A. Spies are sent to the city of Jericho.
1. (1a) Joshua sends spies to Jericho.
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
a. Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men: Joshua’s careful preparation was evidence of faithfulness, not a lack of faith. God promised success to Joshua (Joshua 1:3-6), but those promises were not meant to encourage passivity or inaction on Joshua’s part. They were meant to encourage his faith-filled activity.
i. The passage doesn’t say who these two spies were, but some Jewish traditions speculate that they were faithful Caleb and the high priest Eliezer. Those legends don’t have any biblical foundation.
ii. This happened during the three days Joshua commanded Israel to wait on the banks of the Jordan (Joshua 1:11). God had a special work to accomplish in those three days.
b. To spy secretly: It was wise for Joshua to send these spies secretly. A generation earlier, the public sending of spies into Canaan ended in disaster when most of the spies returned with a discouraging report of the land and its people (Numbers 13).
i. In the Numbers 13 sending of the spies, only two of the twelve sent returned with a faith-filled, God-honoring report (Caleb and Joshua, Numbers 14:6-9). A generation later, Joshua sent only two spies instead of twelve.
ii. The secrecy of their mission may have been to conceal it from Israel, as well as the rulers of Jericho. Given the results of the mission of the spies in Numbers 13-14, it is reasonable to think Joshua didn’t want Israel to know in advance of these spies and their mission.
c. Go, view the land, especially Jericho: The city of Jericho was relatively close to Israel’s planned crossing point of the Jordan River and it was one of the most secure and fortified cities in Canaan.
i. “The account of the conquest of Jericho makes no use of any information which might have been gained from this expedition.” (Hess)
ii. “Whatever the report of the spies might be, he would go forward, but it was important for him as a military leader to know the condition of affairs.” (Morgan)
2. (1b) The spies at Rahab’s house.
So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
a. A harlot named Rahab: Throughout the history of Christianity, it has embarrassed some Bible interpreters that these two spies went to the house of a prostitute. Some have tried to say that Rahab was merely an “innkeeper,” but the description of her as a harlot in Hebrews 11:31 confirms that she was a prostitute.
i. Some early Christians saw a likeness in the sending of these forerunners before Joshua that was fulfilled in men like John the Baptist, the forerunner before Jesus the Messiah. In the second century Origen wrote: “As the first Jesus sent his spies before him and they were received into the harlot’s house, so the second Jesus sent His forerunners, whom the publicans and harlots gladly received.” (Cited in Lias)
b. And lodged there: The harlot’s house was a good place to stay if one wanted to stay anonymous and remain hidden despite the strict guard set over the city of Jericho. There’s no indication that the two spies engaged Rahab’s services as a harlot.
i. “The text carefully avoids implying a sexual liaison between the spies and their hostess. There is a common expression for going into buildings of all sorts (cf. Judges 9:5; 2 Samuel 12:20; 2 Kings 19:1). It does not imply sexual relations with a prostitute.” (Hess)
3. (2-3) The king of Jericho seeks the Israelite spies.
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”
So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”
a. Men have come here tonight: Somehow, the leader of the city-state of Jericho learned that two Israelite men had come to the city as spies (to search out the country). This was of great concern, because the city was already on alert (Joshua 2:9), fearful of the Israelite invasion.
b. Bring out the men: Using either informers or logic, the king of Jericho believed the spies were with Rahab and demanded they be turned over.
4. (4-7) Rahab hides and protects the spies.
Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.
a. Then the woman took the two men and hid them: The culture of the ancient near east had a strong tradition of protecting guests. Even considering this, Rahab went much further than these cultural traditions regarding hospitality. She put her own life at risk for the Israelite spies.
i. “When Rahab hid the spies, she sided with Israel against her own people. It was an act of treason!” (Madvig)
ii. “This was an act of her praiseworthy faith. See Hebrews 11:31, where it is honourably mentioned, but nothing is said of the lie she told. God layeth the finger of mercy on the scars of our sins.” (Trapp)
b. Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from: The Bible simply reports Rahab’s lie; it does not praise it or excuse it. Rahab faced an ethical challenge: either option was bad. She decided that it was worse for her to betray the spies than to lie about their presence.
c. The men went out: Rahab’s protection of the spies was courageous. Despite her pagan upbringing, culture, and morally compromised profession, she allied herself with Israel and the God of Israel.
B. Salvation for Rahab.
1. (8-11) Rahab’s confession of faith.
Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
a. I know that the LORD has given you the land: This surprising outburst of faith shows that God had a plan in bringing Rahab and the spies together. God had already been speaking to Rahab in some way, and she had begun to believe in the superiority of Yahweh (the LORD), the God of Israel.
i. God continues to speak in remarkable and unusual ways to unlikely people who are seemingly distant from the gospel. The phenomenon of dreams leading many in the Islamic world to Jesus Christ and His gospel is one modern example of this.
ii. “She was pressured by a powerful city and an ancient culture continuing on in its normal life—eating, drinking, marrying, and so forth. At that moment she could see nothing with her eyes that indicated it would fall.” (Schaeffer)
b. Has given you the land: Rahab’s confession of faith included recognition that God had promised the land of Canaan to Israel and that He would fulfill that promise. She saw God’s supernatural work of causing terror among the Canaanites, leading them to be fainthearted.
c. For we have heard: In her confession of faith Rahab reported that the people of Jericho had heard of and believed the mighty works God did for Israel in freeing them from Egypt (dried up the water of the Red Sea) and defeating their enemies along the way (what you did to the two kings).
i. “If we ask, ‘From whom had Rahab heard these tales of the God of Israel?’ the answer is probably from the men who frequented her establishment. Her home would have been a place of great gossip as strangers from near and far reported their tales of foreign wonders.” (Boice)
d. He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath: Rahab’s confession of faith declared the greatness and superiority of Yahweh, the God of Israel. This phrase is used in declarations of faith for the people of Israel (Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 4:39, 5:8).
i. “This confession of the true God is amazingly full, and argues considerable light and information. As if she had said, ‘I know your God to be omnipotent and omnipresent:’ and in consequence of this faith she hid the spies, and risked her own life in doing it.” (Clarke)
e. Our hearts melted: The combination of these truths was overwhelming. Many among the Canaanites believed that the God of Israel:
· Was greater than their Canaanite gods.
· Did miracles for His people, bringing them out of Egypt.
· Had recently enabled Israel to defeat kings.
· Had promised Israel the land of Canaan.
i. Believing these things made many among the Canaanites lose all courage; yet few of them acted in faith as Rahab the harlot did. Rahab showed admirable faith (Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25).
ii. “As an oath of fealty, this covenant would bring Rahab’s family into Israelite society. As would happen with the Gibeonites, so Rahab and her family here ceased to be Canaanite and became part of Israel’s family.” (Hess)
2. (12-13) Rahab’s plea for rescue and salvation.
Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
a. That you also will show kindness to my father’s house: Rahab’s desire to see her family saved, and the effort she made to save their lives, shows that her love should be noticed, as well as her faith.
i. “The family members would demonstrate their personal faith by gathering in Rahab’s house and remaining there.” (Madvig)
b. Swear to me by the LORD: This shows that Rahab wanted assurance of her rescue by asking for an oath. She wanted to leave her sinful life and culture and live with God’s people.
i. Putting herself at risk, Rahab rejected her past identity as a Canaanite and wanted to be identified with the people of God, with Israel. She married a man from the tribe of Judah named Salmon. They had a son named Boaz, who married a Moabite woman named Ruth. They had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David (Matthew 1:5-6). Rahab was a direct ancestor of David, the great king of Israel, and assuming no generations are left out of the record, she was his great-great-grandmother (the grandmother of David’s grandfather Obed).
3. (14) The response of the Israelite spies.
So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
a. Our lives for yours: This was a solemn oath, made on their lives. Rahab and her family would be spared the coming judgment. Joshua is a book of harsh judgment on the Canaanites, but the first story dealing with someone other than Joshua is about God’s mercy to an unlikely yet believing Canaanite.
i. “The inhabitants of Jericho presumably had the same opportunity to embrace Israel’s God that Rahab did, but only she seized the opportunity, and consequently only she and her family were spared destruction.” (Howard)
b. We will deal kindly and truly with you: The promise was to rescue Rahab and her family from the coming judgment against Jericho.
i. In one sense, Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria on His way to Galilee; there were other roads available. But Jesus did have to go through Samaria (John 4:4), to reach one Samaritan woman. In one sense, Joshua didn’t have to send the two spies; they didn’t bring back specific intelligence that would prove helpful in the conquest of Jericho. But Joshua did need to send them, to rescue Rahab and her household.
4. (15-21) The means of Rahab’s salvation: the scarlet cord.
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.”
So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.”
Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
a. She let them down by a rope: Rahab’s belief in the God of Israel was confirmed by her actions. She protected and assisted the Israelite spies because she really believed in the greatness of Yahweh and the reliability of His promise to Israel. In this sense, she was justified by her faith-filled works (James 2:25).
i. “As the city gates were now shut there was no way for the spies to escape but through this window; and in order to [do] this she let them down through the window in a basket suspended by a cord, till they reached the ground on the outside of the wall.” (Clarke)
b. Bind this scarlet cord in the window: This was the signal to the army of Israel that the people in this home were to be spared. Despite Rahab’s desire, despite her faith, despite the promises of these spies, she would have perished unless she put her trust in a blood-red cord cast down from her window. Without the scarlet cord, she could not have been saved.
i. “The spies, who were unaware of the mighty miracle that God would perform, were anticipating a house-to-house battle in which the Israelites would have been instructed to spare the house so marked.” (Madvig)
ii. As early as the first century, commentators such as Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen and others saw this scarlet cord as a symbol of the blood of Jesus.
iii. “There is a tradition in the church, going all the way back to Clement of Rome and possibly earlier, that the scarlet cord represents the blood of Jesus Christ, and teachers have talked about the cord running all through the Bible, from Abel’s sacrifice to Calvary.” (Boice)
c. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window: Though known only to Rahab and the Israelites, this was a declaration of her allegiance with Israel and the God of Israel. In binding the scarlet cord in the window, Rahab immediately displayed her identity and trust in the security offered by the scarlet cord. She also trusted in the ones who made the promise connected with the scarlet cord (according to your words, so be it).
i. In a sense, Joshua would be a savior for Rahab, but he would be a judge of the rest of Jericho. In the same way, Jesus is a savior for those who trust Him, but a judge for those who reject Him.
ii. “We can imagine Rahab rushing out and gathering all her family into her house upon the city wall. We can imagine her going through the city and calling out, ‘Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Come under the mark of the scarlet cord!’ Lot did the same thing in Sodom, you remember, but without success.” (Schaeffer)
d. According to your words, so be it: Rahab’s destiny was to marry one of the princes of Judah and be found in the lineage of King David and Jesus Himself.
i. “Rahab tied the scarlet line, not in some secret part of the house, but in the window. It was her public declaration of faith…. Let it be a scarlet line that you tie in the window, however, namely, an avowal of true faith in his precious blood, a declaration of confidence, in atonement by blood; for there are some who profess a sort of faith, but it is not faith in the substitution of Christ.” (Spurgeon)
ii. The law of judgment against the Canaanites condemned Rahab to death. Yet there were many aspects of God’s work in Rahab related to her triumph over the law that condemned her and Rahab’s becoming part of God’s story of redemption:
· Rahab’s understanding of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
· Rahab’s faith in Yahweh.
· Rahab’s rejection of her Canaanite identity and embrace of her Israelite identity.
· Rahab’s willingness to publish an emblem of her trust in God’s promise of rescue.
5. (22-24) Mission accomplished.
They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”
a. The pursuers sought them all along the way: God supernaturally protected the Israelite spies. God’s help came to them through Rahab and by the confusion of their enemies.
b. Told him all that had befallen them: The two spies made a full report to Joshua, but there is no record of anything they told him that was essential to the conquest of Jericho. It was encouraging to hear the Canaanites were fainthearted and hear of the faith of Rahab, but this did not give Israel a strategy of attack against Jericho. That strategy would come from God, not the intelligence gained by the spies.
i. Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands: “As with the two spies and Rahab, what Gideon heard (Judges 7:13-15) gave encouragement through the words of an enemy. This conversation convinced him of the final outcome, thus enabling him to say with courage, ‘There is no question that we are going to be victorious. From the mouth of somebody on ‘the other side’ came a verbalization that completely settled the situation.” (Schaeffer)
ii. The greater purpose in sending the two spies was to arrange and assure the salvation of Rahab and her family. She was one that some might consider “impossible” to save, but God did what seemed impossible. God continues to save those who seem impossible to save.
iii. “The salvation of Rahab is an example of what God would have done for others also. The king and the other citizens of Jericho knew all that she knew, but they did not turn to Israel’s God for mercy. The fear that drove her to beg for mercy drove them in their stubborn rebellion. Accordingly, the others are called ‘the disobedient’ in Hebrews 11:31.” (Madvig)
© 2024 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – [email protected]