The Book of Joshua – Part 2: Rahab Hides the Spies – Jos 2:1-24 (MKJV)

[Study Aired February 25, 2023]

In Part 1 of the study into the book of Joshua, we saw Joshua established as the Lord’s fearless leader over Israel. The most patient and humble man (Num 12:3), Moses, suffered and contended with Israel’s endless complaints. He never thought it easier to dwell in the corner of a rooftop than with this brawling woman. Upon coming down from the mount with the commandments of the Lord and seeing the Israelites wild partying around their golden calf, Moses said, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” (Exo 32:32)

Under Joshua, young Israel crossed the Jordan River with the initial arousal of a righteous bride in the flush of building her house upon the foundation of her God.

Pro 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

The Lord’s young carnal bride is the same woman that died in the wilderness, starting afresh, doomed to repeat her elder half’s sins. For the Elect of God, coming out of Egypt reflects the fact Babylon doesn’t magically make our lusts disappear. Learning how to rout the giants from our land is a painfully slow learning process, duplicated from our predecessor’s experiences.

Israel, under Joshua, has a honeymoon phase of successes that, after his death, transforms into a seesaw of pouting resistance and, in word only, her agreement with her Lord. With tears from chastisement and a double mind, she maintains her pleasures of the flesh.

First, a series of miraculous wins over her enemies that to this day empower her pride.

Jos 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun [phonetically – noon] sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go look over the land, even Jericho. And they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab. And they stayed there. 
Jos 2:2 And the king of Jericho was told about it, saying, Behold, men from the sons of Israel came in here tonight, to search out the country. 
Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men that have come to you, those who have entered into your house. For they have come to search out all the country.
Jos 2:4 And the woman took the two men and hid them. And she said, Two men came to me, but I did not know from where they came. 
Jos 2:5 And it happened when it was dark, at the time of shutting the gate, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Go after them quickly, for you shall overtake them. 
Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up on the roof, and had hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. 
Jos 2:7 And the men went after them on the way to Jordan, to the fords. And when they who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 
Jos 2:8 And before they had laid down, she came up to them on the roof. 
Jos 2:9 And she said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that your terror has fallen on us, and that all those who live in the land faint because of you. 
Jos 2:10 For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 
Jos 2:11 And we had heard, and our hearts melted, nor did any more spirit remain in any man, because of you. For Jehovah your God, He is God in Heaven above and in the earth beneath. 
Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear to me by Jehovah, since I have dealt with you in kindness, that you will also deal with kindness to my father’s house. And give me a true token, 
Jos 2:13 and shall save alive my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. 
Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life shall be for yours, if you do not tell our business. And when Jehovah has given us the land, we will deal kindly and truly with you. 
Jos 2:15 Then she let them go down by a cord through the window. For her house was on the town wall, and she lived on the wall. 
Jos 2:16 And she said to them, Get up into the mountain lest the pursuers meet you. And hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers have returned. And afterward you may go your way. 
Jos 2:17 And the men said to her, We will be blameless of this oath to you which you have made us swear.
Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall set this line of scarlet thread in the window from which you let us down. And you shall bring your father and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father’s household, home to you. 
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, whoever shall go out of the doors of your house, his blood shall be on his head, and we will be blameless. And whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is on him. 
Jos 2:20 And if you tell our business, then we will be free of the oath which you have made us swear to you.
Jos 2:21 And she said, Let it be according to your word. And she sent them away, and they departed. And she set the scarlet line in the window. 
Jos 2:22 And they went and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. And the pursuers looked for them throughout all the way, but did not find them. 
Jos 2:23 And the two men returned and came down from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. And they told him all that happened to them.
Jos 2:24 And they said to Joshua, Truly Jehovah has delivered all the land into our hands, for even all those who live in the country faint because of us.

Beginning the Study:

Jos 2:1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Joshua’s name is rarely referred to simply as Joshua; he is broadly called “Joshua, son of Nun”. The origin of the name “Nun” means 1. (Niphal) continue, to increase, propagate 2. (Hiphil) continue, to increase, propagate. Indeed, during the honeymoon phase of Israel’s entry and conquering the Promised Land, their success after success elated them and their numbers and wealth rapidly increased.

As with Israel in the flesh, the Bride of Christ today has viewed her spiritual land of inheritance, Christ, and by his decree, nothing will subdue her arousal for Him. She has become her Lord’s wife with her harlot sister under her feet as she bathes in the fully encompassing brightness of the sun in Him.

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed [encompassed] with the sun, [Christ] and the moon [Jews who say they are Jews but do lie] under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

The Woman clothed in the sun came from the lesser light, the moon, who became a harlot still in the wilderness. The Woman clothed in the sun by her husband is one in him as they rule as one in the One Thousand-Year reign with both the moon and the earth under their feet.

Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

Under Joshua’s leadership, the children of Israel have yet to come into the fullness of her harlotry and become the rejected wife. For now, she is gung-ho, especially when the Lord proves His word by repeatedly going before them to consume their enemies ~ and we know from personal experience following amazing victories that banqueting, dancing, and intemperate merriment is the impulse.

Pro 15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

There was a “mixed multitude” who saw the Lord’s work with the Hebrews and who came out with her from Egypt (Exo 12:38). Those people are simply referred to as those “outside the camp”, even though they became part of the nation of Israel effectively grafted in through belief. 

Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of armies is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is he who takes up your cause; he will be named the God of all the earth.

Though Israel knows her espousal to her Lord (Exod 19:1-25), she doesn’t know that she will be represented as the “moon”, as the Lord’s first wife, and would naturally be a bit mystified as having children as voluminously as the sand of the sea (Gen 22:17). For now, she will not suffer her historically distant brothers and sisters of the Promised Land to share in her inheritance. Yet, as we know from many years of study, the Lord’s church, His first wife, shares her inheritance and pollutes her land by sharing her husband’s ‘fair jewels’ of truth with her pagan brothers and sisters. The very first conquest of which is Jericho, whose name means H3391 ‘moon’.

Jos 2:2 And the king of Jericho was told about it, saying, Behold, men from the sons of Israel came in here tonight, to search out the country.

The Elect of God today are given by Him the eagerness of the Shulamite, graphically seen in the Song of Solomon, to seek Him with single-minded passion in our Babylonish night when our sisters are asleep to excitedly search out our land within.

Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The Elect of God is inspired to enquire that there is more to Christ than their dull-eyed Nicolaitan church leaders can teach, who are ruled by Satan, the king of Jericho. The Elect of God enthusiastically searches their country within, routing it of falsehoods to match the Lord’s spiritual land ~ the Sun of God. (No wonder the Lord’s word spiritually discerned is gobble-de-gook to the world)

Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men that have come to you, those who have entered into your house. For they have come to search out all the country.

There is a dual meaning for Rahab: she is both the world and the Bride’s former self. Joshua’s two men (2 = witnesses) are the Bride of Christ before the resurrection to life and are about to save the world in the flesh from utter destruction, yet rule the figurative Rabab and her sisters dwelling safely from war in the One Thousand Year reign.

Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Joshua’s physical wars and rebuking of the nations afar off with the Lord’s command to “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong” (Joe 3:10) abruptly come to an end at the beginning of the One Thousand Year reign with the rod of iron. The rescuing of greater Zion, the elder sister of Babylonian Christianity, and the mixed multitude of the world begins with the end of that age, in which war, lies, and every other letting of spiritual blood will not be tolerated!

The one thousand-year rule is the beginning and preparation for Rahab being absorbed into Zion and then gradually on the Eighth Day saying, “come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.”

Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Much more exciting symbolism surrounding Rahab in subsequent Joshua studies is attributed to her God-given ‘shady-lady’ entrepreneurial dealings, which will be revealed. Without blowing those wonderful disclosures here, the secondary shadow of Rahab is her representing the world being saved from utter destruction at the end of this age. She will live safely with her future sisters of Babylon in the one thousand-years, where figuratively, Joshua’s rulership and implementation of the rod of iron will establish all physical delights and health without one person being converted. Just like Israel in the wilderness under forced rulership of the Lord’s commands did not change their hearts.

Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and [this time] they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 

Jos 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Jos 2:4 And the woman [Rahab] took the two men and hid them. And she said, [to the king of Jericho] Two men came to me, but I did not know from where they came. 

Gentile Christianity has likewise hidden the Lord’s Two Witnesses, His Body, in the walls of that great city (figuratively Jerusalem within) that had become a harlot while the witnesses spied out their inheritance. Neither does Gentile Christianity, let alone the world, know from where they suddenly appeared, especially with their modern surveillance where nothing escapes their knowledge.

Jos 2:5 And it happened when it was dark, at the time of shutting the gate, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Go after them quickly, for you shall overtake them. 

The spiritual shutting of the gate to the First Resurrection will likewise happen when the Beast powers turn on the Moon and utterly consume her with fire. The outlawing of Christianity is already stirring for that Great City called Sodom, Egypt and Babylon and her imminent destruction. Speaking the word of God will be an indictable act where new people attempting to know Christ will grope in the dark and be unable to find the “two men” no matter how eagerly they are pursued to gain knowledge or to kill.

The one thousand-year rulership under the rod of iron is the Seventh Day, where Christ and His Christs perform no heart-changing work. The gates of understanding are shut; thus, no man can come in or out.

Neh 13:17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 
Neh 13:18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 
Neh 13:19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

On the Eighth Day, the walls of Jericho, Babylon and Egypt are flattened; the gates are effectively opened, and everyone symbolically dies in the Lake of Fire, the resurrection to judgment, and are spiritually circumcised on the Eighth Day.

Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 

Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

At the end of the Seventh Day, Gog and Magog, surrounding the camp of the Elect of God, will not “overtake them”. 

The earth, represented by Rahab, helped the Lord’s servants. She kept them above herself in the heavens of the rooftop under flax so that if it caught fire, no smell of smoke would be on their clothes, nor would the fire hurt them, for they have learned to be comfortable in the fire. They are not in Jericho to warn that city but to bring forth judgment.

Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up on the roof, and had hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. 

Part of the reason for hiding the spies under the flax “laid in order” was to cause their pursuers to see the orderly pile of flax as having not been disturbed, which would give away their hiding place. God gives a distinct order in proclaiming the truth and church operations in the Body of Christ, whereas chaos reigns in Gentile Christianity.

The Wife of Christ is given white robes made of linen, and we know linen is cloth woven from flax. In its raw “natural” symbolism, the spies hiding under the flax are the precursor for their much later successors being clothed in spiritual linen.

The Lord loves order. The Shulamite’s teeth (The Bride of Christ’s perfect consumption of truth) are twins and perfectly set in her beauty.

Act 21:24 taking these, be purified with them, and be at expense on them, that they may shave the head. And all shall know that all what they have been told about you is nothing, but you yourself walk orderly, keeping the Law.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order. 

1Co 15:22 for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.

Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and let us exult, and we will give glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb came, and His wife prepared herself.
Rev 19:8 And it was given to her that she be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.

Jos 2:7 And the men went after them on the way to Jordan, to the fords. And when they who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 

Mat 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 
Mat 12:16 And charged them [Rahab] that they should not make him known:
Mat 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Mat 12:19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
Mat 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
Mat 12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles [eventually] trust.

Jos 2:8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 
Jos 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

Psa 2:8 Ask of Me, and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. 
Psa 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. 

Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 
Jos 2:11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

The forthcoming sacking of Jericho at the Lord’s hands, typified by most of the biblical cities of the Promised Land and their demise, represents the ultimate end-time destruction of Babylon.

Isa 13:4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
Isa 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 
Isa 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 
Isa 13:7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
Isa 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: 
Jos 2:13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

Rahab’s request of the two spies to remember to save her and her family is reflected in Joseph saving his father Jacob’s house during the famine. Joseph’s “token” H226 means a sign, signal, distinguishing mark, and remembrance. A “true token” is a faithful and reliable signal. Benjamin was effectively a token for the reliable bringing forth of Jacob’s household to Egypt and their salvation in the coming famine. 

Likewise, when the death angel passed through Egypt and slew all the firstborn, a faithful and reliable signal, a token of blood, was placed on the lintel over the door so that death passed over the Hebrew’s homes. 

The origin of the word “blood” (H1826) means to be silent, to be still. Rahab assured the spies that she would be silent if the city’s guards questioned her about the spy’s whereabouts. When Israel came to crush Jericho, the spies saw Rahab’s “scarlet” sign of concealed and dual meaning (red being a harlot’s sign) hanging in the window of her home in the walls of Jericho. The invading army of Israel would effectively “pass over” destroying her home and thus saving her life. 

Exo 12:12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 
Exo 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 
Jos 2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 

Just as the Shulamite represents the New Heavenly Jerusalem, with her embedded towers symbolising her breasts, Rahab is pictured as a type of Old Jerusalem. She lives upon the walls of her city, Jericho, where her breasts were bruised by her many suitors, just as the Saints of the Lord had their breasts bruised by our many suitors in Babylonian Christianity, represented by Oholah and Oholibah. The Body of Christ came out of and is the daughter of “one mother”, Babylon the Great, though she is represented as two; Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem above.

Eze 23:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 
Eze 23:2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
Eze 23:3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 
Eze 23:4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. 
Eze 23:5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours.

Progressively and with increasing astonishment, we shall see that Rahab represents the woman we once were.

Jos 2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 
Jos 2:17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

Verses 16-19 reveal to us that we are forewarned of the coming destruction of our old man within. The only way to survive is to flee to the mount of the Lord.

Psa 11:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

“Three days”, mentioned 63 times in scripture, is powerfully significant in that it means a process for the completion of judgment; and for the Elect of God, particularly its spiritual completion. We flee to and wait on the mountains of our Lord for our perfection for three symbolic days for the destruction of our flesh until the hoped resurrection to life, just as Christ did at His death. Afterward, we will “go your [our] way” with Him to rule with the iron rod on the Seventh Day.

