Joshua 2:1-14

a Heathen Woman's Act of Faith

Joshua 2:1

“To view the land” was a hazardous undertaking. The physiognomy of the Hebrews would certainly betray them, and it did. The sacred writer does not commend Rahab's mode of life nor her lies. Her morality was faulty enough, but beneath it, slowly smoldering, was a spark of pure love and faith, and this would consume the rubbish and burn clear, Hebrews 11:31.

The stalks of flax were probably laid out on the roof to dry. She believed, on the ground of the wonders wrought in Egypt, that Jehovah was the true God, and that His word was sure. Her faith proved itself in her works-in her efforts to save others, and in the confidence with which she rested behind her scarlet cord. That she was sneered at and persecuted is quite likely, but she persisted and became an ancestress of Christ, Matthew 1:5. How faith greatens the soul! James 2:25.