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Joshua Chapter
Two
Joshua 2
Chapter Contents
Rahab receives and hides two Israelites. (1-7) Rahab and
the spies. (8-21) The return of the spies. (22-24)
Commentary on Joshua 2:1-7
(Read Joshua 2:1-7)
Faith in God's promises ought not to do away
but to
encourage our diligence in the use of proper means. The providence of God
directed the spies to the house of Rahab. God knew where there was one that
would be true to them
though they did not. Rahab appears to have been an
innkeeper; and if she had formerly been one of bad life
which is doubtful
she
had left her evil courses. That which seems to us most accidental
is often
overruled by the Divine providence to serve great ends. It was by faith that
Rahab received those with peace
against whom her king and country had war. We
are sure this was a good work; it is so spoken of by the apostle
James 2:25; and she did it by faith
such a
faith as set her above the fear of man. Those only are true believers
who find
in their hearts to venture for God; they take his people for their people
and
cast in their lot among them. The spies were led by the special providence of
God
and Rahab entertained them out of regard to Israel and Israel's God
and
not for lucre or for any evil purpose. Though excuses may be offered for the
guilt of Rahab's falsehood
it seems best to admit nothing which tends to
explain it away. Her views of the Divine law must have been very dim: a
falsehood like this
told by those who enjoy the light of revelation
whatever
the motive
would deserve heavy censure.
Commentary on Joshua 2:8-21
(Read Joshua 2:8-21)
Rahab had heard of the miracles the Lord wrought for
Israel. She believed that his promises would certainly be fulfilled
and his
threatenings take effect; and that there was no way of escape but by submitting
to him
and joining with his people. The conduct of Rahab proved that she had
the real principle of Divine faith. Observe the promises the spies made to her.
The goodness of God is often expressed by his kindness and truth
Psalm 117:2; in both these we must be followers
of him. Those who will be conscientious in keeping promises
are cautious in
making them. The spies make needful conditions. The scarlet cord
like the
blood upon the doorpost at the passover
recalls to remembrance the sinner's
security under the atoning blood of Christ; and that we are to flee thereto for
refuge from the wrath of a justly offended God. The same cord Rahab used for
the saving of these Israelites
was to be used for her own safety. What we
serve and honour God with
we may expect he will bless
and make useful to us.
Commentary on Joshua 2:22-24
(Read Joshua 2:22-24)
The report the spies brought was encouraging. All the
people of the country faint because of Israel; they have neither wisdom to
yield
nor courage to fight. Those terrors of conscience
and that sense of
Divine wrath
which dismay the ungodly
but bring not to repentance
are
fearful forebodings of approaching destruction. But grace yet abounds to the
chief of sinners. Let them
without delay
flee to Christ
and all shall be
well.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Joshua》
Joshua 2
Verse 1
[1] And
Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly
saying
Go
view the land
even Jericho. And they went
and came into an harlot's house
named
Rahab
and lodged there.
Sent —
Or
had sent: Two men - Not twelve
as Moses did
because those were to view
the whole land
these but a small parcel of it.
To spy —
That is
to learn the state of the land and people. It is evident Joshua did
not this out of distrust; it is probable
he had God's command and direction in
it for the encouragement of himself and his army.
Secretly —
With reference not to his enemies
that being the practice of all spies
but to
the Israelites; a good caution to prevent the inconveniency which possibly
might have arisen
if their report had been discouraging.
Jericho —
That is
the land about Jericho
together with the city. Heb. The land and
Jericho
that is
especially Jericho.
Harlot's — So
the Hebrew word is used
Judges 11:1
and so it is rendered by two
apostles
Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25
such she either now was
or rather
had been formerly.
Lodged —
Or
lay down; as the same word is rendered
Joshua 2:8
composed themselves to rest; but
they were hindered from that intention.
Verse 2
[2] And it was told the king of Jericho
saying
Behold
there came men in
hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.
To night —
This evening.
Verse 3
[3] And
the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab
saying
Bring forth the men that are come
to thee
which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all
the country.
Probably Israel had but one friend in all
Jericho: and God directed them to her! Thus what seems to be most accidental
is often over-ruled
to serve the great ends of providence. And those that
acknowledge God in their ways
he will guide them with his eye.
Verse 4
[4] And
the woman took the two men
and hid them
and said thus
There came men unto
me
but I wist not whence they were:
And the woman —
Or
But the woman had taken - and had hid them
before the messengers came from
the king; as soon as she understood from her neighbours
that there was a
suspicion of the matter
and guessed that search would be made. And this is
justly mentioned as a great and generous act of faith
Hebrews 11:31
for she apparently ventured her
life upon a steadfast persuasion of the truth of God's word and promise given
to the Israelites.
Whence they were —
Her answer contained in these and the following words
was false
and therefore
unquestionably sinful; tho' her intention was good therein. But it is very
probable
she being an Heathen
might think
that an officious lie is not
unlawful.
