Two Spies & a Harlot Live Service | Sunday, March 5th

Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. (Joshua 2:1)

How a secret spy mission and a Canaanite harlot reveal the sovereign, redeeming hand of God working through the small incidents of life.

Standing Again at the Border of the Promised Land

To understand this passage we must place it in the historic timeline. The children of Israel are about to step into the land God had promised Abraham 400 years prior—a possession they have anticipated, hoped, and prayed for over generations.

But 38 years earlier they stood in the exact same place. In the book of Numbers, Moses sent 12 spies into the land for 40 days. They returned and reported in Numbers 13:

We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey... Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

Ten of the twelve spies gave a bad report, saying the land "devours its inhabitants" and that they themselves were "like grasshoppers" before the giants. As a result, that entire Exodus generation—everyone twenty years and older who had come out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and stood at Sinai—wandered in the wilderness for 38 years and died there. The only two who survived were the faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, who had said, "Yes, all of that is true, but God has given it all to us."

A New Generation and a Curious Parenthesis

That generation is gone. A new generation now stands at the border, and God has told Joshua, "I am with you; I will not forsake you. Be strong and of good courage." Joshua has just told the leaders of the tribes to prepare provisions, for within three days they will cross over (Joshua 1:11).

Then the story slows down. Joshua 2 reads like a parenthetical break: Joshua sends two men secretly to spy out Jericho, and they come to the house of a harlot named Rahab. This curious pause raises several questions that commentators have long wrestled with.

First, why did Joshua send these spies? Was he having a lapse of faith, lacking the very strength and courage God commanded? Second, what were two spies doing at the house of a Canaanite prostitute—was something untoward going on? Third, Rahab does something many regard as an unethical breach of God's commandments—was she justified? And fourth, does archaeology validate this historical account at a real place around 1400 B.C.? We will consider some of these today.

Reading the Small Story Inside the Bigger Story

Before we do, two things are vital when studying any passage like this. First, this small, incidental story exists within a much bigger and greater story of what God is doing in the world. The Bible is a book of books—66 books, written over 1,500 years by at least 40 authors on three continents in three languages—yet it has one cohesive storyline.

We sometimes call this the meta-narrative of the Bible, and it unfolds in four phases. First, creation, which God called very good (Genesis 1–2). Then, in Genesis 3, the fall, when humanity's disobedience brought the curse of sin upon all creation—the source of every natural and moral evil. This leads to the largest section, redemption, where we now live, the redemptive mission and plan of God. And finally the last book foretells the great restoration that all creation longs for.

This is why, the older we get and the more this tent—as one New Testament writer calls the body—falls apart, the more we yearn for a new body. Tens of billions of dollars are being poured into prolonging life precisely because people want lasting life, but not in a broken, debilitated body. The church for centuries has cried, "Come, Lord Jesus." So when you read Joshua 2, recognize that this small story contributes to that bigger story—and so does every small, incidental story of your daily life. God is using what you go through in His bigger plan.

Written for Our Admonition

Second, remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11—that all these things happened to the children of Israel and "were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." God inspired these records with a purpose: that we would learn His works and His ways, learn how His people respond to Him, and learn from their mistakes rather than our own.

Here is one of the problems of our time: far too few Christians pay attention to the first two-thirds of the Bible. They say, "I'm a New Testament saint"—and praise God you are—but do not fail to recognize that all these things were written for our instruction. God recorded them not merely so we'd know what the ancient Near East was like, but so we would understand how to live today.

Why Did Joshua Send the Spies?

So, does Joshua's secret mission reveal a momentary lack of confidence? I don't think so. In Joshua's own mind he was likely being a prudent, wise leader. Notice he sent his spies secretly and sent two, not twelve. He had been on the team of twelve and remembered how that ended. He knew Jewish law and tradition: everything is established by two witnesses, so he sent the absolute minimum, covertly, perhaps to gather advance intelligence about where to camp and about the city of Jericho.

