John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: May 17

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John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: May 17


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Joshua 2

It must have been very evident to Joshua that the large and strong city of Jericho, which lay embosomed among its palm trees on the other side of the river, must be the first object of his operations on entering the land of Canaan. Very much depended upon the result of this initiatory step. Jericho was, for that age, a strongly wailed town; and we have already had occasion to observe that the Israelites were considerably afraid of walled towns—though such as lay in plains, like this Jericho, were, doubtless, less formidable to them than such as were stationed upon the hills. It was obviously desirable, therefore, that, before commencing operations, they should endeavor to receive such information as might tend to their encouragement in this great enterprise. We cannot, indeed, question that the Hebrew host had been put in good heart by its victories on the east of the Jordan; but still they probably entertained, from the traditions of the spies, most exaggerated notions of the power of the proper nations of Canaan, and they very probably supposed those whom they had overcome on the east of the river to be less mighty than the ancient nations on the west. It was evidently under the influence of such considerations, and less for his own information than to give confidence to the people, that Joshua concluded to dispatch two men on the delicate and dangerous task of entering the city, and of bringing back a report of its condition. The expedition is full of curious and interesting indications of Eastern manners and usages—some of which well deserve to engage our attention.

Although it is likely that considerable vigilance was exercised in the presence of an enemy separated from the city by little more than the breadth of the river, yet the two spies succeeded in getting into the town. As there was no friend in the place to receive them, and as it might have been dangerous to go at once to a public khan or caravanserai, they went to lodge at the house of a woman named Rahab. They had not been there long, before an alarming intimation reached them that their presence, not only in the town, but in that very house, was known, and that their errand also was more than suspected; for messengers came from the king of Jericho requiring the woman to produce them. In modern Europe the officers of the government would have entered the house without wasting the precious time in parley. But formerly, as now, in the East, the privacy of a woman was respected, even to a degree that might be called superstitious; and no one will enter the house in which she lives, or the part of the house she occupies, until her consent has been obtained, if, indeed, such consent be ever demanded. In this case it was not asked. Rahab was required not to let the messengers in, but to bring out the foreigners she harbored. The keen-witted woman, gathering, from what the messengers said, who her guests were, at once determined to save them; for, from a consideration of the wonders the Lord had wrought for Israel, her confidence in their ultimate success was so strong that she concluded to take advantage of this opportunity, by laying the men under such obligations as would ensure the safety of herself and friends. She withdrew from the window, whence probably she had heard the messengers for a moment; and hurrying the spies to the flat roof of the house hid them under the stalks of flax which had been laid out there to dry, probably informing them at the moment, that the king’s messengers were at the door inquiring for them. In this we see, what has not hitherto appeared, that the houses were at this time, as they still are, flat or terraced; and then as now, formed an important part of the economy of oriental life. This is the place where, in the cool of the day, the fresh air is breathed, by a people who never walk out expressly for air or exercise. Here they sleep during the nights of summer, when the interior apartments are too hot and sultry for refreshing repose, and when the coolness then enjoyed, enables the constitution to bear up against the heat of the day. These were especially important matters in the almost tropical climate of the plain of Jericho. Here, also, such matters as required to be dried by the heat of the sun are laid out in a situation which effectually protects them from depredation or even notice, and at the same time exposes them in the completest manner to the action of the solar heat.

The woman then returned to the messengers, and assured them, that although the two men had come to her house, they had not tarried till then. In the dusk, just before the time for shutting the town gate, they had departed. Whither they went she knew not, but they had gone so recently, that she thought they would be overtaken if vigorously pursued. The men believed her; for not only could there be no perceivable reason to them why she should seek to shelter such deadly foes—but the falsehood was ingeniously framed to deceive, for nothing could be more natural than that the men should take their departure at the time she indicated, when the shades of evening would allow them to pass out without any close inspection. Some have thought from this instance that gates were shut only in time of war—or when danger was apprehended from a foe: but it appears to us that gates were then—as at present in the East—always shut in the evening and opened in the morning, it being necessary even in times of peace, to guard against the night incursions of plunderers and beasts of prey. Not only are the gates in the East habitually thus closed in the evening—generally, as in this case, when it becomes dusk—but so rigidly is the keeping them closed enforced, that the guards themselves usually cannot open them to admit any persons without a special order from the governor of the place, which is not often obtained unless by persons of some consideration. Hence it not seldom happens, even in winter, that persons arriving too late are obliged to spend all the night outside the walls—and the apprehension of being shut out of the place to which they are going, makes all travellers push on briskly towards the close of day.

