King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 9 notes
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.
How did he know? Even in their times, though there was no camera 📸, men were stationed to ensure spies were kept out.
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:
We celebrate Rahab as making a wise choice, but was she not a betrayer?
Or she was wise, not being blinded by loyalty to a failing state.
She aligned herself with God and his purposes, though she was a harlot.
This does not mean God approves of harlotry, but after she aligned and finally joins Israel, she is married to an Israelite, and from her genealogy comes the Christ.
No record again is made of her harlotry. Indeed, harlotry was prohibited in Israel 🇮🇱
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.
40 years ago and the story persists... It's difficult to shake off such a story, especially when eyewitnesses were still alive.
Now here comes this dreaded people to take your land. You are done for indeed.
Rahab was wise and she shine her eyes 👀.
She was smart and no idiot to continue her allegiance to a failed state.
More so, being a prostitute, she knew men and how vain they were. She plied her trade by wisdom, stealth and deceptive manipulation.
She would not be fooled by statedom and its lure.
Like almost all states, the people are just tools in the hands 👐 of the mighty, fed with lies 🤥 to keep them humble.
She slept likely with men of repute and she heard stories. She knew it was a game of thrones. Kings 👑 and ♟ pawns.
Her opportunity had come. She would not be fooled.
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.
They heard these victories and attributed it not to the men of Israel but to God.
This was God's strategy, that through Israel he would root out all evil 😈, and the remnant of men, seeing the wisdom, holiness and blessedness of serving the Lord, would willingly come to him and be adopted into Israel.
Only a fool after seeing all this would not.
But alas, Israel also failed the Lord woefully and delayed the plan of uniting man to God. All of the world 🗺 to God.
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.
Oh, this marked a true sign 🤘 for them that the people feared them and that the land was theirs.
It was such personal interactions that the 12 spies lacked, because from the crossing of the Red Sea, these heathen had heard what the Lord had done and feared.
This was forty years ago; if only they had believed the Lord. The people of Canaan's hearts ♥ always melted, and yet the people also feared 😨 that which feared them.
What an irony 😏. What wasted opportunity and years.
No wonder the Lord was so wroth with them.
SHE WAS A PROSTITUTE, SHE WAS A BELIEVER
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.
Strategic location for business.
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.
Interesting imagery...
Imagine as Israel raided the other houses 🏘, burning 🔥 them down and breaking them.
Yet there conspicuously stood this house, which stood obviously unscathed. Whose house 🏡 was that?
The house of Rahab the prostitute, and all in there were safe.
Imagine the weeks preceding this event, Rahab seemed to be having a family reunion as all friends and family 👪 came to her home 🏡 and refused to return or go too far from her home.
I wonder what excuse they coined for this number of people coming to her home...
Her house became like Noah's ark.
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.
SHE betrayed her own people, she changed allegiance, she was now a Jew, she and her household. She was now born again. She too will now behold the cloud of God's glory.
She also will at last see HIS SHEKINAH
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.