But behind the scenes, God was at work, sovereignly accomplishing something bigger. At the very least, God's mission here was twofold. First, there was a person in Jericho whom the redeeming God wanted to redeem—a woman with a not-so-great background named Rahab. Second, God wanted Joshua, the leaders, and all Israel to hear the report this woman would give.

The City of Palm Trees

Jericho still exists today, about eight miles northwest of the Dead Sea. Its name means "city of palm trees." It is the lowest point on land in the world, 900 feet below sea level, arid and dry like Anza-Borrego. Palm trees grow there because just outside the ancient walls lies a spring of fresh water that has flowed for millennia. Archaeology shows civilization there going back 6,000 years—one of the oldest known cities in the world.

This would be the first city Israel encountered in the Promised Land, lying at a strategic crossroads of the north-south and east-west roads, just fifteen miles east of Jerusalem. Joshua had no idea, but God was sovereignly directing this—because He had a redemptive plan for Rahab and wanted His people to hear her report. And in the incidents of your life, recognize that if God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He may be working behind the scenes in the situations you are going through right now.

What Were They Doing at Rahab's House?

The second question concerns the spies lodging at Rahab's house. The Hebrew word for "lodged" carries a wide range of meaning and is elsewhere used with the implication of more than just hanging out. So people ask: was something immoral going on? Others object that "harlot" can be translated "innkeeper"—but the New Testament, in Hebrews and James, twice calls Rahab a harlot.

There is nothing in the text to assume anything wrong occurred. Instead, recognize that God is working a redemptive plan in Rahab's life. From this point on she will no longer be known as a harlot; there is a transformation here, and for that we should rejoice. Though you may not share her particular sin, all of us have untoward backgrounds, and God redeems, transforms, and restores.

Paul reminded the Corinthians of this in 1 Corinthians 6. He lists sinful behaviors that, perpetually practiced, keep one from the kingdom—and many Christians focus on the list, pointing fingers. But the most important part of that passage is not the list; it is when Paul says, "And such were some of you. But you were washed." Our God redeems and transforms.

The Ways and Works of God Seem Strange

This brings us to our first point: God's ways and works often seem strange to us. Many a morning I have informed God that what He is doing is the wrong way—because, of course, I am totally omniscient and know it could be done better! Sometimes His ways seem so strange we are tempted to reject that He is even behind them.

The mission was secret to everyone in Israel but a secret to no one in the land. The Canaanites had been watching that vast camp east of the Jordan for weeks. Joshua 2 continues: it was told to the king of Jericho that men had come to search out the country. The king sent to Rahab, demanding she bring out the men. But she had hidden them on her roof under stalks of flax and 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... Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.

She sent the pursuers toward the Jordan, and the gate was shut behind them.

Was Rahab Justified in Lying?

This is the third question. Rahab clearly bore false witness, and Exodus 20 says, "You shall not bear false witness." Proverbs lists a lying tongue among the things God hates. So was Rahab justified? Is it ever right to bend—indeed, to flatly break—the truth?

We think of the stories of Corrie ten Boom and other Christians during the Holocaust who lied to the Nazis to protect Jews. Two camps emerge. Some say it is never justified to lie; we must always tell the truth and trust God for the outcome, even if those we hide die. Others say a lie may be the lesser evil intended to prevent a greater evil, so it can be warranted.

At the very least, we must say a lie is always the breaking of a commandment of God. And yet, apparently there are times God permits it—and, more startling still, occasionally counts it as righteous. How can that be? Listen to the New Testament.

