The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 100

to be co-workers with Him in all pr~tdent for~thought_and ,liligence, We may, per• haps, best develop the moral teachmg of this 11arrat1,·e by kee;ping the conduct of Hahah most prominently in mind. Her honourable distinction 1s that, as far its we know, she alone in all that da.rk. guilty land of Canaan was disposed to recognise the ,liYinity that guided the onward march of the Israelites, aml to welcome them to their destined inheritance. Certain moral difficulties have been felt by many in reference to the honour given to her name in Scripture. Her clrnracter and mode of life has been felt to be a difficulty ; attempts have been made to show that "harlot" may simply mean "innkeeper." But this interpretation will not hold good. Much of the point and worth of the narrative depends on our regarding her as one of a class on whom Christ bestowed His pity; "a woman that was a sinner." Her treachery to her own people is condenmed; but this, despicable as under ordinary circmnstances it may be, is to be justified on the gr0tmd of loyalty to the God of Israel. It is a Christian principle that the claims of God are supreme over all other claims, even those that spring out of the ties of natw·e and of nationality. Her falsehood is a difficulty. No need to attempt to justify this. A low moral standard and the presst11·e of circumstances may palliate it, but cannot excuse. A lie must always be offensiYe to a God of truth. No skilful casuistry can make this aspect of her conduct right. But she is commended in Scri13ture, not for her treachery or falsehood, but for her faith (Heb. xi. 31; James ii. 25)-for the fact that, hearing of the wonders wrought by Jehovah, she believed Him to be the only true and !iring God, and so was moved to escape from the corruption of her own doomeG. city and cast in her lot with His people. The following lessons seem to be suggested: L THF- SIGNALS OF GoD's GRACE MAY BE l'OUND UNDER VERY UNLIKELY CONDI- TIONS. Here is a gleam of light in the midst of gross heathen darkness ; a sus- ceptibility to Divine impressions where it might least have been expected. The report of Israel's successes could scarcely of itself have produced it. In her that report awakened faith and the desire for a purer life, but in her neighbours it only roused the recklessness of despair. It moved her to seek deliverance: it made them only the riper for their doom. Why this difference? We trace here the secret working of that Spirit from the Lord who prepares the souls of men for liigher revelations of truth. God directed the spies to her house because He had first put it into her heart to receive them kindly. Thus within the vilest and the most degraded there may be latent possibilities of good that only need the outward incentive to call them forth. God is often nearer to men, ancl they are nearer to " the kingdom,'' tl..ian we suppose. He who came "to seek and to save that which was lost" made Himself the " friend of publicans and sinners," not only because they most needed Him, but because He saw that they were most ready to welcome Him. His word awakened an echo in their hearts, when proud Pharisaic hearts were hope- lessly closed against it. It discovered and quickened germs of better life in the midst of corruption and death. It kindled hope in -the region of despair. 'l'o the self-satisfied rulers of the people He said, " The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." J1. REPENTANCE .MAY TRANSFORM A LIFE OF SIN AND SHAME INTO ONE OF HONOUR AKD RENOWK. RahaL's sin was forgiven as soon as her heart turned to the Lord, There is a pla.ce for her in the commonwealth of Israel. Her faith saved not only herself, but her whole household (vers. 12, 13). She became the wife of Sahnon, mother of Boaz, and thus ancestress of David and of Christ (Matt. i. 5, 6). A suggestive hint of the way in which the grace of Goel can "graft the wild olive tree in among the natural bJ"anche~,'' and make it abundantly fruitful to His praise. It not only wipes out the reproach of the past, ·but developes from it a rich and glorious futt11·e. Faculties that have been wasted in the service of sin become dfective instruments of righteousness. The history of the Church is full of ~xamples. As in the case of Saul of Tarsus, so in less conspicuous instances, God has often entered the ranks of the enemy and brought forth from them living tr:iphies of His power, who have henceforth served nobly the ea.use that once they di:strnyed, cm. II, 1-12.J THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 35