Bible Commentaries
Joshua 2

Verses 1-24

Chapter 2

Now chapter two, Joshua sent out two men to spy out the land, actually to spy out Jericho, because Jericho was the first city that they were going to come to. Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was one of the first; it was the first city that they came to once they crossed the Jordan River.

So these two spies came to Jericho, and they went into the house of a harlot's house, whose name was Rahab, and they had received them into her house ( Joshua 2:1 ).

She shared with them how everybody was afraid of them. For they had heard how that God was with them, and how that God had stopped or parted the Red Sea so that they could come through. They heard how that they had destroyed the strong kings Sihon and Og. Thus, the fear of them had come upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Now someone came to the king of Jordan or Jericho, and he told him that there were two spies from Israel who would come into the city of Jericho. They had gone into the house of Rahab. So he said to Rahab, and she said, "Oh, well last night about the time it got dark just before they closed the gates, these men slipped out. Maybe if you hurry you can catch them." In reality she was drying flax up on her roof, and she hid them under the flax. So the king sent out men down towards the Jordan River to find these spies.

After they were gone out, she told them, "The king knows you're here and I know that God is gonna give you this city and I want you to spare me, and my family. So the spies said, All right, we'll make a covenant with you.

Now she lived right on the wall of this city, and she let them down over the wall with a scarlet cord or a rope.

They said, When we take the city, you leave this scarlet rope out, and everyone who is within the house will be saved. If any of your family goes out into the streets, then they're taking their lives into their own hands, they'll be slain with the rest of the people. But in order that they might be spared and be saved, they've got to stay in the house ( Joshua 2:18-20 ).

So you let this scarlet rope down so that we'll know the house, and when we take this city, we'll spare all of your family that has gathered in the house.

Of course, there is a beautiful picture really of our place in Christ Jesus, the safety that we have abiding in Him. Those that are within Christ are safe no matter what comes. Abiding in Christ I have that safety. Outside of Him, I have nothing, I'm an open prey, but within Christ that beautiful safety that is ours.

So these spies made this covenant with her. And she said, Look when you get down from here,

you flee to the mountains ( Joshua 2:22 ).

Now the mountains are right behind Jericho, they're actually the opposite direction from Jordan, but she said, "They're gonna look for you and you wait there in the mountains until they come back into the city, and then scat on down, cross the Jordan and get back to your people." So they went up into the mountains just above Jericho there, and waited for the men to come back from their futile search, and then they made it on back. And they told Joshua all that Rahab had told them of the fear that had come upon the inhabitants of the land and how that the Lord had delivered them into their hands.

It is interesting to me that as we read the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, that there are a few women that are listed in the genealogy. I can think of three offhand. One is a prostitute, Rahab. She's actually listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The other is Ruth, a Moabitess; and the third was Bathsheba, David's wife that he took by illicit kind of ways. Interesting that three such women should be chosen by God to be in the lineage of His Son. But yet to me there is a beauty to it, because Jesus came to identify with sinful man, that He might take upon Himself man's guilt and sin and die in his place. So rather than coming from some pure, royal, blue blood lineage, we find very common, sinful people listed in the line of Jesus Christ.

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