Josué 2

Josué 2

Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Joshua 2:18 This line of scarlet thread. It speaks of the precious blood of Christ. Scarlet is the color of Calvary. Twine it round the window through which thou lookest out on thy foes, and away to the river of death. Nothing can hurt the soul which has put the precious blood of Christ between it and condemnation or alarm. Let every outlook to the future be associated with a remembrance that his blood was shed for thee, and be thou thankful. Rahab is the type of Gentile sinners who are permitted to share in the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to sit with Him in the heavenlies. That scarlet thread had been the means of salvation to the spies. By it they had been let down to the ground and saved from death. It must have been strong. So the blood of Christ avails, not only for us, but for all who shelter with us in the household of faith, and for others who find it the means of life as they receive it from our hands. Let us see to it that, like Rahab, we gather father and mother, brethren and friends, to share with us the shelter and safeguard of the precious blood. But, after all, it was not the cord that saved — that was only the emblem and type. Behind it on the one hand was God’s oath, spoken through the spies, and on the other was Rahab’s faith. The true safety of that house on the wall stood in the moral attitude of one woman in it. Rehab believed God who had dried up the water of the Red Sea, and who was God in heaven above and in earth beneath. This faith raised her afterwards from her life of shame to become the ancestress of Christ. Such wonders does the blood of Christ work in outcasts from the commonwealth of Israel, bringing them nigh. George Bush - Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 2 18. This line of scarlet thread. Rather ‘this cord,’ i. e. a line or cord, consisting of such a number of threads or braids, that when twisted together, they should be capable of sustaining the weight of a man’s body; for it seems to have been the very same cord with which they were let down from the window. This was to be a mark upon the house, of which the spies would inform the camp of Israel, so that no soldier, however fierce and eager he might be in the work of destruction, should offer any violence to the place thus distinguished. It answered, therefore, the same purpose with the blood sprinkled upon the door-posts in Egypt, which secured the first-born from the destroying angel. Thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother, &c. Heb. תאספי taasphi, thou, shalt bring together, assemble. In no other way could Rahab’s kindred be distinguished from those who were to be devoted to the sword. If they would not ‘perish with them that believed not,’ they must convey themselves to the only place of safety. If any of them had been met in the streets by the slaughtering Israelites, it would have availed them nothing to say, ‘We belong to the house of Rahab.’ The answer would be, ‘If you belong to the house, why are you not in the house? We know you not.’ So those who professedly belong to the church of Christ, if they would be saved, must keep close to the society of the faithful. If they are found mingled with the world in spirit and pursuit, they have reason to fear being overwhelmed in its destruction. Joshua 2:19 "It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. anyone who goes out of the doors of your house: Ex 12:13,23 Nu 35:26-28 1Ki 2:36-42 Mt 24:17 Ac 27:31 Php 3:9 Heb 10:29 1Jn 2:27,28 his blood: Lev 20:9,11 2Sa 1:16 3:28,29 Eze 33:4,5 Mt 27:24,25 Ac 18:6 Ac 20:26 his blood: Jos 2:14 2Sa 4:11 1Ki 2:32 Mt 27:25 Joshua 2 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE STIPULATION TO STAY IN THE HOUSE It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free - Salvation is a choice and anyone who left the safe confines of the harlot's house would lose their life. One commentator says "notice the conditional covenant related to the faith of Rahab." While there is truth in that statement, it could be misinterpreted to suggest that Rahab's works (meeting the spies conditions) resulted in her salvation. To be sure had she failed to put out the scarlet cord, she would not have been saved. But why did she put it out? Because she had faith in Yahweh and knew He would give Israel the land and victory over the city of Jericho. In short her faith saved her, but her works demonstrated that her faith was genuine ("saving faith"). In other words belief in YHWH will motivate abiding by the three conditions of the spies in Joshua 2:18–20. But anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him - The two spies repeat the oath saying if Rahab's family obeys their stipulations and one is harmed, they themselves (the spies) would be guilty of the death of that family member. THOUGHT - Our faith is demonstrated when our IFs become WHENs. Bob Marcaurelle - The blood red line of salvation runs all the way from God killing the first animal in Genesis 3:15, 21+ to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, to Revelation where Jesus, the Lamb of God, slain for Rahab and you and me, stands, with the scars of slaughter still on his beautiful body (Rev. 5:9+). In Him is the only place of safety. We must needs go home By the way of the cross There’s no other way but this We will ne’er catch sight Of the gates of light If the way of the cross we miss. George Bush - Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 2 19. His blood shall be upon his head. The guilt of his blood-shedding shall rest wholly upon himself. He shall have no one else to blame. He has failed to perform the conditions of the covenant, and so must suffer