What a story!

And factual to the core, having literally occurred!

Really all of Joshua chapter 2 reads like a classic “spy” novel, except it is instead non-fiction, the absolute truth!

Here’s its first verse, number one of twenty-four: “And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim TWO MEN to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named RAHAB, and lodged there.”

Where did Joshua learn to send “spies” like this?

From Moses. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search (spy) the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.” Numbers 13:1-2

No doubt Joshua was a good learner!

Furthermore … Joshua’s spies had a plan.

They would locate and use a “house” somewhere in the City Jericho … as a base of operations for their covert mission. But HOW they chose the place is not recorded for us!

Yet God, surely, had gone before them, preparing their way!

Their hostess (a harlot named Rahab) already had been “touched” with a holy fear of the Almighty! And she was favorable to the two (likely young) Jewish boys, soldiers.

Long story short … Rahab protected the men.

And wanted for her (and her family) to be “saved” when the Jewish attack finally came!

All of which transpired, exactly as planned.

Virtually … the next thing we know of Rahab, she is married!

And a mother!

Matthew gives us the details, five hundred years later!

“And SALMON begat Booz of RAHAB; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias.”  Wow, Matthew 1:5-6.

We now know the name of Rahab’s husband. He was a Jew, as one might suspect. “Salmon,” to be precise. He and Rahab were parents to a baby they named “Boaz!” (Yes, the Greek spellings are a little different than the Hebrew, but the names are essentially the same.)

So Rahab is mother to Boaz and grandmother to Obed and great-grandmother to Jesse? Yes, clearly so. That makes her then the great-great grandmother to David, King David of Israel!

And so forth, down through the centuries until Jesus Christ is born, God’s Son!

Rahab, in the “godly line” that gave us Jesus, the humanity of God incarnate?

Yes!

What an event of Grace!

What a biography!

Truly fact is often stranger than fiction!

More beautiful, too!

Oh, one more thought, a possibility anyway.

What was Rahab’s husband’s name?

I remember, we just learned it … Salmon.

I’ve wondered for years … at least it is imaginable … Salmon well could have been one of the very spies (there were two of them, you recall) who first came to Rahab and offered her the marvelous Grace of God! Whom Rahab protected, at great risk!

Is Joshua 2:1 a love story, or the start of one?

Was it maybe “love at first sight?”

If so, no wonder Rahab was so impassioned in her desire to save the spies, no matter what it might have personally cost her!

And if things happened that way, God has once again shown His sweet Mercy and ingenious Wisdom in the lives of us human beings!

We used to put it this way, when I was a boy:

Rahab + Salmon!

And if that be the case, the equation fully reads …

Rahab + Salmon = Boaz!

And then you (we all really) know the rest of the story!

Can I prove this? 

No, certainly not the part about Salmon being one of the spies.

But the rest of the account, yes!

It’s the inspired Word of God.

But “love” got into this story somewhere!

(Wish we could have heard all the conversation between this presumably pretty gentile girl and her two guests during that whole time!)

Mercy, God is good!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Husbands, think back today to the hour God led you to the girl who is now your wife! Then thank the Lord for the “love story” you can tell!

 

 

I doubt any writer could inspect Joshua chapter 1 without commenting on that great 8th verse. I suspect it ranks as one of the greatest promises in all the Bible.

The Lord meant it to encourage Joshua too, undoubtedly. I say that because the very next verse seems to have linkage with its neighbor, verse 9 I mean.

“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 then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua 1:8

Then subsequently, verse 9. “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Wow!

Let’s discuss these truths.

The expression “this book of the law” is a synonym for the writings of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) at least. But I think the phrase also represents (now) the whole (completed) Word of God, all the Bible!

Keep its words, Joshua, in “thy mouth!”

Then immediately God commanded his new General … “meditate” therein day and night.

These two expressions have similarities.

The noun “mouth” is “peh” in Hebrew, with its root verb suggesting the action of “breaking, shattering, destroying” something! Yes, the words we speak are that dangerous! Think of this! A “danger warning” is built into the very word God chose to represent our tongues, our vocabulary, our speaking!

And the verb “meditate?”

It is spelled “hagah” in Hebrew and basically means “to mutter, to growl, to speak” lowly, almost under one’s breath! (In other words, get a piece of God’s Word and think about it all day, rolling it off your tongue, uttering its phrases all through the night!)

By the way, we learn to mediate on the Word … in order to obey the Word! (“That thou mayest observe to do!”) That’s a given in all Bible study!

And then IF (instead of hurting people with my words) I use my tongue to talk the Bible … to edify myself … God will then do some things! God will send some parallel blessings along with that “pondering” and all that “doing” His Word!

And those are?

“Then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Prosperity and success!

The first word (translated “to make one’s way prosperous”) means “to break out, to make progress.”

And the second (“having good success”) means ” to become wise!”

This is thrilling!

Then (verse 9 as I said earlier) it seems that God’s Word might be equivalent to (in some ways) to God’s very Presence!

Again … consequently … “the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

The order now …

Get some Scripture in your mind.

