Joshua 2:1-24
Rahab Hides the Spies (Hebrews 11:31)
1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”
3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”
4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) 7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.
8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
14 So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.”
17 So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.”
21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
22 They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. 23 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”
The scarlet cord of redemption is often seen as the lifeblood of Christ to be shed in his sacrifice for all sinners who believe and trust in Him and His work that is symbolized here as a token for the sinner Rahab, who also is mentioned in Matthew 1:5 in the lineage of the Messiah. She is also credited as one in the parade of saving faith in Hebrews 11:30-31 as an example to us of God’s forgiveness and choosing the least of these to be His children as He has all of us who know Him and are in such grace of deliverance out of the sin of the fallen world from a destruction greater than earthly Jericho to come in the final day. We see how she welcomed the spies sent by Joshua to Jericho before invading the heavily fortified city of renown because she had heard of how the LORD was with them in victory of utter destruction over their enemies the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, and had miraculously dried up the water of the Red Sea for when they journeyed out of the bondage of Egypt by the hand of their omnipotent God. Her fear and faith saved her by the grace of God who called and forgave and delivered her. She also received the promise for her family to be delivered with her when the army returned to level the city. We see how faith of one who fears and believes the Lord can reach into entire households to cause them to likewise believe to salvation in the Savior’s scarlet thread of redemption in places such as Acts 16:31-32, 18:8. Rahab the sinner was not only delivered from destruction, but was to bear an heir of seed of the final redeeming grace for all us sinners! As she told the spies, “According to your words, so be it” as she tied the cord in the window to mark her as saved and remained in place to be found there after the destruction of the enemies of the LORD. We also are marked as His (Ephesians 1:7, 13-14, 4:30, 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5) by blood and water (Titus 3:5) to be heirs of this great salvation from out of our sin-filled lives and hang on the scarlet thread of His deliverance by the shedding of His blood (Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 9:22) from the window of our condemned state for our redemption as written in His Book of Life. Truly the LORD has delivered and will deliver us by our fear of judgment and trust in His power to save us from destruction by His calling (John 6:44, 65, 12:32-33) to draw us out of the crumbling corruption and darkness of the fallen creation into the marvelous light and life of Christ! May we all who hear and fear the Lord cling in absolute peace and hope to this lifeline of the scarlet cord of His lifeblood’s grace identifying us as His to come get us in the end as promised. We are not just hanging by a mere thread to life, but are holding fast to a certain unbreakable cord of our rescue and the promise of our heavenly kingdom to come.
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