: After four generations your descendants will return here to
  this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”
• *God: Hebrew El. A LIVING God as contrasted to the dead idols of the Canaanites.
  “the living God” This is the meaning of the name “YHWH” (cf. Exod. 3:14). 
  It is from the Hebrew VERB “to be.”  He is the ever living, only living God.
• **Canaanites: The descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. The "Canaanites," as distinguished
  from the Amalekites, the Anakim and the Rephaim, were "dwellers in the lowlands" (Numbers 13:29),
  the great plains and valleys, the richest and most important parts of Palestine. Tyre and Sidon, their
  famous cities, were the centers of great commercial activity; and hence the name "Canaanite" came
  to signify a "trader" or "merchant". The name "Canaanite" is also sometimes used to designate the
  non-Israelite inhabitants of the land in general. The Israelites, when they were led to the Promised
  Land, were commanded utterly to destroy the descendants of Canaan then possessing it (Exodus 23:23;
  Numbers 33:52-53; Deuteronomy 20:16-17). The extermination of these tribes, however, was never fully
  carried out. Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David (2 Samuel 5:6-7). In the days of Solomon,
  bond-service was exacted from the fragments of the tribes still remaining in the land (1 Kings 9:20-21).
  Even after the return from captivity, survivors of five of the Canaanitish tribes were still found
  in the land. In the Tell-el-Amarna tablets, Canaan is found under the forms of Kinakhna and Kinakhkhi.
  Under the name of Kanana, the Canaanites appear on Egyptian monuments, wearing a coat of mail and
  helmet, and distinguished by the use of spear and javelin and the battle-axe. They were called Phoenicians
  by the Greeks and Poeni by the Romans. The chief object of their worship was the sun-god, who was
  addressed by the name Baal.
• ***Hittites: The Hittites played a prominent role in Old Testament history. They
  interacted with biblical figures as early as Abraham and as late as Solomon. They are mentioned in
  Genesis 15:20 as people who inhabited the land of Canaan. 1 Kings 10:29 records that they purchased
  chariots and horses from King Solomon. The most prominent Hittite in the Bible is Uriah, the husband
  of Bathsheba. The Hittites were a powerful force in the Middle East from 1750 B.C. until 1200 B.C.
  Prior to the late 19th century, nothing was known of the Hittites outside the Bible, and many critics
  alleged that they were an invention of the biblical authors. In 1876, a dramatic discovery changed
  this perception. A British scholar named A. H. Sayce found inscriptions carved on rocks in Turkey.
  He suspected that they might be evidence of the Hittite nation. Ten years later, more clay tablets
  were found in Turkey at a place called Boghaz-koy. German cuneiform expert Hugo Winckler investigated
  the tablets and began his own expedition at the site in 1906. Winckler's excavations uncovered five
  temples, a fortified citadel and several massive sculptures. In one storeroom he found over ten thousand
  clay tablets. One of the documents proved to be a record of a treaty between Ramesses II and the Hittite
  king. Other tablets showed that Boghaz-koy was the capital of the Hittite kingdom. Its original name
  was Hattusha and the city covered an area of 300 acres. The Hittite nation had been discovered!
• ****Hivites: One of the original tribes scattered over Palestine, from Hermon to
  Gibeon in the south. The name is interpreted as "midlanders" or "villagers" (Genesis 10:17; 1 Chronicles
  1:15). They were probably a branch of the Hittites. At the time of Jacob's return to Canaan, Hamor
  the Hivite was the "prince of the land" (Genesis 24:2-28). They are next mentioned during the Conquest
  (Joshua 9:7; Joshua 11:19). They principally inhabited the northern confines of Western Palestine
  (Joshua 11:3; Judges 3:3). A remnant of them still existed in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 9:20).
• *****Perizzites: Villagers; dwellers in the open country, the Canaanitish nation
  inhabiting the fertile regions south and south-west of Carmel. "They were the grazers, farmers, and
  peasants of the time." They were to be driven out of the land by the descendants of Abraham (Genesis
  15:20; Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17; Exodus 23:23; Exodus 33:2; Exodus 34:11). They are afterwards named
  among the conquered tribes (Joshua 24:11). Still lingering in the land, however, they were reduced
  to servitude by Solomon (1 Kings 9:20).
• ******Girgashites were descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, son of Noah. The name
  means "dwelling on clay soil". The area where they lived is not known in great detail, except
  to be generally located in central Canaan. The name of this people has been discovered in the Ugaritic
  inscriptions as grgs and bn-grgs, that is, Girgash and the sons or children of Girgash. They are also
  known to us in the Hittite documents as the karkm; and in Egyptian records as the Kirkash. They settled
  to the east of the river Jordan between Galilee and the Dead Sea.
• *******Amorites: Highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of
  one of the sons of Canaan (Genesis 14:7), called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions.
  On the early Babylonian monuments, all Syria, including Palestine, is known as "the land of the Amorites."
  The southern slopes of the mountains of Judea are called the "mount of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy
  1:7). They seem to have originally occupied the land stretching from the heights west of the Dead
  Sea (Genesis 14:7) to Hebron (Genesis 13), embracing "all Gilead and all Bashan" (Deuteronomy 3:10),
  with the Jordan valley on the east of the river (Deuteronomy 4:49), the land of the "two kings of
  the Amorites," Sihon and Og (Deuteronomy 31:4; Joshua 2:10; Joshua 9:10). The five kings of the Amorites
  were defeated with great slaughter by Joshua (Joshua 10:10). They were again defeated at the waters
  of Merom by Joshua, who smote them till there were none remaining (Joshua 11:8). The Amorites were
  warlike mountaineers. They are represented on the Egyptian monuments with fair skins, light hair,
  blue eyes, hook noses and pointed beards. They are supposed to have been men of great stature; their
  king, Og, is described by Moses as the last "of the remnant of the giants" (Deuteronomy 3:11).
• *********Jebusites: The name of the original inhabitants of Jebus, mentioned frequently
  among the seven nations doomed to destruction. At the time of the arrival of the Israelites in Palestine,
  they were ruled by Adonizedek (Joshua 10). They were defeated by Joshua and their king was slain;
  but, they were not entirely driven out of Jebus till the time of David, who made it the capital of
  his kingdom instead of Hebron. The site on which the temple was afterwards built belonged to Araunah,
  a Jebusite, from whom it was purchased by David, who refused to accept it as a free gift (2 Samuel
  24:16; 1 Chronicles 21:24-25).

