by Jen | Mar 11, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Joshua 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back and thank you for checking in with me today!
Last Week’s Work
MY PERSONAL TREASURE
Of the Huh?s and Wow!s the Spirit showed me last week, I feel drawn to melt and melted in verses 9, 11, and 24. Both Rahab (v9) and the spies (v24) said the inhabitants of [Jericho] melt away before the Israelites. She also revealed the hearts of her people melted when they heard what God had done (vv10-11). I’m interested in learning about that history and understanding exactly what she means by melting.
WHO (CHARACTERS)
I noticed these main characters in Joshua 2:
- Joshua. Son of Nun (vv1, 23-24), the Israelite commander who ordered the spies to view Jericho and the surrounding area.
- Two unnamed men. The whole book is about their secret (v1) mission from Shittim to Jericho to search out the land (v2); how they lodged with the prostitute, Rahab, in Jericho (v1) and made a deal with her to preserve her family (vv12-14) in exchange for her hiding them (vv4, 6), lying to the king’s guard (vv4-5), helping them escape through the window in the wall, and telling them the best way to avoid the returning posse (vv15-16).
- Rahab, the treasonous prostitute who lived in the Jericho city wall.
- King of Jericho, who apparently sent his dullest men to Rahab’s house to find the spies.
- Men, pursuers, sent to find the Israelite spies (vv7, 16, 22).
- The LORD. First mentioned by Rahab as the One who had [already!] given the Israelites her land and dried up the Red Sea in front of them (vv9-10). She also acknowledged He is God in the heavens and the earth (v11), and asked the men to swear by Him they won’t harm her and her family (vv12-13). The Israelite men agreed, indicating they’d deal fairly with her when the LORD gives [them] the land (v14). The spies also told Joshua the LORD had already given the land into their hands (v24).
Interestingly, the author didn’t name the spies, only the conquered kings (v10), plus Joshua, Rahab, and the LORD.
WHERE (LOCATIONS)
I noted these locations:
- Shittim, where the spies and Joshua were when he gave them the command to view the land and Jericho (v1). The spies returned there and reported the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us (vv23-24).
- The land and Jericho (vv1-3), the area Joshua wanted the men to spy out, where most of the action happens.
- Rahab’s house (v1), where the spies lodged (v1), where the guard inquired about them and were told they’d gone (v3-5).
- The gate (v5), where Rahab said the spies had gone out (v5). It was shut right after the pursuers went out (v7).
- Rahab’s roof, where she hid the spies (v6), and where she and they made the deal to spare her and her family (vv8-14).
- The king’s men pursued the spies on the way to the Jordan [River], as far as the fords(v7).
- In the heavens above and on the earth beneath(v11), where Rahab says the LORD is God (v11). This reminded me of Ruth’s profession of faith (Ruth 1:16). Neither of these women knew the Hebrew God through culture or tradition but still believed in Him!
- Rahab’s window in the city wall, by which she helped the spies escape after the city gate had been closed (v15). In this window, she tied the scarlet cord that alerted the Israelites to save her family (vv18, 21).
- The hills, where the spies hid for three days so the pursuers wouldn’t find them (vv16, 22).
WHEN (TIMEFRAMES)
Here’s the timeline for the events in this passage:
- Day 1: Two spies, sent by Joshua, arrived at Rahab’s house in Jericho (v1). The same evening [tonight (v2)], the King of Jericho learned they’d arrived. The King sent his guard to Rahab’s to get them; she said they’d already left when the gate was about to be closed at dark (v5). So, the pursuers left town, and the gate was closed after them (v7).
- Before the [spies] lay down (v8) that night, Rahab struck a deal with them to keep her family alive. She told them the inhabitants of the land melt away because they knew what God did when [the Israelites] came out of Egyptand destroyed the Amorites. Their hearts melted as soon as [they] heard about the Israelites. The spies said they would deal kindly and faithfully with her, when the LORD gives us the land (vv9-14).
- Then(v15), she lowered them from a window in the wall and told them to hide in the hills for three days(v16). The spies told her to gather her family into her house and tie a scarlet cord in that same window when we come into the land.
