I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 1-4.
When the spies Joshua sent out to spy out the land around Jericho needed a place to stay for the night, they went to the house of a prostitute because that was a place where strangers could go to spend the night with no questions asked about why they were there. It did not work out that way because someone recognized them as Israelites when they went in to Rahab’s house and thus we learn a lesson about how God works. No one had preached about God to Rahab. In fact ,as best we understand the way the religion of that time and place worked, she was a priestess (of sorts) to the local diety. Rahab had a choice to make and she chose the side of God. She did not know much about God, or what it took to serve Him, but she had heard the stories about the Israelites and knew that she did not want to be God’s enemy. We should live our lives so that when others preach to those who have heard about us those who hear go, “Yes, I want to be like them.”
When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, Joshua had them take 12 rocks from the center of the riverbed. They set those twelve stones up as a memorial to their crossing of the Jordan. I want to note that these rocks were not just any rocks, they were rocks which had been on a riverbed for an extended period of time. As a result they would have had a different appearance from rocks that you would find lying on the ground or which you might dig out of a field when you plow it up. Anyone who saw this memorial who knew anything about rocks would have known they came from a riverbed. As we go through life, God provides us with such memorials, things which show that He is working in our lives. Some of those things will be physical objects, such as this memorial the Israelites built. Some of those things will be less tangible. In either case, we must take note that God is showing His power so that we never forget when He has shown us His will.