Scripture for Sunday, March 19: Joshua 2:1-16
Additional passages that mention Rahab: Matthew 1:5, Hebrews 11 (v. 31) , James 2:14-26 (v. 25)
The account of Rahab and her Israelite visitors rivals modern spy thrillers for seediness. Deceit, debauchery, and death threats all figure into this story.
It's enough to make us stumble over our words retelling this story to our youngest brothers and sisters. Can we really read this in church?
I'm pretty sure I grew up believing that although Rahab was a prostitute, certainly the spies Joshua sent were morally pure.
Probably, I thought, Rahab's brothel was the only safe house they could find in Jericho. Certainly the spies just sought a place to sleep before they got back to the dangerous work of spying.
Or not.
In Joshua 1, just after receiving his own commands from God to "be strong and courageous," Joshua receives encouragement from the Israelite people to "be strong and courageous." Along with that encouragement, the people pledge to obey Joshua.
The next thing Joshua does is give orders to his two spies: "Go see the land, especially Jericho."
So, the text says, in answer to Joshua's orders, the spies "went, and went into the house of a prostitute."
That is not, shall we say, precisely what Joshua ordered them to do.
And so it is that the very first people coming into the land God promised to their ancestors already seem unfit to represent a Holy God to a world that doesn't know him.
But here is where the spy thriller gets really interesting. Because Rahab the prostitute, of all people, preaches to God's chosen spies.
"I know that the LORD gave this land to you. We are all terrified of you. Because we heard that the Lord dried up the water of the sea when you left from Egypt. And we heard how you completely exterminated your enemies on the other side of the Jordan. We heard and our hearts melted. We are so afraid we can hardly breathe," she says.
Rahab's words about the palpable fear in Jericho calls to mind the spies' injunction to be strong and courageous. Their God has promised the land to Israel, and Jericho's inhabitants know it. The upcoming battle is God's, not theirs.
Best of all, Rahab speaks to the spies of who their God is: "The Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on the earth below." In other words, Your God is God of everything that is.
I wonder what it was like for the spies to hear the truth about God on the lips of an outsider and a prostitute. I wonder what it was like for them, on assignment to spy out the land, to witness how God was already at work in that land.
Whatever other report the spies made when they returned to Joshua, they could say at least this much: In the shadowlands of Jericho, and in the hearts and minds of its inhabitants, God was making his presence known and bringing fear upon his enemies.
God was already fighting the battle for Israel before Israel even crossed the Jordan for battle. And maybe that was what the spies really needed to know.
Reflect
1) Has there been a time in your life when God went ahead of you, preparing your path in a way that surprised you?
2) Have you seen or heard a testimony of God's grace from someone you didn't expect to be his witness?
3) What encouragement might you receive from this story in your own life of faith?