for it. If any hand be upon him. That is, so as to slay him. See a like phraseology, Deut. 17:7, Est. 6:2, Job. 1:12. Joshua 2:20 "But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear." But if you tell this business of ours,: Pr 11:13 SECOND STIPULATION REGARDING THEIR OATH But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear - The spies demand that Rahab maintain complete silence about their mission or otherwise their oath would be invalidated. Joshua 2:21 She said, "According to your words, so be it." So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. she tied the scarlet cord Jos 2:18 Mt 7:24 Joh 2:5 Joshua 2 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Exodus 12:7+ Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. Exodus 12:23+ “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. Hebrews 9:19; For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, Proposed Plan of Ancient Jericho (see note) RAHAB'S SIGNAL OF THE SCARLET CORD She said, "According to your words, so be it." - Rahab agrees to the conditions which must be kept in order to assure the oath by the spies would remain binding and none of her family would die. So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord (tiqwah) in the window - From this text it appears that Rahab put the scarlet cord in the window immediately. Since Jericho was shut tight, no one would have been suspicious or inquisitive about this cord for they were all within the city walls. The scarlet cord (tiqwah) reminds us of the sacrificial lamb's blood on the doorpost, which cause the death angel to pass over all the souls in that house during the slaying of all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:7+ Exodus 12:23+) Utley on cord (tiqwah) - The term “rope” (chebel) in Joshua 2:15 is different from the term (tiqwah) used in Josh 2:18 and Josh 2:21. The first (chebel) implies a corded strong rope, the second (tiqwah) a much smaller, weaker rope, or thick thread. By putting out this small rope/thread it did not draw undue attention to her home by the inhabitants of Jericho. The color scarlet (saniy/shaniy) is often associated with the tabernacle color, but must have also been a common color for thread (cf. Ge 38:28, 30). These spies may have had it with them. The dye color came from a worm Joshua 6:25 that after the destruction of Jericho Rahab "lives among the Israelites to this day.” She became a part of the family of God and the people of God and in the most amazing display of grace was placed in the lineage of the Messiah. Rahab went from the Old Jericho House of Shame to New Jerusalem Hall of Fame. -- Bob Marcaurelle This scarlet cord (tiqwah) , the color perhaps speaking of the blood of sacrifice, was thus Rahab's only hope of deliverance for herself and her loved ones. All others in Jericho perished when the children of Israel took it several days later (Joshua 6:25). They had heard much of the same truth that Rahab had heard about Israel and its God, but all rejected it choosing rather to traverse the broad road to eternal destruction (Mt 7:13-14+) THOUGHT - Have you "tied the scarlet cord" over your "house," your body? Have you come under the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, and into the shelter of salvation—the only ark of safety? Irving Jensen - On Rahab's acceptance of the conditions, the spies departed into the wilds of the nearby mountain, while she lost no time in binding the scarlet thread in the window, sealing her deliverance. What a beautiful picture of the believer's salvation, very much like the earlier experience of the Israelites in Egypt, when God said to them, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). When Joshua's army saw the scarlet thread, they would spare the lives of all in the house. Campbell - The door of her house was a door to safety from the judgment soon to fall on Jericho (cf. Ge 7:16; Ex. 12:23; John 10:9)....Jericho at this time was surrounded by two walls about 15 feet apart (SEE DEPICTION OF JERICHO ABOVE). Planks of wood spanned the gap and then houses were built on this foundation. Probably due to the pressure of space in the small city, Rahab’s house was one of those built “on the wall.” In this way it was “part of the city wall” (Joshua 2:15). (The Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament or Here) Doug Goins: It's interesting how the Israelite armies that advanced were to know which house was hers. The location of that house in or on the city wall would make it easy for the spies to escape and also for the house to be recognized by the advancing army. For about 250 years biblical critics claimed that this story was mythological, or at best historical fiction, because there was no evidence that there were houses built into city walls in the ancient near east. But the excavations in Jericho after the turn of the century showed that the city was surrounded by double walls with twelve feet between them. And they found evidence that simple houses were built on top of timbers that were spread between the two walls. These were like poor squatter's houses sitting on top of the city wall. . . (See Biblical Sites: Three Discoveries at Jericho) Johnny Hunt - Often in biblical covenants, God appointed some physical or material token to remind the people of what had been promised. EXAMPLES: Abraham - sealed by the rite of circumcision; Moses- cloud and pillar of fire; Noah - rainbow; Jesus - broken bread and cup of wine; Rahab- scarlet cord. The scarlet cord out the window of her house, which was built on the wall, would identify her house as the “house of safety.” Just as Egypt’s blood on the doorpost marked a house that the angel of death was to pass over, so Rahab’s scarlet cord.