March 4 Daily Devotional

Joshua 1–2

After the death of Moses the Lord said to Joshua, “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel … There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee … Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee … This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and … shalt have good success.” Then Joshua gave orders to his officers and said, “Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land.” Across the river was the! city of Jericho, with high stone walls around it and big iron gates, which were shut every night, so that no enemies could come in. This was the first city that the Israelites were to conquer. Joshua chose two men to find out the easiest way to get into the city.

These men managed to get into the city. They came to a house on the wall of the city, where a woman, named Rahab, lived. But somebody saw them, and the king of Jericho sent his officers to take them prisoners. The woman hid the men on the roof of her house and covered them with stalks of flax, so that the officers could not find them. After the officers were gone, she came up to the men on the roof and said, “I know that the Lord hath given you . the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token.”

After the men promised her this, Rahab let them down with a rope through the window, and so they got out of the city even though the gates were watched. They came back to Joshua and reported, saying, “Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants … do faint because of us.”