But what is to be said of Rahab’s being so ready with a lie—declaring that the men were gone, when they were really in the house? That sense of truthfulness which is the growth of Christian culture, is shocked at an untruth so circumstantial—and we cannot allow the motive as an excuse, seeing that it is forbidden to do evil that, good may come. It has been urged that by her act she had taken part with the Israelites, and that what would have been done by them in regard to their enemies might be done by her—it being lawful to deceive an enemy in war, as was often done by good men among the Israelites. Without discussing this closely, and simply observing, that the mere fact that the state of war renders “lawful” so many practices which the truth of Christian principle condemns, is one of the strongest arguments against war itself—we pass on to observe that among the ancient Heathen, as among those which still remain in the world, lying was scarcely regarded as a venial error, much less as a crime. There was no principle of truthfulness; and although men generally spoke truth where there was no benefit to gain or evil to avert by telling an untruth, as without this the common intercourse of social life could not be carried on—yet the slightest inducement was sufficient to drive them to the resort of a lie. An oath was obligatory—and for the most part a man might be believed as to what he affirmed on oath—but a mere word was but lightly regarded. It is observed by missionaries among the heathen, that so weak is the feeling of obligation as to the observance of strict veracity, that even apparently sincere converts have the greatest difficulty in freeing themselves from the habit of equivocation, and need continual watching and admonition in that respect. It is among the most important of the many social advantages which Christianity has conferred upon mankind, that to its teaching we owe the feeling—prevalent among all Christian nations—that a falsehood is a disgrace and a sin; and that a man is bound no less, religiously and morally, by his word than by his oath.

All this was unknown, however, to poor Rahab; who, having been brought up among a people so unprincipled as the Canaanites, had probably never heard that there was the least harm in lying—much less when an apparently good end was to be answered by it. These considerations may be fairly urged in extenuation of Rahab’s falsehood. God himself claims from us according to what we have, and not according to what we have not. In us, who have opportunities of better knowledge, untruthfulness must be judged by a different standard here and hereafter.

When all was safe, Rahab went to the risen, and relieved them from the flax. She told them that the people of the land were stricken with terror at the presence and known designs of the Hebrew host—having fully heard of all the marvellous deeds which has, been wrought in their behalf. She was perfectly assured that by the might of their God they must prevail—and in that confidence she exacted a pledge of safety for herself and for hers in consideration of the aid she had afforded. This was readily given by the men. She was to tie a scarlet cord which they gave her to a particular window of her house. This was to enable them to recognize the house; and they pledged themselves for the safety of all who might be in that house when the city should be taken. We have little doubt that the sign was chosen by the spies with some reference to their own passover solemnity, when the door-posts were sprinkled with blood, to denote that the destroying angel had passed by the doors so marked when the first-born of Egypt were slain.

Meanwhile the gates had been shut after the pursuers had gone, and they were probably guarded with unusual care to prevent the escape of the spies should they still be in the city. But the house of Rahab being situated upon the town wall, at a distance from the gate, she was enabled to let them down by a cord from one of the windows, in the very same manner as that in which Saul made his escape from Damascus. 2Co_11:33. They made their way to the wild mountains which border the plain of Jericho, as Rahab had advised; and when the pursuit after them had cooled, they returned to the camp. They felt they had discharged their mission; for the intelligence they brought as to the alarms of the Canaanites was in the highest degree encouraging to the people.