Joshua 1: 1-2, 6-7, 9; Joshua 2: 1-6, 9, 11-13, 15, 17-18, 21, 23-24
February 17, 2019
First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL
Christina Berry
The Hebrew Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, begin with the Torah – five books that span the first moment of creation to the death of Moses outside of the promised land. In between, God has acted in the lives of people, creating, calling, covenanting and liberating them. Now they are about to enter Canaan, the Promised Land, as the book of Joshua begins. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in these selections from Joshua 1.
Joshua 1: 1-2, 6-7, 9
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,
the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,
“My servant Moses is dead.
Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people,
into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites.
Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people
in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.
Only be strong and very courageous,
being careful to act in accordance with all the law
that my servant Moses commanded you;
do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,
so that you may be successful wherever you go.
I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous;
do not be frightened or dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Our second reading comes from the second chapter of Joshua, with enough verses, we hope, to give you the thread of the narrative. This complicated story starts off simply, but in the weeks to come we’ll encounter some difficult stories. Like the book of Joshua, this series will be complex and challenging, as we consider the impact of these stories on us, in our time. Today’s readings lay the groundwork for that.
Picture, if you can, an ancient land called Canaan, fourteen centuries before the birth of Jesus. Bisected by the Jordan River, it comprises the central majority of what is now Israel, with the Mediterranean sea as its entire western boundary. Syria is its northern neighbor, Jordan sits at the west of it, and the Egyptian peninsula is at the south.
Near the center of this land is the city of Jericho, an oasis about 15 miles from Jerusalem. Jericho has been inhabited for thousands of years, and several of those settlements were surrounded by walls.
In the time of Joshua, just after the death of Moses, the city was encircled by a high wall, with towers.[1] And just inside that wall lived a woman named Rahab. Let’s listen for her story, and our story in Joshua 2: 1-6, 9, 11-13, 15, 17-18, 21, 23-24
Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies,
saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute
whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there.
The king of Jericho was told,
“Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.”
Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab,
“Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house,
for they have come only to search out the whole land.”
But the woman took the two men and hid them.
Then she said, “True, the men came to me,
but I did not know where they came from.
And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out.
Where the men went I do not know.
Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.”
She had, however, brought them up to the roof
and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof.
[Rahab] said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land,
and that dread of you has fallen on us,
and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you.
As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted,
and there was no courage left in any of us because of you.
The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.
Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you,
swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family.
Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother,
my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them,
and deliver our lives from death.”
Then she let them down by a rope through the window,
for her house was on the outer side of the city wall
and she resided within the wall itself.
The men said to her, “We will be released from this oath
that you have made us swear to you
if we invade the land and you do not tie this crimson cord
in the window through which you let us down,
and you do not gather into your house your father and mother,
your brothers, and all your family.
She said, “According to your words, so be it.”
She sent them away and they departed.
Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.
Then the two men came down again from the hill country.
They crossed over, came to Joshua son of Nun,
and told him all that had happened to them.
They said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands;
moreover all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before us.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Be strong and courageous.
Be strong and courageous.
Be strong and courageous.
Three times God says this to Joshua.
Not only does God say it three times,
but the Israelites repeat it to Joshua in verse 18
“All that you have commanded us we will do,” they say to Joshua,
“and wherever you send us we will go.
…Only be strong and courageous.”
Facing uncertainty requires strength and courage,
and the Israelites understood that even as they repeated God’s command.
Rahab, too, understood the need to be strong and courageous.
She was a woman of ill repute. A harlot. A prostitute.
Rahab’s window looked out beyond that wall around the city.
Who knows why she lived on the periphery?
Perhaps it was because of her occupation.
The Israelite men had come to her house, probably in darkness,
probably the night before, probably to escape notice
as they investigated the city of Jericho.
The soldiers must have known Rahab – at least enough to guess
that strangers in town might gravitate toward her house.
But she doesn’t give them up.
In fact, she lies to the king’s soldiers, hides the spies,
gives them advice on evading the search parties,
makes a deal with them to save her family
and then lets them down out of the city with a rope out of her window.
