Joshua 2:14-24: a reflection

14The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when the LORD gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.” 15Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. 16She said to them, “Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way.” 17The men said to her, “We will be guiltless of this your oath which you’ve made us to swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, tie this line of scarlet thread in the window which you used to let us down. Gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him. 20But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you’ve made us to swear.” 21She said, “Let it be as you have said.” She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the scarlet line in the window. 22They went and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but didn’t find them. 23Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, crossed the river, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them. 24They said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us.”

Rahab, a prostitute of Jericho and an outsider to Israel, has hidden the Israelite spies because she has come to believe that their God is the true God who has given them the land. Now the spies make an agreement with her: when Israel takes the city, she is to tie a scarlet cord in her window, and everyone gathered in her house under that scarlet marker will be spared. She ties the scarlet cord, and when Jericho falls, Rahab and her family are saved.

Notice who is saved here, and how. Rahab was an outsider, a Gentile, a woman of ill repute, seemingly the last candidate for a place among God's people. Yet because she believed and acted on her faith, she and her household were rescued, marked out for salvation by a scarlet cord, much as Israel's houses had been marked by the blood of the lamb at Passover. Grace reached the unlikely outsider, and the scarlet thread became her salvation.

There is gospel here, and hope for anyone who feels like the last candidate for God's mercy. Rahab's background did not disqualify her; her faith brought her in, and the scarlet marker saved her. She is even named, later, in the ancestry of Christ himself. No one is too far outside, too disreputable, too unlikely for God's saving grace. If you feel like an outsider to God's people, unqualified by your past, remember Rahab and the scarlet cord. Grace reaches the unlikely; faith brings the outsider in; and the scarlet thread of salvation, fulfilled in Christ's blood, is held out to you too.

Lord, Rahab was an outsider, disreputable, seemingly the last candidate for mercy, and yet her faith brought her in, and the scarlet cord saved her and her household. When I feel like an outsider, unqualified by my past, remind me that no one is too far outside for your grace. Thank you that the scarlet thread of salvation, fulfilled in Christ's blood, is held out even to me. Bring me in, as you brought in Rahab, by faith.