1 - 24 Spies Sent to Jericho
Joshua sends two spies to Jericho. They spend the night at a prostitute name Rahab who protects them when the king of Jericho is looking for them. She asks that they spare her family, and they say that they will "deal kindly" with her (my notes say that this consitutes a covenant relationship between them).
Rahab helps them escape and they go into the hill country for three days before returning to Joshua to tell him that the land is theirs and its inhabitants "melt in fear" before them.
Question of the day: Are there any parallels with the gospels in this chapter?
2 comments:
The day after the spies stay with Rahab the king found out and sent a message to her to bring them out. She said that they came but left before dark and that if they pursue quickly, they may catch them. She tells the spies that everyone knows that God has given them this land and that everyone is afraid because they have heard the stories about the Red Sea and the Amorite kings (complete defeat). Because of these things they know that "their God IS God".
The spies tell her that if she will keep her family inside her house they will spare her. The sign will be a red rope hanging outside her window (like Passover).
Answer: She let them down a rope outside her window to escape (like Paul in Acts).
We should recognize that, even though nothing is said, people recognize we are Christians. We often think we're not affecting the world around us but we are. It's easy to tell people "of the world" and people "of Christ".
Good notes: I also noted the three days the spies were in hiding before going.
Rahab is also a "good prostitute."
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