Old Testament God of Love

Yesterday in my worship I read the book of Joshua and so many things popped into my brain I had to stop and meditate a lot on that book. We have been talking, in the various Bible studies that I’m involved in, about how God can turn any situation into something that will produce good results and give Him glory.

First off, I have to tell you, that I believe we are caught in a war between God and Satan. Satan was an angel in heaven and he rebelled against God. He managed to convince a third of the angels that God was unjust and so they were expelled from heaven. (To read about this see: Isa 14:12-21; Ezekiel 28:1-19; Revelation 12:1-12; Luke 10:18). Adam was originally given dominion over the world (Genesis 1:26), but when he believed Satan’s lies, Satan became the ruler of this world (Job 1:6, 7; 2:1-7; Matthew 4:8-10; John 12:31; 16:11; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12). Christ came to earth and won the battle with Satan, both when He was tempted to sin, and finally, at Calvary, for all time. (Matthew 4:1-11; John 19:30; 12:31; 16:11). The blood of Jesus covers all who believe in Him and accept Him as their Lord and Saviour. He gives the power for victory over sin and finally, eternal life.

I believe that Satan hates God and wants to hurt Him, and since he can’t do battle with God Himself, he hurts the people God created and loves. Bad things happen because of Satan, not God, but God can make even bad things turn out to be a blessing. In Sabbath School this week, one of my students (she’s 12) said that “God can do anything.” But I explained to her that God can’t do anything without permission and therefore it must be really hard for Him to be up there in heaven and unable to do everything He knows He could do and wants to do. It would be like having children whom you love play in the street. You know that they are in danger, so you ask them to come out of the street, but they ignore you. You see a truck coming and you call and beg for them to get out of the way, but they continue to ignore you. You can’t move them out of the way without their permission, so you keep pleading until finally they are hit and killed. I imagine that is just a fraction of what God feels, considering that there are 6 billion people on this earth, most of whom are ignoring His warnings and His pleading to get away from danger.

Hopefully, I’m not getting too preachy, but I had to tell you where I’m coming from if you are to understand the following story. The whole point is that God can turn every situation, no matter how bad, into something positive in the long run.

When the Children of Israel returned to the River Jordan, 40 years after their first approach, it was with a new leader, Joshua. Moses had gone up on the mountain and died because he had hit the rock the second time, instead of speaking to it like he was told to do.

Now they are just a river away from what is considered to be the oldest city in the world, Jericho. According to archaeologist, Bryant Wood: “The mound, or ‘tell’ of Jericho was surrounded by a great earthen rampart, or embankment, with a stone retaining wall at its base. The retaining wall was some 12–15 feet high. On top of that was a mudbrick wall 6 feet thick and about 20–26 feet high. At the crest of the embankment was a similar mudbrick wall whose base was roughly 46 feet above the ground level outside the retaining wall.”

Faced with such an impossible task (humanly speaking), Joshua decided to send in a couple of spies to check out the lay of the land. (This story is found in Joshua 2). Forty years earlier, Moses had sent out 12 spies, but 10 of them had given such a gloomy report that the Israelites rebelled and were sent back into the desert. This time, Joshua decided to play it safe, and secretly sent out only two trusted men.

Across the Jordan and into the crowded city, went the two spies, trying to look inconspicuous as they mingled with the guests of the inn, listening to the fear and dread in the voices of all around them as they all talked about the Israelites and the coming invasion. People streamed in from all over the countryside, seeking safety behind the walls of Jericho. They knew the stories of God’s mighty deliverance of the Israelites; they knew of all the battles won thru the power of God; and they knew that their land had been given to the Israelites by God. How they could defend themselves, they didn’t know, so they gathered together to strategize and to build their courage thru alcohol.

As the spies listened, they realized that the battle was almost won, since all battles are first won or lost in the mind. As far as those in Jericho were concerned, they were lost and they knew it. How could they fight against the God of heaven?

Sometime during their sojourn in Jericho, the king was told that there were spies at the inn. Who told the king? Why weren’t the spies arrested and taken before the king? Only God knows the whole story, but I believe that the old devil had a hand in their exposure. What a blow that would be to the Israelites if the king of Jericho could capture the spies and parade them before the camp of Israel, maybe even threaten to kill them if they didn’t back off. How would the Israelites be able to depend on their God if He couldn’t even keep two men safe? What a coup for satan. He could send those pesky people of God scurrying back to the desert, and this time, they would never come back and Caanan would be out of reach for God forever. Satan would win!

But, no matter what satan does to cause problems, even if he seems to be ahead for a while, God is never taken by surprise. When news of the presence of the spies had reached Rahab she seized her chance, and acted. Quickly she led them up to the roof of the building and hid them under the stalks of flax laid out to dry for rope making. When the soldiers asked where the spies were, she lied and told them they had left and urged them to hurry out of the city after them. Another great thing about our God is that He accepts people where they are in life. Thou shalt not lie, is the commandment, but Rahab did the best she could given her background and her circumstances. She didn’t know the God of Israel, but she had faith in Him because of what she had heard about Him. So God “winked” at her lie and accepted her into His family based on her limited knowledge of Him. We truly serve a God of mercy, grace, and justice, don’t we?

Before the spies left they made a deal with Rahab. Everyone who was in her house when Jericho fell would be saved, anyone who didn’t believe her and come into the house would die. And so she let them down, over the wall and told them to hide in a cave for three days until the search party gave up, and then cross over Jordan back to their camp.

And so the spies made it back to camp with their report of the fear and trepidation felt by the inhabitants of the land. “We can win,” they told the people, “the hearts of the inhabitants of Caanan are melting with fear. The battle is ours.” No gloomy report this time, no explaining how high and thick the walls were and how impossible it would be to topple them; no explanation of the food and water within those might walls that would hold off an army for years. The only thing they told about was that God was on the lips of all the people and that He would give them the victory.

The Israelites were ready to go, they weren’t going to turn back this time. First though, they had to cross the Jordan which was at flood stage. How would they do that? There were no bridges, no boats, no way across. But God said, “Walk into the Jordan” and they did. They took that step of faith, got their feet in the water, and the water stood straight up and they crossed over on dry ground.

Can’t you just imagine that the walls of Jericho were crowded with people gawking at the miraculous sight? Why most of the them didn’t just leave the city and give themselves up to Israel is a sad commentary on the human psyche. They knew that they were as good as dead, but they still wouldn’t surrender to the God of Israel, the God who could part the waters and dry the ground of a river, the God who could feed millions in a desert, the God who had sent Abraham all those years ago to tell the Caananites about Him and give them an opportunity to repent. But they refused to live. I wonder how many people I know will choose to die rather than to surrender to God who can give life?

After the Israelites marched around the city 13 times (1x per day for 6 days; then 7 times around the 7^th day) and the walls fell down, Rahab and everyone in her house were rescued. Everyone who believed, lived. God doesn’t care about the lifestyle a person has had; He doesn’t care about the nationality or race of a person; He doesn’t care about anything except whether that person has thrown him or herself on His mercy. For all who do that He will never turn away.

Rahab married an Israelite, Salmon, who was probably one of the spies. She became the great-grandmother of David, himself an ancestor of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Isn’t God good? I’m sure that satan thought that by getting the spies either arrested or cutting their trip short it would cause confusion and dismay. Instead, God used that seemingly bad circumstance to effect the salvation of Rahab and her whole family. He even arranged it so that she could become an ancestress of His Son.

Whenever things are going wrong in my life, I remember that “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). No matter what garbage satan throws at us, God can still turn the bad things into good things if we let Him.

My prayer for you is that you will be able to see the good things of God no matter what happens.