Faith Made Perfect by Works

In James 2, James argues that faith without works is dead. He cites Abraham, who was justified by works "when he offered Isaac his son on the altar." Remember Genesis 22: God forbids human sacrifice, yet here commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son. It made no sense, but Abraham rose early, prepared the wood and donkey, and traveled three days to Moriah. In the end God did not allow it—thank God—but James says faith was working together with his works and made perfect by them. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Then James adds:

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

As a rule—indeed as a commandment—we should endeavor always to live by "You shall not bear false witness," walking in truth. Yet on the very rare occasion, as here, God apparently permits it. As John Calvin observed, "When the object is to rescue one's life from injury, violence, or robbery, provided that be done without offense or harm to anyone, necessity excuses it."

God Draws Straight Lines With Crooked Sticks

This brings our second point: God will accomplish His will and plan, and can redeem, in spite of our shortcomings. As a friend of mine says, "God often draws straight lines with crooked sticks"—and that's a lot of us. I don't always understand how He works all things together for good, since not everything appears good to me. But Isaiah 55 says:

My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways... For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

This is why much has been said lately about the movie Jesus Revolution and the heritage of our Calvary Chapel movement, which surfaces a man named Lonnie Frisbee, who had real issues in his life and died of AIDS thirty years ago this month. People struggle with that. But his life tells us this: God accomplishes His will and redeems in spite of our shortcomings. We are abject, utter failures, and God still uses us—choosing the weak, foolish, and base things of the world so that no flesh would glory in His presence and He would receive all the glory.

Rahab's Confession of Faith

Now we hear the report God wanted His people to hear. Before the spies lay down, Rahab came to them:

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... and as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted... for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

This is crucial. Thirty-eight years before, ten spies said, "We cannot go in; the enemy will destroy us." But the enemy's perspective was, "We're dead—look what they did to Egypt." Israel could have taken the land 38 years earlier; instead they wandered and died in unbelief for no good reason. Sadly, far too many Christians, redeemed from sin and death, still wander aimlessly, never moving into the victory and rest God has for them, filled with fear when it is all theirs for the taking.

The people of Canaan were overcome by the power of God through the testimony of His people—and the enemy is overcome today the same way, "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12). Third point: God's power to accomplish His will is far greater than we comprehend. Note this: a Canaanite prostitute had greater faith in God than the entire Exodus generation.

The Scarlet Cord

The second reason God sent the spies was Rahab's redemption. She pleaded:

Swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house... and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

The men answered, "Our lives for yours." She let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, and sent them to the western mountains to hide three days. They told her:

We will be blameless of this oath... unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window... and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your household into your house.

A red cord in the window. This is a Passover picture: as the blood on the doorpost protected all within the house, so the scarlet cord protected all in Rahab's house—and it all points to Jesus. The spies returned, having stayed three days in the mountains while the pursuers searched in vain, and they reported 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."

Something Far Bigger Than We See

Why did Joshua send the spies? Prudence and wisdom on his part, perhaps—but God was doing something so much bigger, and bigger even than Rahab's report and rescue. We know this from Matthew 1, the genealogy of Jesus Christ. There it traces Salmon begetting Boaz by Rahab. Wait—this Rahab? Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, Jesse begot David the king.

Are you telling me a Canaanite prostitute, redeemed by God, became the great-great-grandmother of the greatest king Israel ever had? No—because David was not Israel's greatest King. She became the many-times great-grandmother of Jesus of Nazareth. God is doing something far bigger in the little, incidental things of life.

This is our fourth and final point: never underestimate the greatness and power of Almighty God. That little incident frustrating you on the construction site, in the office, on the school campus, in your neighborhood, or in your family—God wants to bring His redeeming power there, doing something far bigger than we generally see. O God, open our eyes to see it.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank You for Your word; it is living and powerful, and I thank You that You work in and by and through it to bring transformation and redemption. God, we have people in our lives that You are trying to reach right now—the Rahabs we interact with, those we think are so far beyond ever coming to You—and You want to do a work of reaching them through our lives. So God, would You work in spite of our shortcomings, in spite of our failures? Do a work, God, so that You receive the glory. Pour out Your Spirit upon Your people. Holy Spirit, move, we ask. And now may the Lord bless and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.