This context seems to indicate they discussed when and how the family would be saved as they were escaping out the window (vv15-20).
- The spies waited the three days, then they returned to Joshua and gave him their report (vv22-24).
Dig-In Challenges
Here’s my plan for this week:
- PRAY this prayer before I study.
- MINE: Look for repeated concepts in this passage, including synonyms and pronouns referring to those concepts.
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, requests, and/or warnings) in the passage. This time, I’m also going to notice another category: questions.
- MINE: Note any lists (3 or more similar items) mentioned in Joshua 2.
Remember, you can download this printable summary of the DISO process for more specific instructions. I hope you’ll check in with me next week!
GO TO WEEK 4 >
by Jen | Mar 4, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Joshua 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello again!
For many Christians, tomorrow begins the season of Lent: forty days (excluding Sundays) from my favorite holiday, Easter Sunday (April 20). Some faith traditions observe lent by fasting, Scripture study, and/or prayers to refocus busy lives on the events leading up to Jesus’s death and resurrection. In Jesus’s name, I ask that this Lenten season be a time of rebirth: that we who were dead in our sins and trespasses may be raised to life again, bursting forth from tombs of our past into the light of your everlasting love. Use this study for Your glory, Lord. Help us grow stronger in the faith, hope, and love that enables us to share your light with others. Amen.
Last Week’s Work
MY PRAYER
This time, I’m adapting a previous study prayer as follows:
Father God, thank you for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit as I study Joshua 2 again. Open my eyes, ears, and heart. Help me observe this Scripture, understand the lesson You have for me in this season, and put it to good use in my life so that others are blessed by it and give You the glory. I pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
HUH? and WOW! MOMENTS
Next, I read Joshua 2 and focused on my reactions. Here’s what I noted:
HUH?s
- Verse 1 indicates the men were supposed to secretly… go, view the land, especially Jericho. So, who told the king they had arrived? (vv1-2) And how did Rahab know so much about them? (vv9-10)?
- Would Israelite men spending the night in a prostitute’s house (v1) be a violation of Jewish law?
- Why would a prostitute have stalks of flax on her roof (v6)?
- What did Rahab mean when she talked about melted hearts (v11) [similar language also in vv9, 24]?
WOW!s
- Israelite spies going to a prostitute’s house seems out of character; on the other hand, it wouldn’t appear strange to the neighbors that men she didn’t know would come and go from her home.
- Feels like it would take a lot of nerve for a prostitute to lie to the king’s guard (vv4-5). And a lot of nerve (or desperation) to offer a deal to strangers whom she’d heard bad things about (vv9-13).
- Putting the men on the roof (v6) would have given them a good view of the surrounding area and possibly Rahab’s exchange with the guard (vv3-5). V15 indicates she lived in the city wall, so maybe her roof was attached to the wall as well.
- Pretty cool of the spies to agree to Rahab’s deal (v14).
- After the agreement was struck, she helped them escape (through a window in the wall) and told them how to avoid the pursuers (v16).
- Rahab was instructed to tie a red cord in her window to ensure the safety of all inside (v18), which she did (v21) [this reminds me of the blood on Israelite doorposts in Egypt during the Passover (Exodus 12:7)!].
I’ll be in prayer this week to determine what I should focus on for this study. Once that decision is made, I’ll start mining treasure from Joshua 2 as indicated below. I hope you’ll keep checking back with me to see how it goes!
Dig-In Challenges
If you’re studying this passage, too, listen to the Spirit this week, and choose a personal Huh? or Wow! to dig more deeply into. Going forward, I’ll refer to this as your personal treasure from Joshua 2. It can be something you noticed in your study, one of the items I’ve listed above, or anything else the Holy Spirit has laid upon your heart as you think about this passage. Write this treasure in your study journal and note the verse(s) most relevant to it. As we study, we’ll consider everything in the chapter, but we’ll gradually narrow the focus to the relevant verse(s).
Then:
- PRAY.
- MINE: Dig into the facts recorded in Joshua 2. This week, we’ll focus specifically on the setting (who’s involved, and where and when the action took place). Note anything the Spirit emphasizes.
