Saturday, August 1, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Joshua 1-3
Key Verse
Joshua 2:12 — “Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:”
Devotional Thought
The book of Joshua opens with a funeral behind it and a flooded river ahead. Moses, the only leader Israel had ever known, is dead, and the mantle now falls on Joshua, who for forty years had been Moses’ minister, standing in his shadow. God’s first word to him is not a strategy but a summons: “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan.” There is no time to linger at the graveside. The same God who buried Moses in Moab is already sending Joshua into Canaan, and He binds the commission to a triple charge: be strong, be courageous, and keep the law. Success, God says, does not come from Joshua’s sword but from his meditation—”thou shalt meditate therein day and night.” The courage God commands is not self-confidence; it is confidence in the presence of the One who promises, “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
That promise is tested almost immediately. Joshua sends two spies to Jericho, and they find shelter in the house of Rahab, a harlot whose house sat on the city wall. When the king’s men come hunting, Rahab hides the spies under stalks of flax on her roof and sends the pursuers off toward the fords of Jordan. Her lie is troubling, but her confession is remarkable: she has heard how the LORD dried up the Red Sea and destroyed Sihon and Og, and she declares, “the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” A Canaanite woman, outside the covenant, sees what many in Israel might have forgotten. She asks for mercy for her father’s house, and the spies give her a scarlet line to bind in her window—a sign of salvation for all who remain under her roof. Even before Israel crosses the river, God is already gathering a harvest among the nations.
Then comes the crossing itself. At harvest time the Jordan overflows all its banks, a muddy, rushing barrier no army could ford. God does not ask the priests to wait for the waters to recede. He tells them to carry the ark to the brink and stand still in the water. “As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests… shall rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters of Jordan shall be cut off.” The obedience comes first; the miracle follows. The priests’ feet touch the flood, and the waters pile up in a heap far away at Adam, while the people pass over on dry ground. It is the Red Sea all over again—only this time the river is at flood stage, and the people are not running from Egypt but walking into a promise.
We read this in August, in the heat of the year, perhaps in a season when our own Jordans are swollen and the way ahead is unclear. The lesson is not that the waters will part before we step, but that they part when we step. God’s presence does not spare us the river; it goes before us through it. Like Rahab, we are called to act on what we know of God before we see the fulfillment. Like the priests, we are called to put our feet in the water. Like Joshua, we are called to be strong—not because we are sufficient, but because the LORD our God is with us whithersoever we go.
Reflection
- Where in your life is God asking you to step into the water before it parts—to obey before you see the miracle—and what does your hesitation reveal about your trust in His presence?
- Rahab acted on what she had only heard about God. What have you heard of God’s faithfulness that you have not yet acted upon, and who might be saved along with you if you did?
Prayer
O Lord of all the earth, the God of heaven above and earth beneath, we confess that we often stand at the river’s edge, counting the flood instead of trusting the One who goes before us. You have promised never to fail nor forsake us; forgive our fear. Give us Joshua’s courage and Rahab’s faith, that we might obey before we see, and bind the scarlet line of Your mercy over our households. When the waters rise and the way is new, let our feet rest firm on dry ground, and let all who shelter with us be saved. Be magnified among us, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.