Date | Version | Reading Plan |
---|---|---|
@June 30, 2024 | ESV (2016) | M’Cheyne Plan 2024 |
Joshua 2
Joshua 2:3–5 (ESV) 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”
Joshua secretly sent two spies into the land to view it, especially Jericho, and, when inside the land, lodged in a house of a prostitute named Rahab. The king of Jericho was informed of their entry into the land and to sent to inquire of Rahab regarding the men. Rahab’s response manifested in manifold deceit, both in words and in actions. She first hid the spies but then proceeded to tell the king’s men that she did not know where they came from. We know her words to be entirely untruthful because of her later address of the spies in Josh. 2:10-11. She then continues in her deception by telling more lies to the king’s men that 1) the spies went out, 2) she did not know where they went and 3) they will overtake the spies if the men pursue them quickly. The CSB Notes provides helpful insights into this episode and how Rahab’s misleading words actions are to be interpreted:
[Rahab] risked her life, but she also lied. Despite this, Heb 11:31 and James 2:25 admire her faith. The text does not condone her act, although there was no other way to save the spies from death. Forgiveness was available with God. The point here is that her words kept the king’s men from looking in the house.
Psalms 123–125
Psalm 123:1–2 (ESV) 1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.
The psalmist compares lifting up his eyes to the LORD as a servant lifts his eyes to their master and the maidservant to the hand of her mistress. Reading this on a Sabbath Sunday, it comes to mind the posture of worship, that our faces would be oriented to the God above all things with our eyes cast on our Lord who is high and lifted up. May we be a people whose who hearts—and indeed whole bodies—are set toward Him in exultation and praise.
Isaiah 62
Isaiah 62:4, 12 (ESV) 4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. …
12 And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
God has compassion on Israel, replacing the names that her reflect loneliness with those of His delight and covenant relationship with them. They are proper names but, in themselves, represent God’s faithfulness to His people. The CSB Notes provides additional context on the concept of Israel’s marriage to God:
The metaphor of God married to his people as a husband is to his bride communicates the intimacy and exclusivity of the relationship… As a bride can have only one husband, so Israel can have only one God.
Matthew 10
Matthew 10:16 (ESV) 16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Sadly, this verse brings to mind my first encounter with it contained in a movie of no redeeming value, however it illuminates the reality of colliding with adversity as we live in faithfulness to Christ and the gospel. The strategy we are commanded by Jesus to employ entails a combination of wisdom and innocence. There should be a precision and unwavering resolve in the One we represent but also a loving kindness in our demeanor. By our own power, we are incapable of executing these together harmoniously. Only by the Spirit’s guidance and our firm grounding in His Word is it possible to confront opposition in the manner to which we have been called.