Joshua 2:1; 8-15
“Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there.
8 Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof 9and said to the men: ‘I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. 10For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. 12Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith 13that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.’ 14The men said to her, ‘Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.’
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided within the wall itself. 16She said to them, ‘Go towards the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterwards you may go on your way.’”
Two spies for the people of Israel enter the land and the city of Jericho, scoping out what God has promised them many moons ago. Who knew that in one home, at first glance would not be a safe place, turns out to be the most faithful of all. And safely passing a night, hiding the spies from her own people, Rahab lowers them down the outside walls to report back to God’s people. Their journey as God’s people into the promise land is on the cusp of beginning. And Rahab’s faithfulness is noted in the gospel of Matthew as he string’s the Messiah’s linage at the beginning of another journey.
Prayer
Lord of heaven above and the earth below, we give you thanks for the surprising and courageous people you have called your own. May we, in joining their journeys, be reminded that you are with us in the unexpected people we met on the way that became family too. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
