“And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For 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 unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” (Joshua 2: 9 – 11)
The 12 spies were checking out the Promised Land in preparation to invade. When they came to Jericho, they were given shelter by Rahab, the harlot. The spies were looking for weaknesses, strengths, etc., but they were also encouraged to know that the people feared them more than they feared the people of the land.
I went for a quick dip in the Myakka River the other day. It is the most alligator infested body of water in North America. I could hear them wrestling with some prey just up river. I kept telling myself they are more afraid of me than I am of them. At times like that, you hope it’s true, but you never know. But these spies got an inside look. Rahab revealed to them that they were all shaking in their boots and none of them had any courage left because of what they had heard about the Lord being with them.
God had arranged an “eth” for them to meet Rahab and be sheltered by her and to learn from her the state of affairs and absolute terror that the residents of Jericho had. Timing is everything! But the “eth” continued. When they came back to fight Jericho, they merely marched around it for seven days and then shouted. God pushed the walls down and victory was theirs.
They didn’t have the strength, nor the equipment to knock down the walls of Jericho, but the “eth” was with them and because it was, the battle did not go to the strong. Time and chance happened, and history was made. Feel free to post more of your “eth” stories. It will help us all begin to recognize them when they come and hopefully we will be like Issachar and not only know what to do, but we will have the courage to do it!