(11) Look, the *Ark of the Covenant, which
belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across
the *Jordan River!

• *Jordan River:
  
  • Genesis 32:10 (Jacob speaking to Esau): I
    am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown
    to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I
    owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large
    camps!
  • Numbers 22:1 (Balak Sends for Balaam): Then
    the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped east of
    the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
  • 2 Kings 2:6-8: Then Elijah
    said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me
    to go to the Jordan River.” But again Elisha replied, “As
    surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave
    you.” So they went on together. Fifty men from the group of prophets
    also went and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped
    beside the Jordan River. Then Elijah folded his cloak together
    and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them
    went across on dry ground!
  • 2 Kings 5:10-15: But Elisha sent a
    messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself
    seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be
    restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” But Naaman became
    angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet
    me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and
    call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of
    Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of
    Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned
    and went away in a rage. But his officers tried to reason with him and
    said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult,
    wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he
    says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down
    to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man
    of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as
    the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed! Then Naaman
    and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood
    before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all
    the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
  • Psalm 114:3: The Red Sea saw them
    coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan
    River turned away.
  • Matthew 3:6: And when they confessed
    their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
  • Matthew 3:13: Then Jesus went from
    Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.

(12) Now choose *twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from
each tribe.

• *twelve men: Their purpose is stated in chapter 4 (to gather stones as a
  memorial). Notice that this does not include the tribe of Levi.

(13) The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of
all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water,
the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up
like a wall.”

• Joshua 4:23: For the Lord your God dried up
  the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all
  across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had
  all crossed over.
• Exodus 15:8: At the blast of your breath,
  the waters piled up! The surging waters stood straight like a wall; in
  the heart of the sea the deep waters became hard.
• These priests who were carrying the ark had to act in faith to
  enter the turbulent waters of the overflowing Jordan. All of them
  had to get their feet into the water before it would divide. This
  is another sign of the faith that God required of His people.

(14) So the people *left their camp to cross the Jordan, and
the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of
them.

