Barry Metz 01/15/17

Behind Enemy LinesJoshua 2

Everyone likes a spy story. And it’s to a spy story we come in Joshua chapter 2 this morning. If you have your Bibles with you, follow along as I read the first three verses of the chapter....Joshua 2:1-3… Joshua 2:1-3.

2 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”

You might remember from last week that at the start of the book of Joshua the people of Israel were camped in the plains of Moab just east of the Jordan River across from the Canaanite city of Jericho. And God said to Joshua, “It’s time to enter the land.” Now here in chapter 2 Joshua’s first step is to send spies to view the land, especially Jericho. Now what are we to think about Joshua’s action? Moses, his mentor, was commanded by God to send spies into the land back in Numbers 13.1 What are we to think about Joshua sending spies into the land? Is this evidence

1 Numbers 13:1

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that he’s a good leader?2 Is sending spies what a prudent general would do?3 OR is this a failure of nerve, if not of faith, on Joshua’s part?4 The text doesn’t tell us. We’re left to wonder.

And what are we to make of these spies? First, look again at the broad scope of Joshua’s orders to them in verse 1, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” You would agree that the scope of Joshua’s instructions is pretty broad wouldn’t you? But then look at what the spies did… And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. Are we to wonder if these men faithfully executed Joshua’s orders? Was this their best attempt to view the land, especially Jericho and accomplish the mission? Some suggest that Rahab was an innkeeper, a tavern owner.5 I’m not sure. Admittedly the text is filled with mystery and innuendo.6 All we can confidently say is that in the providence of God these men ended up….in Rahab’s house.

Secondly, how would we rate these men as spies? Look at verse 2. The king (or chief) of Jericho knows everything about them! He discovers their night arrival, their identity—they are Israelites, their hiding place—Rahab’s house, and their mission—to search out the land (literally they are here to dig up some information about the land). What kind of spies are these? It would seem that their mission is completely compromised and we’re only on verse 2. But then Rahab steps in.

While Chapter 1 features Joshua at center stage in the leading role, chapter 2 features Rahab in the leading role. Everybody in chapter 2 is anonymous except… Rahab. That’s not exactly accurate…Joshua is mentioned in verse 1 and verse 24 but Rahab really steals the show in Joshua 2. The king of Jericho goes unnamed. The Canaanite servants of the king go unnamed. And the Israelite spies go unnamed. The spotlight in chapter 2 is on Rahab.

2 Jackman thinks yes! Consider the situation. Jericho is a well-defended garrison with trained troops in residence. First Israel has to cross the Jordan, in flood season, and then face an apparently impregnable citadel. Their position will be extremely vulnerable—an enemy in front of them and a river in full flood behind them. In the absence of any direct divine instruction, Joshua is doing the responsible thing in sending out his scouts. He is using the means that are at his disposal. That is not an unspiritual course of action. Indeed, to pray without using the means that God has given us is almost as foolish as to use the means without praying. The two need to be combined together in all our battles. This was a lesson Israel learned throughout her history, finally enshrined in the post-exilic Psalm 126 celebrating the return of the captives to Zion. The situation is met with prayer—“Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!” (Psalm 126:4)—but that has to be accompanied by dedicated action—“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy” (Psalm 126:5). Praying and sowing belong together. So here Joshua’s commonsense approach is evidence that he has great faith in the promises of God and not at all the opposite.3 Hess4 Hubbard5 Hess6 College Press NIV, “ Rahab’s name comes from a family of words built around the root rhb. These communicate ideas of breadth, girth, or openness. The words ‘lodged there’ may refer to the act of resting or sleeping (Gen. 28:13; 1 Sam. 3:2, Ezek 4:4). However, as in English, it is also used euphemistically for the act of intercourse (Gen. 26:10; Lev. 15:24; Deut. 22:22). The use of the word ‘entered’ in verse 3 is suggestive. And finally the flashback to ‘Shittim’ where the people of Israel began to whore with the daughters of Moab (Numbers 25:1) rounds out the innuendo.

