Joshua sent two men into the land as spies. They came to Jericho and went into the house of a prostitute named Rahab.
The King heard about the men who entered the city and sent men to ask her where were the men of Israel who came. She had hidden the two spies and she told the Kings men that they had left and the men pursued them out of the city. Which brings us to verse 8.
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Joshua 2:8-21 ESV
8Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
15Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. 16And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” 17The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
Joshua 6:22-23 ESV
22But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” 23So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel.
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Joshua 2:4-5 ESV
4But 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. 5And 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.”
Matthew 1:1-6 ESV
1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of David the king.
Hebrews 11:31 ESV
31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
James 2:25 ESV
25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NKJV
27But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29that no flesh should glory in His presence.
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Genesis 18:20-26 NIV
20Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Joshua 2:9-11 ESV
9and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
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Joshua 2:12-13 ESV
12Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”
Weirsbe says that Rahab showed more faith in the Lord concerning these two spies, than the 10 spies had 4 decades earlier. And as she has just recounted…her faith is based on facts not just feelings. If she were to trust her feelings, she might not have the same response.
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Joshua 2:14-16 ESV
14And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
15Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. 16And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.”
Joshua 2:17-19 ESV
17The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.
Joshua 2:20-21 ESV
20But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
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The fact that they used a scarlet cord is prophetic. Why did they use a Scarlet cord? Maybe because it stood out on the brown stone wall. Maybe because it was the only thing they had that they could give her. Maybe…but I also have to wonder if there is some additional significance.
These spies had in fact made a covenant before the Lord with Rahab, and like many other covenants, there was a token.
The token was a scarlet cord, that was to serve as a reminder of the promise made.
This cord was representative of the faith.
It would have been wrong if she had begun to place her faith in the cord, and not in the God who granted her redemption from the impending destruction.
Rahab truly demonstrated faith and courage.
That is why the scarlet cord. Scarlet reminds us of the blood that was shed. God made a covenant with Abraham when he promised to give him descendants and the land. You can read about it in Genesis 15.
Genesis 15:17-21 NIV
17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18On that day the Lordmade a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
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