SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND --- LESSON 02

THE SCARLET STRAND

THE SCARLET ROPE

From Joshua 2

Go and look over the land, Joshua told two of his spies, especially Jericho! The men went into the land as Joshua commanded, arriving one evening at the home of Rahab the harlot, where they planned to stay overnight. But someone had found out about the spies and reported them to the king of Jericho. Men from Israel have come here to spy on the land, they said. The king sent men to Rahab’s house to talk with her. Bring those men out of your house, they told her. They are spies who have come to search our land. Rahab had taken the spies to the roof earlier and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had piled there to dry. She told the king’s men, some men were here, but I certainly didn’t know where they had come from. They left in time to get out of the city before the gate was shut this evening and I don’t know where they went. Hurry! Perhaps you can catch them. Believing that the spies had gone, the king’s men hurried away on the road leading to the Jordan River, looking for them. While they searched, the gates of the city were kept shut. With a scarlet cord, Rahab let the two men down so they could escape. Rahab and her family were spared because she was certain that Israel would defeat Jericho. Before the spies went to bed for the night, Rahab went up to the roof to talk with them. I’m sure that Adonai has given this land to Israel, she said. Everyone is afraid of you. In fact, the people are terrified at the very thought of you. We have heard how Adonai dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you when you came from Egypt and we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings whom you destroyed along with their people east of the Jordan. When our people heard these things, they lost all their courage to fight you, for it has become quite clear that your YHVH is Adonai of heaven and earth. Now, since I have helped you, swear to me by your YHVH that when you conquer Jericho, you will let me and my family live; father and mother, brothers and sisters and their households. The spies made a bargain then with Rahab. Our life for yours! Spare our lives by seeing us safely out of here and we will spare yours when the city is taken. Since Rahab’s home was on the city wall, she let them down by a scarlet rope through her window. Go out into the hills, she said. Hide there for three days, until the king’s men return to Jericho. Then you can go on your way. When we return to take the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from your window, the spies told Rahab. If you do not, we are free from our agreement to protect you. Also, your relatives and their families must all be here in your house at that time. If anyone goes out of your house and is killed, it is his own fault. But if anyone is inside your house and is killed, then we are guilty. Also, if you tell anyone what we are doing, we are free from our agreement. Let it happen exactly as you have said, Rahab agreed. As the men left, Rahab left the scarlet rope in the window. For three days the spies hid in the hills, until the men of Jericho stopped looking for them along the road and returned to the city. Then the spies came down from the hills, crossed the Jordan River and told Joshua all that had happened to them. Now we are certain that Adonai has given us all this land, they told Joshua. The people there are weak with fear because of us.

COMMENTARY

OTHER CONQUESTS OF THE LAND: THUTMOSE III

The people who lived in Canaan were strong. However, they were terrified and hid behind the stone walls of their cities when they heard all that YHVH did to bring Israel out of Egypt and to defeat the Amorite armies. Yet in Jericho one woman found faith instead of fear. The strand of scarlet rope which she hung from her window would save the lives of her family and stand forever as a symbol of saving faith. Joshua’s soldiers were not the first to invade Canaan. Egyptian pharaohs had raided the land at least a thousand years before. One of the pharaohs, Thutmose III, went to war against Canaan almost every year. His strategy was very clever. The first attack would come in the spring, when food was nearly gone and before the next harvest. Hunger guaranteed a quick surrender. He won at Joppa by having his soldiers pretend to carry large baskets of tribute to the ruler; the baskets held soldiers instead and victory came fast. In yet a third battle, his soldiers carried boats over the mountains for a surprise attack on a city near the Euphrates River. The Egyptians left defeated rulers very little. They took their gold, silver, precious stones, ivory furniture, even their livestock and expensive clothes. Thutmose III brought their children back to Egypt. But the children were not put in prison. Instead, they were raised in the Egyptian way of life and returned to Canaan to rule for the pharaoh; no longer enemies. Intelligent ideas like these helped earn Thutmose III his fame as the greatest military leader in ancient Egyptian history.

If you’re waiting on an invitation to an eye-opening adventure is Israel, here it is: You are invited to see Israel with the Nations’ 9th of Av, July 24-August 3, 2023. The Ten from the Nations Tour with Nations’ 9th of Av is a bit different from the typical Christian tourist package in the Holy Land. This tour is designed to introduce you to the people and the land of Israel that you won’t see in the news or hear about in your Bible studies....

https://thebarkingfox.com/2023..../02/01/coming-to-isr

 

thebarkingfox.com

Coming to Israel this Summer? - The Barking Fox

If you’re waiting on an invitation to an eye-opening adventure is Israel, here it is: You are invited to see Israel with the Nations’ 9th of Av, July 24-August 3, 2023. The Ten from the Nations Tour with Nations’ 9th of Av is a bit different from the

In #exodus there are plagues, the Sea, and then the Song of Moses. In #revelation 15 there are the Sea, the Song of Moses, and then plagues. Revelation repeats many of the elements of Exodus, but the order of events is scrambled.
#biblepatterns

SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND --- LESSON 01

I WILL BE WITH YOU

MARCHING ORDERS

From Joshua 1

After the death of YHVH’s servant Moses, Adonai spoke to his assistant, Joshua the son of Nun. Moses is dead. I want you to take his place as the leader of Israel. You will guide My people across the Jordan River, into the land that I have promised them. I have given you all the land that you will occupy, just as I promised it to Moses; from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. As long as you live, no one will be able to rise up against you, for I will be with you. As I was with Moses, I will also be with you. I will never abandon you or fail you. Be brave and strong, for you will lead My people to conquer the land that I promised to them. Obey every Law that Moses gave you with great courage and strength; then you will be successful in all that you do. Day and night, meditate on these Laws, seeking always to obey them, sharing them with your people. Then you will succeed in all that you do. Yes, I am Commanding you to be brave and strong, fearless, never doubting, for I am with you wherever you go. When Adonai finished speaking to him, Joshua gave orders to the officers of Israel. Go through the camp and command the people to prepare to march, in three days we will cross the Jordan, to conquer the land which Adonai has given to us. These orders were given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Remember your agreement with Moses concerning a home on this side of the Jordan River. You may leave your families and cattle here, but you and your fighting men shall lead the others across the Jordan River to help them conquer the land. When you have finished conquering the land west of the Jordan, then you may return home and take possession of the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan River. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered Joshua, we will do everything you have commanded us. We will go wherever you send us. As we obeyed Moses completely, so we will also obey you. May YHVH be with you as He was with Moses. Whoever refuses to obey you will be put to death. Be strong and fearless!

COMMENTARY

THE JORDAN RIVER

Moses, the lawgiver, was dead. Now YHVH called Joshua to be Israel’s new leader. Joshua was a military man, who could lead in the coming battle for the Promised Land. [Be brave and strong,] YHVH commanded, [obey every Law that Moses gave you with great courage and strength.] Then YHVH gave Joshua a great promise. [I will be with you wherever you go.] When the Jordan River stopped flowing so the Israelites could cross, it was much wider than it is now. But the route it followed and the landscape along the shoreline remain much the same. The river’s origin is far from the place where the people of Israel crossed. Many miles north, near Dan and Mount Hermon, four streams unite and flow south through a valley and a mosquito-infested swamp, then goes through a black basalt gorge formed from volcanic lava. The Jordan then meets the Sea of Galilee at its northern end and emerges at the south. Below this stretches the rich beauty of the Jordan Valley. To the left lies a lush plain called the Zor. Usually full of wild animals, the plain is flooded by the Jordan every year, which drives the animals out; when the water recedes, it leaves masses of driftwood behind. Lying straight ahead is the Ghor valley. Surrounded by mountains, fed by many rivers and streams, the Jordan here becomes treacherously full of swirling rapids. Continuing south, the river then flows undisturbed on its own for many miles. As the Jordan approaches its end, the Mount of Olives becomes faintly visible to the west. Shallow and moving slowly, the river empties its silt into the lowest, saltiest body of water on earth; the Dead Sea. From its origin to this point, where it ends, the Jordan River has twisted back and forth for a total of two hundred miles -- but it has covered a distance of only seventy miles on land.

Israel saw the great power that YHWH used against the Egyptians, so the people feared YHWH, and they believed in YHWH and in his servant Moses.
Exodus 14:31

If you believe in God, you must also believe in his prophets. To reject the messenger is to reject the one who sent the messenger. Of course, there are many more false prophets than legitimate ones. You won't be able to tell them apart if you aren't very familiar with God's character as revealed through his previous prophets in the Scriptures.

And in the morning watch YHVH in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic... #exodus 14:24

How did God confuse and panic the Egyptians in this verse? Perhaps He simply unclouded their minds and allowed them to see his full power in the pillar of fire and smoke. In v25, He stopped them by breaking their chariot wheels. Sometimes miracles are invisible and sometimes they look quite ordinary.

https://vimeo.com/794850441

The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. #exodus 14:23 #beshalach

Why would Pharaoh follow the Hebrews into the Sea after all he had witnessed? Crazy! God makes it easy to disbelieve if you are determined. By the time He forces you to see, it is often too late.

https://www.americantorah.com/....2015/01/28/the-wind-