• *left their camp: literally means “to pull tent pegs”.
• At last a little group emerged from those densely crowded hosts.
  It was the chosen band of priests, white-robed, barefooted, who slowly
  descended the terraced bank of the river, bearing on their shoulders
  the sacred ark, its golden lid and bending cherubim hidden beneath
  their covering of blue. How awful the silence! How fixed the gaze that
  followed them every step!  How hushed the voices of wiseacres and
  gainsayers who had been loud all the previous days in protesting that
  the passage was impossible; and that it would be wiser to wait until
  the mile of water had dwindled to the normal width of thirty yards when
  the stream was four or six feet deep, and easily fordable!  But
  when the feet of the priests were dipped into the tiny wavelets, brown
  with mud, yeasty with the foam of their hurried rush, a marvelous
  change took place. They began to divide and shrink away. And as the
  priests pursued them, descending ever farther toward the midst of
  Jordan, they fled before them as if panic-stricken. The feet of the
  priests stood firm till every individual of the redeemed race had
  crossed the river.  It is a blessed anticipation of the keeping
  back of a more awful flood until without one exception the entire host
  of the Church has entered that city whose walls are Salvation, and its
  gates Praise.

(15) It was the *harvest season, and the **Jordan
was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of
the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the
river’s edge,

• 1 Chronicles 12:15: These were the men who crossed the Jordan River during
  its seasonal flooding at the beginning of the year and drove out all the people living in the lowlands
  on both the east and west banks.
• *harvest: The barley harvest. Several factors harmonize to give us confidence that
  the Bible is an accurate history. It was the time of the harvest. The first grain was barley (Ruth
  1:22, 2 Samuel 21:9). The river was crossed on the tenth day of the first month (Joshua 4:19). (The
  calendar began in the spring.). On the 15th day, the "first fruits" were presented to the Lord (Leviticus
  23:10). Being below sea level, the area was relatively hot making harvest sooner. The river was already
  full from snow melting. The fact that Rahab had bundles of flax also is a clue about the season. Barley
  ripens at the same time (Exodus 9:31). We are shown a consistent picture of early spring.
• **Jordan was overflowing:
  
  • It was springtime, and the Jordan River — usually about 100 feet wide — had swollen
    to a width of roughly a mile and was overflowing its banks. This seasonal flooding was caused
    by the melting snows on Mt. Hermon feeding the headwaters of the Jordan.The people of Israel saw
    a rushing river, swollen with spring rains laying in front of them. They must have asked,
    “How can we ever cross this river?” Remember, Joshua and Caleb, who were now about
    eighty years old, were the only ones who were adults and still alive who saw God open the way
    through the Red Sea. There is a seemingly impossible obstacle blocking the way - how will God
    do this one?
  • J. Vernon McGee describes the Jordan at this time of year this way: “ This was the
    spring of the year. That land had two rainy seasons: in the fall and in the spring. The spring
    rains were most abundant. The Jordan was at flood stage. It was entirely possible
    that the people at the west side of the Jordan felt that they had several days, or maybe several
    weeks before the Israelites could get across the river. They probably felt that there
    was no immediate danger.”

(16) the water above that point began backing up a great
distance away at a town called *Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the
water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the
riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the
town of Jericho.

• *Adam was about 16 miles north. At Adam, the Jordan river flows through clay banks
  40 feet high, which are subject to landslides. In 1927, an earthquake caused the banks to collapse
  and dam up the river, so that no water flowed past them for 21 hours.
• Jesus, 1400 years later, was baptized in the Jordan at the same place where Joshua crossed.
• Psalm 74:15: You caused the springs and streams to gush forth, and you dried
  up rivers that never run dry.
• Psalm 114:5: What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their
  way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?

(17) Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark
of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed
as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel
had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

• Joshua 4:6-7: We will use these stones to
  build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do
  these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that
  the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant
  went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the
  people of Israel forever.”
• The work is accomplished for all His people. Not one is left behind; the weakest and the smallest
  pass over. What effect it must have had upon the enemies, and especially upon Jericho! Jericho was
  only five miles away. No doubt, they watched the hosts of Israel before the passage. They felt secure
  on account of the mighty waters of Jordan, which seemed to bar the Israelitish invasion. How panic-stricken
  they must have become when they saw or heard of the great miracle and that God's people had reached
  the other shore! But one person was calm in Jericho. One enjoyed peace and rest and did not fear.
  The one from whose window there streamed the scarlet line.
• We learn from 4:10 that the people hurried across. Apparently the priests were growing very weary of holding the heavy,
  gold-covered ark for the hours it must have taken for the large number of people to cross.

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NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is
the New Living Translation.