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{With that in mind the book of Joshua is the first book of what are sometimes called the ‘former prophets’; there are six history books that are sometimes called the ‘former prophets’ by the Jews. Why does a Jericho prostitute get such a prominent place…on the very opening pages… of the Former prophets?”7 We only have to go to the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1 to answer that question.}

Follow along as I read verses 4-7….

4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

Notice in verse 4, Rahab admits that the men from Israel came to her. But she lies when she denies knowing where they were from. She again lies in verse 5; she does know where the men are. What are we to say about Rahab’s lying?8 Well she’s really acting like a Canaanite, isn’t she? A Canaanite put between a rock and a hard place.

Rahab had hidden the spies up on the roof, verse 6 tells us, with the stalks of flax stored up there. Wild flax was scarce I read, so the fact that she had enough to hide the spies ‘suggests a providential stroke of good luck.’9 But look at what she accomplishes in terms of protecting the spies. She convinces the men sent by the king…I can’t imagine how she did this… she convinces the men sent by the king….that the spies from Israel left the city before the gate was closed. Pursue them quickly, she says, for you will overtake them.” Does this bother you a bit? Why don’t the men sent by the king search her house for the spies? We see this in 1 Samuel some.

7 Zakovitch as quote in Hubbard8 Jackman, Preach the Word “But not surprisingly these verses have raised a considerable ethical debate, which is given a detailed treatment by David M. Howard in his very valuable commentary. Her lies are neither condemned, nor are they commended in the text. The narrative does not teach that lying is justifiable or that the end justifies the means. Rather Rahab seems to have been trapped in a moral choice in which either option would involve sin. Either she could have disclosed the spies and almost certainly brought about their execution, or she could have denied that she knew their whereabouts, which was clearly untrue. A lie is a distortion or denial of the truth with the intention to deceive, and that is clearly what Rahab did. Probably it came quite naturally to her since, like us, she was a fallen human being living in a fallen world, as we need to remember before we are too eager to point the finger.She had to choose the lesser of two evils, and as far as she was concerned that meant lying to save the spies’ lives. It was, of course, motivated also by her growing spiritual awareness, as the next few verses show, but that does not exonerate her from her sin. All false witness calls out the judgment of God who is the Truth. So we cannot say that God saved her because she saved the spies. As James points out, that high-risk strategy constituted the “works” that demonstrated the reality of her faith (James 2:25). But it was her faith that saved her and her family. God did not need Rahab’s lie to protect the life of his men. Had she told the truth, God could well have worked in other ways to deliver the spies, as the rest of the Bible frequently illustrates. God has total ability to confuse and redirect those who are seeking to abort his purposes. But this is only speculation. Rahab was being herself. Lying came naturally to her, as it does to every sinner. No one would have imagined that she could become the object of God’s saving grace.”9 Hubbard

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It seems that our author wants to portray the Canaanites as being ‘a few fries short of a Happy Meal’10 They’re gullible and incompetent!11

Well Rahab’s fabricated story seems to work and the men sent from the king go in search of the spies. We can imagine them heading east toward the fords of the Jordan some six miles away.

But there’s some tension in the story that we need to recognize at the end of verse 7…… And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out….the city gate has been shut and the spies are locked inside the city.

{If we were making a TV special of this story, we’d probably make a shot of the gates closing and being locked so that the audience would feel the tension for the spies. And then we’d have a commercial.}

As we get to verse 8, we come to the central portion of this chapter where the real meat is.12 What has God been doing behind enemy lines before the spies arrived? He’s been at work in the hearts of the enemy.

