More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“You can help your whole family, daughter, though it will be hard on you. I am sorry—” he broke off as if at a loss for how to continue. He didn’t need to finish his words. Horror seized her so tightly it nearly choked off her breath. With rising dread she realized her worst fears had come to pass. The nightmare she had dismissed as a misunderstanding the night before was real. Her father meant to sell her into prostitution. He meant to sacrifice her future, her wellbeing, her life.
This was not an unusual occurrence in Canaan. Many a father sold his daughter into prostitution for the sake of survival. Even so, the commonplaceness of her father’s choice did not calm Rahab. There was nothing mundane in the realization that she was expected to live the life of a harlot.
“I am not refusing to obey you, my father. Only, I won’t go to the temples. If I have to do this, let’s not bring the gods into it.”
The year before, Rahab’s older sister Izzie had given her first child to the god Molech. That baby had been the joy of Rahab’s heart. From the instant her sister knew she was pregnant, Rahab had felt a bond of kinship with him. She’d held him minutes after his birth, wrapped tightly in swaddling, his tiny, perfect mouth opening and closing like baby kisses intended just for her. Love for him had consumed her from that one untainted moment. But her sister wanted financial security. She was tired of poverty. So she and her husband Gerazim agreed to sacrifice their son to Molech for the sake of
...more
She held her sister’s precious boy in her arms for as long as she could, cooing to his wriggling form. He smelled like sweet milk and honey cakes. Rahab nestled him against her one last time as she kissed him good-bye. The baby screamed when rough hands wrenched him from Rahab’s arms, but nothing like his final shriek as the priest reached the raging fire …
That was the day Rahab promised herself she would never bow her head to such gods. She hated them. For all their glittering attraction, she had seen them for what they were. They were consumers of humanity.
Rahab snuck into the garden to weep in private.
Though she was reduced to selling her body for money, she could choose her own lovers. She could begin and end every liaison according to her own desire. She had tasted rejection from Zedek and it was too bitter to swallow. This bitterness, at least, she would avoid. She would be master of her own heart. She would let no one in, and she would cast each one out before they realized, as Zedek had, that she was unlovable.
Rahab chose carefully, and only one lover at a time. She was stinting in her acceptance of men. Her clients were few, but generous. Her unusual selectiveness enhanced her popularity among men of the higher classes. Each wanted to be chosen over the others. Rahab became the competition they sought to win.
By the time Rahab was seventeen, she had enough silver to purchase an inn on the city wall.
She made certain that her inn gained a reputation for simple elegance and comfort. Decorating it with woven tapestries and rich carpets, she avoided the gaudy ornamentation common among other inns. The location helped. The wall remained an exclusive dwelling place in Jericho, and in spite of the inevitable diminutiveness of the residences and establishments built into it, they represented some of Jericho’s most desirable properties.
What kind of god wielded so much power? If this was all true, who could stand against such a god?
The desperate idolatry of her people did not attract Rahab. The more she saw their faith in practice, the more she reviled it. Not even fear and desperation would drive her into the arms of Asherah, Baal, or Molech.
Rahab chose a dress in flowing cream silk edged in silver embroidery. Her clothing never marked her as a harlot. She dressed as any fashionable lady in Canaan might, leaning toward simplicity rather than high style. She found that the curves of a woman’s body, when displayed with clever modesty, provided far more drama than any outrageous garment might.
“Alas, I find I do not enjoy empty chatter.” “Nor do I. I prefer intelligent conversation, but there is not much of it in my profession.” “Nor in mine” They both laughed. A mutual understanding bordering on respect sprung between them that night. Within the first hours of his acquaintance, Rahab decided to accept Debir as her lover.
Their god is mighty beyond our experience.” Her smile was tinged with sarcasm. “Another bloodthirsty god. Excellent. Just what Canaan needs.”
