Have you ever read through the book of Joshua before? What about just chapter 2? Talk about a page turner! Of course, I think all of Scripture is just that, but I found myself back in the classroom of Joshua 2 on Sunday morning at church, and I could hardly wait to share with you all what God taught me through it.
I’ve said this so many times, but I’ll say it again. God’s Word never gets old. No matter how many times I read it, there’s always something new that God shows me, always something different that He illuminates, always. This time through Joshua 2 was no different. I know well the story of the two Israelite spies sent into Jericho. I know how Rahab protected them by hiding them. I know that in return they spared her and her family’s lives. It’s an awesome story that displays God’s might and mercy so beautifully coupled together.
Here’s something that I never caught before, though. Take a look at Joshua 2:10.
“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.” (NIV)
I love this verse in the ESV. It opens with the phrase, “For we have heard…”
What’s the big deal? Let me tell you! You see, the city of Jericho was filled with a people who neither believed in God nor honored Him. In fact, they worshiped many pagan gods. This was a group of people who had given themselves over to idolatry, and they were enemies of God’s chosen people. And their complete rejection of the One true God was about to become their demise. A group of people who never acknowledged God, but here you have one of them, a prostitute no less, telling the two Israelite spies “for we have heard.” And here it is, don’t miss this:
The Word and works of God cannot nor will they ever be silenced, even among the enemies of God and His people.
As this truth hit me like a ton of bricks, I could hardly believe that it had never occurred to me before. God is so powerful and so sovereign that even against a pagan nation who has completely rejected Him, His name and fame will be made known, and in the face of His name and fame, even the hard-hearted and unbelieving will declare Him to be who He says He is in His Word.
So, what hope does this deposit into our lives today? Well, for starters, nothing can silence the truth of God and His Word. Nothing. Not persecution, not false religions, not hate, not anything. His Word will stand true forever, and it will be made known. Secondly, God’s voice wins. It IS the loudest voice. There are many competing voices out there, begging our ears to lean their way, but God’s voice will always be loudest, always truest.
Be encouraged today, friend. These hope-filled words that propelled my faith forward today came flowing out of the mouth of a prostitute. If God can use this “least-likely candidate,” I’m confident that He can and will use you and me. Because it’s just who He is.
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