8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

Notice in verse 9, Rahab uses God’s personal covenant name—LORD--Yahweh. When did God introduce his personal covenant name? A little over 40 years previously in the vicinity of a burning bush in the middle of the dessert in Exodus 3. How did Rahab come to know it? And furthermore Rahab knows that Yahweh has given the people of Israel the land. It’s amazing that she would know that, don’t you think? I mean it’s one thing for her to see and hear that Israel had been victorious up to this point. “Did you hear that Israel defeated Og and Sihon?” But it’s another thing for her to hear and know that the God of Israel was behind it all. Rahab also shared with the spies that she knew that everybody in the land was terrified of the people of Israel—“Our people live in terror of you and the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.”

What’s God been doing behind enemy lines even before Israel crossed the Jordan? He’s been fighting for Israel. He’s been systematically and powerfully demoralizing the Canaanites with heavenly psychological warfare.10 Idiom meaning ‘not too intelligent’11 Hubbard12 Davis makes this point.

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This kind of warfare was something prophesied in the Song of Moses, Exodus 15. You remember that the song of Moses was sung right after God delivered the people through the Red Sea. And the song looks backward to that deliverance and it looks forward to the entrance of the Promised Land. The people were singing prophetically, looking ahead, about their journey to the Promised Land and they anticipated God going before them in power…

So just as they’d been delivered by God from Egypt, they anticipated that God would fight like that for them again until they had reached their home in the Promised Land….This idea is repeated three other times in Exodus and Deuteronomy….

Exodus 23:27 (ESV) 27 I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

Deuteronomy 2:25 …25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

Deuteronomy 11:25 …25 No one shall be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.

Oh the confidence the people of Israel should have had knowing that God was going to fight for them!

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There’s a scene from Gideon’s story in the book of Judges that parallels this idea of God fighting for his people.

You’re probably familiar with the story. Israel had over 30,000 men ready to fight the Midianites. And God said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the

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Midianites into your hand lest Israel boast and say “My hand has saved me!”13 Twenty two thousand were dismissed and 10,000 remained. That was still too many—and you know the story—all but 300 were dismissed. And those 300 were given just what an army needs to win—trumpets, torches and jars.

The night before the battle God said to Gideon, “If you’re afraid--and we would add ‘you have that tendency Gideon’--go down to the Midianites camp with your servant and you shall hear what the Midianites are saying about you. Listen to Judges 7, verses 12-15; it’s really too good to paraphrase…

12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. What a powerful foe! 13 When Gideon came (near their camp), behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” 15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.”

God was at work behind enemy lines…

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Well Rahab unknowingly revealed to the spies that God’s heavenly psychological warfare had done its work. The people of the land were terrified of the people of Israel and they melted away before them.

She continues in verse 10…

10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.

Rahab rehearses the might and power of Yahweh—“We’ve heard about the Red Sea and what your God Yahweh did there—he dried it up! We’ve heard about the two kings east of the Jordan River that you devoted to destruction.” By using the phrases ‘dried up’ and ‘devoted to destruction’, Rahab ‘anticipates two of the book’s main themes—first, Israel’s dramatic crossing

13 Judges 7:2

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of the Jordan on dry ground in chapter 4 and second the elimination, the decimation of Canaan’s inhabitants.14

But don’t miss the fact that the mighty acts of Yahweh were the basis of Rahab’s faith.15 Isn’t this the normal way of coming to faith? One author says this…“Biblical faith is based on at least some knowledge, data or evidence….Faith is not just a warm cozy feeling about God. Faith grows, if at all, out of hearing what God has done for his people.”16

Isn’t that the way the gospel works today? We hear about the mighty works of God, we hear about God’s great and powerful work to deliver his people—that Christ died for our sins and that he was buried and that he rose again---We hear about the mighty works of God and the Spirit of God applies that knowledge to our hearts and God regenerates us… we are bowled over… by grace we are saved.

Well look at verse 11….