Verse 6
[6] But she had brought them up to the roof of the house
and hid them with
the stalks of flax
which she had laid in order upon the roof.
Roof —
Which was flat after their manner.
Upon the roof —
That they might be dried by the heat of the sun.
Verse 7
[7] And
the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as
they which pursued after them were gone out
they shut the gate.
Fords — Or
passages
that is
the places where people used to pass over Jordan
whether by
boats or bridges.
The gate — Of
the city
to prevent the escape of the spies
if peradventure Rahab was
mistaken
and they yet lurked therein.
Verse 8
[8] And
before they were laid down
she came up unto them upon the roof;
Laid down — To
sleep as they intended.
Verse 9
[9] And
she said unto the men
I know that the LORD hath given you the land
and that
your terror is fallen upon us
and that all the inhabitants of the land faint
because of you.
Your terror —
That is
the dread of you.
Verse 11
[11] And
as soon as we had heard these things
our hearts did melt
neither did there
remain any more courage in any man
because of you: for the LORD your God
he
is God in heaven above
and in earth beneath.
Melted —
That is
were dissolved
lost all courage.
Verse 12
[12] Now
therefore
I pray you
swear unto me by the LORD
since I have shewed you
kindness
that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house
and give me a
true token:
By the Lord — By
your God who is the only true God: so she owns his worship
one eminent act
whereof is swearing by his name.
My father's house — My
near kindred
which she particularly names
Joshua 2:13
husband and children it seems she
had none. And for herself
it was needless to speak
it being a plain and
undeniable duty to save their preserver.
True token —
Either an assurance that you will preserve me and mine from the common ruin: or
a token which I may produce as a witness of this agreement
and a means of my
security. This is all that she asks. But God did for her more than she could
ask or think. She was afterwards advanced to be a princess in Israel
the wife
of Salmon and one of the ancestors of Christ.
Verse 13
[13] And
that ye will save alive my father
and my mother
and my brethren
and my
sisters
and all that they have
and deliver our lives from death.
All that they have —
That is
their children
as appears from Joshua 6:23.
Verse 14
[14] And
the men answered her
Our life for yours
if ye utter not this our business.
And it shall be
when the LORD hath given us the land
that we will deal kindly
and truly with thee.
For yours — We
will venture our lives for the security of yours.
Our business —
That is
this agreement of ours
and the condition of it
lest others under
this pretence
should secure themselves. By which they shew both their piety
and prudence in managing their oath with so much circumspection
that neither
their own consciences might be ensnared
nor the publick justice obstructed.
Verse 15
[15] Then
she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town
wall
and she dwelt upon the wall.
Town-wall —
Which gave her the opportunity of dismissing them when the gates were shut.
Upon the wall —
Her particular dwelling was there: which may possibly be added
because the
other part of her house was reserved for the entertainment of strangers.
Verse 16
[16] And
she said unto them
Get you to the mountain
lest the pursuers meet you; and
hide yourselves there three days
until the pursuers be returned: and afterward
may ye go your way.
The mountain —
That is
to some of the mountains wherewith Jericho was encompassed
in which
also there were many caves where they might lurk.
Three days —
Not three whole days
but one whole day
and part of two days.
Verse 17
[17] And
the men said unto her
We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast
made us swear.
Said —
Or
had said; namely
before she let them down; it being very improbable
either that she would dismiss them before the condition was agreed on; or that
she would discourse with them
or they with her
about such secret and weighty
things after they were let down
when others might overhear them.
Blameless —
That is
free from guilt or reproach if it be violated
namely
if the
following condition be not observed.
Verse 18
[18]
Behold
when we come into the land
thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread
in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father
and thy mother
and thy brethren
and all thy father's household
home unto
thee.
Into the land —
That is
over Jordan
and near the city.
This line of scarlet — Probably the same with which she was about to let them down.
Window —
That it may be easily discerned by our soldiers.
Verse 19
[19] And
it shall be
that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the
street
his blood shall be upon his head
and we will be guiltless: and whosoever
shall be with thee in the house
his blood shall be on our head
if any hand be
upon him.
Upon his head —
The blame of his death shall rest wholly upon himself
as being occasioned by
his own neglect of the means of safety.
Our head — We
are willing to bear the sin
and shame
and punishment of it.
Be upon him — So
as to kill him.
Verse 21
[21] And
she said
According unto your words
so be it. And she sent them away
and they
departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
In the window —
Forthwith
partly that the spies might see it hung out before their departure
and so the better know it at some distance; partly lest some accident might
occasion a neglect about it.
Verse 22
[22] And
they went
and came unto the mountain
and abode there three days
until the
pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way
but found them not.
Three days —
Supporting themselves there with the provisions
which Rahab had furnished them
with.
The ways —
That is
in the road to Jordan
and the places near it
but not in the
mountains.
Verse 23
[23] So
the two men returned
and descended from the mountain
and passed over
and
came to Joshua the son of Nun
and told him all things that befell them:
Passed over —
Jordan unto Joshua.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Joshua》
02 Chapter 2
Verses 1-24
Joshua . . . sent out . . . two men to spy.
The spies despatched
I. The position in
which joshua and the Israelites were placed. It was a difficult task that had
been performed by Moses; did not a harder remain? It was something to lead such
a host through the wilderness. Surely more is required now the armour is to be
put on
active service entered
and they brought face to face with their foes.
But was not Joshua specially called to the onerous duty? Certainly he was! We
have been called to a work individually
collectively. God has promised success
in it; the work is that of dispossessing before possessing. We are to enjoy the
companionship of God in it. Still
like Joshua
we have to depend on that word
of promise. The comparison is in our favour. We have the example of all the
generations from Joshua till the present. These have been strengthened by the
life of Christ. In Him we have a volume of testimony confirmatory of our
highest hopes.
II. That all these
promises do not preclude the use of proper means. What are the feelings of a
child when receiving a promise from an earthly parent? Does not the promise
heighten affection
induce carefulness
and prompt to obedience? Who ever knew
a child made neglectful by a well-timed promise? Is not man the same in all his
relations--is he not still a man
though dealing with God? What are the effects
of His promises--do they not in every way stimulate to increased affection and zeal?
To expect without working is to tempt God--to work without expecting is to
dishonour Him. In all that has been and is now doing in the world for God
we
find the principle of co-operation prevailing. God works out His purposes by
human instrumentalities--men
organised into Churches
in their collective or individual capacity
work
and
God crowns with success. Man without God can do nothing. God without man does
nothing
and although we have the assurance that through our instrumentality
the fortresses of sin shall be vanquished
and the flag of our Master float
upon the ramparts
we are bound care fully to consider our steps
and to use
all our God-given powers to accomplish the object. We have our Jericho in the
world. Adult world--juvenile world--spy the land
call into action all your
powers; God will surely give you the land to possess.
III. The willingness
on the part of the men to undertake the difficult work. They respond at once to
the call of their leader
and trusting in God are honoured with success. With
this spirit thoroughly in our Churches
what a large amount of work we should
do. We seem to think the time for special workings and special deliverances has
past. Nay
this is the time; that army on the east of Jordan is but a picture
of ourselves. The work is before us. There runs a river between us and our
work; yes
and we thank God for it. If we could
we would not on any account
remove it. It is the right order of things. He that would do any work must
cross it
and we may take it for granted the width
depth
and swiftness of the
stream will be proportioned to the value of the work. Earnest Workers will
cross it
manfully trusting in God
and these are the only successful workers.
(J. H. Snell.)
Beginning at the right point
From military wisdom we may learn the moral wisdom of always
striking first at the right point. Every thing turns upon the first stroke in
many a controversy and in many an arduous battle. Why do men come home at
eventide saying the day has been wasted? Because their very first step in the
morning was in the wrong direction
or the very first word they spoke was the
word they ought not to have uttered. With all thy getting
get understanding of
how to begin life
where to strike first
what to do and when to do it
and
exactly how much of it to do within given time. If you strike the wrong place
you will waste your strength
and the walls of the city will remain unshaken. A
blow delivered at the right place and at the right time will have tenfold
effect over blows that are struck in the dark and at random: however energetic
they may be
and however well delivered
they fall upon the wrong place
and
the result is nothing. That is what is meant by wasted lives. Men have been
industrious
painstaking
even anxious in thoughtfulness
and the night has
been encroached upon so that the time of rest might be turned into a time of
labour; yet all has come to nothing: no city has been taken
no position has
been established
no progress has been made. Why? Simply because they did not
begin at the right point. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Rahab.
An unexpected ally of the Lord’s host; or
Rahab and her faith
Imaginative writers have pictured Rahab as attired in gaudy costume
going about the city with her harp (Isaiah 23:16)
and at this very time in
pursuit of her evil trade. Others
following Josephus
have adopted so
charitable an estimate of her profession as to suppose her to have been simply
a tavern-keeper. May we not
perhaps
take a middle line
and venture to
believe that one who had become a believer in the God of Israel had also
ere
this
repented of and forsaken the infamous life which her title imports. She
appears from the narrative to be supporting herself by her own industry
in the
preparation and dyeing of flax. One thing is certain
and that is that pure and
saving faith cannot exist with foul and deadly sins. In reference to Rahab’s
faith
observe--
I. The wonder of
its existence. Here dwells an unfortunate woman. She has had no spiritual
advantages.--no Sabbaths
no Scriptures
no teachers--and yet in the base
purlieus of a Jericho
in the heart of that poor harlot
like a fair pearl that
lies within a rough shell among the weeds and rocks at the sea bottom
there is
found precious faith
faith that finds utterance in a good confession (Joshua 2:11). Here is encouragement for
those who are called
in the providence of God
to minister where worldliness
and frivolity
and pride and bitter opposition to the truth prevail
Here
too
is encouragement for those who minister in uncouth regions
where sin and ignorance
seem to shut out hope of blessing. Let missionaries and visitors in alleys and
courts
in attics and cellars
which seem like nests of blasphemy and impurity
take heart. The unholy atmosphere of gin palaces
and even of houses like that
in which Joshua’s spies sought refuge
cannot exclude the Holy Ghost
or
nullify the Gospel message.
II. Its practical
operation. A poetic faith may lift its possessor to the heavens in ecstacies. A
talking faith may delight the hearers with glowing descriptions of supposed
experiences and imaginary prospects. But the faith that saves is known by its
works. Such a faith was Rahab’s. Her faith wrought with her works
and by works
was her faith made perfect.
III. Its saving
tendency. The characteristic of true faith is ever to tend towards salvation.
Faith accepts the warnings of the Word of God as true
and leads men to flee
from the wrath to come. Now we shall find this to be a marked characteristic in
the faith of Rahab. It inclines her to seek salvation both for herself and for
her kindred.
IV. Its rich
reward. Vain are man’s promises of help except God approve the pledge. The oath
of the spies to deliver Rahab and her house had availed her nothing had not God
Himself
by a notable miracle
confirmed their word. Joshua held himself bound
by the covenant of his representatives; but what was more
the Lord accepted
Rahab’s faith and spared her house
or
when the walls of Jericho fell down
her house had fallen too
for it abutted on the wall. But it fell not
but stood
unscathed amid the overthrow
a monument of Divine faithfulness and mercy. Nor
will that faithfulness and mercy fail to save any
even the most unworthy
who
has entered into the covenant of grace. “Our life for yours!” may every
ambassador of the gospel say. If the conditions of salvation be observed
thy
house and thy hope shall stand
though a thousand shall fall at thy side
and
ten thousand at thy right hand. (G. W. Butler
M. A.)
A parenthesis of grace
Let us look at Rahab’s faith
and meditate on a few of its phases.
I. Consider the
hindrances of her faith.
1. There were hindrances which arose from herself. She was the
harlot Rahab. Her character was exceptionally evil. She belonged to a class
than whom there are none more hardened
inaccessible
and hopeless. Moreover
she had found her calling profitable
and therefore
naturally speaking
would
be the more firmly wedded to her evil ways. Moreover
Israel is coming to
Jericho for the purpose of executing the Divine vengeance on the very evils of
which she is guilty. The cry of the Canaanites has ascended to heaven; in
long-suffering patience God has waited till now
but at last He has sent forth
His hosts to consume them utterly. How much
then
was there
in herself
to
keep Rahab from trust in Jehovah!
2. There were also hindrances to Rahab’s faith arising from her
natural friends. The example of all her neighbours would encourage her in a
path of unbelief. Her faith would make her an oddity in Jericho.
3. There were hindrances to her faith arising from her natural
enemies. Israel
the people of Jehovah
were arrayed against her and her
people
and were even now marching onward to their destruction. The mission of
Israel is not one of mercy
but of judgment. Their feet are not beautiful upon
the mountains
bringing good tidings of peace. They bring no gospel to the
Canaanites
but war
disaster
and death are in their invincible path. How
black was the outlook for Rahab.
II. Consider the
opportunity of her faith. Faith always finds
or rather God always gives to
faith
an opportunity for its manifestation. As in the day of Sodom’s doom
the
Lord delayed till righteous Lot had escaped to Zoar
saying
“I cannot do
anything till thou be come thither
” so now
if there is a single soul in
Jericho groping after Him in the darkness of vice and heathenism
He will delay
the march of His destroying hosts
to give that soul the opportunity which it
requires and for which it longs. He can do nothing in judgment till that one
soul in the doomed city is brought into a place of safety. Thus this pause in
the Divine and just act of judgment
this parenthesis of grace
this
long-suffering of God
is salvation.
III. Consider the
operation of her faith. Rahab showed her faith by her works. We cannot
and do
not
defend the deliberate falsehood by which she misled her fellow citizens in
search of the spies; but we must remember that her whole training from
childhood had been in lies
and that this was a sudden emergency. She was no
well-instructed saint
walking under the light of God’s countenance
but a
great sinner groping after Him. There is sufficient in her conduct to manifest
a heart truly sincere and anxiously solicitous for the welfare of God’s people
willing to risk her own life to save theirs.
IV. Turn now to the
confession of her faith. He that believes with the heart confesses with the
mouth. All the believing add to their faith virtue
boldness in confessing the
truth; all are witnesses. To the spies Rahab said
“I know that the Lord hath
given you the land
” &c. She does not say
“I think
” “I suppose
” “I
fear
” but “I know.” She believes as firmly in the promises of God as any in
Israel. And as she believes in the promises of God
so she believes in the God
of the promises. How clear and unmistakable is her confession of the name of
Jehovah; how high
and exalted
and spiritual; how wonderful
in the mouth of
one trained from infancy to worship stocks and stones
trained to think that
the power of the different deities was local and circumscribed: “The Lord your
God
He is God in heaven above
and in earth beneath”!
