Scripture to Read: Joshua 2:7–10
The men who had been sent to Rahab’s house (in Joshua 2:7) left to pursue the spies. Rahab then went to the roof of her house, where she had hidden the spies and told them this in Joshua 2:9–10, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.” Rahab revealed that she knew that God was handing over the land to the Israelites. God had revealed this to her. Rahab also revealed that “all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.” The people living in the promised land greatly feared God. They did not worship God, but they feared Him because of how He had worked on behalf of the nation of Israel. God’s power had been talked about and the people in the land of Canaan were afraid. Fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 4:7, Proverbs 9:10) and can lead to repentance and surrendering to Him as Lord. But the people in Canaan only feared the loss that was coming because they knew the God of the Israelites would defeat them—that type of fear is hopeless.
Challenge & Application
Why was the kind of fear the Canaanites had a hopeless fear?
What kind of fear of God leads to repentance and surrendering to Him as Lord?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!