unexpected | Rahab

Joshua 2:8–15 NIV

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land 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. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the 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. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.” So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.

Trust is a fragile arrangement. So often in our world, trust is something that must be earned over time with careful observance and consistency. And so often in our world, trust is something that can be obliterated in a single instant with one act of infidelity or betrayal. It only takes one time for a person to be hurt by betrayal, and then trust becomes hard to restore—if ever at all. People who have been deceived by mistrust have learned their lesson and will not blindly trust anyone again.

I imagine most people would agree that blind trust is not very wise. Just think of it. If blind trust ruled my life, then every crook who calls on the phone pretending to be from the bank wanting my account information would have drained all my savings by now. If blind trust ruled, then I would click on all those links that come in emails from people I don’t know, and my computer would be filled with viruses and spyware. If blind trust ruled, then why not believe every story that scrolls across the internet even though they have no evidence or documentation to support their claims? Blind trust can certainly get us into a world of hurt and trouble very quickly if we are not careful.

Yet, today’s story about the woman named Rahab challenges our systems of trust. Look at the way it comes together in this prequel to the battle of Jericho.

A knock at the door

We only read a few verses from Joshua 2. Let me catch up on the scene from which this story is taken. Moses has died and left Joshua in command of the Israelite people. They have spent the past 40 years wandering in the wilderness south of Canaan. With Joshua in charge, the people are now ready to go into the land which was once home to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The people have already come north and captured the Amorite land to the east of the Jordan River. Joshua sends spies to cross the river and scout ahead. The first fortified city on the western side of the river is Jericho. This is where the spies go first. Jericho is the home of Rahab.

first knock at the door - Israelite spies

There is no explanation given, but somehow the Israelite spies end up in the house of Rahab. She is one of the town prostitutes. Perhaps the spies think their visit will go unnoticed if they gravitate towards places where lots of men are coming and going. So, maybe they think their quick trip through Jericho will blend right in with all the others who make short visits to the house of Rahab.

second knock at the door - king’s guard

But it does not work out that way. While the spies are inside the house of Rahab there is a knock at the door. It is messengers from the king of Jericho—we are never given his name. The king has been tipped off that there are Israelite spies in the city and has heard that they have gone into Rahab’s house. This knock at the door presents Rahab with a moment of choice. She did not choose to be placed into this situation. Suddenly she is caught in the middle of a tense encounter. There are two paths in front of her.

moment of choice for Rahab - side with Israel or side with Jericho

One choice would be to expose the spies and turn them over to the guards of Jericho. Even though Rahab does not have any kind of honorable reputation to protect, this would still be the expected course of action. Jericho is her home. We learn from the story that Rahab has family who live in the city. Rahab chooses a different way. She tells the guards she does not know where the men come from, and that they have already left her house and left the city.

The guards race off to pursue the spies on the road from Jericho that leads east to the Jordan River. And the gate to the city is closed behind them as they leave. The spies are now trapped inside the city. And Rahab is now neck-deep in a plot of international espionage against her own people. This is the point in the story where our reading today picks up the action. Rahab goes to the spies hiding in her house and works an alliance.

Rahab’s explanation - “all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you”

It is Rahab’s explanation which drives the narrative forward. Rahab speaks for everyone in Jericho. It is by Rahab’s testimonial here that the spies gather vital intel on the enemy. By Rahab’s words, they learn that even though Jericho is a well-fortified city, the people who live there are completely terrified of the oncoming Israelite invasion. The news of Israel’s conquest to the east of Jordan is getting around. Word has spread throughout the rest of Canaan of what Israel has already done to the east. And the reaction is revealing.

The residents of Jericho are not defiant in their own overconfidence. They are not thumbing their noses at the children of Israel. They are cowering in dread. They are quaking in fear. Rahab is the one who gives this report to the spies. And Rahab explains why they are so scared. It has nothing to do with size of the armies, or tactical positions. Rahab understands that it all has to do with the gods. That’s right; gods – plural.

Rahab’s confession - the LORD of Israel is the God above all gods

You see, there is nothing in Rahab’s testimony to let us believe that Rahab rejects the existence of many gods. The common belief in Canaan for the time is that there are many gods to be worshipped. They worshipped Baal and Ashura the fertility gods of the harvest. There was also Yam the god of the sea. There was a god for the day. There was a god for the night. There was a god for the sky. There was a god for the land. There were gods for everything. And within this pantheon of Canaanite gods, Rahab makes a startling announcement. All of the Canaanite gods put together is still no match for the one God of the Israelites. Rahab refers to the LORD of Israel as the God of both heaven and earth. The coming battle of Jericho has nothing at all to do with armies or weapons or fortifications or strongholds. There is only one thing that matters in the coming battle; that the LORD of Israel is the God above all gods. Rahab sees this. So she makes a choice when the opportunity arises to turn her back on her own people and on her own city, and to take a step of blind trust towards this unknown God who comes along with the Israelite people.