11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

Rahab’s confessing the majesty17 of God isn’t she? Yahweh isn’t some regional god to her—no he is God in the heavens above and on earth beneath! Again let’s not let this slide by without comment—this is a pagan, Canaanite prostitute with an “Israelite” confession on her lips. For Rahab, there is nowhere where God is not, including Jericho.18 In fact, in saying that Yahweh is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, Rahab is in the best of company…

14 Hubbard15 Davis16 Davis17 Davis uses this term18 Jackman

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Moses essentially said the same thing in Deuteronomy 4:39 ….39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

…and Solomon too… O Yahweh, Solomon said, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath. 1 Kings 8:23.

You see ‘the truth of who God is and what he had done for his people had already penetrated Jericho, and when the Word of God gets into enemy territory, only two reactions are possible. Either there is faith in the greatness of the Lord and a casting of oneself entirely on his mercy or there is fear’ which leads one to continue to fight against God and his purposes.19

Rahab responded in faith.

Well at verses 12-13…

Verse 12-13 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you….again Rahab is using Yahweh’s personal covenant name and she’s using Israel’s covenant mercy term, the Hebrew word ‘chesed’— sometimes translated mercy or loyal love or lovingkindness…as I have dealt with you with loyal love, with covenant mercy, covenant kindness, with Yahweh’s lovingkindness…faithfulness, loyalty… you also will deal kindly (same word) with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

Look at what she is saying…. “I want you two spies to make an oath by Yahweh, your God and my God?, that as I have expressed chesed to you, you will express chesed to my father’s house

19 Jackman points out that we’ll see that pattern three other times in Joshua—5:1; 9:24; 10:1,2

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and I want you to give me a sign that you will save my whole family (notice she doesn’t mention a husband) and deliver us from death.”

“Swear to me by Yahweh!” she says. If a previous generation of Israelites didn’t know who Yahweh was—again remember Yahweh introduced himself to the Moses and the people of Israel in Exodus 3, and now a new generation is entering the land—if a previous generation of Israelites didn’t know who Yahweh was, how can this ‘strange woman in this backwater oasis know anything of Israel’s God, much less appeal to his authority through an oath!20

God has been working behind enemy lines.

Now let’s note two things here.

First I think Rahab’s words are evidence of Rahab’s faith. “Genuine faith never rests content with being convinced of the reality of God but (it) presses on to take refuge in God.”21 It’s not enough for Rahab to know about God; she must escape the coming wrath of God. 22

A guy named Davis wrote this…. Saving faith is always like this. It never stops with brooding over the nature or activity of God but always runs to take refuge under his wings. Amazingly, Rahab not only trembles before the terror of the Lord but also senses that there might be mercy in this fearful God. What but the touch of Yahweh’s hand could have created such faith in the heart of this pagan harlot?23 Say it with me… God has been working behind enemy lines….

Let’s note a second thing. Rahab has placed the scouts in what is called a double bind (And a double bind occurs when a person is confronted by two irreconcilable demands).

How are the spies in a double bind? Well if they grant Rahab’s request, they risk breaking God’s command…

20 Zeise21 Davis22 Hubbard believes this is going too far. Yes Rahab is taking steps in the right direction but she’s not there yet: “But she stops short—just short, perhaps—of saying that Yahweh is the sole sovereign of the universe and the only God rightfully entitled to worship.The limits of her statement become even clearer when she refers to Yahweh as “your [the spies’] God.” Yahweh is not yet her God; she has not yet made him her most important, much less her only, God as an Israelite would. The Canaanites worshiped a pantheon of gods headed by the parental pair, El and his consort Athirat. They presided over Baal (the storm god), Yam (the sea), and Mot (the underworld) in the council of gods. In my view, Rahab may simply have added Israel’s God to that pantheon, albeit with exalted rank. The most important point is that her words signal the crossing of one significant line. She has sided with Israel against the king of Jericho at the risk of her life and with Yahweh against the gods of Canaan. She also seems to concede the superiority of Yahweh’s power over theirs.In short, Rahab’s words mark a step in the direction of a more complete, if not exclusive, commitment to Yahweh and toward the other missing pieces in her statement—the renunciation of all other gods and the use of idols. They mark a step of faith based on what she knows about Yahweh and Israel, not the mere acceptance of biblical ideas about them. Thus, it seems unwise to portray her as theologically an Israelite—at least, not yet—but she seems on the way there. Further, her words imply support of Yahweh’s right to cede Israel the land and subtly promote her worthiness to remain alive in the land.At least she falls among a distinguished line of foreigners who acknowledge Yahweh’s power and sovereignty: the seer Balaam (Num. 22–24), the Moabitess Ruth (1:16–17), the Syrian general Naaman (2 Kings 5), King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Dan. 4), and King Darius of Persia (Ezra 6; Dan. 6). They symbolize a prominent Old Testament theme, the worship of Yahweh by other nations.23 Davis, D. R. (2000). Joshua: No Falling Words (p. 28). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.

