Joshua 2:9

My Notes

What Does Joshua 2:9 Mean?

Rahab speaks to the Israelite spies with astonishing directness: 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.

I know — Rahab's statement is confession, not speculation. A Canaanite prostitute in Jericho possesses theological knowledge that should have belonged to Israel: she knows the LORD (Yahweh — she uses his covenant name) has given the land. Her knowledge is specific and accurate.

Your terror is fallen upon us — the fear is not theoretical. It has fallen — landed, arrived, settled. The inhabitants of Canaan are already defeated psychologically. They have heard what God did at the Red Sea (v.10) and to the Amorite kings (v.10). The military campaign has not yet begun, but the war is already won in the hearts of the inhabitants.

All the inhabitants of the land faint — the Hebrew (mug) means to melt, to dissolve. The entire population's courage has liquefied. Jericho's walls are still standing, but the people behind them have already collapsed internally.

Rahab's confession demonstrates that God's reputation precedes his army. The testimony of what God has done travels ahead of his people and prepares the ground for what he will do next. Rahab — an outsider, a Gentile, a woman in a despised profession — recognizes what many in Israel doubted: the land is given. The enemies are melting. The LORD has already won.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does it mean that a Canaanite prostitute had clearer spiritual vision than many in Israel?
• 2.How does Rahab's story challenge the idea that faith requires a certain background or qualification?
• 3.Where can you see evidence of God's work 'already falling' before the visible victory has arrived?
• 4.What does Rahab's decision to act on what she knew — despite her circumstances — teach about the nature of faith?

Devotional

I know that the LORD hath given you the land. These words come from the most unlikely mouth in Scripture. A Canaanite. A prostitute. A woman with no covenant, no heritage, no reason to know the God of Israel. And yet she knows. She knows that the LORD — she uses his name — has given the land. Her theology is clearer than the ten spies who came back forty years earlier saying 'we cannot take it.'

Your terror is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. The walls of Jericho are thick. The army is armed. The city is fortified. And every person inside is melting with fear. The walls are still standing but the people are already defeated. God's reputation arrived before Israel's army.

Rahab saw what Israel's own doubters could not see: the battle was already won. The fear of God had already broken the enemy. All that remained was for Israel to show up and take what God had prepared.

Here is what Rahab teaches you: God's work is not limited by your background, your status, or your starting point. A prostitute in a pagan city had more faith than most of Israel. She saw what God was doing and positioned herself on the right side of it. She did not wait to become respectable. She acted on what she knew — and it saved her entire family.

What is God doing that you can already see the evidence of? Where is his terror already falling, his preparation already visible? Rahab did not wait for perfect conditions. She acted on imperfect faith with incomplete knowledge — and she ended up in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5).

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture