"Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. 'Go, look over the land,' he said, 'especially Jericho.'" (Joshua 2:1a) During the three days the Israelites are preparing to move across the Jordan River, Joshua secretly commissions two men to go in ahead of the Israelites and get an idea of what to expect at Jericho and in the surrounding territory. Then these men are to bring a report back to him.
Joshua is handling this matter in a completely different way than Moses handled it. In Numbers 13 Moses openly chose twelve spies (one of whom was Joshua) and the twelve spies returned and gave a public report to the entire community. Ten of the spies gave a very discouraging report regarding the taking of the land. They said, "We cannot do it. The land of Canaan is filled with fortified cities and fierce warriors, some of whom are giants! We'd be better off going back to Egypt." Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said, "We can do it because the Lord is with us." The people accepted the opinion of the ten spies with the negative attitudes, not the opinion of the faithful Joshua and Caleb, so Joshua isn't about to risk having a similar situation on his hands. He selects two good, trustworthy men (ancient tradition says they are Eleazar the high priest and Joshua's friend Caleb, but the Bible doesn't name them) to get the lay of the land and this mission is known only to Joshua and the two men. When the men return they are to report their findings only to him. Besides, Joshua isn't sending them to Jericho to find out if they can take the city; he already knows they can because the Lord says they can. The purpose in sending them is to look at the city's weaknesses and strengths so he can plan his strategy.
The men cross the Jordan and enter the city of Jericho which was about eight miles from the river and they entered through the city's main gates during the hours when travelers and traders would be entering and exiting. They end up in a place we wouldn't expect to see two godly men but it's probably the only place in town they can walk into without having anyone question them about the purpose for their visit. "So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there." (Joshua 2:1b) There is no suggestion whatsoever in the Scriptures that these men engaged in any immoral behavior while in Rahab's house. It could be that the Holy Spirit directed them to this particular establishment because the Lord had someone there who would help them.
I can't help thinking of all the old Western movies in which the male visitors to a town seem to always go into the saloon first. In those movies the saloons usually have a house of prostitution in the upstairs quarters. I don't know whether Rahab ran a public saloon as well as a house of prostitution but the general public of Jericho wouldn't have paid too much attention if male visitors to the city entered such a place as soon as they arrived in town. If the men had remained out in public, hanging around in the city square or walking up and down the streets taking notes of the city's layout, they'd have looked extremely suspicious. Jericho's citizens would have begun asking them what they were in town for and, since they had no wares to sell and no obvious business to conduct, they'd soon have been arrested and brought before the officials to give an account for themselves.
Stealthy as these men are, someone takes note that two Israelites who went into Rahab's house and haven't come out. They've been in her house far longer than it usually takes for men to conclude their business with her. This causes a report to be made to the king that these men are spies. "The king of Jericho was told, 'Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.' So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: 'Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.'" (Joshua 2:2-3)
In ancient times a houseguest was to be provided for and protected to the best of the host's ability. You'll recall from Genesis 19 how Abraham's nephew Lot went to great lengths to protect the two visitors who came to his house (he did not know at the time that they were angels) from the violent men of the city of Sodom. Rahab doesn't intend to turn the two spies over to the king's men. She knows they'll be put to death if she does. Though she is a woman of a heathen culture, we'll see later in our chapter that she believes in the God of Israel and knows He intends to give the city of Jericho to the Israelites. She wants to be on the side of this powerful God and, as the author of Hebrews says, "by faith" she welcomed the spies. (Hebrews 11:21) I believe the Lord has been dealing with her heart for some time and now she is ready to discard the idols of her culture in favor of the one true God. Because she wants to know the one true God, she intends to serve Him by protecting these men. So in a moment we'll find her doing the only thing she can think to do: lying.
Lying is a sin but several times in the Bible we find someone lying to save their own life or to save someone else's life and in those cases we find no words of condemnation for their behavior. I think the idea of lying comes automatically to Rahab because of her profession. This is probably not the first time Rahab has ever lied and said a man wasn't in her house or hadn't been to her house. She wouldn't have stayed in business long if she wasn't discreet about her clientele. When she lies she's using the only weapon she thinks she has at her disposal. "But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, 'Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.' (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut." (Joshua 2:4-7)
Why does she protect these Israelites at such great risk to her own life? Because she believes in the God of Israel. She believes the Lord is on Israel's side and not on the side of the heathen city of Jericho. She has perhaps already completely given up idolatry and has begun seeking a relationship with the Lord, though she knows little about His laws and commandments at this time. Because her heart seeks the Lord, He has revealed to her that He intends to give Jericho to the Israelites. She knows He intends to give the entire land of Canaan to the Israelites. She has heard about the mighty signs and wonders the Lord has already performed for Israel and she knows He intends to perform many more. She may not know a lot about the God of Israel yet but she wants to do something for Him by protecting His people. "Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, 'I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 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 Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.'" (Joshua 2:8-12)
Everyone in Jericho was afraid of Israel's God but there's a difference between Rahab's fear of the Lord and her fellow citizens' fear of the Lord. Her fellow citizens feared the God of Israel but thought He was one of many gods---albeit a very powerful one. There are many people in the world today who believe that the God of Israel exists and who have an anxious fear of Him but who have not accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Rahab's fear is a reverent fear. She believes He is "God in heaven above and on the earth below". She believes He is the only God---the Creator of heaven and earth. Rahab's fear of the Lord is what we could call a "saving fear". It's a holy fear that led her to believe in Him as the one true God. It's a fear that will cause her to forsake heathen idolatry and submit to Him as Lord and Savior. It's a fear that will cause her to repent of her sins, receive mercy and forgiveness, and obtain the salvation of her soul. It's a fear that will put this once-sinful prostitute into the family tree of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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