Joshua 7:17, “And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to YHWH for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute an all who are with her in her house shall live…”
Another instance of the Lord’s shockingly unexpected way of working. First, a little background:. In Deuteronomy 20:16-18 (and many other places beside), we read of how Israel is to essentially function as YHWH’s sword of judgment against the Canaanite people, “devoting” them to destruction. The abominations of the Canaanites, especially connected to the manner in which they worshiped their demon-gods, were to such a degree that an eruption of final judgment had broken out against them and Israel was to be the embodiment of that judgment. The people of YHWH—functioning as the sword of YHWH—were to completely wipe out the Canaanite presence from the face of the earth. So, that is the situation: unspeakable abominations practiced by the people of Canaan, which result in the command for Israel to completely and totally destroy their presence in the land as an act of divine judgment (Note: this sort of action is unique to the theocratic era in which ancient Israel lived, it is no longer applicable to God’s people. But, a longer discussion on that is for another time).
Now, fast forward to Joshua 6:16-17 and we see Joshua actually carrying out this policy of total destruction,
“Shout, for YHWH has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to YHWH for destruction.”
Except here, we see something unexpected….something that would seem—if our prior reading of Deuteronomy was all we had to go on—would seem to be an unsanctioned exception. In the sentence immediately following the one cited above, Joshua qualifies the total destruction of Jericho and its people with these words:
“Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.”
Someone—and potentially more than one—is to be preserved through the manifest divine judgment of Israel’s assault. Every preceding description of this total destruction policy left no room for survivors. It was clear that the monstrous sins of the Canaanites had justly sealed their destruction. And yet here, beyond all expectation, we see an inhabitant of the city, a Canaanite, a woman, a prostitute is preserved from the judgment. Why?
The reason that Joshua gives is that she hid the messengers of Israel—essentially siding with Israel against Jericho. True, but why did she do that? If we turn back to Joshua 2:11, we will see:
“And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for YHWH your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”
Rahab—apparently unlike the other frightened, but still rebellious citizens of Jericho—Rahab heard of the mighty works of YHWH and her rebellious heart was melted down, she confesses that YHWH, the God of Israel is God. That (the “root” of faith) is why she hides the spies (the “fruit” of works), and it is on the basis of this recognition and response to YHWH’s Name that she is preserved from the hell of divine judgment that Israel is bringing against Jericho.
I know people scoff at the association of the scarlet cord hung from Rahab’s window and the redeeming blood of Christ, but let them scoff. Here is a woman condemned to destruction who comes alive to the glory of YHWH and receives Him by faith so that, when the storm of wrath comes, she is preserved through it. And what is the sign given for her preservation? A scarlet cord, a blood-colored cord. At the very least this episode echoes the Passover in which the blood of a lamb was placed on the doorposts so that the destruction of the Lord would pass by. And when the Lord ordained the sign of the scarlet cord, evoking the sign of the lamb’s blood, is it honest to the narrative of redemptive history to imagine that He did not also have in mind the fulfillment of Passover? The scarlet blood of His only son as the sign under which all people must be preserved from wrath? No—I am convinced that (In light of the full scope of redemptive history and in accordance with the sovereignty of the Author who declares the beginning from the end) this cord by which Rahab’s salvation is signified is an image of the wrath-absorbing blood/death of our Lord and our God. Hallowed be His Name.
So, beyond all hope, faith is granted even in Canaan, even in the heart of Canaanite prostitute, and YHWH preserves her from the storm of His wrath under the sign of a crimson cord. But there is more beauty to be seen—in fact, this is the reason I took the time to write this all down in the first place.
Where do we see this Canaanite prostitute—this one snatched from wrath beyond all hope—where do we see her again? In Matthew 1:5, in the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah! The womb of this condemned-and-redeemed Canaanite prostitute carries the seed by which GOD HIMSELF will enter time and space and perform the true and final redemption for all those condemned to die! How can it be? When we read the descriptions of the Canaanites, when we read the commands to carry out total destruction on these people who have set themselves against all that YHWH is….when we read these passages—who could imagine that the Lord would choose one of these Canaanites to be the carrier of His own blood, the one through whom He Himself, in the Son, would enter our history? Hallowed be His Name!
The Canaanite prostitute saved under the sign of the crimson cord would become a God-chosen vessel, a vessel whose own crimson blood would flow through the generations until it filled the veins of God incarnate. And He Himself would pour out that blood—the true scarlet cord hung from this window of the Church in the midst of a condemned world—would pour out His blood on the cross for the true and Final salvation of His people. Glory to God for His unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways!