Now THAT is strong and courageous!
If you were all seven years old, that would be my sermon today:
be strong and courageous; God is with you wherever you go.
But as important as that lesson is, we are not seven years old anymore.
And like the Israelites we find ourselves in uncertain times,
a time when what we knew in the past
doesn’t help us for what we must do in the future.
Not just our church, but all churches, face an uncertain future.
Not because we are scared or weak,
but because the world around us has changed.
Christendom and all the old certainties of status and tradition
no longer hold sway in our families, our community, or our nation.
Gone are the days when everyone went to church
and everyone knew the right thing to do,
even if they didn’t always do it.
Near the center of this land is the city of Jericho, an oasis about 15 miles from Jerusalem. Jericho has been inhabited for thousands of years, and several of those settlements were surrounded by walls.
In the time of Joshua, just after the death of Moses, the city was encircled by a high wall, with towers.[1] And just inside that wall lived a woman named Rahab. Let’s listen for her story, and our story in Joshua 2: 1-6, 9, 11-13, 15, 17-18, 21, 23-24
Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies,
saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute
whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there.
The king of Jericho was told,
“Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.”
Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab,
“Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house,
for they have come only to search out the whole land.”
But the woman took the two men and hid them.
Then she said, “True, the men came to me,
but I did not know where they came from.
And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out.
Where the men went I do not know.
Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.”
She had, however, brought them up to the roof
and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof.
[Rahab] said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land,
and that dread of you has fallen on us,
and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you.
As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted,
and there was no courage left in any of us because of you.
The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.
Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you,
swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family.
Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother,
my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them,
and deliver our lives from death.”
Then she let them down by a rope through the window,
for her house was on the outer side of the city wall
and she resided within the wall itself.
The men said to her, “We will be released from this oath
that you have made us swear to you
if we invade the land and you do not tie this crimson cord
in the window through which you let us down,
and you do not gather into your house your father and mother,
your brothers, and all your family.
She said, “According to your words, so be it.”
She sent them away and they departed.
Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.
Then the two men came down again from the hill country.
They crossed over, came to Joshua son of Nun,
and told him all that had happened to them.
They said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands;
moreover all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before us.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Be strong and courageous.
Be strong and courageous.
Be strong and courageous.
Three times God says this to Joshua.
Not only does God say it three times,
but the Israelites repeat it to Joshua in verse 18
“All that you have commanded us we will do,” they say to Joshua,
“and wherever you send us we will go.
…Only be strong and courageous.”
Facing uncertainty requires strength and courage,
and the Israelites understood that even as they repeated God’s command.
Rahab, too, understood the need to be strong and courageous.
She was a woman of ill repute. A harlot. A prostitute.
Rahab’s window looked out beyond that wall around the city.
Who knows why she lived on the periphery?
Perhaps it was because of her occupation.
The Israelite men had come to her house, probably in darkness,
probably the night before, probably to escape notice
as they investigated the city of Jericho.
The soldiers must have known Rahab – at least enough to guess
that strangers in town might gravitate toward her house.
But she doesn’t give them up.
In fact, she lies to the king’s soldiers, hides the spies,
gives them advice on evading the search parties,
makes a deal with them to save her family
and then lets them down out of the city with a rope out of her window.
Now THAT is strong and courageous!
If you were all seven years old, that would be my sermon today:
be strong and courageous; God is with you wherever you go.
But as important as that lesson is, we are not seven years old anymore.
And like the Israelites we find ourselves in uncertain times,
a time when what we knew in the past
doesn’t help us for what we must do in the future.
Not just our church, but all churches, face an uncertain future.
Not because we are scared or weak,
but because the world around us has changed.
Christendom and all the old certainties of status and tradition
no longer hold sway in our families, our community, or our nation.
Gone are the days when everyone went to church
and everyone knew the right thing to do,
even if they didn’t always do it.
Like those unnamed Israelite spies, like Rahab,
we are faced daily with morally ambiguous situations.
Who knows whether these characters in the story
asked themselves these questions-
The Israelites are a people in the midst of an enormous cultural transition.
