Well do keep your Bibles in hand and turn this time to the book of Joshua, chapter 2; Joshua chapter 2.
Two weeks ago, you may recall we began to look at the book of Joshua, chapter 1. We saw God commission Joshua to enter the Promised Land. He promised to go with Joshua and to give him success. And this morning, as we read chapter 2 together, really we are reading part 2 of a two-part introduction to the conquest of Canaan. The Israelites are still on the eastern shore of the Jordan River waiting to cross and to begin the conquest of the land, but before they do, we have this thrilling tale of the two spies that Joshua sends across the river to study the enemy’s defenses. In many ways, this is a classic tale of espionage; it’s full of drama and intrigue. There are close shaves and menacing enemies with a femme fatale named Rahab taking center stage in the story. It’s a thrilling account, and Joshua tells it brilliantly. But while Rahab is the center of the story, she is not really the central character. This is a story mainly about God, about his faithfulness and His grace, working despite sin and weakness, sometimes even through sin and weakness, for His purposes and for His glory.
We’re going to unpack the teaching here under three headings. First, as Joshua sends the spies across the river to Jericho, we learn about sneaky faith and the promises of God. Sneaky faith and the promises of God. Secondly, in verses 1 through 7, as the spies find their way to Rahab’s house, I want you to notice the silly men and the providence of God. Sneaky faith and the promises of God. Silly men and the providence of God. And then finally, as we consider Rahab’s conversion and the conclusions that are drawn by the Israelites that are waiting when they hear the report of the spies back on the eastern shore of the river, we’re going to think about surprising trust and the purposes of God. Surprising trust and the purposes of God. Sneaky faith and the promises of God. Silly men and the providence of God. Surprising trust and the purposes of God. That’s our outline. Before we consider it together, let’s pause again and pray. Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, we pray now that You would come by the Holy Spirit and open our eyes and ears and hearts and by Your Word slay sin, work faith, give grace, strengthen our virtues, and help us to follow You as You lead us, for we ask this in Your name, amen.
Joshua chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. This is the Word of God:
“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. And it was told to the king of Jericho, ‘Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.’ 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.’ 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. 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.’ 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. 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.
Before the men 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, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 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. 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. 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 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.’ 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.’
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. 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.’ The men said to her, ‘We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 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. 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. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.’ 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.
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. 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. 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.’”
Amen, and we praise God for His holy Word.
Sneaky Faith and the Promises of God
Let’s think first of all about sneaky faith and the promises of God. Sneaky faith and the promises of God. Look at verse 1 with me for a moment. “And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’” Now you will remember, God had promised Joshua to give him the land. “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to your fathers to give them.” That was the promise of God. Actually, four times over Joshua is exhorted not to be scared. Three times God said, “Be strong and courageous.” And once, the people at the end of chapter 1 repeat the exhortation, “Be strong and courageous. God is giving you the land. We’re with you Joshua. Let’s go!”
And Joshua seems to have taken the encouragement very much to heart, doesn’t he? He seizes the bull by the horns as it were, and by the middle of chapter 1 he has begun his preparations in earnest for crossing the river. He sends his commanders to prepare the people. He summons the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, all of whom had settled on the eastern shore to fulfill their oaths and join the rest of the people of Israel until the conquest was concluded. Everything looked like it was full steam ahead. And Joshua told them all, “In three days’ time, we’re going in!”
And then, chapter 2. Literarily and chronologically, instead of crossing the river and attacking Jericho right away, we have this delay as Joshua sends some spies across the fords of the river to check out the defenses. And at this point, it’s not uncommon for readers to question whether this isn’t actually an expression of some hesitancy on Joshua’s part if not of open unbelief. He’s come right up to the brink, after all. He has the promises of God. He’s been told to be strong and courageous. “Get on with it, Joshua! What are you waiting for?” But instead of going directly forward, he takes a beat and he sends some spies to check out the enemy. Is Joshua overtaken, perhaps, by momentary doubt? Is he trying to hedge his bets? Does he wonder if God really can be trusted to deliver on His promises?