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NOTE: Sources and References are on line at: http://joshua-biblestudy.blogspot.com/2011/07/joshua-references-and-sources.html

Joshua 2

What's going in the book of Joshua? The people were redeemed in Exodus. The Land is redeemed in Joshua. We are redeemed in the New Testament. The entire creation is redeemed in Revelation.

(1) Then Joshua SECRETLY sent out *two spies from the Israelite camp at **Acacia Grove. He instructed them, "Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around ***Jericho." So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named ****Rahab and stayed there that night.

• *two spies: The Hebrew word for "spies" can also mean "witnesses" - a parallel with the two witnesses in Revelation. This is also a parallel with Moses sending in 12 spies in Numbers 13:1 - 14:45 and Deuteronomy 1:19-46. Joshua does not yet know how God is going to enable them to conquer Jericho; so, he's scoping the city to discover its defenses, its layout, its weaknesses and the attitude of its inhabitants. Notice he's sending them out "SECRETLY" - any guess why?
• **Acacia Grove: Hebrew Shittim. This is the second time the Israelites have been here. The first time, Balak and Balaam tried to subvert them: Numbers 25:1: While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women.
• ***Jericho
  • Jericho was strategic in  conquering the land of Canaan, for it was just on the other side of the Jordan and having conquered the city the children of Israel could go straight through the city and begin to divide and conquer the rest of the land.
  • Jericho was about six miles from the Jordan River and about 10 miles northwest of the Dead Sea, 670 feet below sea level.
  • A large gushing spring and the fertile plain surrounding the city earned it the distinction "the city of palm trees" (Deuteronomy 34:3; 2 Chronicles 28:15).
  • It had an inner wall and an outer fortified wall, several feet thick, separated by a distance of about 15 feet, enclosing about nine acres. Jericho was a formidable, even impregnable,  obstacle.
  • Jericho (Bet Yerah, "the House of the Moon God") was the capital of the strongest of the seven nations then occupying the land of Canaan. And, who is Allah?
• ****Rahab:
  • Pretty gutsy of these two guys just to waltz right into the town of the enemy and scout it out! Did they know the language? Would their accent betray them like Peter's accent betrayed him? Did they disguise themselves? How did they know to go to Rahab's house? Were they "spies" or were they on a godly mission to rescue a gentile who wanted to know this god of the Hebrews - "spies" means "witnesses".
  • While Joshua sent the spies to the city, God directed them to the home of one whom God intended to save! There was another purpose at work in sending the spies: to save Rahab. In this, we see the extent God goes to in bringing one woman and her father’s house to salvation - someone seemingly “impossible” to save and insignificant, like the Samaritan woman. God’s hand is not short to save people like Rahab, and He can work in amazing ways to bring salvation.
  • Why did they go to the house of a prostitute? Some scholars insist that she was just an innkeeper. Perhaps the Lord knew her thoughts and heart and deliberately directed the spies to her house. The Lord went ahead of them, according to Exodus 23, and had already prepared her heart just as He had sent His "angel" and fear ahead. Maybe the "angel"was sent ahead to look for any who would open his or her heart to God - reminds me of God's discourse with Abraham about Sodom and how one family was rescued from there before it was destroyed.
  • I suspect her "house" was somewhat like Kitty's Long Branch Saloon in the TV series Gunsmoke, that ran from 1955 to 1975, starring James Arness. It was never said, but it was pretty obvious that this was a saloon, an Inn and a house of ill repute and  Kitty, Marshal Dillon's girlfriend, who ran the place, was more than just the innkeeper.
  • Rahab, the poor outcast of Jericho, who had this strange faith in God, entered in with the people to possess the land that flowed with milk and honey. She is thus the type of Gentile sinners who are permitted to share in the unsearchable riches of Christ; to sit with him in the heavenlies; to form part of that new race which is gathering around the true Joshua, the Lord from Heaven. It is interesting to see how often in the Old Testament a Gentile is brought in - grafted into Israel as Paul says in Romans during the Acts period.
  • Over and over again throughout history God chooses very plain or nondescript people and exalts them LIKE US, draws them to himself, and then honors them with ministry responsibility. Rahab is an amazing example of this. God holds Rahab up on display as a model of saving faith. She exhibits amazing character qualities that commend themselves to God, and then He commends her to us in the New Testament in both Hebrews and in James. God loves to turn things upside-down. He chooses the most unexpected people to work with. He specializes in social outcasts. Remember, Jesus will be criticized for his involvement with tax collectors, publicans and sinners - those who are looked down upon because of lifestyle choices they have made.
  • Rahab had a past, but God gave her a future. No matter what you have done, what sin you have in your past, remember that God can forgive you. We are all sinners in God's eyes and through Jesus we can all be pure before God - made whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). Sometimes, Christians can be judgmental about different sins, but God never is. God took a Gentile prostitute and made her a Woman of Faith.
  • Rahab risked everything, and even became a traitor to her state. She rejected her pagan gods and put her trust in the God of Israel. This was a daring thing to do, but she did it and became one of the only two women in Hebrews 11 as great examples of faith. Sarah is the other woman, and Sarah means princess. So we have the princess and the prostitute, the high and the low, but both are examples of great faith, and they make it clear that faith is an open choice for all.
  • God forgave Rahab her prostitution. He forgave David his adultery and murder. He forgave Peter his denials. He forgave the thief on the cross. He forgave Paul his persecution. He forgave those who nailed him to the cross. God is in the forgiveness business!
  • Matthew 1:5: Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.Two gentile women, Rahab and Ruth, in the line of David and Jesus. Matthew deliberately names these women, which would not normally have been done.
  • Hebrews 11:31: It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
  • James 2:25: Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.

