Two Spies & a Harlot | Sunday, March 5, 2023

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 mission to a scandalous woman's house in Jericho reveals the vast scope of God's redemptive plan.

Israel Back at the Border of Blessing

Last week we began the Old Testament book of Joshua. After years in Deuteronomy, we have finally come to Joshua, and right at that transition Moses, the great lawgiver and leader of Israel, dies. Thirty-eight years prior to Moses's death, the people had stood on the very border of the Promised Land at Kadesh Barnea, and there Moses directed the twelve tribes each to send one man to spy out the land.

So twelve spies went into the Promised Land for forty days. They were to survey the fortifications and the enemies they would face, but also to see the fruitfulness of the land—for God had promised for generations a land flowing with milk and honey.

When they returned, they brought back this account:

They... came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation... and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told them... "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..." And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land... saying, "...all the people whom we saw in it were men of great stature... we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." (Numbers 13)

Because of that evil report from ten of the spies and the people's unbelief, Israel wandered in the wilderness for nearly four decades. Two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, were the only ones who came back urging faith—saying, "We need to go take the land, because it is ours." Now those two are the only members of the Exodus generation who remain, and Israel stands once again at the border.

"In Three Days You Will Cross Over"

God has exhorted Joshua to be strong and courageous, promising that every place their feet tread is theirs. Joshua announced to the heads of the tribes:

Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, "Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess." (Joshua 1:11)

This is the day Joshua and Caleb had looked forward to for thirty-eight years. But immediately after this announcement, chapter 2 presents a curious situation: Joshua secretly sends two men to spy out the land, "especially Jericho," and they come to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodge there.

Four Questions This Passage Raises

The passage is straightforward, but its placement seems to slow the narrative for a parenthesis, and it raises some important questions.

First, was this a lapse in Joshua's confidence and faith? God had told him three times to be strong and courageous; he had already told the people they would cross in three days. So why send spies now?

Second, the text plainly says the two spies came to the house of a harlot and "lodged there." Some commentators ask whether one or both engaged in something immoral with this Canaanite woman, because the word translated "lodged" can imply more in other passages. That is an honest question, though I do not believe that is the case.

Third, was Rahab right or justified to hide the spies and lie to the authorities about their whereabouts? Fourth—which I'll save for a future week—is the account historically reliable? I believe it is. Joshua gives specific names, places, and times, and there is archaeological evidence to validate it.

The Meta-Narrative: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration

Before addressing these issues, remember some things about Old Testament passages. This is not merely a historical account, though it is history. Something bigger is going on. The Bible reveals the creation of God ("very good"), then the fall of humanity and the curse upon creation, then God's redemptive plan, and finally a future restoration of all things.

This is the meta-narrative of the Bible, unfolding in four acts: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Since the fall in Genesis 3, the whole of God's work has centered on redemption. And God ordained that this plan would come through a specific people—the descendants of Abraham—in a specific place, the Promised Land they are now about to enter.

So incidental stories like Joshua 2 play into a much bigger story. God's greater mission is the blessing of redemption for all nations, not just Israel. In fact, today we will see a person who is not a descendant of Abraham experience God's redemptive power. Remember God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12: "I will bless you... and you will be a blessing to all the families of the earth."

As an aside: the parenthetical, incidental encounters in your own life may play into the bigger story God is working out. The things you are experiencing right now, God is using in His redemptive plan. There are people in your life He wants to reach.

Written for Our Admonition

A second thing to keep in mind comes from Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:11: "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." Everything in the Old Testament was recorded for a purpose—not merely to preserve ancient history, but so that we might know God, learn His ways, and be trained to walk in them.

Was Joshua Lacking Faith?

Joshua sent two men to spy secretly. I don't think this was a lapse of courage. It's striking that Joshua chose to send two—he was himself one of only two faithful spies thirty-eight years prior. The earlier mission sent twelve men publicly to survey the whole land for forty days. This time Joshua sends two, secretly, to view specifically the region where they would cross, "especially Jericho."

Jericho was the first city Israel would encounter and conquer. Joshua wanted advanced intel—reconnaissance on Jericho and the surrounding land. Jericho was a prominent fortified city, about eight miles north of the Dead Sea, some 900 feet below sea level, one of the lowest cities on earth. Its name speaks of a city of palm trees, an oasis in the desert with a spring of water. People have lived there for roughly 6,000 years. It sat at the strategic north-south and east-west crossroads, so it had heavy traffic.

I believe Joshua sent the spies by God's sovereign direction, even if he was not fully aware of it. There was a person in Jericho God wanted to redeem and rescue—and then to use in a redemptive way. God still does this: He sends people into dark, difficult places to redeem and rescue others, so He might use them in His plan. That's your story as well. The second reason was so that Joshua, the spies, and all Israel could hear Rahab's report. Joshua was exercising wisdom and prudence while trusting God's providence.

The Question of Rahab's Background

The text says the spies came to the house of a harlot named Rahab. Those words "lodged there" can imply a deeper meaning, but I don't believe anything immoral happened here. While some try to soften "harlot" to "innkeeper," there is no whitewashing her background—the New Testament twice identifies her as a harlot, in Hebrews and in James. Her house was likely also something like an inn for travelers passing through Jericho, but she did not have the best background.

