Joshua 2
I. This narrative provokes serious reflection on the promises and providence of God.
A. The promise of nationhood had been given to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) and that that nation would have the land (Genesis 12:7).
Joseph saw divine providence in all the cruel machinations of his brothers (Genesis 50:20) but reiterated that their descendants would occupy the land promised Abraham (Genesis 50:25, 26).
B. For four hundred years the promise lay dormant as the sons of Jacob prospered in Egypt (Exodus 1:7) but then were subdued as slaves (Exodus 1:8-14).
C. Moses’s rise to leadership as the human deliverer is a marvel of providential arrangements (Exodus 2:1-10; 3:1-9).
D. The delivery of the people as a nation possessing the riches of Egypt shows the absolute determination of God to pursue His redemptive purpose through the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 2:24, 25; 3:20-22).
E. After forty years of wilderness meandering under divine discipline and the experience of several manifestations of judgment and cleansing of the unfaithful, they are on the verge of setting foot in the land promised to Abraham.
They were instructed as to how to deal with the types of cities and settlements that they would encounter (Deuteronomy 20).
II. This narrative introduces an unlikely but highly consequential person in the history of redemption.
A. Rahab immediately received the two spies and hid them from detection (2:1-5).
She had concluded, before their arrival, that she wanted to be a part of the people that were to invade her city. That they had come to “search out the land” (2, 3) was part of the common intelligence among the inhabitants of Jericho. The leading civil ruler, “king,” knew they had entered the residence where she lived and came to her so that he might detain and eliminate them. Instead of surrendering them to detainment and death, she joined their purpose and protected them by misleading the king as to their location. She said she did not know who they were, but that they already had left the city before the gates closed (4, 5).
B. This deceit on her part is not treated as a flaw but as a manifestation of true heart faith in the God of Israel.
Hebrews 11:31 says, “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient;” and James 2:25 adds that this true faith was demonstrated in the very action she took: “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” She knew that the strategy to take Jericho was underway, these spies were part of it, and she would show her submission, even approval, by joining in the purpose of searching out the land, she hid them from detection and sent the search party out of the city. They would go to the most likely place to overtake them—the fords of Jordan—and would probably be involved in the pursuit for three days.
C. After the pursuers left, she explained her energetic and creative cooperation to the Hebrew spies.
The events she described show the process by which she came to identify with and determine to be a part of the people (2:9-13).
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- She knew that the Lord was giving the land to this people. The inhabitants were filled with terror at the prospect of the coming invasion. She did not view this invasion as an illegitimate aggression but as an action of God (9).
- Their exodus from Egypt still was fresh in the storyline of this invading nation from forty-two years before—“the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea.” Recently, as they approached the land of promise, they had utterly defeated the Amorites under King Sihon and Og, king of Bashan (Numbers 21:21-35; 32:33). Now they had gathered an invading force (Numbers 26) and were camped at Jordan near Jericho (Numbers 34:45-52). They were poised to invade the land with instructions for utter destruction for seven nations (Deuteronomy 20:17).
- She described her motivation for protecting these men on a mission of reconnaissance—“The Lord your God, He is God of heaven above on earth beneath” (11). Before they arrived, she knew that the city was to be utterly defeated by Israel, she saw it as a purpose and consequent act of God, and she had identified with the God of Israel and His purpose.
- On the basis of her belief in the Lord and her demonstration of unity with His purpose, she asks for kind treatment for herself and her father’s household: father mother, brothers, sisters, and all their children (12, 13). She did not betray the spies but participated with them to assure the success of their mission. Now she asks to come under the protection of the God of Israel.
- They consent to her request if she continues to withhold information about their presence and purpose (14). They gave her a scarlet cord to display in the window so that all in that place of residence would be kept alive (15-21).
III. This passage illustrates the interweaving of human strategy in the fulfillment of divine purpose.
We will look at more of this in the lesson Joshua 6.
A. God “works all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11).
In His purpose for the world, He works these things sometimes by supernatural intervention such as the plagues on Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, and preeminently, the virgin conception and birth of Jesus and His resurrection. This present age will end with the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfectly righteous judgment of all people of all ages. He will break into this world by the power that He presently manifests in upholding it and will showthat it has existed for the demonstration of His glory in power, perfect justice, and infinite mercy (Matthew 25:31-46).
B. Also, God works His plans with the same precision and certainty through fallen human beings and the complex historical circumstances of the fallen world.
The crucifixion of Christ was effected through treachery, sinful plotting, betrayal, unjust accusations, cowardice, the hypocritical apostasy of Israel’s religious leaders, and the cruelty of a pagan nation.
C. God had decreed and superintends all the events that lead the elect to faith, justification, sanctification, and glorification.
All these saving moments of our lives have been stored up in the eternal love of God for His people (Romans 8:26-39). To spare Rahab, Jesus was spared not but was delivered up to death that the temporal respite and the eternal life of the people of God would be hers.
D. Even so, the lineage of David the king and Jesus to Messiah came through Rahab.
She married Salmon (Matthew 1:5) and gave birth to Boaz who was the great-grandfather of David. Her strategy in protecting the spies and also protecting her family, bargaining for her life on the basis of a shared reverence for the God of Israel perpetuated the lineage of Jesus.
POEM
Her faith in Israel’s God was manifest in deeds.
She gave the spies protection when danger brought a need.
Among the people of this God, she longed to have a place.
He’s the Lord over earth and heaven—His people thrive in grace.
She aided in the search of scouting out the land.
Her action of protection fit Joshua’s command.
Filled with faith and gripped by awe, the Lord transformed her heart.
Now for the purpose of her God, with zeal she played her part.
She knew the end would come; she sought the judge of all.
To gain her life and worship God became her driving call.
Eternal mercy spared her life, Christ’s blood covered her sin.
A child of grace and to God’s care by faith she entered in.
