Joshua 2:1-24--Rahab Hides the Spies

Joshua 2
English Standard Version

Rahab Hides the Spies
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.” 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.

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. 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. 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. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly 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.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! 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.”

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. 16 And she 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.” 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. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us 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.

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.”

---

This passage today is not simply a side-story, but is a main story in the gospel narrative that the Bible is telling.  More on that later though....just don't forget the name Rahab and maybe look at the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 for an important clue.  Also, this will end up leading to another picture of the gospel in the Old Testament much like how we said the Flood, Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah, the Passover/Exodus out of Egypt and the Bronze Serpent in the Wilderness were.  We are about to get another one of those gospel snapshots.

First, we need to see that Joshua is once again going to send in some spies, and they were to scout out the land, but were specifically to scout out the city of Jericho.  Since they could not stay in any ordinary lodging in the city, they were taken in by one of the city prostitutes named Rahab.  It was made known to the king of Jericho that the spies were lodging with Rahab and they came to her to tell her to give up the men of Israel, but she lied and said that she did not know where they were from and that she saw them leave the city and that the king and the army should give chase to them so that they might catch up to them, and she led the king and his men on a wild goose chase that took them all the way to the Jordan River.

This story should remind us a bit of the midwives in Egypt where they lied to save lives and God blessed them for having pure motives even though they were technically lying.  Rahab went up in the evening to check on the two spies before they went to bed and made it known to them that she knew that the LORD had given this land to Israel and how the LORD had caused fear and dread to fall upon all the people of Canaan, but especially those from Jericho, because they heard what happened to the Pharaoh in Egypt and to King Sihon and King Og of the Amorites, and it was clear to them that the LORD was making war for His people and that nothing that He promised them would be kept from them and all of them were devoted for destruction just like the Amorites were.

So, she asked the spies to swear an oath to her that they would remember her kindness and that they would save not only her life, but the life of her father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them when they came to conquer the city of Jericho.  They swore with an oath that as long as she did not speak of them being there to anyone, they would deal kindly with her and her family when the LORD gave them the Land.  We'll see later that this promise will require Rahab and all of her family to stay inside her house in much the same way that Noah and his family had to stay in the Ark, and also that Rahab was to give a sign to the Israelites by hanging a scarlet cord from her window that they could see so they would make sure not to attack the place where she and her family were protected (this should harken back to the Passover and the doorways of those being protected being marked by the blood of the Passover Lamb.  In the same way, many think this scarlet cord represents the blood of Jesus).

She then let them down a rope out her window, for her house was on the wall and they could get out of the city this way even though the gate was closed, and she gave them instructions to head for the hills and hide so that they would not encounter the army that went chasing after them as they returned to the city.  They made her swear that she would hang the scarlet cord out her window so that all the Israelites could see it during the battle and that if she did not do this thing, then they could not promise her that her and her family would be safe and they would be guiltless if something happened if she failed to keep them in her house and mark it with the scarlet cord.  Also, if she told this business of the Israelites to anyone then the LORD would make sure that she and her family were swept up in the judgment and destruction and there is nothing they could do about it--they would be guiltless in this regard too.  Rahab agreed to these terms and sent them on their way and immediately tied the scarlet cord to her window.  She knew the judgment was coming and that it was coming quickly and unexpectedly, and she was ready for it.  So we too should encourage those who see the judgment coming to make preparation and mark themselves by the blood of the Lamb so that they too might be taken safely through the judgment.  Just like the Ark provided safe passage from the Flood and the same Red Sea parted for the people of God, but swallowed up the armies of Egypt--so too the walls and city will fall on all those who were not in Rahab's house, and it would be the only structure left standing after God's judgment on this city and they would still see the scarlet cord handing from her window.

The spies went to the hills and waited three days until they saw their pursuers return, and they knew it was safe for them to return to Joshua and the Israelites.  They returned with a very good report unlike the spies that had gotten Israel in so much trouble forty years ago when only Joshua and Caleb brought back a good report.