Joshua 2:24

My Notes

What Does Joshua 2:24 Mean?

The two spies return to Joshua with a faith report that directly contradicts the ten spies' report forty years earlier: "Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us." Where the ten spies said "we can't" (Numbers 13:31), these two say "God already has." Where the ten saw giants, these two see fainting inhabitants. Same land. Different faith. Different report.

The phrase "truly" (ki gam) means with certainty, without qualification. The spies aren't hedging. They're declaring. The delivery isn't hypothetical. It's actual. God has delivered—past tense, accomplished. The land is already given. The inhabitants are already melting. The victory is already decided. The crossing is a formality.

The inhabitants "faint" (mog—to melt, to dissolve, to lose all courage) because of Israel—or more accurately, because of Israel's God. Rahab had told the spies (2:9-11) that the whole land was terrified because of what God did at the Red Sea forty years ago. The enemies Israel feared in Numbers 13 have been fearing Israel since Exodus 14. The giants were afraid of the grasshoppers the whole time. They just didn't know it.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Is your report about your 'promised land' more like the ten spies' or the two's?
• 2.The Canaanites were terrified of Israel the whole time. What enemy of yours might be more afraid than you realize?
• 3.The land was 'already delivered.' What has God already accomplished that you're treating as still-pending?
• 4.Same land, different faith, different report. What would a faith report about your current situation sound like?

Devotional

"The LORD hath delivered all the land." Past tense. Done. The spies come back and say: it's already ours. Not "we think we can take it." Not "it looks possible." Already delivered. The inhabitants are melting. The fear is on them, not on us. The report that should have come forty years ago finally arrives.

Forty years earlier, ten spies looked at the same land and said: we can't. We're grasshoppers. They're giants. Two spies said: we can. They were overruled. A generation died in the wilderness. And now, forty years later, two spies look at the same land and deliver the report the previous generation should have given: God has already done this. The land is ours.

The residents are melting. Rahab told the spies: we've been terrified of you since the Red Sea. For forty years. The whole time Israel wandered the desert thinking they were grasshoppers, the Canaanites were inside their walled cities thinking they were dead. The giants were afraid of the grasshoppers. The fortified cities were trembling at the unfortified camp. The fear Israel projected onto the Canaanites was actually the Canaanites' fear projected onto Israel.

The enemy you're afraid of might be more afraid of you. The obstacle that looks impenetrable might already be dissolving. The land that seems unconquerable might already be delivered. The report depends on the reporter's faith, not on the land's giants. Same land. Different faith. Different report. Different outcome.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture