Joshua 2 has a familiar scene for Joshua, sort of a déjà vu moment. Remember that he was one of the 12 spies Moses had sent out to check out the Promised Land some 40 years earlier. He was one of the two who said they should go take it, but of course the other 10 said ‘no’ and it cost them some time in the wilderness. Now Joshua repeats the spy trick but only sends two to “go, view the land”. He wants to know if anything has changed since he was there a long time ago.
The spies get in and a prostitute named Rahab takes them in. If you ever wonder if God can use you – the answer is yes. He doesn’t just use saints and angels. He uses sinners like you and me and Rahab. She answered the door that evening and was asked to “Bring out the men” but says they have left. Of course the kings men looked for them but Rahab had “brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax”. They were saved that night by a prostitute.
She cuts a deal with them to save her family from the pending destruction. If she were to protect them and save their skin, they had to “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”. She wanted to be sure that her family was safe and secure once the siege began. So they agree to the deal and tell her “if you tell” what has happened, the deal would be off.
The way she saved them was to “let them down by a rope….And she said to them, Go into the hills….hide there three days”. They did and were safe. In order to mark her home so the army knew who to let live, she was to “tie this scarlet cord in the window”. As long as her family stayed in the house with the scarlet cord – they would be safe. The spies hide out and get back to report their findings. Actually it was the same words Joshua had said 40 years earlier. “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands”. All systems appear to be go. The time has come!