The man I told you about, he said their real leader is their god. It was this god who sent Moses into Egypt to free them from slavery. He told Moses He had seen the affliction and misery of His people and was concerned about their suffering. He wanted them released from Pharaoh’s yoke.” Rahab frowned, her mind racing. Words like concern were not in the gods’ vocabulary. Yet if Debir was correct, here was a god who had compassion on human suffering. The thought of a god of compassion did something to her heart. A longing came upon her that almost brought her to tears. A longing for someone to
...more
Rahab pulled her hair free from his hold. “What else did this man tell you about their god?” Debir shrugged. “He sounds very odd. He allows no statues to be built of him so you can’t see or touch him. He claims to be the One True God, at once everywhere and over everything. It would be laughable if it weren’t for the power he seems to display.”
I can tell you he is ridiculously strict. For example—and you’ll find this interesting—he forbids prostitution even as part of worship. One of the places I took the Hebrew was a temple. He covered his eyes when he saw the prostitutes mating with the worshipers and told me that according to Hebrew Law, they would have been stoned.” “Stoned?” “You would make a very bad Hebrew, eh, Rahab? Or a very dead one.”
“The Hebrew god, it seems, is as tenderhearted as a woman. In the temple that day the priests were sacrificing a number of children. Would you believe the spy wept when he saw it? I will never forget his tears.
“He asked me if I felt no revulsion. ‘Of course not,’ I said. He told me his god would never bear such a thing. Then he said, ‘Your hearts are too hardened, Debir. Your people have grown hard beyond redemption. Even the Lord cannot reach you. And He is God in all heaven and all earth.’”
Rahab turned toward Debir, holding her breath. A god who cherished life? A god who cared for unnamed babies? A god who could see Canaan’s iniquity and declare them beyond redemption? Again she felt that longing, stronger than before. The irony of it didn’t escape her, the pitiful irony of a prostitute from Jericho longing for the god of the Hebrews.
“May the god of the Hebrews deal kindly with you. Our own gods seem to have abandoned us.” “I abandoned them first, so their loss is no great sorrow to me.”
Debir’s “token” turned out to be a substantial bag of gold large enough to see her through a year. If she had a year, which she doubted.
The words of her prayer to the god of the Hebrews suddenly rose to the forefront of her mind. An unseen god. A god with no form or image. A god no one could touch. The god of her enemies. And yet on this early morning she sensed a peace beyond anything she had known these many years. Was this the doing of the unseen god? Or was she losing her mind?
Pacing from room to room, she eventually climbed the narrow ladder to the roof where the flax was drying. Sinking down on the bundles, she stared into the distance, over the boundaries of Jericho’s farmlands. Somewhere beyond the horizon the Hebrews prepared for war. “Am I seeing what you see when you look at Canaan?” she asked her invisible enemy. “Have I seen us through your eyes today?” A small groan escaped her. “God of the Hebrews, I know little of your ways and naught of your thoughts. But if you are a god of compassion, then surely my people displease you. I ask your pardon.”
A soft breeze lifted the heavy weight of her hair from her neck. She raised her face to its caress. The peace that had rested on her in the morning—a peace that brooked no explanation or dissection—returned again and settled over her with a new force. “God of the Hebrews, is that you?” An unreasonable conviction filled her mind—the conviction that this god was true, genuine, and present to her at this moment. “You are real,” Rahab said and expelled her breath. Peace deepened, thickening and surrounding her like a fog. “I believe in you. You are the God of all heaven and all earth. Perhaps I’m
...more
She had been wronged many times, there could be no doubt of that. But she had also made her own choices. Would not God hold her accountable for them? “I am sorry,” she whispered. “I am sorry for it. I promise I will set that life aside. For as long as I live, I will set that life aside.”
“Is it true, my lord? Is Moses really dead?” Michael asked. He was a stocky man several years Salmone’s senior. There was a steadiness about him that Salmone liked and trusted. Salmone nodded. “Yes. I’m afraid it is. The greatest loss we have ever known, and yet Joshua assures us that we will be marching into the lands west of the Jordan in a month.” “Lord have mercy!” Sethur cried. “We’re undone! How can we win any battles without Moses?” Salmone looked at Sethur through eyes narrowed with calculation. “Undone, are we? I suppose God can’t manage to fulfill His promises without Moses.” Sethur
...more
God is giving our generation another chance. I don’t propose to lose my opportunity as my father lost his.” Sethur licked his cracked lips with a nervous tongue. “I don’t want to lose my opportunity either.” Salmone clapped him on the back. “Good man. Trust God. And when you run out of trust, just obey Him.”
