Be strong and courageous
Joshua Chapters 1 and 2 Read it here
The anonymous author of Joshua isn’t subtle about what he wants the reader to take away from the book.
Just in Chapter 1 he twice uses the sentence, “Be strong and courageous,” (vss 6 and 9). Twice he add a word, with Vs. 7, “Be very strong and courageous,” and Vs. 18 “Only be very strong and courageous.”
For those who don’t understand the direct approach, he gives us in Vs. 9, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
The people have spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, getting prepared to enter the Promised Land. Now it’s time to act, and that, apparently, is going to require strength and courage.
If that’s not enough to let you know that we’re no longer in the sleep-inducing world of law and ritual, the story then turns to the Bible’s most famous prostitute, Rahab.
Joshua sends spies into Jericho in preparation for taking the city. They soon end up at the home of Rahab. Some modern scholars describe her business as more of inn-keeping, but history has always described her as renting more than rooms.
This is actually a smart move on the spies’ part. A disreputable inn in the city wall—probably near a gate—would be a place that two unfamiliar foreign men would not stand out. Its proprietor would also be the kind of person unlikely to ask questions or to share the identity of customers.
The spies already exemplify the author’s ideal of being strong and courageous, and in Rahab they meet their match.
Almost right away she makes a statement of faith that many Israelites would probably hesitate to make: not only is she absolutely confident that God will give them the city, she also says, “the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below,” (2:11).
She then shows her courage by lying to officers looking for the spies, then negotiates for the safety of herself and her whole family in exchange for helping the spies escape.
It’s intriguing that despite her apparent occupation, the only remarks made about her in the New Testament are about her position as an ancestor of Jesus and her great faith. Nowhere is it seen as even unusual that a woman would be an assertive, intelligent businessperson who appears to effectively be the head of her family, even though she has a living father and brothers.
It also isn’t remarked on that the spies willingly enter into an agreement with her, trusting that this gentile woman is capable of providing protection for them and their plans.