V. Next let us
ponder the trial of her faith. Faith is always tested
that it may be
manifested as Divine. Had Rahab sought to add anything to the instructions of
the spies
had she consulted her own ideas as to the best means of ensuring her
safety
she would have manifested her folly
and would have miserably failed.
So trust in any other means than those which God has provided
trust in
anything but the blood of the Lamb
is a manifestation of folly and a sure
cause of failure.
VI. Consider also
the solicitude of her faith. She was anxious not only about her own safety
but
about that of those who were dear to her. She was not selfishly absorbed in
looking after her own welfare
content if she herself escaped; but
with true
affection
arranged for the rescue of her relatives. The work of Rahab
in
bringing in others
is similar to that of every saved soul. After we ourselves
are saved we are not to rest content; we are not to sit down in idleness and
ease because all is well with us for ever. We are to bear on our hearts those
who are still exposed to the Divine judgment; we are to be up and doing
instant in season and out of season
if by any means we may save some.
VII. Consider the
reward of her faith. When the dread day of Jericho’s judgment came
what a joy
must it have been to Rahab to know that all dear to her were safe. But who can
tell the rapture of those who have saved a soul from eternal death
and covered
a multitude of sins? Surely such a glorious reward
such a monument of
everlasting renown
is worth labouring for
worth living for
worth dying for.
Rut turning again to the ease before us
why did the multitudes in Jericho thus
perish without pity? Was it because the cup of their iniquity was full? Yes
truly
for they had fearfully corrupted their ways. But
while many sins
characterised the Canaanites
the Holy Ghost selects one sin as emphatically
that which caused their destruction. Which sin? Unbelief. That which
distinguished Rahab from the rest was not superior morality
higher
intelligence
a more exemplary life
a better natural disposition
but
faith in God. She believed; they believed not. Because she believed
she
was saved; because they believed not
they perished. Even so
many sins may
characterise you
and each one is like a millstone round your neck
fitted to
drag you down to endless destruction
but your great
culminating
condemning
sin is unbelief (Mark 16:16). But Rahab was not only
rescued from the judgment of Jericho
she was also received into the number of
God’s people. Even so the sinner who believes in Jesus is not only saved from
wrath to come
but is received into the Church
the house of the living God
there to be instructed more fully in the ways of God; there to learn all the
lessons that the grace of God can teach; to deny ungodliness and worldly lust;
to live soberly
righteously
and godly in this present world
looking for that
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ. (A. B. Mackay.)
Rahab’s reasoning
The woman had an eye to see and an ear to hear. She knew better than to
suppose that a nation of slaves by their own resources could have eluded all
the might of Pharaoh
subsisted for forty years in the wilderness
and
annihilated the forces of such renowned potentates as Sihon and Og. She was no
philosopher
and could not have reasoned on the doctrine of causation
but her
common sense taught her that you cannot have extraordinary effects without
corresponding causes. It is one of the great weaknesses of modern unbelief that
with all its pretensions to philosophy it is constantly accepting effects
without an adequate cause. Jesus Christ
though He revolutionised the world
though He founded an empire to which that of the Caesars is not for a moment to
be compared
though all that were about Him admitted His supernatural power and
person
after all was nothing but a man. The gospel that has brought peace and
joy to so many weary hearts
that has transformed the slaves of sin into
children of heaven
that has turned cannibals into saints
and fashioned so
many an angelic character out of the rude blocks of humanity
is but a
cunningly devised fable. What contempt for such sophistries
such vain
explanations of facts patent to all
would this poor woman have shown! How does
she rebuke the many that keep pottering in poor natural explanations of plain
supernatural facts instead of manfully admitting that it is the arm of God that
has been revealed and the voice of God that has spoken. (W. G. Blaikie
D.
D.)
Gradual enlightenment
If we ask
How could Rahab have such a faith and yet be a
harlot? or How could she have such faith in God and yet utter that tissue of
falsehoods about the spies with which she deluded the messengers of the king?
we answer that light comes but gradually and slowly to persons like Rahab. The
conscience is but gradually enlightened. How many men have been slaveholders
after they were Christians! Worse than that
did not the godly John Newton
one
of the two authors of the Olney hymns
continue for some time in the slave
trade
conveying cargoes of his fellow-creatures stolen from their homes
before he awoke to a sense of its infamy? Are there no persons among us calling
themselves Christians engaged in traffic that brings awful destruction to the
bodies and souls of their fellow-men? That Rahab should have continued as she
was after she threw in her lot with God’s people is inconceivable; but there
can be no doubt how she was living when she first comes into Bible history. And
as to her falsehoods
though some have excused lying when practised in order to
save life
we do not vindicate her on that ground. All falsehood
especially
what is spoken to those who have a right to trust us
must be offensive to the
God of truth
and the nearer men get to the Divine image
through the growing
closeness of their Divine fellowship
the more do they recoil from it. Rahab
was yet in the outermost circle of the Church
just touching the boundary; the
nearer she got to the centre the more would she recoil alike from the foulness
and the falseness of her early years. And yet
though her faith may at this
time have been but as a grain of mustard seed
we see two effects of it that
are not to be despised. One was her protection of the Lord’s people
as
represented by the spies; the other was her concern for her own relations. (W.
