Commentary - Joshua 2:22-24

Bird's-eye view

This short concluding section of Joshua 2 brings the reconnaissance mission to its successful and faith-filled conclusion. Having received astonishing intelligence from a most unlikely source, the prostitute Rahab, the two spies now successfully evade their pursuers and return to the camp of Israel. Their actions are marked by prudence and obedience, and their report to Joshua is the crucial pivot point upon which the invasion of Canaan will turn. The report is not a dry recital of military facts about fortifications and troop numbers. Rather, it is a theological declaration of victory. The spies have seen the hand of God at work. They have heard firsthand that God has already accomplished the decisive part of the battle, not in the physical realm, but in the hearts and minds of the enemy. The report, "Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hands," is a direct echo of God's promise to Joshua in chapter one, now confirmed by enemy intelligence. The land is ripe for the taking because its inhabitants are paralyzed by a divinely induced terror. This is the good report that the previous generation of spies failed to bring, and it sets the stage for the faithful conquest to begin.

Outline

Context In Joshua

Chapter 2 serves as a crucial interlude between God's commissioning of Joshua in chapter 1 and the miraculous crossing of the Jordan in chapter 3. After God's direct command to "arise, go over this Jordan," Joshua's first act is to send spies. This is not an act of doubt, but of prudence. Faith is not a blind leap; it acts wisely in the world God has made. The entire chapter is dominated by the encounter with Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who, by faith, confesses Yahweh as the true God and sides with Israel. Her confession, based on the reports of God's mighty acts in Egypt and against the Amorite kings, provides the central intelligence of the mission. The verses that conclude the chapter (22-24) are the direct result of her assistance and her testimony. The spies' report back to Joshua confirms that God has gone before them, not just to part rivers, but to melt the hearts of the enemy. This report provides the final assurance for Joshua and the people that God's promise is sure and the time to act is now. It is the antithesis of the faithless report of the ten spies in Numbers 13, and thus demonstrates that this new generation is ready to inherit the promise.

Key Issues

The Good Report

There are two kinds of fear in the world. There is the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, and there is the fear of man, which brings a snare. And then there is a third kind of fear, which is the terror of the ungodly when they realize that the true and living God, whom they have suppressed in unrighteousness, is actually coming for them. This is the fear that gripped the Canaanites, and it is the central finding of this spy mission. The spies did not come back with an analysis of Jericho's walls. They came back with an analysis of Jericho's heart. And the heart had failed.

This is what makes their report a "good report," in stark contrast to the report of the ten spies forty years prior. The ten spies looked at the physical realities, the tall men and fortified cities, and concluded that God's promise was unequal to the task. Their report was an accountant's ledger of unbelief. These two spies heard the testimony of a pagan prostitute, saw the truth of it in the panic of the city, and concluded that the enemy was already defeated. Their report was a theological declaration of faith. They understood that the real battle is never against flesh and blood, or brick and mortar, but against principalities and powers. And in this case, God had already routed the enemy's morale entirely. The conquest of Canaan would be a mopping-up operation.

Verse by Verse Commentary

22 And they went and came to the hill country and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had sought them all along the road but had not found them.

The spies follow Rahab's counsel to the letter. She had told them to flee to the hills and hide for three days (Josh 2:16), and that is precisely what they do. This is prudence, not cowardice. Faith in God's ultimate deliverance does not mean we are to be foolish or presumptuous. God promises to protect His people, but He usually does so through the wise and responsible means He has made available to them. They do not stand on a hilltop and demand a miracle; they hide in a cave and wait. And God honors their prudence. The pursuers from Jericho, full of secular diligence, scour the main roads, the logical places to look. But their search is fruitless. God's providence is at work in the details, guiding the spies to a safe place and guiding the pursuers on a wild goose chase. The world's best efforts are no match for God's hidden plans.

23 Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they recounted to him all that had happened to them.

After the danger has passed, the spies complete their mission. They come down from the hills, cross the Jordan back to the Israelite camp at Shittim, and report directly to Joshua. The text emphasizes that they "recounted to him all that had happened to them." This was not a simple, "Mission accomplished." It would have included the whole narrative: their entry into the city, the close call at the city gate, their hiding on Rahab's roof, and most importantly, the entire substance of their conversation with her. The "what had happened" was not just a series of events, but a revelation. God had revealed the state of the enemy's heart through the mouth of a Canaanite woman. Their full and faithful report to their commander is an act of covenantal submission. They were sent by Joshua, and they report back to Joshua. This is how a disciplined, godly army functions.

24 And they said to Joshua, “Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.”

This is the glorious conclusion, the summation of their intelligence. Notice how they frame it. They do not begin with, "The walls are thick, but we think we can take them." They begin with God. "Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hands." This is the language of faith. It is a direct affirmation of the promise God made to Joshua in chapter one: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you" (Josh 1:3). They are not guessing; they are certain. The word "surely" indicates their complete confidence. They have seen the evidence that God's word is true.

And what is that evidence? "Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us." The Hebrew word for "melted" (mug) denotes a complete loss of courage, a dissolving of the will to fight. It's the kind of terror that turns warriors into water. This is exactly what Rahab had told them: "I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you" (Josh 2:9). The spies are not just reporting their own observations; they are reporting that the enemy's own assessment matches God's promise. The Canaanites themselves know they are doomed. When your enemies believe in the certainty of your victory more than your own people did a generation before, the battle is already over. The conquest is simply the formality of taking possession of what God has already won.

Application

This passage is a profound lesson in the nature of faith and the sovereignty of God. First, we see that genuine faith is not opposed to worldly prudence. The spies trusted God, and they also hid in a cave for three days. We are called to trust God for our daily bread, and we are also called to get up and go to work. We trust God for the salvation of our children, and we also diligently teach them the Scriptures. Faith does not sit back and wait for miracles; it gets to work, using the means God has provided, trusting that He will bless them.

Second, we must learn to see the world as these spies did. The crucial intelligence for our spiritual warfare is not found in worldly assessments of strength and power, but in the promises of God. Our confidence does not rest on our resources, our numbers, or our strategies. Our confidence rests on the fact that "Yahweh has given all the land into our hands." Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and He has commissioned us to disciple the nations. The report from the front lines may speak of giants and fortified cities, of cultural opposition and spiritual decay. But the good report, the report of faith, is that the enemies of God have no heart to fight. Their philosophies are hollow, their courage is a bluff, and their hearts melt when confronted with the truth of the gospel. Our task is to believe God's promise and to act on it, knowing that He has already gone before us to secure the victory.