Joshua 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
High anxiety is a good description of the way so many people seem to be living today. We all know a number of people who are just stressed. They are anxious and stretched between their ability and their responsibilities. There are a number of factors that can come into play with that, but as you look at Joshua 1-2, you find that courage and fear are watchwords of the entire narrative here.
In chapter 2 when Joshua sent spies to Jericho, they were subsequently protected by Rahab the harlot. She says in verse 9, “I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.” She uses that idea of fear a couple more times in the words that follow. When the spies came back to Joshua they basically said, “God has definitely given us this land because all the inhabitants of the country fear because of us.”
Now, both courage and fear were warranted in the story of Israel going into Canaan. What we have read in chapter 2 is the cause for fear. To those who resist God Almighty His presence is the source of terror. As verse 9 reminds us, He is the God of Heaven and earth. What Rahab was saying was, “We know and have heard that the same God that brought Israel out of Egypt is bringing them into Canaan.”
So, here is Rahab in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is in Jericho. She is in the wrong profession. The Bible calls her a harlot. But, she made the right choice, the God of Israel. Hebrews 11 strikingly talks about how Israel came into Jericho by faith, and then it says, “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how you were born, where you were born, or the condition into which you were born. Rahab had no power over these things, but things she did have power over, her life’s trajectory and faith, changed.
To those who resist God, God’s presence is indeed a cause for fear. On the other hand, as Rahab illustrates, to those who follow God, His presence is the source of courage. God dealt graciously with Rahab. In fact, she is in the family line of the Lord Jesus. What grace and forgiveness that God would respond to a woman like Rahab!
Joshua 1 also expresses a good reason for courage. God says in Joshua 1:5, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, or forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage.” He says this numerous times to Joshua. So, in new times in a new land with a new leader, the children of Israel were told not to fear and to have courage because the “LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
So, God’s presence and character are a good cause for both courage and fear. Which do you have today, courage or fear? To explore that question, in what relationship do you find yourself with God? If you are not in the right relationship with God, you have the power of choice. You can change that today by God’s grace. If you are doing what you ought to do, it doesn’t matter if there is a new land, a new leader, or new times. You can pillow your head at night with courage, not fear, and with strength, not dismay, because God’s presence is with you.