The Real Hero of the Account

  

Joshua 2:1-7

 

Rahab Hides the Spies

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.  And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.”  Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”   But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.   And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”   But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.   So, the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

Most of us that grew up in church and Sunday School were taught the story of Joshua sending the two spies into Jericho.  They must have been like our Navy seals, with a nerve of steel and great warriors, highly skilled, but they were not the real hero’s.  

Then it must have been Rahab, for she had only heard the story of the Red Sea and what God had done to allow His people to walk through it on dry ground.  How God had destroyed the whole army of Egypt as they followed the people into the Sea on dry ground, and how God allow the waters to come back over them.

I have a picture in my mind of the archangel Michael, God’s appointed prince over Israel asking God can I do it now, and God saying not yet, we have two that have not yet crossed over, and then ok Michael now.  In the book of Daniel chapter 12:1, we get a glimpse of Michael as Israel’s prince.

But Rahab or the two spies are the heroes of this account, yet all show great faith in a big God.  It should be clear that the hero is God the Father, for Jericho was defeated long before even the spies showed up.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice