Rahab and a New Exodus

Joshua 2-3

            Rahab plays an outsize role in the Bible, not so much here in Joshua so much as in other places Here in Joshua, she is motivated pretty clearly by a sense of self-preservation. The people of Jericho have been aware of Israel for a long time: they have heard about the Red Sea crossing, which would have been 40 years in the past. As much as Israel may have been frightened by the impending conquest, the Canaanites were even more frightened. Rahab even comes pretty close to a confession of faith, “The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” So, she strikes a deal for herself and for her family to survive the coming invasion. (I wonder if the scarlet cord is supposed to remind us of all those times scarlet yarn was specified for the tabernacle, but I think that may be a little too much…)

            Rahab comes up three times in the New Testament, too. The writer of Hebrews names her as a person of faith (11:31), and James likens her protection of the spies to a good work, a work of faith (2:25). (Whether that confession was genuine at the time or whether she grew into later doesn’t really matter: the New Testament calls out her faith.) Most important, though, is her mention in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:5, where she is listed as the mother of Boaz, that righteous man who did right by Naomi and Ruth. In the same verse, Ruth is named as an ancestor of David. Two Gentiles—Gentile women, no less—right there among Jesus’ ancestors! Taken all together, this portrayal of Rahab shows us that God’s grace extends to all who believe!

            Chapter 3 recounts the crossing of the Jordan river. The thing to see here is the resonance with the crossing of the Red Sea. We have the image of the water piling up and the phrase “on dry ground.” This miraculous crossing wasn’t strictly necessary: the spies forded the river with no problem (2:23). Still, a river is a river and the river bed would have been full of silt, so the miracle certainly eased the way. As I mentioned, though, the miracle is more important for the way it echoes the original exodus. It’s like the Lord is saying, “OK, here we go. After a 40-year delay, I’m finishing what I started with Moses and your parents.” There’s a sense of the story finally moving forward after the delay in the wilderness.