Sneaking into Jericho

By Mary Vee
Joshua 2

One of the Spies thoughts

This is the most exciting news! 


OK, usually I don't get this excited, but life has been on the BORING side lately. We've camped by the Jordan River for a long time waiting for the Lord to tell us we can move forward.  Waiting...waiting.


I see it. It's over there!  Across the river!  I see the shore of the Promised Land.  


Of course no Israelite would dare cross the river before the Lord says.  After all the bad choices already made, we've soft of learned to obey commands exactly as the Lord says...kind of. 


Are you ready? Here's my news: Joshua, our new leader called me and another soldier for a meeting this morning. He said, "I have a good report. The Lord has given us permission to go into the Promised Land. I want you two to cross the river, sneak into Jericho, and learn their defenses. You're to leave right away."


My partner and I swam across the deep, chilly waters of the Jordan then crept behind bushes, groves, and trees toward the outer wall of Jericho. 


We hid until many merchants from nearby farms crowded toward the city gate. They pushed carts filled with goods to sell. We slid in between two fishermen hauling their catch of the day and acted like we were part of their group. Once inside the gate we slipped through the city streets and alleys searching for information. 


We found small clumps of city people talking. Although we couldn't hear their words, they waved their arms as though angry and afraid. We tried to move about unnoticed but our clothes might have given us away. Three men walked in our direction. I signaled to the other spy to follow me inside a doorway to our right.


A woman came to the door. Her eyebrows pushed down on her face as she looked at our clothing. Something or someone must have moved behind us because she tipped her head to the side then whispered, "You're not from around here."


Of course we didn't want to tell her who we were. We stood there silently. 


"Come. You can hide in here." I looked back at the street and spied another man squinting in our direction. We had to move inside right away. She led us to a back room and closed the door. "You're Israelites."


We nodded. 


She held her finger to her lips. "We must be cautious. There is much fear in Jericho. If the king's soldiers find you, they'll kill you." She brought bread and drink then sat with us. "I've heard much about your people. Word around Jericho is that your God saved you in Egypt. Is that true?"


"Yes, and He's also done much more for us." 


She stepped back to the door and listened for a moment. "I think the men in the street have reported their suspicions. The king will send soldiers to search for you." She walked back toward us and looked at our faces for a moment.  "My name is Rahab. I believe you have a powerful God. Maybe we could help each other."


She cleared our food and drink then opened the door a little. "The soldiers will come soon. Follow me. I'll hide you on the roof until they leave."


We hurried after her. "The Lord bless you, Rahab. Thank you."


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The adventure will continue next post.


1. What did the Lord give permission to the Israelites to do?
2. Who is Joshua?
3. What did Joshua tell the spies to do?
4. What happened in Jericho?
5. Who helped the spies?