(2) But someone told the king of Jericho, Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”

• How did the "someone" know they were Israelites? Who was this "someone"? Was the gatekeeper suspicious? Did the king have someone stake out Rahab's "house" to watch for suspicious characters?
• You can be sure that Satan knew!

(3) So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: "Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land."

• Notice that they don't enter her "house" to search for them. Eastern custom prohibited a man from entering a woman's house uninvited.

(4) Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn't know where they were from.

• A lie! Was it a sin? Should she have betrayed them by telling the truth? Could she have said something else to avoid lying yet not betraying the spies? How about those who hid Jews in their homes and businesses from the Nazis?
  
• Had the spies been discovered in her house, she probably would have been executed as a traitor.
• We read in Hammurabi's Code, the prevailing law in the land: 'If scoundrels plot together [in conspiratorial relationships] in an innkeeper's house, and she does not seize them and bring them to the palace, that innkeeper shall be put to death' (law § 109).

(5) They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don't know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them."

(6) (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of *flax she had laid out.)

• *flax was used to make linen. It was the time of the barley harvest, and flax and barley are ripe at the same time in the Jordan valley, so that the bundles of flax stalks might have been expected to be drying just then. The flax would have been on the roof drying. The flax was now ripe, just before Passover. This indicates a possible date of March/April (flood stage time for the Jordan), since this was when flax was sun dried. Why would a prostitute be making linen? And, was she dyeing some of it red? So, here we have a possible picture of the rapture - a Jew rescuing a Gentile! A Gentile is going to be "rescued" (raptured) before destruction (the "tribulation)! See the timing here - a pretrib rapture! Rahab is a picture of the church. 1 Thessalonians 5:9: We are NOT appointed unto wrath! Just as Lot and his family were rescued before the destruction and Noah and his family were rescued before the destruction!
• As a side note, there is a famous chapter in Proverbs that teaches how to be a "righteous woman". One of the characteristics of such a woman is the fact she gathers and prepares flax. (See Proverbs 31:13 -a woman more precious than rubies). How many men have a woman like that, an angel who entered their lives, and don't realize or appreciate what gift God has brought them! If a woman is treated as more precious than rubies, she will be just that to him.

(7) So the king's men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king's men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.

(8) Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them.

(9) "I KNOW the Lord has given you this land," she told them. "We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror.

