Two Nations and One Land, Two Spies and One Harlot (Joshua 2)t

So Joshua has established himself as the new leader of the Israelites.  The people are preparing to cross the Jordan and begin their conquest of the promised land.  He sends out two spies to check out Jericho and other surrounding areas.  It's interesting that Joshua just sends two, for when he was called  on by Moses to spy there were twelve but only two, he and Caleb, gave a positive report regarding their ability to overtake the people occupying the promised land.  Perhaps there is nothing to this, but it is interesting nonetheless that only two spies were used.  Joshua 2:1 ends giving us the knowledge that these spies found a place to stay in the home of an innkeeper/prostitute named Rahab.

It cracks me up when young people claim the Bible is boring.  How could you read this story and say the Bible is boring?  We have two nations of people about to come to blows over land.  We have espionage.  We have prostitution.  This doesn't sound like what we think of when we talk about Bible stories.  This sounds like it's straight out of Hollywood.  The problem is we don't use our imagination enough.  This is a case where the scripture almost calls on us to make inferences and use our imaginations a bit, because it appears that a lot takes place that goes unmentioned from vs. 1 to vs. 2 of Joshua 2.

In order to make certain inferences about what happens we need to consider what we do know according to the scripture. Verse 2 tells us the king of Jericho found out the spies had found a place to stay at Rahab's Bed, Breakfast and Brothel.  But how did he find out?  Did one of his staff who frequent there over hear a conversation.  Did they see the men and somehow know they were spies?  Were they just not very good spies and they stuck out like soar thumbs?  Did God have the writers of the Bible leave these things out to move the story along or to allow us to use our imaginations so we might think on these accounts longer?  I don't know, but the fun part is if we were to make a movie of it in real life or in our minds, we can come up with whatever seems to work in order to help the story make sense.  My guess is some of the king's officials got wind of the spies through their frequenting Rahab's place.  I say this because I don't think our spies were bad spies.  It would have been a clever plan for the spies to find solace in a brothel.  Where else would be a better place to lay low than an inn/brothel on the wrong side of town where citizens likely didn't want it to be known they were frequenting there?  Again, I am just speculating but this is what makes sense to me.  Feel free to make your own speculations.   

What else do we know?  Somehow, and for some reason, the spies had found favor with Rahab.  So much so that she hid them from the authorities and lied to her king and/or whoever brought the message from the king to "bring out the men."  She devised this whole made up story about how they had just left before the city gate was about to be closed and if the men would follow them right now they may catch them.  She was not only a harlot and an inn keeper but evidently a pretty convincing actor because the men bought it and went chasing after them when in reality they were hidden under some flax on her roof. 

Why did Rahab do this for them?  We don't know for sure, but isn't it fun to speculate what is "in between" the verses of this story.  John Huffman Jr. suggests that it is likely Rahab's family were poor farmers who worked land outside of Jericho and the flax she hid the spies under was possibly even part of their crop.  Perhaps the ropes she lowered them on when they got away were the ropes they would use to bring the flax from outside the walls into the city.  Huffman also suggests she was a prostitute out of financial need, not one of the glamorous prostitutes of the Canaanite religious rituals of fertility.  (The Communicator's Commentary, Old Testament Vol. 6 - Joshua pgs. 59-60) 

I think several things were at work here all at once.  Rahab was tired of the life she was living.  As the scripture makes mention of, she had heard the stories of the Israelite nation and this powerful God of theirs that divided the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh's Army and she dared to believe that their might be a hope to hope in, greater than what she was experiencing.  She had been witness to the corruption that was the Canaanite kingdom of Jericho and she was on the bottom rung of it's existence.  She saw an opportunity to give her and her family a new start with a new people.  Perhaps she offered her "services" to these spies upon their arrival and they, unlike any other men she had known, simply refused, yet showed her a warmth and a respect she could not fathom.  Perhaps she was intrigued and began to suspect who they were and they entrusted her into their confidence.  Again, we don't know this for sure, but something happened in between vs 1 and vs 2 of Joshua 2 and it is sure fun to speculate.  We do know this, God got a hold of Rahab somehow and used her for the good of His Kingdom and His people.

What else do we know?  Against all odds, Rahab did a heroic thing for Israel in spite of all she had going against her.  Again, Huffman suggests she had four strikes against her in light of how she would've been viewed in that time period. (1) She was a woman.  We know society has come a long way and women are much more respected as equals today then in these Old Testament times. (2) She was a Canaanite.  A foreigner was to be kept at a distance, let alone trusted as she was by these spies of Israel.  (3) She was a harlot, a member of what many call the oldest profession, but one of darkness and sin.  (4) She was a liar.  She did not hesitate to deceive her own people for the sake of two men she hardly knew.  Yes, it was for God's people and yes, she was lying to servants of a questionable king, but still it was a lie. (The Communicator's Commentary, Old Testament Vol. 6 - Joshua pgs. 58-61) Yet, God still chose to speak to her and use her in a powerful way.  So much so that she is included in the lineage of Jesus.  After the Israelites defeated Jericho, Rahab began that new life and the Israelite, Salmon, took her as a wife.  She and Salmon were parents of Boaz, who married Ruth.  Boaz and Ruth were King David's Great Grandparents.  Yes, this is the same King David who killed Goliath.  (Check out Matthew 1:5-6).

Our God is an amazing God.  Rahab is proof we must never discount ourselves or anyone else as unusable by God.  I spent last weekend with 10 teenagers, 5 of which were 8th grade boys.  I love all of them but sometimes 8th grade boys do things that make you wonder, are they ever going to grow up?  Yet at the same time, I see God working on each one of them.  He's working on each one of our teens, each one of our children, and yes, each one of us.  We must believe if God can use a foreign, lying harlot like Rahab for the good of His Kingdom to not only help the Israelites take the city of Jericho but to also be a part of the ancestral line of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, then He can surely use you and me.