“The king of Yericho sent a message to Rachav, ‘Bring out the men who came to you and are staying in your house, because they have come to reconnoiter all the land.'”-Joshua 2:3
I’ve decided I’m going to refer to Rahab’s dwelling place as an “inn” as opposed to calling it a “brothel” or a “house of prostitution”.
Why?
Because all the evidence suggests she was basically running an ancient motel…
…such as the fact that her home was basically embedded into the city wall where the main gate into Jericho was located.
This would have been a prime and very convenient location for any tourist who would have been passing through Jericho.
And consider that when the king of Jericho sent his men to investigate the two spies, the first person they went to speak to was Rahab.
Again, why?
Because everyone knew her place was the local city inn where most travelers would stay.
Also, when the Bible is dealing with a brothel, it will usually use the phrase “the house of so and so”.
But we don’t find the phrase “the House of Rahab” being used here.
Having said that, understand that as just a matter of the custom of the times, there’s no doubt that whoring took place at Rahab’s inn.
That’s just the way things were in those days homies.
This leads us to the next question of…
…did the two spies have sex with Rahab?
My answer to that question would be a strong NO for two reasons.
FIRST, the two men under strict instructions from Joshua were engaging in preparations for war and their mindset was far from doing something disgraceful like engaging in some hanky-panky with a Canaanite whore.
SECOND, if the men had really had sex with Rahab, I’m pretty sure the Scriptures would have told us.
We all know the Bible ain’t shy when it comes to dealing with sexual matters in quite graphic detail.
Onward.
The King of Jericho right off the bat accuses Rahab of hiding the two spies.
Keep in mind the King was expecting the arrival of the Israelites.
It was simply common knowledge that Israel had plans to take Canaan because the Hebrews had plainly stated that was their intention from the very beginning.
And there’s no way in hell a population of 3 million people can move around without being detected.
So understand the Canaanites knew without a doubt that Israel was coming.
The only question was what part of the Jordan River would they cross…
…and which city would they attack first?
The King’s troops had been monitoring all movement of travelers entering into Jericho through the city gates where Rahab’s inn was located.
It would not be an exaggeration to say the whole city was in a state of nervous tension wondering exactly when and how the Israelites would attack.
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