Christ is our “scarlet thread” by the blood of His death upon the cross. We figuratively escape our pursuers by that sturdy rope from Jericho’s walls as we flee Babylon and are in the three-day process of being saved on the mount of our Lord (Isa 2:1-5)

The words of Moses were powerfully in the minds of the two spies; they warned Rahab that she had better be true to her oath. Otherwise, she would perish with the rest of Jericho since the two spies were dedicated to keeping their side of the oath.

Num 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

For God’s people today, however,

Jas 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

If it is our Lord’s will, we, too, will be saved from the coming destruction of Babylon both within and, hopefully, physically.

When destruction comes to Jericho, the two spies require Rahab’s entire household to be in her house to be protected by the sign of the scarlet thread. The scarlet “thread” is a cord strong enough to at least hold the weight of one man; however, viewed from a distance, it would appear as a thread. The fact that Rahab’s home was the only structure left following the destruction of the entire walls of Jericho was outstanding in its own right. Rahab’s home would have thus become a tower, not too figuratively dissimilar to the Shulamite’s two breasts pictured as towers embedded in the walls of Jerusalem, the city she represented (Son 8:10). Rahab’s symbolic one breast, the seat of her emotions, represents unity, and Rahab’s faith in what the Lord of Israel was doing in that nation, unified her identity with them. Rahab’s faith through belief by her works justified her salvation from the coming demolition. For the Church today, that unity is the Lord singularly focused on the apple of His eye, His Bride, with one chain around her neck, likewise identifying her being saved by the scarlet blood of the cross. (Zec 2:8. Son 4:9)

Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Heb 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Having gone into Jericho, the spies can symbolise them coming out the window of the city’s womb of Jericho, the “moon” (church) on a scarlet thread, symbolic of Israel, the firstborn; yet, at this point, the coming unwitting rejected wife of God.

Likewise, the Church of the firstborn is coming out of Babylon’s womb on the scarlet thread of Christ’s blood to be killed daily inside Jerusalem. Jericho, Tyre, Ethiopia, Babylon, and Old Jerusalem are one and the same, and they being the elder, serve the younger New Heavenly Jerusalem above who, like Christ, walk in truth today and tomorrow in the death of the old man.

Luk 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying to Him, Go out and depart from here, for Herod will kill you.
Luk 13:32 And He said to them, You go and tell that fox, Behold, today and tomorrow, I cast out demons and I complete cures, and the third day I will be finished.
Luk 13:33 Yet I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following. For it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34 Jerusalem! Jerusalem! the one killing the prophets, and stoning those having been sent to her; how often I desired to gather your children in the way a hen gathers her brood under the wings, and you did not desire it. 
Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. And truly I say to you, You will not see Me until it come when you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jos 2:20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

The Elect of God doesn’t go around today forcing their God-given truths on Jericho. Today is not Jericho’s time to begin salvation. Noah’s and Rahab’s households symbolise the latter times “little flock” who go before their brothers and sisters of Jericho and Babylon, who are Gog and Magog, the entire world (Eze 38. Rev 20:7-10)

Jos 2:21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

The scarlet thread in Rahab, the harlot’s window, is significant with its connection to Rahab effectively putting forth her hand from the window’s womb of Jericho, and Zarah, the son born to Judah upon his adulterous affair with his daughter-in-law, putting forth his hand from Tamar’s womb unwittingly masquerading as the firstborn of the twins (reminiscent of Jacob grabbing Esau’s heel). In fact, Pharez was born last, sustaining the principle of the elder, Zarah, serving Pharez, the younger and that each man will be saved in his own order by the spiritually younger one.

Gen 38:30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah. H2226 – ‘a son of Reuel and grandson of Esau, one of the dukes of the Edomites’ Origin H2225 – ‘dawning, shining, rising’. The rising heavenly Jerusalem adorned for her husband (Rev 21:2)

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Christ is descended from Pharez and represents the Bride of Christ saved in the order the Lord ordained before her elder harlot sister Israel in the wilderness that is Old Jerusalem and Babylon are saved. 

Tremendous hope is generated for the weak of the world Lord’s Church today and their sins, as seen from Christ’s lineage coming through two harlots, Rahab and Judah’s miserably adulterous affair with Tamar, as seen in Matthew 1:1-17. The Body of Christ fully knows they have symbolically been Rahab and Tamar and have been adulterous Judah in the flesh and are now spiritual Judah.

Gen 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

The sceptre began with Abraham and ended with Christ through a long and torturous birth bringing forth the man-child, Christ.

Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Jos 2:22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 

Similarly, the Gentile Christian church today, as we once did, searches for the Lord’s truth and finds it not.

Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others [Babylonian brothers and sisters of the rejected church] in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Jos 2:23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:
Jos 2:24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

The terror striking the inhabitants of Jericho is a similar dread in today’s world as they increasingly become aware that all is not well, reflected in the glaring putridness within. The world will tremble at the coming of the Lord and again at the resurrection to judgment.

Joe 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
Joe 2:3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.