Up to now, they have been nomadic, moving from place to place
until enslavement forced an extended stay in Egypt.
They’ve spent a generation or more wandering in the wilderness.
Through it all, in spite of their failures and conflicts,
even in the face of their complaining and defections,
they have shared a kind of tribal identity and culture.
They might be whining, but they knew who they were – Israelites.
And they might be unfaithful and fickle,
we are faced daily with morally ambiguous situations.
Who knows whether these characters in the story
asked themselves these questions-
- does Israel truly have a right to violently displace these people in the land?
- should Joshua have attempted a treaty with the king of Jericho?
- was it okay for Rahab to lie and commit treason?
- and why is Rahab, a harlot, a pagan and a traitor to her people, a hero?
The Israelites are a people in the midst of an enormous cultural transition.
Up to now, they have been nomadic, moving from place to place
until enslavement forced an extended stay in Egypt.
They’ve spent a generation or more wandering in the wilderness.
Through it all, in spite of their failures and conflicts,
even in the face of their complaining and defections,
they have shared a kind of tribal identity and culture.
They might be whining, but they knew who they were – Israelites.
And they might be unfaithful and fickle,
but they are God’s chosen people, and God is always with them.
They are the people of the covenant.
And they know that.
Now they are about to settle into the land flowing with milk and honey,
the land promised to them by the one true God of Israel.
But it isn’t as if that land is uninhabited, any more than America was.
Maybe God is giving them the land, but they won’t get it easily.
They are the people of the covenant.
And they know that.
Now they are about to settle into the land flowing with milk and honey,
the land promised to them by the one true God of Israel.
But it isn’t as if that land is uninhabited, any more than America was.
Maybe God is giving them the land, but they won’t get it easily.
So Joshua sends spies, who find a collaborator in Rahab.
Rahab knows about the Israelites.
Word of their escape from Egypt has spread far and wide.
Rahab tells the spies how fearful all of Jericho has become,
because, she said, “we have heard how the Lord dried up the water
of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt.”
She knows and understands that their God is
“indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.”
Shrewdly, courageously, Rahab throws in her lot with these Israelite spies.
She lies, she commits treason, she aids and abets the enemy,
and she makes a deal with them to save her family.
Taken apart from the story, each of those actions is wrong.
So Rahab, the pagan, the prostitute, a liar and a traitor,
is not, on the face of it, acceptable to the God of Israel.
Rahab knows about the Israelites.
Word of their escape from Egypt has spread far and wide.
Rahab tells the spies how fearful all of Jericho has become,
because, she said, “we have heard how the Lord dried up the water
of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt.”
She knows and understands that their God is
“indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.”
Shrewdly, courageously, Rahab throws in her lot with these Israelite spies.
She lies, she commits treason, she aids and abets the enemy,
and she makes a deal with them to save her family.
Taken apart from the story, each of those actions is wrong.
So Rahab, the pagan, the prostitute, a liar and a traitor,
is not, on the face of it, acceptable to the God of Israel.
The field of ethics gives us two lenses to look at the actions of Rahab:
the ethics of virtue, and the ethics of duty.
the ethics of virtue, and the ethics of duty.
Virtue ethics concerns itself with character – a virtuous person.
In this way of thinking, the question asked is not “is this right or wrong”
but “what would a virtuous person choose to do in such a situation?[2]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a perfect example of virtue ethics:
deeply faithful, a Christian pastor and scholar,
and fully aware that murder is wrong,
he nonetheless involved himself in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Another lens to examine this behavior is the lens of the ethics of duty.
Duty demands that the rules be followed, whatever the consequences.
We dutifully act rightly, even if the outcome is a greater wrong;
so if the only way to save a friend’s life is to tell a lie,
we tell the truth, even if it results in our friend’s death.
In this way of thinking, the question asked is not “is this right or wrong”
but “what would a virtuous person choose to do in such a situation?[2]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a perfect example of virtue ethics:
deeply faithful, a Christian pastor and scholar,
and fully aware that murder is wrong,
he nonetheless involved himself in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Another lens to examine this behavior is the lens of the ethics of duty.