Talk it, speak it quietly (meditate) all day (and night).

Determine to obey it, letting it impact your life.

Then let God do the rest, blessing you as He sees fit, as He has promised.

And you will thereby be (and likely stay) encouraged!

Amen!

Like I said, how could any Preacher omit sharing this thought?

This great promise?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

I am excited about today’s verse. Absolutely, it is not politically correct, not in 2017, in the wicked world we inhabit!

In Joshua 1:4 God actually describes to His man the dimensions of the Land of Promise! It’s almost a plat of Israel’s (future) real estate!

“From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.” Wow!

Well, let me give you the preceding verse as well …

“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.” It’s yours … go claim it! Step it off! To the Glory of God, Joshua 1:3-4.

Note … God is telling Joshua this in real time, as he begins his ministry over Israel. But do keep in mind these facts had already been made known to Moses, several times!

For example, though in far greater detail:

“Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: and your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: and the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border. And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor. From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad: and the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border. And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham: and the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: and the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.”  Numbers 34:3-12

Vast!

From the Mediterranean Sea on the west to the Euphrates River in the east! From Lebanon (maybe even Syria) in the north to the land of Egypt in the south!

Really, I think, more land they Israel has ever literally possessed, in all her history! (Including her “victorious” times under David and Solomon!) Yet this acreage is still promised to her, by God Himself!

This fact alone leads me to believe that there is coming a day in the future when Israel shall possess and enjoy every square inch of the (literally) Promised Land!

Yet the nations of the world today, perhaps without exception, seek to dispossess Israel of her ground … expelling her from this rightful Gift from the Lord.

Yes, I am saying that I believe God will keep His Word … and give His people everything He has told them!

And if a person is a Bible “literalist,” he or she is in favor of the geographical outline given above.

And today they (apostate politicians) want to argue over “settlements?”

Folks, only the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will ever straighten this situation, which has become so very crooked!

By the way, God has promised each of us some (spiritual) territory as well!

As we occupying it all?

Living up to our full potential?

The Bible and read estate!

Who would have ever thought it?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

I feel like a lad standing on the shore of a great ocean! Amazed at its breadth, wondering about its depth! Only able to wade out so far, very small in the presence of this huge body of water!

That’s me this morning.

On the brink of a study of the Old Testament Book of Joshua.

Almost overwhelmed!

Yes, the Book of Joshua is a virtual library of Spirit-written Wisdom! Of all things, on this subject … how to better live for Jesus! Or maybe “in” Jesus!

Joshua 1:1-3 begins the odyssey.

“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, 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. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.”

The Lord’s promises are … transferrable!

That’s the outstanding fact that impresses me today, from our text.

“That have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses!”

His “guarantees” have now become yours, Joshua!

What I had planned to do for him, I shall now do for you, as leader of my people Israel.

There’s a song entitled “It Is No Secret, What God Can Do!” Among its lines are the truly encouraging words: “What He’s Done for Others, He will do for you!”

Wow!

Then … maybe the Prayer that God led Jabez to pray … will be effective in my life, too! Maybe that’s why God had it so carefully (word for word) notated in the Bible, for folks like me!

“And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” 1st Chronicles 4:10

Am I saying, “What God did for Jabez, He well might do for me?” Yes, I am! “And God granted him that which he requested.” Incidentally, the Lord has answered that prayer, aspects of it anyway, for me! Time and time again!

A transfer of the promises of God!

Then I wonder … can I also claim such as …

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3, likely first made to David, to some Psalmist for sure. But I have reaped (at least partially) these benefits over the years, due to the Power of the Word of God!

What about thousands of other promises in the Bible?

I am probably “over my head” by now, in that vast sea I earlier mentioned!

But YES, many (if not most)of those promises can be MINE as well!

“That have I given unto you … (just) as I said unto Moses!”

Amen!

Go claim one of God’s previously-given promises today!

They never wear out!

And they are transferrable!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Anyone planning to enjoy this chapter by chapter journey through Joshua? I’d love to know your feelings! My text number 770-844-7627.

 

 

I first read the analogy years ago. Someone, I think Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter, suggested that certain parallels exist between the Old Testament Book of Joshua and the New Testament Book of Ephesians! Such a thought thrilled my soul, my teenage soul at the time.

This much I recall.

In Joshua the people of God (the Israelites) have left Egypt, trekked through the Wilderness, the desert, and are ready to enter the Land of Canaan! The Land God had promised them many years ago. The overarching theme of Joshua … “Living up to one’s inheritance!”

Read with me Joshua 1:2, God speaking to (instructing) young 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.”

And likewise in Ephesians we are being taught that there exists a “higher spiritual plane” on which we Christians can live, daily! A life of victory in Christ Jesus our Lord, perennially! Living up to our inheritance, spiritually.

Ephesians 1:3 makes the case. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

Wow!

The Lord willing, for a few days (maybe even weeks) we shall be studying Joshua, chapter by chapter. I want to learn more about what we already have (in Christ Jesus) to empower us to love righty for the Lord Who loved (loves) us so!

Anyone want to learn with me?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

770-844-7627