Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 2.djvu/19

Rh into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5. And 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. 6. But 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. 7. And 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.

In these verses we have,

I. The prudence of Joshua, in sending spies to observe this important pass, which was likely to be disputed at the entrance of Israel into Canaan, v. 1, Go view the land, even Jericho. Moses had sent spies, Numb. 13. (Joshua himself was one of them,) and it proved of ill consequence: yet Joshua now sends spies, not as the former were sent to survey the whole land, but Jericho only; not to bring the account to the whole congregation, but to Joshua only; who, like a watchful General, was continually projecting for the public good, and was particularly careful to take the first step well, and not to stumble at the threshold. It was not fit that Joshua should venture over Jordan, to make his remarks incognito—in disguise, but he sends two men, two young men (say the LXX.) to view the land, that from their report he might take his measures in attacking Jericho. Observe, 1. There is no remedy, but great men must see with other people's eyes, which makes it very necessary that they be cautious in the choice of those they employ, since so much often depends on their fidelity. 2. Faith in God's promise ought not to supersede but encourage our diligence in the use of proper means. Joshua is sure he has God with him, and yet sends men before him. We do not trust God, but tempt him, if our expectations slacken our endeavours. See how ready these men were to go upon this hazardous enterprise; though they put their lives in their hands, vet they ventured in obedience to Joshua their General, in zeal for the service of the camp, and in dependence upon the power of that God, who being the keeper of Israel in general, is the Protector of every particular Israelite in the way of his duty.

II. The providence of God, directing the spies to the house of Rahab. How they got over Jordan we are not told, but into Jericho they came, which was about seven or eight miles from the river, and there seeking for a convenient inn, were directed to the house of Rahab, here called a harlot; a woman that had formerly been of ill fame, the reproach of which stuck to her name, though of late she had repented and reformed. Simon the leper, (Matt. 26. 6.) though cleansed from his leprosy, wore the reproach of it in his name as long as he lived; so Rahab the harlot, and she is so called in the New Testament, where both her faith and her good works are praised, to teach us, 1. That the greatness of sin is no bar to pardoning mercy, if it be truly repented of in time. We read of publicans and harlots entering into the kingdom of the Messiah, and being welcomed to all the privileges of that kingdom, Matt. 21. 31. 2. That there are many, who before their conversion were very wicked and vile, and yet afterward come to great eminence in faith and holiness. Even those that through grace have repented of the sins of their youth, must expect to bear the reproach of them, and when they hear of their old faults, must renew their repentance; and as an evidence of that, hear of them patiently.

God's Israel, for aught that appears, had but one friend, but one well-wisher in all Jericho, and that was Rahab, a harlot. God has often served his own purposes and his church's interests by men of indifferent morals. Had these scouts gone to any other house than this, they had certainly been betrayed and put to death without mercy. But God knew where they had a friend that would be true to them, though they did not, and directed, them thither. Thus that which seems to us most contingent and accidental, is often over-ruled by the Divine Providence to serve its great ends. And those that faithfully acknowledge God in their ways, he will guide them with his eye. See Jer. 36. 19, 26.

III. The piety of Rahab in receiving and protecting these Israelites. Those that keep public-houses, entertain all comers, and think themselves obliged to be civil to their guests. But Rahab showed her guests more than common civility, and went upon an uncommon principle in what she did; it was by faith that she received those with peace, against whom her king and country had denounced war, Heb. 11. 31. 1. She bid them welcome to her house, they lodged there, though it appears by what she said to them, v. 9. she knew both whence they came, and what their business was. 2. Perceiving that they were observed coming into the city, and that umbrage was taken at it, she hid them upon the roof of the house, which was flat, and covered them with stalks of flax, (v. 6.) so that if the officers should come hither to search for them, there they might lie undiscovered. By these stalks of flax, which she herself had laid in order upon the roof to dry in the sun, in order to the beating of it, and making it ready for the wheel, it appears she had one of the good characters of the virtuous woman, however in others of them she might be deficient, that she sought wool and flax, and wrought willingly with her hands, Prov. 31. 13. From which instance of her honest industry, one would hope, that whatever she had been formerly, she was not now a harlot. 3. When she was examined concerning them, she denied they were in her house, turned off the officers that had a warrant to search for them with a sham, and so secured them. No marvel that the king of Jericho sent to inquire after them, v. 2, 3. he had cause to fear when the enemy was at his door, and his fear made him suspicious and jealous of all strangers; he had reason to demand from Rahab that she should bring forth the men to be dealt with as spies: but Rahab not only disowned that she knew them, or where they were, but, that no further search might be made for them in the city, told the pursuers they were gone away again, and in all probability might be overtaken, v. 4, 5.

Now, (1.) We are sure this was a good work: it is canonized by the apostle, James 2. 25. where she is said to be justified by works, and this is instanced in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way, and she did it by faith, such a faith as set her above the fear of man, even of the wrath of the king. She believed, upon the report she had heard of the wonders wrought for Israel, that their God was the only true God, and that therefore their declared design upon Canaan would undoubtedly take effect, and in this faith she sided with them, protected them, and courted their favour. Had she said, "I believe God is your's and Canaan your's, but I dare not show you any kindness," her faith had been dead and inactive,