Joshua 2
WHY did Joshua send the spies into Jericho, the city soon to be utterly destroyed? Scripture does not furnish an answer; it may have been only with thoughts of the approaching doom of the place, but if we consider what were God’s thoughts about the matter, we know that they were purposes of mercy, even towards a very wicked woman. God is rich in mercy, and His love is great towards those who are dead in trespasses and sins. (Eph. 2:1-51And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:1‑5).)
The king of Jericho is like Satan; it displeases him mightily that the messengers of God are received into the house of even a Rahab. He sees the end of his rule in sight. The men had come to “search out all the country”: there is nothing hid from God, for “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. 4:1313Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)).
But this wretched woman, who tells lies without hesitation, has determined to throw herself on the mercy of that God of whose power in judgment she has heard; perhaps He will show her mercy, for she sees only destruction before all the people of Jericho. Moved with fear, then, of a greater power than any of earth or hell, Rahab conceals the men whose nationality she had recognized, and now when darkness hides her movements, her voice is heard saying, like Nicodemus in John 3:1, 2,1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (John 3:1‑2) “I know.”
It is not the triumphant “we know” of Romans 8:2828And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) and 1 John 3:2,2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2) but a confession of a knowledge that she, or he, is outside of God’s favor. Rahab and Nicodemus, at opposite poles in this world’s reckoning; the one debased by sin in which she lived; and the other highly esteemed among men, alike tell that the lives they have lived leave a guilty conscience, an unsatisfied heart.
Reader, is it not so, that this world cannot give peace of conscience, rest of heart? Try as you will, you cannot find rest within or around. There is One who says,
“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28). Have you had to do with Him?
Rahab asks not for herself alone, but for her fathers’ household. Moses displays the same spirit, we may say, in Exo. 10:9,9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. (Exodus 10:9) “And Moses said, we will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds we will go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.”
Also in Luke 16:27-31,27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:27‑31) the once rich man, from the torment of a lost eternity, cries out for his five brothers.
The writer of these lines remembers the oft repeated earnest prayer of his mother now many years absent from the body, present with the Lord, for all her children to be saved.
Perhaps you, dear reader, have long been the subject of heartful prayers for your salvation. If so, I beg you to resist the Holy Spirit no longer. Come to Jesus! Come to Jesus! COME TO JESUS!
Rahab has a promise; true, it was only that of men, but it was on God’s authority that it was given. He who trusts in the sheltering blood of Jesus, has the assurance of God Himself:
“Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man (the risen Christ Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38, 3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39). Judgment will never reach the believer.
One thing more: Rahab had so much before her mind, the coming fulfilment of the promise made to her, that she puts the reminder of it, the scarlet line, in her window. She has turned to God from idols, and never a day, or perhaps an hour passes, that she is not thinking of the day of her salvation.
What of yourself, reader? Is Christ your object seven days in a week, twelve months in the year? He should be. Give Him all you are.
ML 05/17/1925