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If they deny Rahab’s request, they risk being turned in.

All of a sudden the spies are in a difficult place. What do you do when all of a sudden your enemy who God has called you to exterminate has a face and a name and is seeking refuge from your God? What are the spies going to do? They know that God has forbidden agreements with the Canaanites (Exodus 23:32–33; Deut. 7:2–5; 20:16–18), but they must accept her terms.

One author says this… “They have hit bottom.”24

14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! …I take that to mean: “You help us stay alive and we’ll help you stay alive!” or “May God take our lives if we don’t do what we say!”25 {May God take our lives if anything happens to you.}26 If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” If you’re mum about our spying expedition we’ll treat you with covenant mercy.

15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.

Jericho is perhaps the oldest city on earth and the lowest city on earth 750 feet below sea level. The name Jericho may be connected to the ancient name of the Canaanite moon god.27

The city has undergone massive excavation work in the early 1900s28, the 1930s29, the 1950s30 and the 1990s31 And here is what they say the city looks like.

24 Butler, T. C. (2014). Joshua 1–12. (N. L. deClaissé-Walford, Ed.) (Second Edition, Vol. 7a, p. 262). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

25 TEV26 Alternate footnote in Selin’s and Watzinger’s handbook27 Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, page 1118-112028 Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger29 John Garstang30 Kathleen Kenyon31 University of Rome and the Palestinian Department of Antiquities

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You can see two walls--an outer wall and an inner wall. And you can see some structures built up against the city walls, similar to the one that Rahab and her family may have lived in, described here in verse 15.

Verse 16 …16 And she said to them…..remember in verse 14 that Rahab let them down by a rope

so either the spies are hanging on the rope while the dialogue in verses 17-21 goes on or they

are on the ground below the window of her house as she is speaking to them or this is a flashback of sorts…if you have the ESV translation there’s a note in the margin for verse 16 that the words “she said” could be “she had said” recalling a previous conversation . The NIV

assumes this was a previous conversation… And she had said to them…. “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.”

{So let’s pull off to the side and reconstruct a possible route for the spies….

The spies started in Shittim (on the right of the slide) and crossed the Jordan River and arrived by night in Jericho. And then on the advice of Rahab they went west into the hills and stayed

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three days. And then when the coast was clear they came back by Jericho on their way back to the camp at Shittim.}

Well the men respond to Rahab in verse 17 and they lay out a series of conditions that will free them from their vow if Rahab doesn’t follow through with her end of the deal. They further tie down the conditions for the vow that will leave them guiltless.

17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless.