I hope you’ll join me again soon!
GO TO WEEK 3 >
by Jen | Feb 25, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Introduction, Joshua 2
Welcome to this Digging into Scripture Ourselves (DISO) study of Joshua 2. I’m glad you’re here with me!
This is the second study in a series of seven I’m calling Restoration. I explored these passages years ago using the original “20 Questions” version of DISO, but those posts are no longer available online. Rather than republish those entries (with the old process), I’ve decided to work through the texts again using the current DISO method. I can’t wait to see what new revelations the Holy Spirit will help me see this time.
Let’s Study Joshua 2!
This week, I’ll pray and survey Joshua 2. If you want to work along with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready::
- A copy of Joshua 2, plus access to the entire book of Joshua.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from www.blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google Docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Joshua 2, and the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the posts I publish here. That’s good, too because you’ll become familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. You may find that’s enough to make it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Joshua 2 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer that I can pray every time I study Joshua 2. I’m going to write it in my study journal, so I’ll have it handy each time I study.
- SURVEY: And then I’ll read Joshua 2, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig more deeply into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using over the next eight weeks. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected]. I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, along with snippets of my previous study from 2022 as appropriate—I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Feb 18, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Genesis 3
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
It’s so hard to believe we’re almost through this study of Genesis 3. I hope the Holy Spirit has shown you much treasure in the past few weeks. Here’s what he’s directing me to take from my work:
Last Week’s Work
LESSON(S) LEARNED
In my review of my study notes, I noted these main lessons:
- Through trickery, the serpent of old—the devil/Satan (Rev 12:9)—managed to separate mankind from God and direct our attention away from Him.
- Yet the serpent’s punishment rendered it lower than mankind, crawling on his belly and conquered by the woman’s offspring.
- That child of Eve, Jesus, covered all sin through His death once for all (Hebrews 9:26). In doing so, He defeated the devil, saving all who put their faith in Him for salvation.
- But the evil one can still tempt us to sin when we hide or otherwise willfully separate ourselves from God, using fear and clever manipulation against us.
CONVICTION
- Like Eve, I’m not always in God’s presence; I hide from Him or physically or mentally go where I know He doesn’t want me to be.
- When I’m separated from Him, I’m most vulnerable to the lies and deception that can make even paradise seem unsatisfactory.
- I need to better recognize the devil’s voice in my head and remember, he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), he’s already beaten, and when I stay close to God he is powerless.
CORRECTION
- In my review, the Spirit drew me to Jesus battling Satan in the wilderness when he was tempted to turn stones into bread: particularly to His use of Scripture in Matthew 4:4, “… It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” I wondered where in Scripture Jesus would have gotten that saying, so I followed the cross-reference to Deuteronomy 8:3 (emphasis mine), “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
- By this, I know God’s Word is life—the opposite of the result Adam and Eve acquired by eating the forbidden fruit. The devil will always try to trick me, but I believe the Spirit is equipping me to respond to his temptation by tuning out anything that doesn’t reflect God’s Word.
ACTION PLAN
Going forward, my action plan is to
- Practice recognizing the devil’s deception,
- Stay connected to God and his people, especially when I’m tempted to separate myself and/or give in to fear, and
- Increase my knowledge of God’s Word. The more I know it, the less I believe I’ll be hungry for things that don’t satisfy me!
Our Next Study
Next week we’ll start another “blast from the past” study from the Old Testament, Joshua 2. If you’ve been with me for a while, you probably know those web files were lost when my site went down in late 2023. By studying the same chapter again, I hope to refresh my mind about the earlier study, but also discover new treasure from the text: treasure the Spirit knows I need for today. I hope you’ll join me, my friend!
by Jen | Feb 11, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Genesis 3
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Here we are again, just one week from concluding another study. I’m so grateful you’re digging into Scripture with me, and I pray the Spirit is showing you awesome revelation from God’s Word either from your own work or something I’ve written here.