• How did a Canaanite prostitute know (1) God’s covenant name (Lord - YHWH); (2) the covenant stipulations; and (3) their exodus experience? Perhaps, she heard by word of mouth from some of her customers, but this would not have given her more than information. Here, she says she knows the Lord (YHWH) has given them the land. She has come to this conclusion on her own - no one else in the city seemed to think that, though they were afraid. God has possibly been preparing her heart, just as we read sometimes about a Muslim in a Muslim country coming to wonder about this Jesus and eventually being saved. She now casts her lot with God and with the Israelites - there's no turning back now.
• Now comes this profound and unexpected moment of Rahab’s confession of faith in the God of Israel. It is here that we learn the “why?” behind Rahab’s risky protection of 2 men who were complete strangers to her. She begins with the words “I KNOW ”. I know, she says, that the Lord has given Israel this land; of course this is referring to HER land, the very place she lives as a Canaanite. Actually the Hebrew does NOT say that the Lord gave Israel the land, it says YHWH gave Israel the land. Rahab knew the formal personal name of the God of Israel.
• The first thing we notice about Rahab here is that she has been prepared by God even before the spies have entered her house.
• She and all Jericho had watched as a million and a half Israelites, maybe as many as 3-5 million, swarmed up the Jordan and encamped at Shittim, only a dozen miles across the flat Jordan valley. When the East Jordan kingdoms of Ammon and Bashan fell to their armies, terror spread throughout the region. Jericho's king had probably issued a strict command to report all suspicious foreigners. The city was in a panic.
• It was no accident that two spies picked Rahab's home to lodge. The location of where they lodged may have just seemed like a logical choice to make. It turns out that God was "behind the scenes" and wanted the spies to come to this house to rescue Rahab and her family.
• Beware of coincidences, they happen all the time, but you shouldn't trust in the fact that whatever is happening is "just" a coincidence. It was no "coincidence" that the two spies went to Rahab.
• Exodus 23:27: “I will send my terror ahead of you and create panic among all the people whose lands you invade. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

(10) For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left *Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed.

• *Egypt: So, the inhabitants of Jericho have been hearing about these Israelites for forty years and now the day has finally arrived!
• The account of Israel’s victory over Sihon and Og is recorded in Numbers 21 and Deuteronomy 2-3.
• "The people who in Rahab's time most frequently used such houses of prostitution were the traveling merchants. From them, she had repeatedly heard of the nation which was approaching from Egypt, and of the God of Israel who had perfected such striking miracles." - Abraham Kuyper, Women of the Old Testament.

(11) No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

• The battle was won 40 years ago!
• How did she know about this supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below? She showed that she had replaced her previous belief in Baal (to whom were attributed those characteristics), with a belief in the LORD (Yahweh).

(12) "Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some *guarantee that

• *guarantee: The Holy Spirit is our guarantee - we are sealed.

(13) *WHEN Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families."

• *WHEN, not "if". Notice her family does not include a husband (just like the Samaritan woman). Rahab has faith not only in what God has done, and can do, but in faith of what He will do. She has faith that He will spare her family.
• Joshua 6:17; 6:25: Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies. ... So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.

(14) "We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety," the men agreed. "If you don't betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you *WHEN the Lord gives us the land."

• *WHEN, not if.
• Joshua 6:22-23: Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, “Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family.” The men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel.

(15) Then, since Rahab's house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window.

• In double-walled cities, the poorer and outcasts would have lived in the less safe area between the walls.
• For about 250 years, biblical critics claimed that this story was mythological, or at best historical fiction, because there was no evidence that there were houses built into city walls in the ancient near east. But the excavations in Jericho after the turn of the century showed that the city was surrounded by double walls with twelve feet between them. And they found evidence that simple houses were built on top of timbers that were spread between the two walls. These were like poor squatter's houses sitting on top of the city wall.
• Robert Bratcher and Barclay Newman in A Translators Handbook on the Book of Joshua by the United Bible Societies, have an interesting comment: “Archaeological excavations reveal that at one time Jericho had two city walls, an inner one and an outer one, separated by a space of some 3.5 to 4.5 meters. Houses were built on heavy timbers laid from one wall to the other: the window through which Rahab let the men down looked out from the outer wall”.
•  

(16) "Escape to the hill country, she told them. "Hide there for *three days from the men searching for you. Then, when they have returned, you can go on your way.”

• *three: Here's that THREE! Remember all the references to "three" in chapter 1?
• This referred to the rugged hill country to the west and south of Jericho, the opposite direction from the camp of Israel.

(17) Before they left, the men told her, We will be bound by the oath we have taken ONLY IF you follow these instructions.

(18) When we come into the land, you must leave this *SCARLET ROPE hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members-your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives-must be here inside the house.

