Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Reading the Bible Through a Telescope | Historical Books | Joshua 2

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

Should we read the Bible through a microscope or a telescope? Where is God in the Rahab story? Will you look up to see God? In today's episode, Jeff shares how Joshua 2 encourages us to how God uses unlikely people and circumstances for his glorious story. Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Joshua 2

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. In 1609, a man looked up into the night sky and for the first time saw more than any human had seen before. Amidst the constellations familiar to human eyes popped the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, a cosmic canvas above that was observed in more glory than ever before. This renewed sense of clarity came because this particular man looked above with more than just the naked eye. For the first time, he looked into the night sky with a telescope.

His name? Well, it's familiar to many of us, Galileo Galilei. Galileo may not have been the person who invented the telescope, but he is credited as a first human to take it and turn it to the night sky. And the effect of that moment wasn't limited to a changed perspective. It wasn't just a revelation, but a revolution. Galileo's observations bolstered the case for a heliocentric astronomical model and changed scientific history. But that only happened because he was willing to look up with that telescope. Something powerful, something revolutionary happens when you're shown the reality that's been there all along.

In a way, that reminds me of how the historical books of the Bible are meant to function. My seminary professor on the Old Testament historical books, Dr. Ocker, he said that these parts of the Bible, they show us more than they tell us. They're a little bit like that telescope that Galileo held up to the night sky. They show us the truth about who God is and what he's doing in the world. And in that revelation, they're meant to create a kind of revolution in our lives to change not only how we see, but how we feel, how we love, how we relate to one another, how we live in every person. part of who we are. The historical events in Joshua 2 give us a great test case of how the historical books or former prophets of the Old Testament are trying to show us reality, revealing truth in a way that's meant to be revolutionary. As we get ready to approach God's word together, let's pause and ask

for His grace to move through our time. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and breath, and thank you for your word. We bring before you in this new year all of our joys and our sorrows, our anxiety and our excitement, our calendars and the things we have planned, but also the contingencies and things that aren't planned. Meet us in this space. Jesus, help us abide in you as we engage with your truth. Holy Spirit, we ask you to move in and through this time in Joshua 2. And as we read these words, let these words read us and restore us to you. In Jesus' name, amen. The historical events within Joshua, too, they seem like they belong in a modern Netflix miniseries. There's warfare, espionage, and unlikely heroes that keep the drama going.

The leader of God's people, Joshua, sends two spies into the promised land to scope out the city of Jericho. And while on their covert mission, the spies, the spies, encounter an unexpected heroine, a prostitute of the city named Rahab, who defies the orders of Jericho's king to protect the spies and their mission. Now, when we read this, we might be tempted to zoom in on the human characters of this story and figure out what life lessons we can learn from them, what the moral of the story is. There's the bravery of the spies. There's the exceptional boldness of Rehab. Rehab in particular, is upheld in the rest of the biblical story for her faithfulness here in Joshua 2. She's an outsider who became an insider by God's grace. In risking her life to protect

the Israelites spies, her faith working in real life, goes on to be celebrated in James 2 in Hebrews chapter 11 in the Hall of Faith. There is so much that we could say about Rehab in particular here. Yet, when we look at Joshua 2 overall, we get the sense that even Rehab's exemplary faith is meant to point us in a different, bigger direction. Remember, the Old Testament historical books, they show us more than they tell us. They're meant to be like telescopes, showing us the true greater glory that's there all along. And while we can learn from the human characters in all of these scenes, to emphasize them outright, is to kind of exchange a telescope for a microscope. Instead of magnifying our perspective of the

truly glorious, greater thing, we end up zooming in on something smaller. Galileo could have used a microscope to get a clearer view of the dirt on his hands, but it wouldn't have done him any good to raise a microscope up to the night sky. He'd have completely missed the bigger revelation, the bigger revolution that was there all along. When we're tempted to zoom, to zoom, zoom in on these human characters microscopically, we exercise what I like to call a, how should we be like this character biblical interpretation. We magnify the human characters and try to mimic their actions in our daily lives. Now, to be clear, that approach isn't always bad. Sometimes it's a good and faithful way to engage with the narrative stories of the Bible.

But if we examine the text of Joshua 2, we see that there's a different kind of magnification at play. Joshua 2, like the rest of historical books, it's trying to telescopically help us see the more glorious object as it truly is. And that truth is made clear in Rahab's speech to the Israelite spies. And this speech in particular, it's a high point in the narrative of Joshua 2. And it stands out in the entire Old Testament as the longest speech by a non-Jewish woman. Now, let's look closely at what Rahab says here, focusing on verses 9 through 11. And as we read this, I want you to notice how this scene, how it shows us more than it tells us, how it magnifies our perception of who God is.

Let's pick up in verse 9 and see what Rahab says to the spies. I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us so that all who live in this country are melting in feet. because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Cihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you. For, the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Throughout this speech, Rahab recounts what she knows, what she's heard about the Lord, the active, present God who loves and saves his people. She shares what she's heard about his mighty acts, his justice,

his kingdom movement, and that reality, that truth, it creates a response in her life. She goes on to risk her life to hide and save those spies. Ultimately, saving her entire family when the city of Jericho is overtaken by the Israelites.

Rehab's powerful response of faith is rooted in the powerful faithfulness of the living God. The reality of who God really is was revealed to Rehab, and that revelation created a revolution, a change in her allegiance, a change in her trust and her entire life. and that revolutionary change is meant to transcend Rehab's life and reach into our lives today. When we look at this passage, we see it's trying to show the original audience of Joshua and show us today that the main point here is not the human actors, but the divine director. The end of verse 11 in Rehab speech says it all, For, the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Rehab is trying to direct our gaze to the God who holds all things together. So when we look at Joshua 2, Rehab's faith here is commendable, and it is like a magnification moment. But it doesn't point us to her as much as it points us to the God she believed in. It's significant that Rehab is also mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1. Her story all along is meant to point us to his bigger story. This key moment in the story of Joshua is meant to magnify King Jesus. Many of us, if not all of us, have an inbuilt resistance to this kind of magnification. Maybe it's because we're so addicted to magnifying ourselves.

We make our work, our relationships, even our Bible reading, about us. We microscopically zoom in on our preferences, on our position, on our power, and all the while we miss the one who loves us. We miss the one who truly is magnificent. Whether you're a skeptic or a serious follower of Jesus, the living God wants to show you who he is, to stir up a revelation that leads to revolution, to restoration.

The question is, will you look up and see him? That's the ongoing invitation of the historical book. that's God's invitation to you this year. What would happen in your life and in the world around you if this journey through the historical books was like Galileo looking up into the night sky with a telescope? What would happen if you could see the bigger, glorious reality as it really is? Heavenly Father, we come before you as people who need and want to see differently, to live differently. we need a revelation that leads to revolution. Help us see you as you are in this day and throughout this entire year. Jesus, we praise you as the king who reveals his greatness and the unexpected glory of the

cross. Holy Spirit, would you cultivate the revelation of truth and the revolution of new life and our hearts. Let our lives magnify the one who is truly magnificent. In Jesus' name, amen.