Far from it. Far from it. We need to be clear about this. This is not unbelief that we are seeing; this is what faith in the promises of God looks like. Now we know, because we know the story, that the walls of Jericho will come crumbling down, not because of Joshua’s military tactics but because of the supernatural power of Almighty God. We know that; Joshua doesn’t know it, and God has not even so much as suggested the possibility to him. Yes, to be sure, God had told him to take the land. He told him He would bless him and go with him and give him success, but He did not tell Joshua to suspend all reason or abandon all wisdom while He did it. He did not tell him to act blindly or to march into Canaan without making any provision for wise, military strategy – “Because God has told me I am going to win.” Faith, Joshua knows, and I hope we know too, is not the same thing as presumption. Faith is not the same thing as presumption. Faith trusts God to do what He says He will do, and then faith uses all the ordinary means that God has ordained for the accomplishment of His purposes. Faith believes God can do the extraordinary. Faith prays that God will work in sovereign power, but faith never abandons the ordinary in the hopes that God might perhaps possibly do the extraordinary. Faith knows that while God is free to do all His holy will, by any means that He chooses, normally, He works by the ordinary means. Wars are won by spies and soldiers. If God wants to topple the walls of Jericho by nothing so much as a trumpet blast and an army’s shout, He can do it, but Joshua is not going to neglect gathering intelligence and developing sound tactics for the conquest that lies ahead in the hope that God might do it.
If God wants to heal you directly and suddenly, He can do it, but it’s not unbelief to go see the doctor and take the pills. If God wants to slay a particular sin in your heart and set you free from wicked habits in an instant, He can do it, but use the ordinary means of growth – read your Bible, get on your knees, get yourself to church and under the sound of preaching, pursue honest accountability, begin the slow, hard work of building better habits. That’s how God ordinarily sanctifies us. Do not neglect the ordinary in the name of piety while you wait for the extraordinary. In this particular moment, trust in God’s promises called for sneaky faith. It called for spies and information gathering and the wise use of right methods, none of which implied unbelief or a lack of confidence that God would keep His Word. Trusting the promises does not mean that we suspend responsibility to do the next wise thing. Sneaky faith and the promises of God. Do you see it?
Silly Men and the Providence of God
Secondly, I want you to notice what happens once the spies enter the city. And here, we need to think about silly men and the providence of God. Silly men and the providence of God. Look at verses 1 through 7. The spies hide themselves at the house of Rahab the prostitute. There’s no suggestion here of any impropriety on their part. It was a good place to hide when frequent visitors to this particular house would not have been at all unusual. But whatever trade craft the two spies possess does not serve them very well for very long. Does it? We get the distinct impression in verse 2 that the presence of the two spies in the city comes to the attention of the king almost immediately. If you’re sneaking around trying to figure out the lie of the land and the disposition of troops and the scale of the enemy’s defenses, you’re really not doing too terribly well if within half an hour of your arrival the enemy leadership knows that you are here, which house you are staying in, and what it is you are trying to accomplish. Worst spies ever.
So the king sends a couple of his own counterintelligence officers to pick them up. They knock on Rahab’s door. Verse 3, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house,” they tell Rahab, “for they have come to search out all the land.” It’s not looking too good for the two most incompetent spies at this point, is it? The surprise, of course, is that Rahab doesn’t turn them in. The woman had taken the two men and hidden them and said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 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.’ 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.” So Rahab tells a lie. No need to sugarcoat that or try and find some way to explain it away. The text neither commends her nor condemns her for telling a lie. It simply reports the fact. She deceives the spy catchers that the king has sent. Yes, she lies to save the Israelites’ lives. Yes, she chooses the lesser of two evils, but she still lies nonetheless. “Prostitute Lies” would hardly make a shocking headline in the Jericho Jambalya the next morning, would it?
But what is remarkable is that the Jericho secret police buy the lie hook, line and sinker. It’s amazing if you think about it. This is actually the third surprise in a rather surprising chapter. Surprise number one – Joshua picks the two least competent men to be his spies in Jericho. Surprise number two – an Amorite prostitute with no reason to care about God or His people protects them at great risk to her own life. And surprise number three – if the king and his cronies know that the spies have come to Rahab’s house, why don’t they search the place? They seem to take her word for it without a moment’s hesitation. It’s sort of like that moment in Star Wars when Obi-Wan says, “These are not the droids you are looking for.” And everything just moves right along without a second thought. No pushback; no interrogation; no attempt to catch her in a lie. They don’t search the house. She says to them, “Well, you know they were here, but they’re gone. They’re on the road now. Better chase them before they slip away!” And the keystone cops stand there slack jawed and blinking and say, “Well, ah, um, okay, let’s get after ‘em boys!” And off they charge with their blue lights flashing and their sirens sounding to the fords of the river. It’s amazing.
And I’ll bet neither Rahab, with her heart pounding as she closes the door, nor the spies hiding under the stalks of flax on her roof could quite believe that they got away with it. But of course that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Rahab was being given a seminar, a crash course in the sovereignty of the God of Israel to whom alone belongs salvation. He can hide incompetent spies, all their incompetence notwithstanding. He can blind the eyes of silly spy catchers even when they have the spies cornered and hiding right under their noses. He can use a pagan prostitute and some sun-bleached flax stalks to preserve and promote His holy design. He is in charge, you see, and you are not. He is in charge and nothing is too difficult for Him. Rahab was being taught, the Israelite spies were being reminded that “God indeed works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” You really can rest secure in the perfect will and design of the God of almighty wisdom, power and love. You really can. You really can.
Surprising Trust and the Purposes of God
Sneaky faith and the promises of God. Silly men and the providence of God. And then thirdly, notice what we learn about surprising trust and the purposes of God. Surprising trust and the purposes of God. Verse 7 sounds a rather ominous note, doesn’t it? Do you see that in verse 7? You can almost hear the dull thud of the gate closing as the sun drops below the horizon. You can hear the sirens of the Jericho police fading into the distance as they chase down to the fords of the river Jordan. The Isralite spies are trapped inside the city. It’s a scary moment. What in the world are they going to do? How are they going to get out of this latest mess, out of the frying pan and into the fire? But Rahab, you will notice, seizes the opportunity to express not her anxiety or her despair, but her faith in the God of Israel.
In 1737, Jonathan Edwards wrote to a correspondent in Boston to describe God’s work in his parish of Northampton, Massachusetts. The town had been at a very low spiritual ebb; very, very much a spiritually indifferent place for a long time when sudden revival broke out in the community. Edwards called his letter, “A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton.” And we’ve named this sermon after Edwards’ account because isn’t that what we have here? A faithful narrative of the surprising work of God in the conversion of Rahab the prostitute. She is, after all, a most unlikely convert. Isn’t she? She is named both here a in the New Testament references to her as a prostitute; there’s even some speculation that Rahab may have been a so-called “sacred prostitute” involved in the worship of the Canaanite gods at one of their fertility shrines. Either way, she is in an immoral, pagan, Amorite citizen of Jericho, the enemy of the covenant people of God. She is, in many respects, the epitome of everything about the Canaanites that brought them under the judgment of God that was to be executed by Joshua through the holy war of Israel.
But beginning in verse 8, astonishingly, Rahab professes faith in Israel’s God. If you look at what she says, it’s clear she knows a great deal about this God, isn’t it? She names Him, “The LORD,” in all caps. That indicates the covenant name of God, Yahweh, the name by which God was especially to be known among His chosen people. And she knows the Lord has given the land of her birth to the Israelites. God, she seems to see, owns the land and is free to give it to whomever He wills. He is no local, tribal deity like the gods of the Canaanites that she had grown up with. In fact, verse 11, Rahab grasps who God really is very clearly indeed. Doesn’t she? Look at verse 11. “And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for” – here is her conclusion now – “the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” That is her conclusion about who God is. He is the real thing. The only true and living God.
It’s important language because it echoes the words of Moses himself in Deuteronomy 4:39 where Moses called the Israelites “to know therefore, today, and to lay it to your heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no other. Therefore, you shall keep His statutes and commandments, which I command you today.” That language, “The LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath” is a confession of faith; an Israelite confession of faith. And here we find it on the lips of Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute. Saving faith, you see, does not simply add God to our list of existing idols. It embraces the fact that He claims exclusive rights over our hearts as the one, true and living God overall.
And look at the text again. Not only does she know who God is, she knows what God has done. Verse 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.” She knows about the exodus from 40 years before. The great paradigmatic act of divine salvation in the Old Testament when Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage. She knows God saves His people. And notice the language she uses carefully for the destruction of Sihon and Og. It’s part of a technical vocabulary used in Joshua for the prosecution of a holy war in which the enemies of the Lord are destroyed by Israel as the agents of divine judgment. “They were devoted to destruction,” she says. So not only does she understand something of God’s saving work on behalf of His people, she also grasps the fact that what is coming is the righteous, just judgment of God against His enemies. She knows who God is and she knows what He is like and what He does.
And taking all of that together, she goes one step even further. As saving faith always must, she casts herself upon this God for mercy. Look at verse 12. Notice how she invokes the covenant name of God again, “the LORD,” as she calls on the spies to deal kindly with her and to save alive her household and herself. She invokes God’s name. This is a sacred undertaking, a covenant oath. And notice her language carefully. She asks them to “deal kindly with her.” That is a Hebrew key word that toggles to the very heart of the Gospel. It’s the word “hesed.” It means “to deal kindly with” or “to show faithful, loyal, covenant love to someone.” In Scripture, it is used especially to describe how God deals with His people in His grace, saving them and keeping them. And Rahab is telling the spies, by protecting them, she is demonstrating this same hesed in her own life. She’s risking everything to side with the God of hesed, the God of covenant love. And so she shows it to His people and now they must show the same hesed, the same covenant love to her in turn and save her.