Duty demands that the rules be followed, whatever the consequences.
We dutifully act rightly, even if the outcome is a greater wrong;
so if the only way to save a friend’s life is to tell a lie,
we tell the truth, even if it results in our friend’s death.
Although most of us are not faced with armed soldiers sent by angry kings,
we are each of us, every day, faced with ethical choices.
To simply “be strong and courageous” may not seem to be in us;
we may see ourselves as essentially weak and cowardly.
we are each of us, every day, faced with ethical choices.
To simply “be strong and courageous” may not seem to be in us;
we may see ourselves as essentially weak and cowardly.
"Be strong and courageous!"
But strength and courage are not virtues we whomp up on our own.
Listen again:
“Only be strong and very courageous,
being careful to act in accordance with all the law
that my servant Moses commanded you;
do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,
so that you may be successful wherever you go.
I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous;
do not be frightened or dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua heard the words of God in the context of his tribal story:
God gave the law to the people through Moses.
The people were to follow it with faithful focus –
looking neither to the right or the left.
But strength and courage are not virtues we whomp up on our own.
Listen again:
“Only be strong and very courageous,
being careful to act in accordance with all the law
that my servant Moses commanded you;
do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,
so that you may be successful wherever you go.
I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous;
do not be frightened or dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua heard the words of God in the context of his tribal story:
God gave the law to the people through Moses.
The people were to follow it with faithful focus –
looking neither to the right or the left.
Along with the call to strength and courage comes the assurance:
“the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Somehow, Rahab had the strength and courage
to ignore nationalism, to set aside her civic duty
and to act out of an ethic of virtue.
She will turn up again in the book of Joshua.
“the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Somehow, Rahab had the strength and courage
to ignore nationalism, to set aside her civic duty
and to act out of an ethic of virtue.
She will turn up again in the book of Joshua.
And even more importantly, Rahab turns up again in the Christian story.
In the first chapter of Matthew, in the genealogy of Jesus,
we discover that she is one of the ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth.
In Hebrews 11, the writer lists Rahab among the saints
who lived by faith before the time of Jesus:
And in James, chapter 2, Rahab appears again,
justified in faith by her works.
Strength and courage are something we need every day,
and to be strong and courageous may mean that we resist the status quo
and persist in doing what is right regardless of the risk.
And we can only do that by following God’s leading,
not following a checklist of rules or a set of doctrines,
not following a political platform or party or personality,
but keeping our focus on God –
looking neither to the left or the right as we seek to do what is virtuous.
In the first chapter of Matthew, in the genealogy of Jesus,
we discover that she is one of the ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth.
In Hebrews 11, the writer lists Rahab among the saints
who lived by faith before the time of Jesus:
And in James, chapter 2, Rahab appears again,
justified in faith by her works.
Strength and courage are something we need every day,
and to be strong and courageous may mean that we resist the status quo
and persist in doing what is right regardless of the risk.
And we can only do that by following God’s leading,
not following a checklist of rules or a set of doctrines,
not following a political platform or party or personality,
but keeping our focus on God –
looking neither to the left or the right as we seek to do what is virtuous.
To be strong and courageous, we are called to join with
that great cloud of witnesses of which Rahab is a part:
laying aside what weighs us down,
keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
who told us what matters,
who showed us how to love,
and who even now empowers each of us –
even in uncertain times -
to be strong and courageous.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
[1] https://www.ancient.eu/article/951/early-jericho/
[2] https://philosophynow.org/issues/25/Christian_Ethics_An_Ambiguous_Legacy
that great cloud of witnesses of which Rahab is a part:
laying aside what weighs us down,
keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
who told us what matters,
who showed us how to love,
and who even now empowers each of us –
even in uncertain times -
to be strong and courageous.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
[1] https://www.ancient.eu/article/951/early-jericho/
[2] https://philosophynow.org/issues/25/Christian_Ethics_An_Ambiguous_Legacy
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