The first condition is that Rahab must tie a scarlet cord in the window. If she doesn’t, the men will be guiltless. Notice in verse 18, the spies say… you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down… Did the spies give her the scarlet cord as a sign? Possibly.32 This is a different cord than the rope Rahab used to let them down with (v. 15), since the Hebrew words are different (ḥebel, “rope” in v. 15, and tiqwat ḥûṭ haššānî hazzeh in v. 18, lit., “this cord of scarlet thread”).33

The second condition is that Rahab must gather her entire family together in her home and not let them leave the home. {If Rahab’s relatives leave the house, they will bear the bloodguilt for their own death; the spies will be innocent. If relatives die in the house, the spies will bear the bloodguilt for their death; the spies will be guilty.}

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{We should highlight a couple of connections to other Old Testament stories here. First there seems to be a connection with the first Passover. The instructions that Rahab should gather and keep her entire family in her house seem to recall the procedure prescribed at the first Passover in Exodus 12.34 Weren’t the people delivered from God’s judgment when they gathered in their homes and placed a ‘sign’ on their lintel and two doorposts, a sign of blood? Second there seems to be a connection between Rahab’s story and Tamar’s story in Genesis 38. If you remember Tamar was a daughter-in-law of Judah. Feigning prostitution she became pregnant with twins. As the twins were being born, one stuck his hand out and the midwife took it and tied a scarlet thread on the hand, saying ‘This one came out first’. But as he drew back his

32 Woudstra and Jackman and Bratcher and Newman33 Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 115). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

34 ESV Study Bible page 397

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hand, his brother came out. And the midwife said “What a breach you’ve made for yourself.” So they called him Perez (breach) Well that little boy and his mother show up in the genealogy of Jesus also.

One writer says, In God’s providence, these two women—both of them foreigners, societal outcasts, prostitutes, and in possession of a scarlet cord—came to be part of the lineage of Jesus Christ himself. It is part of the Bible’s pattern that shows God working in unexpected

ways, through unexpected people, often the poor, the disadvantaged, the outcast.35 }

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Well the third condition that the spies required of Rahab , verse 20, was that she couldn’t reveal what the spies are up to. If she spread the word about what the spies came and did, then the spies would be guiltless. They’d be guiltless with respect to Rahab’s oath that she had made (them) swear.”

21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

There is another observation we should make about the ‘scarlet cord’ in the window before we move on. The word ‘cord’ is used 30 other times in the Old Testament. And in every other case, without exception, it’s translated ‘hope’. 36 So the spies could be directing Rahab to ‘connect the hope of the scarlet with the window hole’. And so the scarlet cord represents Rahab’s hope of being delivered.

22 They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. 23 Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.”

The chapter ends where it began with the spies. Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.” This is a direct quote from Rahab’s lips in verse 9.35 Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 116). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

36 Zeise “A fresh start begins with the realization that a traditional reading of the text offers an odd twist of meaning for tiqwath. Understanding this word as “cord” or “rope” is without parallel in more than thirty occurrences of the word in the text of the Old Testament. In every other case, without exception, tiqwath is translated as “hope,” or as one source puts it, the “expectations associated with the duration and quality of human life.” If the appearance of tiqwath here is read consistently with the unanimous voice of the rest of Scripture, a very different idea takes root. The scouts demand that Rahab “connect”—not a “rope”—but “the hope of this scarlet stripe with the window-hole” (v. 18).

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And what a contrast this spy report is compared to the one at Kadesh Barnea where the ten spies came back and said, “ We came, we saw, we can’t.” These spies say “God is fighting for us!”

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Three truths as we close….

1. Let’s remember that God’s grace can save the most unexpected of sinners….

You know this chapter, Joshua chapter 2, isn’t really essential for telling the story of Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land. Why does the author go out of his way to tell the story about a Canaanite prostitute who heard about the works of God and who was drawn to seek refuge in his grace. Why does the author go out of his way to tell this story? Because God is gracious and he can save the most unexpected of sinners.