• *SCARLET ROPE:
  • I doubt the spies and Rahab realized the significance of the red or scarlet color - it was simply obvious and available. But, the Lord saw to it that it was there and that they chose it because of what it represented.
  • Some scholars believe the red cord Rahab hung from her window represents sacrificial blood, the blood of animals in the Old Testament and the blood of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
  • As early as the first century, commentators such as Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Ireneaus, Origen and more saw this scarlet cord as a symbol of the blood of Jesus.
  • Also parallels the procedure prescribed at the time of the Passover - the blood on the door posts.
  • The Hebrew word translated "rope" here ("thread" in the KJV) is usually translated "hope" as in Psalm 71:5: O Lord, you alone are my hope. I've trusted you, O Lord, from childhood.
  • S.D. Walters has suggested that the scarlet rope may have been the mark of a prostitute, a "red rope" district, if you will.
  • This cord would have been seen each time the Jewish army marched around the city, thereby giving all of the soldiers ample time to mentally locate this house. The binding of the scarlet cord in her window was for the purpose of identifications, so that when Israel made their attack upon Jericho they might know which was her house, and spare it.
  • It must be borne in mind that when the spies gave her those instructions they did not know that the Lord was going to work a miracle, and cause the walls of the city to fall down without any assault upon them by Israel. That was not revealed to Joshua until later (6:5), illustrating the fact that God’s will is made known unto us only a step at a time - He sees the end from the beginning (Acts 15:18), but He does not always allow us to do so (John 13:7). So, He has to cause the walls to fall down, EXCEPT for the part where Rahab lived and was awaiting rescue.
  • That rope was the "token" for which she had asked (verse 12), and it enabled the army of Israel to ascertain which was her house - just as the sprinkled blood on the doorposts of the Hebrews in Egypt caused the angel of death to recognize their houses and pass over them, when He went forth to slay the firstborn (Exodus 12:13); and just as the 144,000 who are exempted from judgment are "sealed in their foreheads" (Revelation 7:3), their identifying mark being that of obedience to the Lord (Revelation 14:1-5).
  • The term “rope” in verse 15 is different from the term “rope” used in verse 17. The first implies a corded strong rope, the second a much smaller, weaker rope or thick thread. By putting out this small rope or thread, it did not draw undue attention to her home by the inhabitants of Jericho.
  • Genesis 38:27-30: When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a scarlet string around the child’s wrist, announcing, “This one came out first.” But then he pulled back his hand, and out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did you break out first?” So he was named Perez. Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah. It was Perez who breached first, later leading to the bloodline of King David and Jesus. These references infuse the symbol of red string with strong links to bloodline, and the promise of inheritance in Perez's case, while forgiveness and protection are conjured from Rahab's story.
  • Red strings may also signify sacrifice. During Yom Kippur, there is historically a 'scapegoat' ritual, in which two goats are presented. One is tied around the horns with red string and set free while the other has red string tied around the neck, to indicate it should be slaughtered, as it now bears the sins of Israel. Jesus is represented as the scapegoat for humanity. In John's Gospel, chapter 1 verse 29, John declares of Jesus, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
  • In Exodus, the blood of a sacrificial lamb was put over doorways as protection during the tenth plague.

(19) If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death.

(20) If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way."

(21) "I accept your terms," she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.

• Hebrews 11:31: It was BY FAITH that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. She was not saved because she harbored the spies. She was saved because she believed in God. And the evidence that she believed God was that she harbored the spies. One paraphrase puts it this way: “Because the prostitute Rahab trusted God, she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome.” Rahab the prostitute did not perish. Why? By faith, through grace, not due to any inherent goodness on her part. She just believed God.
• By this point, Rahab has already expressed faith: she acknowledged God and that God could and would act in her life. But there was more to be done. Faith alone isn't good enough, though we Protestants like to think so. Faith must produce action. As the Book of James tells us, "faith without works is dead." The two spies explain to Rahab that she must act - she must not betray them and she must put the scarlet cord in the window. Failure to act, despite her claim of faith, will result in her destruction. Faithfully, Rahab ties the cord and awaits the results.

(22) The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there *three days. The men who were chasing them searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned without success.

• *three days: Joshua must have sent these guys out even before issuing the order for them to break camp; otherwise, you have a real problem with the "three days".

(23) Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them.

• Crossing the Jordan in either direction at this flood time could not have been easy.

(24) "The Lord has given us the whole land," they said, "for all the people in the land are terrified of us."

• The spies told Joshua of the fear of the Canaanites (verse 2:9). This is a fulfilled prophecy from Exodus 23:27 and Deuteronomy 2:25.

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NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.

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NOTE: Sources and References are on line at: http://joshua-biblestudy.blogspot.com/2011/07/joshua-references-and-sources.html