Village Schools of the Bible

A Devotional Study of Joshua
by Max Frazier, Jr.

A PROMISE THAT STIMULATES US TO WORK
Joshua 2:1

Today, dear Village Line friends, we want to begin our brief study in this very familiar story in chapter two. But before we turn our attention toward Rahab, I would like to have us pause and consider a tremendous truth often overlooked in verse 1.

This verse almost seems like a contradiction to what God had proclaimed in chapter 1. For, in that chapter, we observed that at least six times God had related to Joshua and the people of Israel that He was giving to them the Promised Land. It was God's gift to them. Joshua could have rested on that and waited for God to do something marvelous. But we don't find Joshua sitting around waiting. We find him commanding two young men to cross the flooded Jordan and to spy out the land. So, was this an act of disobedience or at least an act of lack of faith on Joshua's part?

Friends, I believe that God never intends that His promises should cause us to become idle. We are not to trust God to do what He expects us to do. I am reminded of the following story: A toad fell into a rut in the road and could not seem to get out. When he called to a passing toad for assistance, the other toad replied, "If I help you, I may fall into the rut with you. Then there would be two of us who are trapped." So he hopped on. Later, to his surprise, he saw the trapped toad hopping down the road. "I thought you couldn't get out of that rut." Came the reply, "I couldn't - but a big truck came along and I had to!"

The Bible has a very high view of work. In Philippians 2:12, Paul challenged the believers in Philippi to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, they were to allow themselves to be used to their full potential by God. James, writing in chapter 2 of his little epistle, states the relationship between faith and works. He even goes so far as to state that a faith which gives no evidence through works is a dead faith.

I believe that God honored this effort, on the part of Joshua, to explore the realities of the land which lay before them. Yes, he knew God was giving it to them. And yes, he knew it would take a miracle for it to happen. Yet he wanted to be a well prepared as he knew he could be when that gift would become a reality.

Recently I came across a little saying which grabbed my attention because of the powerful truth which it proclaimed. I do not know the author, but I can fully share his heart, for he wrote these words: What this country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds. I can almost hear many of you saying "Amen!" together with me. And, I like those words from Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God when he states that God is already at work; He simply asks us to join Him in that work. I believe it is time for Christians to resurrect the integrity of a strong work ethic and to be ready to do whatever God asks of us.

Lord, You have saved us but You did not tell us to sit and to wait. Instead, You have commissioned us to go into the harvest fields which are white unto harvest and to work for You. Help us to shake off our apathy and lethargy and to become excited about how You can use us to advance Your kingdom. Father, use the friends of the Village Schools as tools for Your glory. We pray this in the name of the One who came to do His Father's will. Amen.

RAHAB: A WOMAN WHO CHOSE RIGHTLY
Joshua 2:2-24

The story of Rahab and the two spies from Israel is perhaps one of the most familiar stories in the entire Old Testament. Now Rahab was a harlot or a prostitute, or at least she had been one and still carried the reputation as being one. But she was also a woman of legitimate business as well, being one who was in the business of linen weaving and dyeing as evidenced by the remarks found in verse 6 which state that Rahab hid the men among the stalks of flax which she had laid upon her roof.

The key element in the story of Rahab is her choice to stand with Israel's God and not with her king and her people of Jericho. Like all who lived in Jericho, Rahab had heard the daily accounts the past forty years of all that Israel's God had done for them while they traveled in the wilderness. She had heard the reports of the crossing of the Red Sea; of the water which gushed from the rock; of the manna which appeared daily to feed this multitude; and of the victories over the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, who just happened to be the enemies of Jericho as well. These stories were all very familiar to everyone, but only Rahab acted upon those stories. Only Rahab came to have a seed-like faith in this God about whom she knew so very little. Yet, what little knowledge she did possess demanded that she give her allegiance to Him.

Dr. Allen Redpath proclaimed that the most potent factor in the saving of a soul is the supernatural evidences of the presence of God in the life of a child of God. That is indeed a most thought provoking statement. How I need to be reminded daily that people are observing me and my behavior. They are watching those choices which I make; choices as to what television programs to watch, which magazines to select from the local news stand, what movies I might attend. They are listening to my choices of words to express the ideas and thoughts of my heart. Really, they are watching to see if I am living what I am professing. And the reality of Dr. Redpath's statement strikes home when I consider that my choices will possibly affect another person's eternal destiny.

Rahab knew so very little. Her only contact with the living God came through the reports which she had heard of God and His dealings with His people. Yet she chose to be identified with this living God, and God honored her faith by including her in the lineage of Jesus (see Matthew 1:5).

Father, I am thankful for this lesson from the life of Rahab. How I need to be reminded that those choices which I make daily do have an impact upon others. Lord, I do not want to be a stumbling block preventing another from coming to a relationship with You. So, give me wisdom and faith to make the right choices which You can then use to help someone else come to know You. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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