The Rahab story is one of the great salvation stories of the Old Testament. Initially everything is stacked against her. None of her ancestors had any knowledge of the living God. She lived as a pagan in a thoroughly pagan city. She made her living in a way that was a constant offense against God.37 And yet God was gracious. And if God can rescue a Rahab, no one is beyond his reach or his concern. Do you ever find yourself categorizing your family members and unbelieving friends on how likely you think they will respond to the gospel? We’ve got to resist that. God is always at work behind enemy lines

The city of Jericho presented itself as a hard nut to crack, but within its shell it had already crumbled.38 I imagine that Rahab presented herself as a hard nut to crack, but within her shell she had already crumbled. (God had worked behind enemy lines) So we should never write off anyone because of their background or record. God delights to save sinners. And he is powerful to do so.

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The recent Wycliffe Associates newsletter had an article about a Muslim man who was once hardened against Jesus and Christianity... the article gave him the name Mohammed to protect his identity…

Mohammed* saw it out of the corner of his eye. One of the medical camp workers, who was handing out medicine and supplies in the community, reached under a tablecloth and slipped a Bible to one of Mohammed’s neighbors. A devout Muslim, Mohammed kept watch as more and more Bibles were secretly given away. Then, when he had seen enough, he took action.

37 Jackman38 Jackman

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“I went over and kicked the table,” Mohammed said. “All the Bibles scattered on the ground, and suddenly the whole crowd knew what they were doing. There was an uproar, and the medical camp ended.” (FREEZE THE FRAME—YOU’RE THERE IN THE MEDICAL CAMP. THIS HAS JUST HAPPENED. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT MOHAMMED? ‘HERE’S A MAN WHO WOULD NEVER TRUST CHRIST! OR ‘GOD CAN SAVE THIS MAN!) In the commotion, one of the camp’s leaders pulled Mohammed aside, spoke gently to him, and handed him a Bible.

“I don’t know why I took it,” Mohammed said, “but later I read it in my room. The Old Testament was similar to what we were taught. But when I came to the New Testament, . . . I threw that thing down! This business of Jesus as the Son of God is the dangerous stuff my teachers had warned me of.

“Days later, I kept reading. {The Word of God had made its way behind enemy lines.} I saw Jesus say, ‘Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28 NIV). And finally, ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Mathew 28:20 NIV). That is when I began to follow Jesus.”

Despite the persecution that was certain to follow, Mohammed began to preach at every opportunity so that others might also know Christ. The man who had given him the Bible became Mohammed’s best friend and mentor. And on the day this mentor was forced from his home and shot dead by enemies of our faith, a grieving Mohammed took his place as a mentor to others. “They will kill me just like they killed my mentor—and his mentor before him,” Mohammed said. “They have told me so. But if I run away, who will tell the people about Jesus?”39

There is no life so impervious that God’s grace cannot break into it in transforming power. … God’s word can get into territory that the enemy holds, and when that word of God begins to work, strong citadels become vulnerable.

2. Let’s stir up our confidence in the mercy and grace of God….

What’s the answer to a world full of lost people who are hardened to the gospel? The answer lies in the Word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God and in the prayerful obedience of God’s people.

There is no reason today why the Word of God should not, quoting 2 Thessalonians 3:1 “speed ahead and be honored” Just as the Word about God’s saving deliverance of the people of Israel had sped ahead and done it work behind enemy lines in the time of Joshua, God’s word is powerful to save today.

39 Wycliffe Associates

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God has conquered many Jerichos down thru the centuries and totally transformed situations, and he is well able to do it again. Perhaps he is waiting for us, his people, to demonstrate our faith in obedience and trust by dependent prayer. “He is rescuing Rahabs and their families, pulling down Satan’s strongholds, calling whoever will to come and take shelter under the provision of the sacrificial death of his Son upon the

cross.40

3. Let’s remember that the New Testament writers are wild about Rahab…

Matthew includes her in the lineage of Christ, Matthew 1.

The writer of Hebrews includes her in the Hall of Faith, 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.

And James cites Rahab’s story to drive home the truth that a real saving faith…. A saving faith that is real…. works…James 2:24-26 …24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Let us pray.

40 Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (pp. 39–41). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

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