G. Blaikie
D. D.)
Rahab’s faith
Faith in the human heart is a Divine work and a Divine
wonder. Jesus wondered when He beheld the witness of it in the message of the
centurion
and in the cry of the Syro-Phoenician
and sometimes it occurs among
circumstances so strange and unlikely as to compel the wonder even of our hard
hearts and dull minds. The faith of Rahab is of this class--strange
unaccountable on merely natural grounds. That this plant of heavenly renown
should take root and spring up in such uncongenial soil is what we do not
naturally look for. Her faith reminds us of a tree we have seen in the
Highlands of Scotland. At the bottom of a wild glen stood a huge boulder
which
towered high above those which had toppled with it from the mountain side
and
it had a strange crown. On its summit
as if rising out of the rock
grew a
young tree--green
vigorous
and healthy. From its peculiar position
it
attracted the notice of every passer-by; it was the only tree for miles around
and there
in that wilderness
and on that rock
it grew
planted as it were by
the finger of God. Even so the faith of Rahab is a great wonder
a tree of
paradise
planted by the hand of God
in the midst of a wilderness of moral and
spiritual desolation.
A mixed character
They are mixed characters and mixed actions in the moral sense;
and just as we may take a conglomerate mineral and single out one ingredient
for remark
so we may fix our minds upon one aspect of a complex action
disregarding all other aspects for the time
with admiration or condemnation.
It is what we do continually. We speak highly of an author’s genius--without
approval of his principles; we praise the skill of some diplomatist--whose
policy we strongly condemn; we do not grudge our admiration to the powers of
Napoleon--though we may believe him to have been a monster of iniquity. In a
famous essay John Foster illustrates decision of character by a number of
striking instances. He refers to the untameable soul of Milton as portrayed in
“Paradise Lost”; to the sublime height to which Pompey was raised by his
ambitious spirit; to the constancy of purpose with which a Spaniard pursued and
at last accomplished his revenge; to the indefatigable industry with which a
ruined spendthrift regained his fortune and died a miser. But none is so
foolish as to accuse the essayist of commending obstinacy
ambition
revenge
or miserliness. Now
the same principle must be applied to an interpretation of
Scripture. The unjust steward
e.g.
was a bad man: he was selfish
unprincipled
a downright rogue. But withal he was prudent; he forecast the
future; he directed his energies towards providing for it; and he succeeded. In
his prudence
then
is he set forth as an example for us. (Sunday School
Times.)
Our hearts did melt.--
The powers of evil in terror
I think that testimony stands yet. We
who are fighting
Joshua’s battle to-day
should take to heart this word that has leaked out from
the headquarters of the devil’s army; and the word is this
that with all the
devil’s swagger
and bravado
and bluster
he is a bigger coward than we are
and that is big enough. He is really not so bold as he is trying to pretend. He
knows that the doom is coming
and Rahab is the testifier; and she ought to
know: she has been near him and is intimate with the latest information on that
side. I say
I think that we should all take this. It stands here. This is a
bit of the Word of God that “liveth and abideth for ever.” And its great value
to you and me who are fighting to-day in the wars of the Lord under the
heavenly Joshua is that
all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding
the
fear of us and the terror of us are working yonder before we arrive. God is
making a way for His conquering purpose before we thunder at the enemy’s gate.
Therefore let us nerve ourselves. Therefore let us be strong. Therefore do not
let us be daunted by the colossal and seemingly impregnable powers of evil.
There is a trembling and a quivering in the devil’s host. “Your terror is
fallen upon us.” Who would think it
to read the secular press? What nonsense
clever men talk about religion
as if it were a feeble kind of thing
such as
they would call in Scotland “a fozy turnip”--a half-rotten
effete
useless
thing. “We are going to have reforms
and we are going to make things a great
deal better
but we will have no religion.” Did ever anybody hear such
addle-headed talking by clever men? No religion! Oh
indeed! You are going to
bow out Jesus Christ? You ought to have been born a long while before you were
if you are going to do that. You have come into the world much too late to put
it right without Christ. He is here
and He means to be here
and I trust we
are all with Him. Oh
what encouragement there comes to us out of this! What
encouragement--that the kingdom of darkness in all its domain is tottering to
its fall
and it knows it! Strange it is that we who are serving under the
heavenly Joshua
and have all these things to fortify us and to infuse strength
into us
are so nervous and womanish. Oh
to be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might
and to be strengthened by what we read here as to the
condition of things in the enemy’s camp! They are just about to surrender if we
would put on a bold front. (John McNeill.)
