Haftarah Shelakh-Lekha

“A Harlot’s Faith”

Joshua 2:1-24

excerpted from TorahScope Haftarah Exhortations

The thrust of this week’s Torah teaching, Shelach-Lekha (Numbers 13:1-15:41), deals primarily with the account of the twelve spies sent into the Promised Land, to ascertain its fitness for occupation. When one reads the report of the Land flowing with milk and honey, and the abundance of huge grapes, pomegranates, and figs—not to mention the natural beauty ideal for grazing livestock and growing crops—it is difficult to believe that the majority report was so negative. Apparently, the presence of the different Canaanite city-states, with their natural size and fortifications, dissuaded the ten timid Israelite spites, as the thought of challenging these people was just too much to fathom. These ten spies did not have the faith to understand how the Lord of the Exodus was going to fight for them and be with them, just as He had stated it to Moses:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people spurn Me, and how long will they have no faith in Me despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst’?” (Numbers 14:11, NJPS).

Despite witnessing the defeat and humiliation of the Egyptians, and the provisions already being made for the desert sojourn, only Joshua and Caleb had the faith to take the Promised Land. The Lord told Moses that Caleb, and then Joshua, had a different spirit (ruach acheret), which was going to allow them to eventually make it after their peers perished in the wilderness:

“‘But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it. Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Suf.’ The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ‘How long shall I bear with this evil congregation that complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel, which they complain against me. Tell them, “As I live, says the LORD, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you. Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But I will bring in your little ones that you said should be captured or killed, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness”’” (Numbers 14:24-33, WMB).

So with the history of the spies’ rejection of the Promised Land, and following a nearly forty years of wondering, our Haftarah selection turns to the Book of Joshua, where the details of the invasion of Canaan are recorded. We are introduced to the harlot Rahab, who just happens to have a similar spirit of faith regarding the Holy One of Israel. Understand that as a resident of Jericho, one of the main points of entry into Canaan from the east, she was very knowledgeable about the reputation of the Israelites, their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, and some of their exploits afflicting other nations during their sojourn. When the two spies were sent into Jericho to determine its strength, they encountered Rahab, who confessed her knowledge and fear of their God:

“Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, including Jericho.’ They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there. The king of Jericho was told, ‘Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land.’ Jericho’s king sent to Rahab, saying, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land.’ The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, ‘Yes, the men came to me, but I didn’t know where they came from. About the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men went out. Where the men went, I don’t know. Pursue them quickly. You may catch up with them.’ But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. The men pursued them along the way to the fords of the Jordan River. As soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof. She said to the men, ‘I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Sea of Suf before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign; and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death’” (Joshua 2:1-13, WMB).

After confessing that she was aware of the Lord’s power, Rahab then—“by faith”—extracted a promise out of the two spies, in order to save her household and relatives. A deal was struck with the two spies who were allowed to escape harm, and eventually return to make their report to Joshua. But Rahab was required to follow the instructions of the spies:

“The men said to her, ‘Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when the LORD gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.’ Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. She said to them, ‘Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way.’ The men said to her, ‘We will be guiltless of this your oath which you’ve made us to swear. Behold, when we come into the land, tie this line of scarlet thread in the window which you used to let us down. Gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him. But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you’ve made us to swear.’ She said, ‘Let it be as you have said.’ She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the scarlet line in the window” (Joshua 2:14-21, WMB).

It is further recorded, that upon the invasion of Jericho by the Israelites, how Rahab complied with the instructions to hang the red cord or line from her window, so that her relatives would be spared death by the sword of the invading armies (Joshua 6:17, 22-25). What is intriguing, is how Rahab was highly recognized for her faithful works. So much is this the case, that two times in the Apostolic Writings, she was given a prominent mention for what her faith accomplished.

When James the Just explained how faith without works is dead, he referred to two notable people as his examples. First, he listed Abraham, considered to be the father of faith. But then, his second example was actually Rahab the harlot:

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness’ [Genesis 15:6], and he was called the friend of God. You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:17-26, WMB).

Additionally, the author of Hebrews noted Rahab, the harlot, and her acts with the spies, as a commendable act of faith:

“By faith Rahab the prostitute didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace” (Hebrews 11:31, WMB).

If you think about these accounts from Numbers and Joshua, and compare the faith of Rahab to the lack of faith of the generation of Israelites who were frightfully intimidated from securing the Promised Land—the contrast is quite extraordinary! This should cause each of us today, no matter what our stature or position in life, to realize how God is most concerned about our faith. God cares about what we do with our belief in Him, and that we demonstrate how such faith is real—not just something hypothetical as a figment of our imagination. If a harlot’s faith was recognized and indeed memorialized in the ancient texts, we can be rest assured that the Almighty God is taking note. As the Apostle Paul wrote those in Corinth, please remember to test and examine yourself:

“Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Yeshua the Messiah is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. But I hope that you will know that we aren’t disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5-6, WMB).

There is no doubt that Rahab the harlot, by the tangible evidence of her works, was “in the faith.” Can you say the same about your walk? Whatever you do, I urge you to not fail the test!