The Anatomy of a Good Report Text: Joshua 2:22-24
Introduction: A Tale of Two Spy Missions
The history of Israel is a history of stark contrasts, a history of faith and faithlessness, of courage and cowardice. And nowhere is this contrast drawn more sharply than when we compare two very different spy missions. The first, recorded in Numbers 13, was a reconnaissance mission that went terribly wrong. Twelve spies went into the same land of Canaan, and ten of them came back with a report that curdled the nation's blood. They saw giants, and in their own eyes, they became as grasshoppers. Their report was an evil report, a slander against the land God had promised, and it was rooted in the black soil of unbelief. That unbelief led an entire generation to perish in the wilderness.
Now, forty years later, we have a second spy mission. Joshua, the new leader, one of the two faithful spies from the first mission, sends just two men to scout the gateway city of Jericho. And when they return, their report is the polar opposite of the first. It is a good report, a faithful report, a report that breathes the clean air of confidence in the promises of God. This report will be the catalyst for the conquest of Canaan. It is the spark that will light the fuse of holy war.
We must understand that the difference between these two reports is the difference between Heaven and Hell. The first report was based on sight, on what the spies saw with their carnal eyes. They saw fortified cities and big men, and their hearts melted in fear. The second report, the one before us today, was based on faith. These spies saw the same big walls and the same big men, but they interpreted these facts through the lens of God's promise. They understood that the fear in the hearts of their enemies was far more significant than the height of their walls. One report led to forty years of wandering and death. The other led to victory and inheritance. The lesson for us is plain: how we report the facts of our lives, our challenges, and our enemies, reveals whether we are walking by faith or by sight. It reveals whether we believe the promises of God or the propaganda of the giants.
The Text
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.
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.
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.”
(Joshua 2:22-24 LSB)
Providential Protection (v. 22)
We begin with the spies' escape and concealment.
"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." (Joshua 2:22)
The first thing to notice is the quiet, matter of fact hand of God's providence. These men were following the instructions of a pagan harlot, Rahab. She had told them to flee to the hills and hide for three days, and they obeyed. This is a marvelous picture of God's sovereignty. He can use the street smarts of a prostitute to accomplish His holy purposes. God is not limited to using the advice of seminary professors. He is the God of all reality, and all truth is His truth, whether it comes from the mouth of a prophet or the strategic counsel of a Canaanite woman whose heart He has turned.
For three days, the king of Jericho's men scoured the roads. They were thorough. They were motivated. But they found nothing. Why? Because God had hidden His servants. The pursuers were looking, but they were not seeing. This is a consistent theme in Scripture. God is a God who hides His people. He hid Moses in the bulrushes. He hid David from Saul in the caves. He hid Elijah from Jezebel by the brook Cherith. And He hid His own Son in Egypt from the murderous rage of Herod. When you are on God's errand, you have God's protection. This does not mean there will be no danger. These spies were in mortal peril. But it does mean that no harm can befall you apart from the perfect will of your Father in Heaven. The pursuers failed not because they were incompetent, but because God had determined they would fail. He blinded their eyes and frustrated their search, all to bring His spies back with the report that would launch the invasion.
The Faithful Recounting (v. 23)
After the danger has passed, the spies return to deliver their intelligence to Joshua.
"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." (Joshua 2:23 LSB)
Their journey is now complete. They have gone into the heart of enemy territory, they have been preserved from capture, and now they stand before their commander. The text says they "recounted to him all that had happened to them." This was a full debriefing. They would have told him about the city, the walls, the king's vigilance, and most importantly, about Rahab. They would have recounted her astonishing confession of faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel. They would have told him how she spoke of the terror that had fallen upon all the people of Canaan because they had heard of the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Amorite kings.
This recounting is crucial. They did not edit the story to make themselves look more heroic. They did not simply give a dry, tactical assessment of Jericho's defenses. They told the whole story, and the centerpiece of that story was the testimony of a Gentile convert. God had sent them on a military spying mission, and they came back with a missionary report. They went to find weaknesses in the walls, and instead they found faith blooming in the rubble of a pagan culture. They learned that God had gone before them. He was already at work, terrorizing His enemies and saving His elect, even from among the Canaanites. This is what a faithful report does. It tells the truth about the obstacles, but it frames those obstacles within the greater reality of what God is doing.
The Theological Conclusion (v. 24)
Finally, we get to the glorious, distilled essence of their report. This is the headline. This is the conclusion that changes history.
"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.”" (Joshua 2:24 LSB)
Look at the magnificent certainty of this statement. "Surely Yahweh has given..." This is not a statement of probability. It is a statement of fact. It is a declaration of faith. They are speaking of a future event, the conquest of the land, in the past tense. God has given it. The transaction is already complete in the mind of God, and therefore, it is a settled reality for the people of God. This is what it means to walk by faith. Faith lays hold of the promise of God and treats it as a present possession, even before the fulfillment is seen with the eyes.
And what was the evidence for this bold conclusion? It was not the strength of Israel's army. It was not a flaw in Jericho's fortifications. The evidence was this: "all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us." The Hebrew word for "melted" is vivid. It pictures a substance losing its integrity, its form, its courage. It is a state of psychological and spiritual collapse. Rahab had told them, "our hearts have melted in fear!" (Josh. 2:11). The spies took her testimony and understood its profound theological significance. They realized the war was already won in the spiritual realm. The Canaanites were defeated emotionally and spiritually before the first sword was ever drawn. Their hearts had turned to water. God had sent fear as His advance guard, as He had promised He would (Exodus 23:27).
This is the opposite of the grasshopper report. The ten spies in Numbers saw the giants and their own hearts melted. These two spies heard about the giants, but they also heard that the giants' hearts had melted. They understood that the internal condition of the enemy was far more important than their external appearance. A terrified giant is no match for a faithful man of God, however small.
Conclusion: Reporting for Duty
So what does this ancient military report have to do with us? Everything. We too are spies in a hostile land. We are called to go into the world, a world with high walls of unbelief and giants of opposition, and bring back a good report. We are called to live by faith and not by sight.
Too many Christians today give the grasshopper report. They look at the state of our culture, the aggressive secularism, the moral decay, the apparent strength of the enemy, and they conclude that all is lost. Their hearts melt. They speak of retreat and defeat. They slander the promises of Christ, who said He would build His church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. This is an evil report. It is a sin of unbelief, just as it was for the ten spies in the wilderness.
A faithful Christian, on the other hand, brings back the report of these two spies. A faithful Christian sees all the same facts. He does not deny the existence of giants or the height of the walls. But he interprets these facts through the grid of Scripture. He knows that God has already given us the victory in Jesus Christ. He knows that our enemies, for all their bluster, are spiritually defeated. Their hearts are melting. They rage and they posture, but it is the fury of a routed army. As Luther said, one little word shall fell them.
The good report says, "Surely the Lord has given this world into our hands." Not because of our strength, but because of His promise. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is the divine weapon that causes the hearts of the proud to melt. Our task is to go to our neighbors, our co-workers, and our cities, and tell them what God has done. We are to recount all that has happened to us, how Christ has saved us. And we are to do so with the unshakable confidence that God is already at work ahead of us, causing hearts to melt and preparing a people for Himself, even in the most unlikely places, like the house of a harlot in Jericho.
Therefore, let us stop being grasshoppers in our own sight. Let us stop slandering the good promises of God. Let us see the world as it truly is: a land that has already been given into the hands of our King. Let us go forth with a good report on our lips, the report of victory, and take possession of the inheritance that our greater Joshua has won for us.