And that is always the pattern of saving faith. It bows before the exclusive lordship of the sovereign God. It believes God’s mighty acts of salvation in history. Not now the exodus; now the resurrection, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then it takes the last and necessary step. It turns and seeks for mercy. Yes, you must know the data. Rahab makes that clear; doesn’t she? All the Canaanites actually knew the information and trembled. What set Rahab apart was her resolve to entrust herself to this God who was coming to judge. It may be that you know all the data too. You’ve heard the outline of the Christian Gospel many times. You know about Christ’s birth, His sinless life, His obedient death, His glorious resurrection. You know He died for sinners. You know He is coming to judge the living and the dead. You know all of it pretty clearly. You may even acknowledge it to be true. But none of that will do. None of it will do until you take the last step. You are no better off than the Canaanites in Jericho who heard all about Israel’s God and trembled and were destroyed. Even the devils believe and tremble.
No, you must do what Rehab did and actually come to Him personally and seek His mercy. She is not looking for quid pro quo. She doesn’t bargain with the spies as if one good turn deserves another. That’s not what’s going on here. She saves them because she understands more is at stake than the latest intrigue of international politics or the regional consequences of tribal warfare. She knows that behind the armies of Israel stands the God of heaven and earth and she resolves not to run from Him but to run to Him and to seek His mercy. What about you? Which direction are you running in today? From Him or to Him?
It’s sometimes remarked upon by scholars that Joshua chapter 2 actually is not necessary in the narrative of the book. You could remove the stuff about Rahab and it would not affect the flow of the story at all. So why does the narrator spend so much time and effort detailing this little drama for us? I think part of the point of the Rahab story is to remind us, as the conquest gets underway and we start to see God’s mighty deeds in judgment upon the Canaanites, it is to remind us that our God remains, nevertheless, ready to save all and any who come to Him, even an unlikely convert like Rahab the pagan prostitute. Her story teaches us, doesn’t it, that no one is beyond the reach of His kindness. It teaches us that you are not too late for mercy, too bad for pardon, too lost for grace. There remains room in the hesed, the lovingkindness of God, even for you. So entrust yourself to Him.
Well, as the story comes to its conclusion, Rahab lets the spies down through the window. She displays the agreed upon scarlet cord in her window and hunkers down to wait for Joshua to lead his armies across the river. When the spies finally make it back to Joshua and report, you notice their conclusion. Here is the big point of the whole of Joshua chapter 2. Look at what the spies say to Joshua in verse 24. “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands and also all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.” In other words, this whole story – the melting hearts of the Canaanites, the intervention of the Lord to protect the spies, even the conversion of Rahab – all of it bears testimony to Joshua of the trustworthiness of God’s promise. God had said He would give them the land, but here is a kind encouragement from the Lord to reinforce the promise and to show them that His Word is solid and true.
“The problem is not that Yahweh’s promises are not sure,” writes Ralph Davis, “but that we need to feel sure of them. His Word should be sufficient to bolster us, but because of the weakness of our faith, He graciously stoops down, and by a plethora of signs, evidences, and providences, makes us feel assured of His already sure Word. It is something like a husband who sends a card or note through the mail to his wife telling her how much she means to him. She shouldn’t need that to know that he loves her, but it is an extra effort that makes her feel loved and appreciated, so Yahweh understands our needs.” Isn’t that beautiful? That’s what God is doing with Joshua. He had already told them, “I am giving you the land,” but there is this little aside; an unnecessary aside in many ways. When the spies come back, reassuring his heart, you can bank your life, you can trust eternity to this God whose promise will not fail.
Of course the greatest confirmation of God’s Word, that His Word can be trusted, the greatest token of the security of God’s hesed, His covenant love, that will ever be given was still yet to come. But – and this is the crucial point – it only will come because God saved Rahab. Rahab’s rescue and her eventual inclusion into the people of God meant that she would one day become the ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Rahab, there would be no Jesus. So what was God really doing in directing the spies into Rahab’s house that day in Jericho? What was He really doing in bringing this apparently random Canaanite prostitute to saving faith? Well you know what He was doing. He was making ready for Jesus so that not only Rahab, but me and you, might come and find refuge under the shadow of His wings. The beauty of Rahab’s story is that it points us to a better story. It points us to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer of God’s elect; to the One who can save the least and the worst, in whom the hesed love of God is available even to you.
So, let me ask you, will you do what Rahab did? Are you doing what Rahab did and entrusting yourself to the God of covenant love? He alone is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath and there is no other. Let us pray.
Father, we praise You for Your holy Word. We ask You, please, to strengthen our hearts to believe it, to trust it, to entrust ourselves to You as You speak to us in it, to bow before the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for sinners so that Rahabs and we might find refuge in Your saving embrace. For we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.