THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

Joshua 2

(It would really help to read Joshua 2 first!)

            When we take the time to stop and look carefully at what God did in this situation we come away astonished.  There is so much that goes on behind-the-scenes that we miss it if we just fly through the story.  For example, God worked on behalf of the spies before they ever went into Jericho.  Think how he prepared the heart of Rahab.  By Rahab’s own testimony we know that she had heard all about what God had done on behalf of the Hebrews.  She heard how God dried up the Red Sea for his people.  She heard about the great victory the Israelites won over the mighty princes east of the Jordan.  Perhaps the most amazing thing of all was that Rahab had a warm heart toward the Hebrews.  She could have been very angry and upset about what was happening and she could have lashed out and betrayed the spies.  Somehow, Rahab came to understand that Jehovah was giving the land of Canaan to these people.  How would all of that have happened unless the Lord was working in her heart, preparing her to see what was really happening and help the representatives of Israel?  This is the providence of God!

            Think how God directed the spies to the woman whose heart he had prepared.  These men did not know Jericho.  Most scholars estimate that there were somewhere around 1,500 people living in Jericho at the time.  The spies didn’t know one of them!  They had no contact person.  Maybe they thought if they went to the prostitute’s house they would be less obvious?  But how would they find it?  If they had to ask where the prostitute lived they would give themselves away as out-of-towners.  So I really doubt they did that.  Somehow God worked it out so the spies were brought to Rahab’s house.  This is the providence of God!

            Then think how God protected the spies from the king.  Obviously, the king of Jericho had his own lookouts on the job.  He already knew Israelite spies had crossed the river and were in his city.  He even knew they had gone to Rahab’s house!  (“Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” v. 3)  So even though the Israelites had been watched from the time they crossed the river to the time they entered Rahab’s house, God kept them from being captured.  He worked in Rahab’s heart and prompted her to hide the men instead of handing them over.  And the thing I find most amazing is that God caused the king’s officers to believe Rahab even though they knew the spies had gone into her house!  This is God’s providence!

            Finally, God worked to bring the spies home safely.  Rahab let the men down through a window that opened out to the city wall.  They used a rope to climb down to the ground.  How easy it would have been for a guard or just a passing citizen to see these two men as they rappelled down the wall!  Once on the ground they went into the hills and hid while all the king’s horses and all the king’s men searched for them.  God prevented the army from finding his men. This is the providence of God!

            Again, unless we stop and think about a passage like this we will miss important things like the providence of God at work behind the scenes!  Then, we need to apply what we learn to our own lives!  God’s providence is always at work, all the time, everywhere!  In other words, God’s providence is always working for us as well!  We need to realize God is working in every situation in our lives.  No matter how difficult things seem to be or how dark the situation may appear, God is at work!  He is at work in our hearts in just the same way as he was at work in the heart of Rahab.  Not only is he working in our hearts but he is working in the hearts of all the other people involved in our situations as well.  (Sometimes he is hardening their hearts just as he hardened the heart of Pharaoh against Moses and the Israelites!)  Just as God guided and protected the spies, so he guides and protects us.  The thing we need to keep in mind is that God works his providence to accomplish his will and his purposes, not ours!  But we need not ever be afraid because we know that he has already gone on before us.  We know that God causes all things to work out for our good even when we cannot see him at work or see the good that will come of it!