Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 16
4
IMMERSE
•
KINGDOMS
1:15–2:14
them until the Lord gives them rest, as he has given you rest, and until
they, too, possess the land the Lord your God is giving them. Only then
may you return and settle here on the east side of the Jordan River in the
land that M
oses, the servant of the Lord, assigned to you.”
They answered Joshua, “We will do whatever you command us, and we
will go wherever you send us. We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses.
And may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Anyone
who rebels against your orders and does not obey your words and every
thing you command will be put to death. So be strong and courageous!”
Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia
Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the
Jordan River, especially around Jeric ho.” So the two men set out and came
to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
But someone told the king of Jeric ho, “Some Israelites have come here
tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab:
“Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come
here to spy out the whole land.”
Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were
here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. They left the town
at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If
you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” (Actually, she had taken
them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid
out.) So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading
to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men
had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.
Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof
to talk with them. “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told
them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For
we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red
Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og,
the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has
the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is
the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
“Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my
family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho
is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my
brothers and sisters, and all their families.”
“We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed.