Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly....

So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.

[Rahab] took the two men and hid them.

she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall.

And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

[the priests] who bore the ark came to the Jordan, dipped [their feet] in the edge of the ... [Jordan] ..., the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap ... and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

the LORD said to Joshua: "...You shall march around [Jericho], all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.... all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat...." (Joshua 2:1-2,4,15, 3:7,15-17, 6:2-5 NKJV)

Joshua was now the leader of the nation of Israel, a commission he had accepted in faith. The first task the Lord gave him was to enter the land of Canaan and attack the fortress of Jericho. Even as Moses had lead the nation of Israel through the Red Sea, the Lord performed a similar miracle on Joshua's behalf at the Jordan River during flood season.

Before crossing the Jordan River, Joshua sent spies into Jericho. Obviously the king of Jericho wasn't the least bit happy to have foreigners spying on his fortress, so he immediately initiated a city-wide search to find and kill the spies. Everyone in the city had heard of the exploits of the nation of Israel since leaving Egypt, and were very afraid. However, a woman of Jericho, who was a prostitute, exercised faith by hiding and protecting the spies with the stipulation they would guarantee her and her family's safety. The only guarantee she received was the integrity of the verbal conditional promise of the spies she protected: as long as she and her family remained in her house during Israel's attack, they would all be safe.

When it was time for Joshua to attack the city of Jericho, the Lord gave Israel a series of prophetic acts to perform: circle the city once a day for six days, and on the seventh day, circle it seven times, sound the trumpets, shout, and then expect the walls of the city to fall down. Joshua and Israel faithfully performed the prophetic acts, Rahab faithfully brought her entire family into her house, the walls of the city fell, the city of Jericho was destroyed, and Rahab and her family were saved.

What lessons can we learn from Joshua, Rahab, and the destruction of Jericho? First, the Lord honors the true faith of any individual, without any respect to occupation, race, or nationality. Second, faith depends on the faithfulness, integrity, and ability of the object of that faith. Third, the reward of faith depends on meeting the conditions of that faith. Fourth, the performance of a prophetic act constitutes a statement of faith, with the reward being proportional to the faithful and enthusiastic execution of the vision received.

Copyright (c) 2008 Jon Straumfjord