The Scarlet Ribbon

Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and 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. For 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. And 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. Now 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 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And 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.” (Joshua 2:8-14 ESV).

 

The people of Israel were about to enter the land of Canaan. Joshua sent two of his men, saying, “Go, look over the land . . . especially Jericho.” The spies found a city of palms, an oasis on a well-traveled road, a gateway into the land of Canaan. The city was on about eight to nine acres of land and had a population of about 1,200 people. The complex of walls around the city reached a height of about 45 feet from the surrounding ground level. Inside the city the people, ruled by a king, were well-armed and fiercely warlike. When they made their way into the city, the spies met Rahab, a prostitute who had faith in their God, and she hid them in her home. When the king sent some men to seize the spies, Rahab said they had already left. Later she said to them, prophetically, “I know that the Lord has given you this land.”

 

Ultimately she helped them make their escape by lowering them from her window which faced outside the wall by a “scarlet ribbon,” or rope. Before she did this she secured the promise of deliverance from them, also found in our reading. It is important to see the hand of God in all of the circumstances of life. Some of the ancient Jewish fathers who held her in high reputation reckoned that she was the wife of Joshua himself, but in the royal genealogy of Jesus, Rahab is referred to as being the wife of Salmon, one of the two spies she sheltered. In turn, she became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth from whose son, Obed, Jesse the father of David came, through whose line Jesus was born (cf. Matthew 1:5). We are living in those kinds of times today. While the circumstances seem impossible, God is in the process of redeeming His world. All of this will work together for the good of His children (cf. Romans 8:28). Trust Him!