God Protects His People

June 19, 2011

Background Scripture: Joshua 2
Lesson Passage: Joshua 2:2 – 9, 15, 16, 22 – 24

As I studied today’s lesson, it reminded me of the events that took place forty years prior to the event recorded here in the book of Joshua. At that time, Israel was at Kadesh-barnea and on the brink of entering Canaan to possess it. Their leader, Moses, assembled twelve men—one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel—to go in to Canaan and spy out the land and bring back an assessment of it. When the twelve returned forty days later, they assured Moses that the land was as fruitful as God had promised it would be. However, they were careful to note that the inhabitants were men of large stature and their cities were heavily fortified. Ten of those men insisted that any attempt to occupy Canaan would be a suicide mission for Israel. Their report disheartened the people and caused them to lose hope and even worse, they loss faith in God. This led to forty years of delay and punishment in the wilderness. Only two of those men, Joshua and Caleb, tried to encourage the people to have faith in God and His divine protection of Israel. Israel refused to hear them and instead accepted the consequences of their faithlessness. Perhaps it was Joshua’s reflection on what it was like to be part of the losing minority report that prompted him to only select two men for this mission. (Some committees are too large to accomplish anything but the generation of confusion and despair.) It is somewhat puzzling as to why Joshua would even bother to send spies into the land at all knowing that Moses indicated that his reason for doing so was that the people suggested it and not that God required it of them. Although the book of Numbers record that God instructed Moses to send the men, Moses made it clear in Deuteronomy that it was the request of the people that initiated the action. No doubt, Joshua had learned much throughout the years of serving Moses and seeing God’s handiwork on behalf of Israel. One thing he certainly learned is that God protects His people. God constantly provided for them during their journey through the wilderness on their way to Kadesh-barnea. He protected Joshua and the other eleven spies forty days while they were in Canaan. He protected Israel whenever He sent them to battle against His enemy—with Joshua often being responsible for leading Israel into battle. So whether God had instructed Joshua to spy out Jericho or not, Joshua knew that God would be with the two men and bring them back safely. What Joshua did not know is what we too often don’t know as well, what obstacles would be encountered and how God would handle the situation. Nevertheless, to know that God protects His people is enough to give us holy boldness as we move forward and do His will. The spies went in and were detected and sought out but God had stirred up the faith of one of the residents of Jericho to choose His side rather than the side of her fellow townsmen. God knows how to use the enemy to thwart his own plans and defeat his own wicked intentions. Rahab the harlot became a part of the messianic line of the Christ perhaps because she allowed herself to have faith in God’s divine protection of his own and she too wanted that protection for herself and her family.

Robert C. Hudson
June 7, 2011