Joshua 1 - 2

Joshua then speaks with the tribes who were promised land on the east side of the Jordan River and their commitment to first help the other tribes gain control of the territory west of the Jordan. Their response: Josh. 1:16, “Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.” 

Would you be reassured by their response? “Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.” The Israelites didn’t have a very good track record for obeying.

Josh. 2:1 “Go, look over the land, especially Jericho.” So, they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab.”

Some claim that Rahab was an “innkeeper” rather than a prostitute. Perhaps the title innkeeper was a euphemism for a madam of a brothel. I mentioned earlier that the vocabulary of the Hebrew language was small, and a single word can have several different meanings. The Hebrew word describing her occupation could mean both harlot and grocer. In the old west, a “general store” was more than a place to purchase merchandise. It could also be the post office and a saloon. Maybe Rahab ran a brothel, but it was disguised or referred to as an inn. To her credit, Rahab chose to have faith in God, she helped the people of God and was rewarded for her faith. In Heb. 11:31 it says this about her, “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

The king of Jericho got word that there were spies so he sent a message to Rahab saying, Josh. 2:3, “Bring the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

When we hear the word “king” today, we think of a powerful head of a country or empire. While I was teaching in Belarus, one of my students was Prince Henry, from an African nation. All that title meant was that he was the son of a village chief. The king of Jericho may have been similar to the mayor of a small village.

Why would the spies go to an inn? Aren’t there a lot of strangers coming and going at an inn? These spies would not arouse any suspicions among the locals.

Rahab acknowledged that the strangers had been there, but she said that they left before dark. Yes, she lied. 

Jewish ethics teach that there are times when it is acceptable to lie. In fact, lying might be the only right thing to do in certain circumstances. There are 613 commandments in the Law of Moses. Are they all equal in importance? Isn’t “do not murder” more important than “don’t eat pork”? Jesus knew that some laws were more important than others. When asked what the greatest command was, he gave a two-part answer. He replied, love (remain loyal) to God and treat others in a loving way. Jesus is demonstrating what is called graded absolutism. Unlike moral absolutism, which teaches that certain actions are ALWAYS right or wrong, regardless of context or consequences, graded absolutism teaches that some absolutes are more important than others. Jesus said that being loyal to God and treating others in a loving way are both greater in importance than forgetting to wear your tassels or eating cookies baked with lard.

Was it wrong for Rahab to have lied? No. There are other examples of lying in Scripture. When Samuel went to anoint the next king of Israel, God tells Samuel in I Sam 16:1-3, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’” But that wasn’t the truth. In Ex. 1:17, two midwives, Shifra and Puah, lied when they claimed, “Because the Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” That wasn’t the truth, either. Did God punish the midwives for lying? No. Verses 20-21 says, “God dealt well with the midwives. . . and He established households for them. Then in I Sam. 20:28 when Saul was plotting to kill David, Jonathan lied to his father as to David’s whereabouts. In Judges 5 Deborah praises Ya’el for her deception of Sisera.

Then there is an example of telling a lie if the truth would hurt someone’s feelings unnecessarily. In Gen. 18:12-13 God asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?’” Here God transmitted to Abraham only part of what Sarah said. She also said, “with my husband so old.” This passage became the basis in Jewish law for altering the truth when reporting a statement that might hurt or anger someone. Imagine you are at a wedding and the father of the bride asks you, “Isn’t my daughter beautiful?” The only correct answer is, “YES.” Even if the bride was 200 lbs. overweight, cross-eyed, with patches of baldness and a complexion that looks like the surface of the moon. When you deliver a eulogy at a funeral, you only say nice things about the deceased. Why? Because it is the loving thing to do, and you want to avoid hurting anyone unnecessarily. Again, it goes back to the greatest commandment, when in doubt, always do the loving thing.

As one Jewish ethicist said, not all people have the right to the truth. A statement should be considered a lie only if it denies the truth to someone who deserves it. If you tell the truth to someone who uses it to do evil, you are partially responsible for that evil.

Not only did Rahab lie, but she also disobeyed the civil law by hiding the spies. Joshua 2:9, “I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.” She goes on to say, in verse 11, “the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family because I have shown kindness to you.”

Does her expression of faith, “The Lord your God is God” remind you of something the Israelites were to recite each morning and evening? The Shema came to my mind from Deut. 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (the only one).”

She helped the spies escape but before they left, they told her to, “tie this scarlet cord in the window” and have her family members stay inside and they won’t get hurt when the Israelites attack the city. This also brings to mind something from Exodus. Can you recall a time when the Israelites were told to mark their homes with the blood of a lamb and to remain inside so that the plaque will pass over them? Ex. 12:7, “Take some blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs.  V. 13, “the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

The spies returned to their camp with a good report. Joshua. 2:24, “They said to Joshua, ‘The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”