Yet this encounter ends in the transformation of Rahab. A pagan sinner with a shameful past will not stay that way; she will become a woman of great faith. Her story should inspire our gratitude and praise, because just like her, we are lost sinners facing imminent danger and destruction under the punishing hand of God, in need of rescue and redemption—and God is the one who redeems.

So some may accuse Joshua of a lapse of faith or question the morals of his spies, but God was at work on another level. The one whom Joshua's life points to would come in the future and likewise associate with harlots, sinners, and tax collectors—one of them, in fact, a tax collector from this very city of Jericho. For this people maligned His character too. God's ways often seem strange to us.

Rahab Hides the Spies

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country." (Joshua 2:2)

The terror alert was on red in Jericho, with Israel camped less than ten miles away. The king sent to Rahab to bring out the men. But she had taken the two men and hidden them. She 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." (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax...) (Joshua 2:4–6)

Was Rahab's Lie Justified?

This is a genuine ethical dilemma. The ninth commandment is clear: "You shall not bear false witness." Proverbs 6 lists a lying tongue among the seven things God hates. Rahab bears false witness—there is no way around it.

Her lie is reminiscent of Christians like Corrie ten Boom who hid Jews and lied to the Nazis during the Holocaust. Commentators and ethicists differ. Some say a lie is never justified; others say a lie may be the lesser evil when it prevents a greater one. I think we should say a lie is always the breaking of God's commandment—you cannot lie and not bear false witness. And yet there seem to be times when God permits it, and, as hard as this is to grasp, even accounts it as a righteous act.

How can that be? Listen to James 2:

"...faith without works is dead... Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?... You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 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." (James 2)

So James says what Rahab did was righteous in the eyes of God—and yet she also broke the commandment. As a rule, we should endeavor to live by God's commandments, especially this one. On the very rare occasion, as here, God apparently permits it. John Calvin, commenting on this, said that when the object is to rescue one's life from violence or robbery, without harm to anyone, necessity excuses it. I'm not sure that's the best framing, but God has a way of working all things together for good—even things that were not themselves good.

Think of Joseph at the end of Genesis: his brothers sold him into slavery, yet he told them, "What you intended for evil, God used for good." As Isaiah 55 says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways... so are My ways higher than your ways." God will accomplish His will and can redeem in spite of our shortcomings—and I fall short constantly, and so do you.

Rahab's Astonishing Confession

I said God sent the spies for two reasons: to redeem Rahab, and so all Israel could hear her report. Look at her words:

"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 for you... and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites... whom you utterly destroyed. 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." (Joshua 2:9–11)

Do not miss this. Thirty-eight years earlier, ten spies came back saying the enemies were too great and Israel had no power to defeat them. But here is the perspective of the enemies: terror, fainthearted hearts, melted courage. The land was theirs for the taking all along.

How many times are we afraid to step into what God has for us because we are certain we will fail—while all the while God has given us everything we need? God will never call you to do something He does not empower you to do by His Spirit. The people of Canaan were overcome by the power of God through the word of Israel's testimony. It is still that way today: "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:11). This pagan harlot had greater faith than that entire Exodus generation.

The Covenant of the Scarlet Cord

The heart of God is to save and rescue sinners. Rahab pleaded:

"Now therefore, I beg you, 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." (Joshua 2:12–13)

The spies answered, "Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours." Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall—a detail important to the archaeology of the region. She told them to hide in the mountains for three days while the pursuers searched eastward toward the Jordan.

"...unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home... whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be upon our head, if a hand is laid on him." (Joshua 2:18–19)

She agreed—"According to your words, so be it"—and bound the scarlet cord in her window. The spies hid three days, returned, crossed over to Joshua, and reported, "Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us." Both purposes were fulfilled: Rahab redeemed, and the report delivered, so Israel could go up with confidence.

A Harlot in the Line of the Messiah

God is in the redemption business, and His plan was far bigger than saving one sinful woman. To show the greatness of His almighty power, He even determined to involve the harlot of Jericho in His plan. Look at how the Gospel of Matthew opens:

"...Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king." (Matthew 1:5–6)

This Rahab—with her scandalous, shameful past—ends up in the line of the Messiah. This pagan woman, the first convert in the conquest of Canaan, became the great-great-grandmother of Israel's great King David, and an ancestor of Christ.

So why send the spies into Jericho? Joshua may have done it for logistical reconnaissance, or to satisfy his conscience as a leader. But he had no idea what God was doing. God always has a much bigger plan. Never underestimate the greatness and power of Almighty God.

There is far more in this passage than I have time for—the family of Rahab being safe only as long as they remained in the household when judgment came, a picture of our security in Christ; the scarlet cord echoing the blood on the doorposts at Passover, with the conquest happening at the very time of Passover. I hope you'll study it further on your own, and we'll speak more about Jericho in a few weeks.

Closing Prayer

God, I pray that You would remind us that You are doing a work and You want to involve us in that redemptive plan. You redeem us like You redeemed Rahab, so that we can give the report of Your redemption to other people, that they might be redeemed as well. So God, use us, empower us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.