(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Joshua 2:1–7, “And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.”
Even though the Lord had promised Joshua that he would have success in the task he was doing, he still had to make sure that he prepared himself and his army to take possession of the Land. Apart from Joshua and Caleb, no one else in Israel had been inside the borders of the Promised Land. Joshua took a wiser precaution and sent spies to gain intelligence about the first city they were to attack. Even though Abraham left his home and went to an unseen and unknown destination, Joshua was going with about two million people and it was wise for him to take precautions and make careful preparations. They crossed the Jordan River in secret and then went to find out as much as they could about Jericho, the fist city they would encounter, and the surrounding region. These men entered the city and stayed at, a woman called, Rahab’s house. This was a good place for them to stay because people would be coming and going and they would be able to hear what was being said in the town. Someone saw them there and realised that they were Israelis and told the king that there spies from Israel gaining intelligence about Jericho. The king wasn’t stupid so he sent and asked Rahab to surrender the men to him. However, Rahab told the king that two men had come and she didn’t know who they were. Jericho was a city with a surrounding wall to protect the inhabitants from attack. In order to maintain security, the leaders of the city made sure that the city gates were securely locked each night. After the gates were locked no one could come in or go out until the gates were opened the next morning. The king sent for the spies after the gate was guarded so they couldn’t escape from the city. Rahab told the king that men had left then she took them to the flat roof of her house and hid them. In those days people would dry grain and other things on the flat roof in the sun. Rahab hid the men under some some flax, these fibres would later be used to make linen cloth. The king sent men to find the spies but they remained hidden on the flat roof of Rahab’s house.
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