“For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” Joshua 2:11b NLT
Conquering new territory in your life is not something you try to achieve on your own, although many have tried and failed. For Christians, we are to trust God and follow His leading wherever it leads us, and to whomever He assigns to help us. The nation of Israel had an unlikely ally in helping them secure sensitive information about the city of Jericho and its surrounding territory. Joshua sent out two men on a covert operation to spy out the land they were about to conquer with their first stop the city of Jericho. Jericho was the key city of the entire southern Jordan valley. Their mission was to survey the scope of the land, food and water resources, and the military strength of Jericho.
When the two men entered Jericho they went to house of Rahab, a prostitute, and spent the night there. An overnight visit to a prostitute would not incur suspicion concerning their mission. Rahab’s house was also on the wall providing an easy escape if found out. The two spies realized early on how the Lord led them to Rahab’s house. The king of Jericho found out that spies from Israel had come into Jericho. Rahab hid the spies in her home and protected them from capture as she was questioned as to their whereabouts. God had used the most unlikely person in the carrying out of His will by protecting the spies, Rahab the prostitute.
Some may question and rightly so, didn’t Rahab sin by lying to the king’s servants by admitting they were there but now gone. (Jos. 2:3-5) Yes, lying is a sin, but note, Rahab was not commended for her sin, but for her faith. (Heb.11:31) Also in the Oriental custom of that day, guarding a guest in your home was held as one of the highest virtues of hospitality.
Rahab had come to know the true God. Her confession to the spies leaves no doubt saying to them, “For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” (Jos. 2:11b) She had made known to them how all her people heard of God’s miraculous works in bringing Israel out of Egypt and that they were destined to inhabit their land. Fear and terror had succumb to every individual in the land. While all her people feared Israel and the Lord God, Rahab had faith in God and His mercy having the courage to protect the spies from the authorities of her city.
So certain was Rahab that God is the supreme God capable of giving Israel their land, she asked for safety of herself and her entire family when Israel came to take over Jericho. The spies agreed to protect her and her family providing she would not betray them. She let down by a scarlet rope along the outside wall of her house for their escape instructing them to hide in the hill country for three days until the pursuers give up the search. God’s providence in protecting the spies is seen all through Joshua chapter 2. The hiding place the Lord provided for the spies was in a mountainous region with limestone cliffs 1,500 feet high with many caves. These were actually the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered centuries later.
The scarlet rope has significant meaning both for Rahab and for us today. The scarlet (red) rope hanging from the outside of Rahab’s window symbolizes the lambs blood sprinkled on the doorposts providing safety and protection of the first born of Israel. We see it today as the atoning blood shed by Christ on the cross of Calvary for our sins. Both needing protection from the consequences of our sin by the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God.
The Lord God used Rahab, an unlikely ally, to be used by God in helping His people in conquering their new territory. Don’t dismiss those in your life God may using in aiding you through the tough terrain.
Read Joshua 2, Rahab: An Unlikely Ally: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+2&version=NLT
Word for the Soul 