Joshua 6 Devotional

Mercy in the Day of Judgment

“And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.”Joshua 6:25 (BSB)

Jericho falls in a way no army would plan. For six days Israel marches once around the city in silence behind the ark, and on the seventh day they circle seven times, shout, and the wall collapses (6:3-5, 20). The victory belongs plainly to the LORD, who had already given the city into their hand (6:2). Hebrews says the walls fell by faith (Hebrews 11:30).

The city is devoted to the LORD for destruction, and every living thing in it is killed, young and old (6:17, 21). The text does not soften this. It is God's judgment, carried out at his command, and not a license for violence in anyone's hands. Yet in the middle of judgment a household is brought out alive. Rahab and her family are spared because she hid the spies, and she goes on living among Israel (6:22-25). Hebrews counts her among the faithful (Hebrews 11:31). The God whose judgment is real also keeps his promise of mercy, and the safest place to stand is under that promise.

To think about: How does knowing that God's judgment and his mercy are both real shape the way you come to him today?