The Lord your God
He is
God.--
Our God
God over all
I. The lord your
God. I am aware that “our Lord” and “our Saviour
” and so on
are phrases that
are frequently employed thoughtlessly
ignorantly
and profanely; but this does
not render their value less. Whatever faith is in exercise
so that the
believer can really claim his affinity
his relationship
it is most blessed so
to do. Nay
more; there is no solid happiness and permanent peace for any child
of Adam until that child of Adam can claim this relationship: “the Lord our
God.” But oh! “wonder
ye heavens
and be astonished
O earth
” at this amazing
condescension: that the great Eternal--Father
Son
and Holy Ghost--should give
to His elect family each of the Persons
and all the perfections and attributes
of self-existent Deity
as the Church’s portion and inheritance.
II. He is God in
heaven. AS for myself
the fact that Jehovah
the covenant God of Israel
is
“my God
” makes me look up to heaven and think of heaven with the utmost
confidence; aye
without a scruple; aye
upon scriptural assurance of calling
it my home. Now
mark two or three things arising out of this fact that “He is
God in heaven above.” All the records of heaven written and kept by Him; all
the enjoyments of heaven bestowed
communicated
imparted
in His presence; all
the inhabitants of heaven His own choice
His own redemption
His own
workmanship. He is absolute Sovereign “in heaven” of the fixed decrees of
heaven; absolute Sovereign “in heaven” of all the glories of heaven; and
absolute Sovereign “in heaven” of all the inhabitants of heaven. Oh! what
security is here! “The Lord your God is God in heaven above.”
III. He is God in
earth beneath. Here we have a solution of the mystery of His providence. He is
God in earth
as well as in heaven; tell Him all about it. Go with thy sorrows
thy cares
thy domestic woes
thy bodily afflictions
thy circumstantial
trials
thy matters of business
thy little things as well as thy great things;
for “He is God in earth.” “The Lord your God is God in earth beneath.” Oh! I
had saved myself a thousand sorrows if I had always lived upon this principle.
I had saved myself a thousand woes
if I had lived as if there was “a God on
earth.” (J. Irons.)
Bind this line of scarlet
thread in the window.--
The scarlet line
In Scripture we find the blessing of God and the curse of God
concentrated not only in individual souls
but also in cities. Thus Jerusalem
is constantly set forth in Scripture as the city of blessing (Psalms 48:1-3; Psalms 50:2). On the other hand
Jericho
is the city of the curse (Joshua 6:17). These two cities
then
are
evidently representative cities. Jerusalem
the city of blessing
represents
the Church of God
destined to eternal life. Jericho
the city of the curse
represents the world
alienated from God
and destined to destruction. And then
what will Rahab represent but those who are gathered out of the one into the
other
not on account of anything good in themselves
any natural excellencies
or attainments
but by the grace of God
and according to His good pleasure.
And specially does she
herself a Gentile
seem to represent those of the
Gentiles who are brought to God. Rahab’s faith showed itself in this
that she
recognised God. She looked above second causes. It was not Israel’s power and
prowess
but God’s hand
which she saw (Joshua 2:9-11). All this throws much
light on the nature of true faith. It shows us
first
that living faith
carries us straight to God. Our hearts are very prone to get entangled in
second causes--to look at the hand of man
and forget the hand of God. The
language of faith is
“It is the Lord.” It elevates the heart above second
causes
and enables it to rest
not
it may be
without many struggles
on the
will an arm of God. Again
we see in this history that faith is the principle
of a new life. Rahab’s life had been an unhallowed one
and she had sunk lower
than many others in Jericho. But now through Divine grace she rises higher than
all (Hebrews 11:31). And faith is always the
same; the same in its object
which is God; the same in its principle
which is
His grace; the same in its result
which is holiness of life. Rahab believed in
the approaching doom of Jericho; she felt that its days were numbered. The true
Christian now believes that a more awful and universal judgment is coming upon
the world
and he flees from the wrath to come--flees to the only Refuge from
the storm. But Rahab went further. She wished to have some assurance that her
life
and the life of her family
would be spared. It is not wonderful that she
should have desired this token; and we may well imagine what comfort she must
have felt when the scarlet line was floating in the air at her window. Very
solemn thoughts must often have weighed upon her heart--thoughts of the awful
destruction which awaited her fellow-townsmen; but she felt no anxiety about
herself and family. The scarlet line silenced every fear. And if it was natural
in Rahab to desire a token of her safety
is it not even more natural in the
true Christian to desire it? And one there is which is granted sooner or later
to those who walk with God. It is not always given at once; often it grows up
by degrees. But yet
sooner or later
it is given. The blood of Jesus secures
pardon
and also produces assurance. But notice that there is a wide difference
between the two. Forgiveness is one thing; the knowledge of forgiveness is
another. Forgiveness of sin we must have
to be Christians. Assurance is a
privilege which Christians should seek
and seek until they find
and then
watch
that they may retain it. If
then
you would have the scarlet line
floating at the window of your hearts
you must trust simply in Christ. This of
itself is enough to bring
and does often bring
assurance; but if not
endeavour
to walk with God. Be diligent in doing His will and work
and perhaps God will
meet you then
and will crown some act of faith and self-denial and devoted
service with a true token
a scarlet line of His assurance-love. Having
proceeded thus far with the history of Rahab
we must say a few words about its
conclusion. What a difference that little piece of scarlet line made! It was
not a mere token arranged between man and man; it was sanctioned in heaven.
