Four times in the first five chapters of Joshua (2.9; 2.11; 2.24; 5.1), the people are reminded that when the inhabitants of the land they are about to conquer hear of the LORD and his people Israel, those pagan hearts “melt.”

Rahab relates their impact to the spies she has hidden.  She is a sharp “business woman” who bargains for the lives of her family, and is commended for it in Hebrews 11.31: “By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”  She could tell from watching her own people that it would be better to trust the LORD, or at least trust those spies who trusted the LORD.

The spies return and tell Joshua their adventures.  Their report is so different from the twelve spies who went into Canaan forty years earlier (Numbers 13).  Ten of that first  dozen saw the people as giants and the cities as impenetrable.  These two spies see the inhabitants “melt away because of us.”    Once word got out to the kings and peoples beyond the Jordan that the nation crossed the river on dry ground, “their hearts melted and there was no long any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.”

At the Lord’s direction, after the miraculous river passage, Joshua set up an altar of twelve stones at Gilgal and a pile of stones in the midst of the Jordan where the priests had stood.  There were two purposes for the stones (vs 24).  First, so that the peoples of the earth would know that the LORD is mighty – hence the heart melts we have heard of already.  But second, the Israelites themselves needed to “fear the LORD your God forever” and they failed in their understanding very quickly.

During the destruction of Jericho, Achan of the clan of Judah stole and hid contraband goods.  His disobedience is discovered after a small army of Israelites is roundly defeated in their first attack on the city of Ai.  The Israelites  are stunned at the defeat, and the same heart melting happens to them (7.5).  The other nations were not in awe of the Israelites’ prowess or might; they were despondent, dejected, and defeated because of the LORD’s work.  The Israelites (and us too) needed to trust, obey, and explore the meaning of “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”