Joshua 2 Grace In Wrong Places
Jos 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
Joshua (Jehovah-saved) son of Nun (Perpetuity). We do not often look up people’s names we cannot pronounce, but there are times when someone stands up and their genealogy is given and it is a sermon before the man speaks. From Perpetuity Jehovah has saved His people.
We call Him Jesus, but in Hebrew His name is is Jehoshua or Y’shua or Joshua and He saves for perpetuity.
Rahab’s name means proud. We would think such a name for sex worker is not fitting as we would think it should be shame. God had plans for this woman that remove her shame and make her a proud mother.
Shittim means acacia trees so a wooded area good for hiding in. Jericho possibly means fragrant.
Jos 2:2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.
Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.
She was a person that would know much of the business of the city and especially strangers. The king might have had her house watched and someone reported it. Being a city of commerce with people coming and going all the time you would wonder what made them stand out among all of the other strangers that would seek a room and a concubine for the night.
Jos 2:4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
Jos 2:5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
Liar! Liar! Her pants would have been set on fire as well as everything else she owned had the king not trusted her. In a few verses, we will find out why she took such a risk.
Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
Flax was used in clothing, food and medicine so it was at the right time for the spies to be there because they could hide in the flax. In it’s raw state they may have been uncomfortable. Being soldiers, comfort was probably not something they were accustomed to having on a regular basis.
Jos 2:7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
She sent the kings’ men on a long goose chase and with the gates closed the men were safe for the night.
Jos 2:8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;
Jos 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
Jos 2:11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
While they did not have internet back in the day, word still got out about the Israelites and people feared. Think about it. If they would have entered the land when God told them to they could have been in the land victorious for forty years. It seems that these people have lived in fear for forty years wondering when the Israelites would come for them. The Israelites were afraid so did not know these people would have been an easy conquer forty years sooner.
Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
Jos 2:13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.
Jos 2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
Jos 2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.
Naturally, she asks for her family to be spared since she aided them. A pagan may have promised her and not kept it. She had to have faith in them. She was so aware of the affairs of her city that she even had the routine of the soldiers down pat. She knew they would be gone three days and sent the spies to a high ground of safety until they returned to be sure they escaped. Like Paul, they escaped on a rope over the wall, but Paul had a basket. He was not as in shape as the soldiers who could shinny down a rope.
Jos 2:17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
Jos 2:20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
Jos 2:21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
Note any similarity to the sign she was to give them to be spared? A scarlet cord in the window is similar to the blood on the doorposts that spared the first-born from the death angel in Egypt. The direction to stay inside was also the same.
Jos 2:22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.
Jos 2:23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:
Jos 2:24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.
True to Rahab’s word the pursuers were back in three days. As good soldiers, they followed her directions and came home to give a report that Joshua and Caleb gave forty years ago that victory was assured. If only they had followed that advice then.
There is an old song that says “Looking for love in all the wrong places. Looking for love in too many faces” Considering Rahab’s occupation that song fits. Yet, God brings love and grace into many places we would have nothing to do with and moves in the hearts of people that make us uncomfortable and even has people in enemy territory.
Like the religious people in the story of the Good Samaritan many would have nothing to do with a harlot let alone trust her. Rahab had put trust in the men that were followers of the God she had only heard about. Indeed, she is in Jesus’s lineage in Matthew chapter one. As is Tamar, who committed intentional incest to get the child she was due. That is another story. Not exactly the women we would consider to be in a Messianic royal line as they are Gentiles with questionable morals and yet they are.
Two spies put trust in an enemy to protect them on their mission. That is a God thing. God showed His grace to a hooker or a Madam and spared her family from death like He did His own people so many years before. God showed His men that He is in control and protection truly comes from Him.
Where are you tonight? Do you feel like you are in a strange land and vulnerable? God can protect you and bring you home. Maybe your are not in the best of moral conditions. You may not be a whore or Madam, but you have been used and abused. God can deliver you and change your story. Whatever your story, Jesus wants to be a part of it. Look to the scarlet blood on the Cross and come in through Jesus, the door, to a new beginning and hope. Maranatha!!