God’s eye as well as man’s was fixed upon the scarlet line
and Rahab was
protected. And if that scarlet line made so great a difference in her case
and
secured her protection
oh
how much more shall the blood of Christ secure that
of the true Christian I Is it sprinkled upon your heart? Does God’s eye see it
there? Then all your sins
however many
are forgiven; all your enemies
however strong
will be overcome. But there is still one other point to be
noticed in Rahab’s history. You will find it stated in Joshua 6:25
where it says
“She dwelleth
in Israel unto this day.” So that from that time forth
though she had been a
sinner of the Gentiles
she was put among God’s children
reckoned as one of
His own Israel; and even
we learn from Matthew 1:5
so honoured of God as to be
one of the line from whom Jesus was descended. And do we not learn from this
how completely the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin? how real a thing is
the forgiveness of sins? how great and entire is the change which the grace of
God makes in the heart? (G. Wagner.)
Rahab saved
I. The sovereign
mercy of God was magnified in the previous character and position of the
individual to whom it was vouchsafed.
II. The oneness
the primeval
constant
and continued identity of the way of salvation
from
the blood that flowed upon Abel’s altar
and I doubt not upon Adam’s also
to “the blood of
sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” By that line--as
with Rahab
so with the Church--the messengers that brought it to her and
taught it to her had already escaped; it had borne their weight
proved its
efficacy; and the Church knows it to be strong enough still. She knows it to be the
cable-line which rivets her to the anchor of hope
“sure and steadfast
which
entereth into that within the veil.” Ah! who that has ever tried it
who that
has ever “fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before him
” hath not
found the promise fulfilled in his happy experience--“I will draw them with the
cords of love
with the bands of a man”! Blessed Jesus! Thou art this “scarlet line
” dyed
with the blood of propitiating mercy.
III. Another
exemplary feature in the act of Rahab’s faith is its great simplicity. What
could be simpler than tying a scarlet line in a window? Had the gospel assumed
a more scientific and imposing
form--had its principles been more elaborate and philosophical had it required years of
study to comprehend it
and thereby attached some literary reputation to the
ultimate adept in
it--had it been like the rabinnical lore of the Hebrews
or the mythological mysteries of
the Greeks
beyond the reach of the vulgar
and a consequent badge of
distinction to the initiated--had its prophet required us to do some great
thing--were its peculiar privileges obtainable only by the pomp of a ritual
the costliness of sacrifice
or the toil of pilgrimage--then the evangelical
Sion had never been destitute of its thousands of devotees and ten thousands of
disciples; but when it appears in the guise of a system of which a child can
appreciate the beauty
and which only requires the spirit of a child to learn
and entertain it--when “the wayfaring man
” as he runs upon his business may read
it--when its elastic principles expand their comprehensive arms to the embrace
of all men
and like the outstretched arms of its crucified Author upon the
Cross seem to offer mercy on the right hand and on the left--when its whole
system is summed up in a single sentence
“Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ
and thou shalt be saved”--then the world turns its back upon the
Church
is ashamed of the fellowship of children and vulgar and illiterate
people
the simplicity of the truth is mistaken for vulgarity
and the house of
God is eschewed and avoided
because
instead of the sumptuous drapery and
tinselled garniture of the noble
the poetical
the dramatic
the speculative
and the vain
its only ornament and ensign is the Cross of Christ--its sole
phylactery is “the scarlet line in the window.”
IV. Rahab’s act of
faith extended a blessing
as every act of faith does
to the whole family. She
gathered her father and mother and brethren and all her kindred into her house;
and the emblem in the window spared them all. Yet I suppose it will scarcely be
contended that it was the bit of thread that saved them
rather than the
covenant of which that thread was the sign. But just as idle is the theory that
the sacrament is salvation
instead of the sign of the Saviour; as inaccurate
is the impression that faith itself saves
and not His blood and righteousness
which faith appropriates. Why
there is no more saving merit in faith than
there is in works--not a jot. I am not saved because I believe
but I am saved
by Him in whom I believe. There is all the world’s difference between those
propositions. (J. B. Owen
M. A.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》