Rescued from Wrath

The destruction of Jericho represents divine judgment on the Canaanites for their sin and rebellion against God. But today’s passage presents another picture—redemption from wrath through faith in almighty God.

Fulfilling the commitment made by the two spies, Joshua makes plans before the assault on Jericho to succor Rahab and her family members. He quite logically gives the job to the scouts themselves, for they know her and the location of her house. Somehow her house is not destroyed when the wall collapses, though it is said to rest on the wall itself (2:15); perhaps not all of the wall falls. In any case, the house is somehow preserved and the spies bring forth Rahab, her parents, her brothers, and “all that she had,” and Joshua spares them. She fled to Yahweh for mercy and she now finds it, she and her household. We’re told that the harlot and her relatives remain “outside the camp of Israel” for the moment due to their ritual impurity as Gentiles (Lev. 13:46; Deut. 23:3). Though the fate of Rahab’s family is never disclosed in Scripture, we know that “she was in due time incorporated with the church of Israel, and she and her posterity dwelt in Israel, and her family was remarkable long after,” Matthew Henry writes. “We find her the wife of Salmon, prince of Judah, mother of Boaz, and named among the ancestors of our Savior (Matt. 1:5).” The writer of Joshua notes that Rahab “dwells in Israel to this day”; commentators are uncertain whether this means she was still living when the book was composed or merely that she lived out her life among the Israelites.

With the destruction of Jericho complete, Joshua pronounces a curse on any man who rebuilds the city: He will lose his oldest and youngest sons. This is confusing, for Scripture numerous times mentions Jericho as an inhabited city or town (Josh. 18:21; 2 Sam. 10:5) before it reports the fulfillment of the curse in 1 Kings 16:34. Therefore, it is thought that the curse is not upon those who live at the site, but upon anyone who seeks to fortify the city again.

The fall of Jericho has one final result: It shows beyond doubt that God is with Joshua, for the city has been taken as he said it would be. His stature grows in the eyes of the Israelites, and the Canaanites perhaps begin to speak his name as the leader of the implacable invaders.