Indeed, there is every reason for amazement. Here was one woman who came in last, totally unworthy, not even qualifying for the crumbs of the dogs, and yet she was given a seat of honor up front by her Great Son, the Christ, through the eternal love with which He loved her before the foundation of the world.

…the LORD your God is He who is God in heaven above
and on earth beneath…
– Joshua 2:11

In the house where one pays for love there arrived two young customers who had a different kind of business on their minds. They were engaged in espionage, nothing less: covert activities which required circumspect movements; activities that disguised their real intent, that even lead to the pretense of tourism, accentuated by a trip to the establishment of the local prostitute.

They had been sent out by the master of strategy, Joshua the son of Nun, one of the two survivors of an earlier spy mission some forty years ago. At that time the economic intelligence gathering yielded interesting results, but the military intelligence had been devastating for an unbelieving generation. It took forty years to purge the nation of that element of destructive disbelief: they were all buried in the sands of the desert.

Forty years of grave digging, forty years of sighing about “the wind passing over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more,” (Ps. 103:16) as one of their offspring, David, would later sing. Then, at last, even Moses died; the LORD Himself took care of the funeral arrangements.

Some safe house!

But now a next generation had come forth, the covenant had been renewed, and with it came a new willingness to serve, as these young men demonstrated, arrayed in their disguises. They were in the business of gathering information, and for information, they searched.

This woman they met was ready to give answers to questions that had not even been raised. And so, notwithstanding the surroundings of ill repute, they had come to the right address; this too was of the Lord. Maybe they did not realize it, but they ended up in what the spy industry calls a “safe house.”

“Some safe house,” one might mutter; hardly had they bedded down then that the local constabulary arrived for their arrest! Had the woman ratted on them? They were instructed, “to view the land, especially Jericho” (Josh. 2:1). Had they been too obvious in their observations of the land, even in their disguises? Were their questions reported?

Thinking fast.

What do you do when soldiers come with their raucous order: “Open up in the name of the law!”? How do you respond to the gruff demand: “Hand them over, those enemy agents that we know came to your house!”? What do you do? Do you panic? Do you deny the obvious?

In times of war and threats of war, house searches are not always conducted under the sanction of a warrant, the validity of which one could politely argue so as to gain some time to contemplate one’s next move.

But here was a woman who did not panic, who did not need to stall for time. Had her trade made her skillful in leading men astray? She surely knew how to forestall a house search! She was, likely, more than a little coy when she assured them that, indeed, these men had come to her, you know these things happen in an establishment like mine, and they left not so long after they arrived, and that is not unusual in my profession either. And you tell me they were spies? Wow! 

Then, in a conspiring manner, she might have whispered, “They can’t have gone far; they went that-a-way. Run after them and you’ll be sure to catch up with them.”

The path she pointed out to the soldiers seemed to be clear route towards promotion in rank, and maybe even a decoration.

The gates were opened for them and the gates were shut again after them, and the pursuers of Israel’s heroes chased after wind.

The “white lie.”

Through the years much has been theorized and debated about the possibility of “white lies.” It seems that up until World War II most commentators agreed that a deception like the one performed by Rahab was still, in itself, a sinful act.

But during the war many persons of great integrity suddenly faced Nazi soldiers and their loud demand: Aufmachen, Polizei!! “Open up, it’s the police!” Since then the condemnation has not been so outspoken any more. Those who managed to lead the authorities down the garden path showed no remorse when later they admitted to have given their deceptive testimony. In fact, they were rather gleeful to report how several Jews were saved, the consequence of a gullible interrogator. There are some amusing anecdotes about those days.

The scene in the book of Joshua is not without humor either, enhanced by this preposterous elaboration: “so the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan, as far as the crossing points…” (Josh 2:7). You could almost hear the eager conversations between then: how pleased the captain would be when they brought the spies in, and how proud their wives would be when their men would have their medals pinned on them. And then, gradually, the conversation slowed until finally they muttered: Where on earth are those fellows?

But the readers of Joshua know where those fellows were all along: right there, hidden under the flax on the roof! Yet, “the men pursued them,” Joshua said seriously. What a joke!

Prostitute and now traitor?

All this may seem somewhat goofy, worthy of an occasional chuck, but yet… couldn’t we say that Rahab the whore had now added to the abominable character of her profession the sordid crime of high treason? She had joined in with the enemy camp! If we think back to World War II again, who would have anything to do with someone who stooped that low?

However, is that verdict fair? Should she be displayed in the marketplace, shaven, shorn, and tarred, to have all the passersby spit on her?

“The love of country is inborn in every citizen,” it is said. We know all about that. During wars opposing armies claim: “We have God on our side.” How convincing are the speeches of the leaders! How strong the conviction of their followers! “With honor and valor we fight for our cause, with God on our side.” It has been repeated over and over at wreath-laying ceremonies.

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