History · Chapter 2 of 24

Joshua 2

Joshua sends two spies from Shittim to view Jericho. They lodge with Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, who hides them under drying flax on her roof when the king's men search. She confesses that Israel's God rules heaven and earth and begs mercy for her household. The spies swear an oath, sealed by a scarlet cord hung in her window, then escape down the wall and report that the land is given.

What happens in Joshua 2

Joshua dispatches two men secretly to survey Jericho. They enter the house of Rahab, whose position on the city wall makes it a natural stop. The king learns of them and demands she surrender them, but she has already hidden them among flax stalks on her roof, and sends the pursuers off toward the Jordan fords. On the roof she tells the spies that dread of Israel has melted every heart since word came of the Red Sea and the defeat of Sihon and Og.

She asks them to swear kindness to her father's house as she has shown them kindness. They pledge their lives for hers on one condition: she must gather her family inside and bind a scarlet cord in the window. She lowers them by rope down the wall, directs them to hide three days in the hills, and they return to Joshua convinced the LORD has delivered the land.

Joshua 2 in context

Joshua 2 opens the conquest narrative just before Israel crosses the Jordan. Forty years earlier twelve spies returned fearful; now two return in faith. Jericho was a fortified gateway city into Canaan.

Rahab is named among the Canaanites marked for destruction, yet her confession and courage set her apart, foreshadowing that faith, not bloodline, marks out the true people of God.

Main themes of Joshua 2

Joshua 2 (KJV)

1And 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. 2And 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. 3And 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. 4And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. 6But 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. 7And 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. 8And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9And 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. 10For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11And 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. 12Now 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: 13And 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. 14And 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. 15Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16And 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. 17And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18Behold, 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. 19And 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. 20And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21And 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. 22And 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. 23So 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: 24And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

Verses to carry from Joshua 2

“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.”Joshua 2:11

“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:”Joshua 2:12

“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.”Joshua 2:18

Reflection

Rahab had every reason to think herself beyond hope: wrong nation, wrong trade, a city under judgment. Yet she heard what God had done and staked everything on Him. Faith is not first about a clean record but about turning toward the God who saves. Where have you assumed your past disqualifies you from His mercy?

A prayer from Joshua 2