This past week, I did things differently as I felt the Spirit leading me. You might remember I identified treasure in fourteen verses from Genesis 3:1-24. They proved to be too many to thoroughly explore, so I started reviewing the translation comparisons of those verses and asked the Spirit to help me focus before I dug into cross-references. Normally I reverse those steps: cross-references first, then translations. But I’m so glad I switched them: check out what He showed me below!
Last Week’s Work
OTHER TRANSLATIONS
First, I compared the ESV, AMP, NIV, and Good News translations for the fourteen verses I originally focused on. Unfortunately, I didn’t see a lot of difference among them. As I reviewed major parts of this story, though, I sensed a shift in the direction of my study: away from my previous focus on Adam and Eve’s learning curve, and toward God’s loving responses to what happened. In particular, the Spirit drew me to see how:
- Verse 9: God pursued them in the garden, asking, where are you?
- Verse 15; God planned to reconcile mankind to Himself through Eve’s offspring who would bruise the serpent’s head.
- Verse 21: God provided protection for them using garments of animal skins.
- Verse 24: God prevented them from living forever in the shame, fear, condemnation, deception, pain, toil, frustration, strife, and inequality of their existence by removing access to the tree of life.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Since the shift in focus, I reviewed the cross-references for verses 9, 15, 21, and 24, and found the most relevant connections to verses 15 and 21. Regarding verse 15, in Hebrews 2:14-15, death is mentioned as the method used to destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. In 1 John 3:8, I found the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Two other references in Revelation mention a great dragon, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, (Rev 12:9, 20:2), that was conquered … by the blood of the Lamb [Jesus] and by the word of [our brothers’] testimony (Rev 12:11).
In verse 21, protection from the elements is provided by animal-skin garments. In Isaiah, I found a similar reference to being clothed in garments of salvation and covered with the robe of righteousness (Isa 61:10). Romans 3:22-25 explains how Christians obtain this covering of righteousness: it’s available through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
In all, I’m left with a very different picture of God from what I previously perceived. Before, my emphasis has been on the other characters: the sneaky serpent, and the innocent, trusting man and woman. But now, I see a God who gave the man and woman free will—the choice to follow His command or seek their own way. Even after they chose not to follow His guidelines, He still called out to them, He gave them cover for their nakedness, He prevented them from living forever in their punishment, and He provided, in due time, a way to repair the damage done. I am overwhelmed by these gestures of love He showed to them—and that He still shows to all of us—even knowing in our own power we can’t help but make the same kind of bad decisions.
Dig-In Challenges
This coming week, let’s wrap up our study of Genesis 3 and align with what we’ve discovered in Chapter 3:
- PRAY: Read the prayer we created in Step 1.
- ALIGN: Review our study notes and other work, focusing specifically on what we’ve learned in this process.
- ALIGN: Then, considering those “lessons learned,” think about how the Spirit has convicted us through this study. In other words, where has He shown us misalignment between what we’ve discovered and how we practice our faith?
- ALIGN: Next, let’s look to God’s Word for guidance to correct that misalignment. This is often—but not always—a verse from the study text or from one of the cross-references.
- ALIGN: And finally, I’ll reflect on how I can change my thoughts or actions to align more closely with what I’ve discovered here. To really make this work, I commit to changing something and do my best to act on that commitment every day for at least three weeks.
That may seem like a lot to consider in one week. If you’re working with the Spirit, remember you can do this at your own pace. Don’t worry about keeping up with me—just do what you can when you can. I know the Lord will bless any time you spend in His Word!
by Jen | Feb 4, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Genesis 3
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello again, my friend. I can’t wait to share what the Spirit showed me this week!
Last Week’s Work
WRITING TYPES
In addition to narrative, I observed:
- Instruction. Specifically, God’s command not to eat from the tree in v3. Also, from my adult learning work, I recognized experiential training (aka, “learning the hard way”) in vv6-7, and God’s “debrief” in vv9-13. Finally, punishment (vv14-19 and 22-24) is also a learning technique.
- Law. I consider the command (v3) as law, too. I thought it was interesting the serpent didn’t argue against it. Instead, it convinced Eve the punishment wouldn’t be so bad (v4). The Spirit reminded me I’ve also succumbed to the same reasoning—I’m not supposed to do this, but the consequences won’t be that bad. Like Eve, I’ve learned to recognize that deception the hard way.
- Prophecy. I found this in the punishments: they’re all predictions of what will befall the actors, and at least some also apply beyond them. For example, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel is widely recognized as a promise of the coming Redeemer.
Based on these writing types, I understand your eyes will be opened, in v5 to mean more than eyesight: that they’d soon have plenty of insight into the consequences of evil, beginning with feelings of shame and vulnerability (nakedness), fear of authority, and the need to pass/spread the blame. They learned what deception was, and would also discover pain, strife, inequality, toil, frustration, and mortality. But I also noticed God acting to protect them, too (v21, and possibly v24).
LITERAL CONTEXT
Reading chapters 1-2, I noticed Genesis 1:3-27 describes the six days of creation, with the beasts of the earth (v25) and mankind (v27) created on the sixth day. So, this incident with the serpent must have happened on or after Day 6. Also, I read that God saw what he’d made, and it was all very good (1:31). If that’s the case, how could the serpent do what it did?
And, in 1:28, God issued the first commandment, be fruitful and multiply… and have dominion over… every living thing that moves on the earth. That surely included the serpent; yet through trickery, it got the upper hand.
In chapter 2 I found God’s actual command: of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (2:17). I also noted from 2:25, the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. How things changed! In chapter 4, the Spirit highlighted God’s warning to Cain, which to me echoed Eve’s punishment: [Sin’s] desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it (4:7). And, in Cain’s punishment, I saw you are cursed from the ground… When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength (4:11-12), which reminded me of Adam’s punishment.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Tradition holds that Moses was the author of Genesis, and he wrote for the Israelites who fled Egypt. According to the ESV Global Study Bible Introduction timeline, that would have been sometime after 1446 BC. From the summary, Genesis is the story of God’s people from creation until Joseph’s death in Egypt. I can see why Moses wanted to preserve this history: by the time the Israelites left Egypt, the ancestors who’d remember those stories would have all died out.
INTERLINEAR RESEARCH
Verse 5: eyes will be opened. From Hebrew H5869 eyin H6491 paqach. In my research I discovered these words are used to refer to both eyesight and insight. Another instance is Psalm 146:8 (the LORD opens the eyes of the blind), which led me to an interesting discovery: nearly all the miracles Jesus performed were also performed by other Biblical characters, except restoring sight: only Jesus healed the blind. Even in the account of Saul’s recovery from blindness, Ananias says, “the Lord Jesus … has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17).
Verse 7: knew they were naked. The word for knew (H3045 yada) is the same word often used for deep relational, experiential, even intimate knowledge of someone or something. And the word for naked (H5903 erom) differed from the one used in Genesis 2:25 (H6174 arom) where Moses notes the couple was naked but unashamed. The first indicates exposure, shame, disgrace, while the second one does not.
Verse 8: hid themselves. This word (H2244 chaba) denotes physical hiding (e.g., oneself) or metaphorical concealment, like emotions, intentions, truths. Verse 10: was afraid. H3372 (yare’) means fear, terror, dread, or reverence/awe. This is the first time afraid appears in God’s Word.
Dig-In Challenges
This week, let’s wrap up the second half of the Refine step by examining cross-references and other translations.
- Don’t forget to begin with your prayer from Step 1.
- REFINE: Then consult a concordance or online cross-reference study tool (I’ll be starting at this blb.org page) to find and read through the available cross-references for the verses you’re most interested in and log what the Spirit shows you.
NOTE: if you’re interested in other verses, follow the above link, then point to the TOOLS button to the left of the verse you want to study, and choose Cross-Refs from the menu.
- REFINE: Finally, compare at least a few other translations’ version of the same verses and write about what you find in your study journal. I’ll be comparing ESV, AMP, NIV, and GNT using this biblehub.com page. You can compare your own verses from that link by entering them in the Enter Reference or Keyword box at the top of the page and clicking the spyglass icon there.
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover with you next week. I hope you join me then!
GO TO WEEK 7 >