The outsider taken in, and the insider pushed out

Even though Rahab does her best to strike a deal with every assurance the spies are able to give, she really has no way of knowing if this unknown God of Israel would spare her life and the lives of her family. Rahab places her life completely at the mercy of the LORD, without knowing at all if this LORD of Israel is a God of mercy and compassion.

Jericho: Rahab is not only spared, but taken in among the Israelites

We know how the story turns out. We know that the LORD is a God of compassion and mercy. We know that the LORD is a God of grace and forgiveness. We know that when Jericho falls in the battle, Rahab and her family are spared from the destruction. And the gospel writer Matthew reminds us today in the Advent season that Rahab is even exalted to a place of prominence within the lineage of the Messiah. Do you catch that? Not only is Rahab spared, she is taken in. In Joshua 6 Rahab is not just left to survive on her own, she is taken to the Israelite camp and lives among them from that day forward. Her life of prostitution is over. Her life of being an outcast is over. Her life of being an outsider is over. Rahab—the outsider—has now found a place to be taken in. The LORD of Israel whom Rahab blindly trusts is the God who not only spares her, but also brings about her redemption. God gives Rahab salvation.

Ai: Achan & all he has is removed from Israel and destroyed

Let me fast forward a minute to another story in Joshua which contrasts this one in the completely opposite direction. Immediately after the battle of Jericho comes the battle of Ai, which the Israelites lose because of the sin of one Israelite. Following the fall of Jericho, Joshua gave instructions from the LORD that absolutely everything in the city must be destroyed. So, the people of Israel did not keep any of the valuables from Jericho. It was a sign of dedication to God. It was an act of trust. It was an act through which Israel declared to God that they trusted the LORD to continue providing for them in the land of Canaan. This first battle west of the Jordan became a symbol for all Israel that they did not need to hoard everything from the land because they could trust God to continue his provision.

There is one Israelite who broke that symbol of trust. An Israelite named Achan took valuables from the rubble of Jericho and kept it hidden in the tent of his family. And because of this one act of mistrust, the Israelites lost the battle of Ai. The punishment is rather severe. Joshua takes Achan along with family, the stolen valuables, and everything else that Achan owns and brings them outside the camp. They kill Achan and his entire family and then they burn everything.

Rahab - the outsider who places trust in God

Achan - the insider who violates the trust of God’s covenant

Do you see the contrast from chapter six to chapter seven? In the story of Rahab we see the example of a pagan outsider who taken in because of her blind trust in the LORD. In the story of Achan we see an insider—a member of the Israelites—who is pushed out because he betrays the trust which God’s covenant provides. The extreme and unexpected severity of Achan’s punishment serves as a reference to highlight the extreme and unexpected trust we see in the story of Rahab.

Unexpected trust

Rahab comes back into the Advent story to remind us yet today of the unexpected trust which surrounds the coming Messiah. We may lose sight of this pretty quickly in all that Christmas has come to mean in our culture and traditions. I have two sisters. Every year my sisters want to get Christmas gifts for their nieces and nephew. One of my sisters asks each kid for a list. More specifically, she says “email me a list with Amazon links so all I have to do is click and order.” My other sister wants a list so she knows what NOT to buy. She takes delight in going rogue off-script in order to find gifts that are truly a full-on surprise. They never exactly know what might be coming from this aunt.

You see, I think we lose something with Christmas lists. We lose the unexpected nature of what actually was given when the Messiah was born into this world. Let’s be honest for a moment here today about the way Christmas actually works in our minds. I am truly filled with joy that Christmas is a celebration of God’s gift of his son Jesus given as the Messiah who saves the world. I celebrate the wonder of that gift at Christmas. But let me confess that celebration comes with a list.

God, I am so grateful for the salvation we celebrate at Christmas. And if it is not too much trouble, here’s what else I might like; here’s the rest of my list.

the trust Rahab placed in God saved her life

the trust Rahab placed in God changed the direction of her life

You see, I think if each one of us were to be completely honest, then we would have to admit that we receive the salvation God offers through his grace with a few expectations of our own. God, am eternally thankful that you have saved my life…and here’s how I would like my life to go from here. God, I am humbled that you have redeemed me by your grace…and here is my agenda for what I would like my Christian life to look like now. God, here is my list; just go ahead and click on the link.

Rahab comes into the story of Jesus today to remind us about the unexpected trust to which Advent is pointing. Rahab approached God in need of salvation. And the new life which she found from God took her life in a direction which she probably never saw coming. The only thing she had was trust.

do I trust God for salvation?

am I willing to trust God to change the direction of my life?

Advent reminds us that we place trust in God to provide for our salvation. We all love that part. Rahab’s piece of the Advent story reminds me that I also trust God to hold the direction of my life. And trusting God to hold my days to come means that I have to let go of it, so that God can hold it completely. We are not so good at that part. Rahab shows us today an example of unexpected trust. It is a trust in the one who not only saves and redeems my life. It is also a trust which allows God to hold the direction of my life in the embrace of his everlasting love and grace.