Hi. Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host of the daily challenges. Today is Tuesday, the day we study the Bible together. This week we’re going to study xxx.

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

Another spy story.  You probably wondered if we were repeating ourselves, with spies going into the Promised Land yet again.  But no, that’s not a mistake.  Because the spies lied, and tried to stop Israel from entering the Promised Land, God made Israel wait longer in the desert, until the adult generation responsible had died.

Now, the day has come again when Israel can enter the land, and so Joshua sent spies, but differently this time.  Instead of a big group, Joshua sent only two, it secret, and gave them to check on the most powerful, strongest city in the land – Jericho.

Maybe it sounds scandalous that they went to a prostitute’s house, but it was a sneaky move.  It was a house on the outer walls of the city, and it wouldn’t be unusual to see strange men coming and going in the night.  They wouldn’t be noticed here, and they’d be able to learn about the city and its defenses.

They have a very close call – with the king asking Rahab to bring out her guests, suspicious they might be spies.  Amazingly, she defends them, and sends the king on a wild goose chase claiming they’ve already left.  This gets a number of soldiers out of the fortress.  But is she really on their side?  Why is she doing all this?

We’ll see tomorrow what happened next.

Question: Why do you think Rahab would help them?  What do you think she’ll do?