Spies in Jericho

Joshua 2 - Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."

"Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."

So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."

The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."

"Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."

Apparently these two guys weren't very good spies -- at least not of the type we think of today. Spies are supposed to do things in secret; their actions, locations, names, and so on are not supposed to be general knowledge. Yet soon after they enter Jericho, someone figures out who they are, where they're staying, and what their mission is.

But that's about all the credit I can give the Jerichoans. What happens after the king (much like the mayor and police chief rolled into one) is told about the plot is a puzzlement. Were these people just that stupid? I wonder why the king only sent a message to Rahab. Why didn't he send armed guards to search her house from top to bottom until the spies were found? Why did he believe the word of a prostitute and send his men off into the countryside on a wild goose chase? Someone had seen the men enter Rahab's house. Did no one notice that they hadn't come out again? Why didn't the king have men search everywhere -- in the country and in the city? Even if Rahab was really an innkeeper (as a footnote in most Bibles suggests is a possibility), was she so respected and trustworthy that no one thought to verify her story?

For 3 days they searched along the roads. Did they really think they would find the spies out in the open? I wonder if they really wanted to find them. I wonder how Rahab knew the spies should hide in the hills for 3 days.

I wonder if, while hiding in the hills, the spies could see their pursuers along the road. Even though Rahab had suggested 3 days, how else would they have known when it was safe to come down and head back to camp?

Rahab tied the scarlet rope in the window (which was set in the city wall) through which she had helped the spies escape. I wonder what happened to all of that when the walls of Jericho came a-tumblin' down not many days hence.