We aren’t called to be men of war as other nations understand warfare. We are called to be a people of faith. Our shield is God’s Law. Our sword is His Word. He is our strong tower, and He alone will give us victory.
Why was she risking her neck to help two unpleasant Hebrews? Because of their god. She wanted to be on his side. Bone deep, she believed the Lord would destroy Jericho, and she wanted an escape for her and her family.
Then it dawned on Joshua that God was not on Israel’s side; He beckoned Israel to be on His side. Joshua couldn’t claim God for himself or for his own interests the way the people around them used their idols. Rather the Lord claimed Joshua and His chosen people for Himself.
He wasn’t military commander to Israel. He did not have the ultimate responsibility for this impossible task. God had assigned the commander of His own armies to fight the battle.
“Well, the Lord didn’t save me and my family just to lose us in another Canaanite town. What would be the point? He must have spared us for a purpose.” Hanani shook his head. “Do you never doubt our victory?” “Of course not. How could the Lord fail?” “I think Israel will always remember you for your faith, Rahab,” Ezra said.
you have missed the self-righteousness that’s crept through your front door. You are mistaking condemnation for good judgment.
“Now I’m going to give you a new assignment to help you with your problem. I am putting Rahab and her family under the banner of the tribe of Judah. Specifically, I’m putting them under your charge.”
The opinion of his mentor meant the world to him. And his criticism cut him to the core. His words snaked into his heart with bitter bile. Resentment toward Rahab and her brood overflowed through him.
Joshua had given him an assignment and he meant to discharge it with obedience. He also had every intention of forcing this Canaanite woman to show her true nature.
Salmone crawled into his pallet, stretching aching muscles, trying to unwind. He didn’t pray, not even to praise God for His miraculous intervention or his own safe return. He told himself he was too weary, but in a deeper recess of his mind he was aware that what kept him from God was not exhaustion, but anger. He felt angry about his unfair fight with Joshua. He felt angry about the burden of Rahab. And most of all he felt angry about the possibility that Joshua might just be right about him.
This family had lost everything and everyone they knew, Salmone realized. They must be devastated. He swallowed a sudden lump of guilt. In his mental strivings, they had become abstract, two-dimensional beings, without humanity. The scene he walked toward took that blindfold from his eyes.
Stiffen your resolve, Rahab. Rely on God’s approval. Salmone will catch up.”
All Rahab actually wanted was to belong to the Lord. She thirsted for God. Hungered after Him. She couldn’t seem to get enough of His precepts. And what she was searching for wasn’t knowledge. It was belonging. She wanted the Lord Himself.
Sacrifices are both the acknowledgment of our wrong and the price of our forgiveness. So if God asks an alien to offer a sacrifice, He isn’t asking for the fulfillment of a ritualistic law. God wouldn’t ask for a sacrifice if He weren’t willing to pour out His forgiveness and acceptance in return.”
He had gone to considerable trouble to secure them this tent in the midst of a hectic, anxious time. Rather than focus on what he could not give her—respect, admiration, true belonging—she ought to focus on what he did offer. He was a generous man, helpful, fair, protective of his flock, even the flock of which he did not approve. “Thank you for the trouble you have taken on our behalf,” she said.
Rahab studied the scene about her and was struck by the miraculous quality of it. In one day, God had provided them with a new home and new friends. Hope filled her chest, like a spring leaf, unfurling with life.
forefend
New word
He hadn’t seen the sight of her, heard that softly accented voice, felt the cool touch of her long fingers in fourteen days. And it made him sleepless not because he was in her debt, but because … he loved her.
Joshua said that he would approve of his marriage to Rahab. Would Joshua ever sanction what God would not? Was this really God’s problem or Salmone’s? His jealousy, his prodigious pride, his vanity, were these the true monsters that lay at the root of his struggles? Was it just that Salmone wanted a wife of whom everyone could approve—an admirable wife who would be the envy of his friends and the desire of his enemies? Was he afraid that somehow he would be reduced by her past?
The thought of being used for restoration in his wife’s life made Salmone’s heart beat faster. This he wanted more than anything.
