Joshua 2:2-6

Rahab was a woman of faith in Yahweh (cf. Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25). Apparently what she had heard about the God of Israel led her to place her trust in Him (Joshua 2:9-12). The protection of one’s houseguests was very important in the ancient Orient (cf. Genesis 19:8; Judges 19:20-24). This cultural pressure fortified her faith and doubtless encouraged her to hide the spies. Rahab should not have told a lie, however.

"To excuse Rahab for indulging in a common practice is to condone what God condemns." [Note: Donald K. Campbell, No Time for Neutrality, p. 19. See also R. Kent Hughes, Living on the Cutting Edge, p. 37; and Irving L. Jensen, Joshua: Rest-Land Won, p. 38.]

Though she had come to faith in Yahweh her moral life had not yet undergone radical change.

"Having been born and brought up among the depraved Canaanites, she had probably never been taught the evil of lying, and least of all where an apparently good end was to be answered by it." [Note: Bush, p. 34.]

". . . a lie is always a sin. Therefore even if Rahab was not actuated at all by the desire to save herself and her family from destruction, and the motive from which she acted had its roots in her faith in the living God (Heb. xi. 31), so that what she did for the spies, and thereby for the cause of the Lord, was counted to her for righteousness (’justified by works,’ James ii. 25), yet the course which she adopted was a sin of weakness, which was forgiven her in mercy because of her faith." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 35.]

"It has often happened, that even when good men have endeavored to keep a straight course, they have turned aside into circuitous paths. Rahab acted wrongly when she told a lie and said that the spies had gone; and the action was acceptable to God only because the evil that was mixed with the good was not imputed to her. Yet, although God wished the spies to be delivered, He did not sanction their being protected by a lie." [Note: John Calvin, quoted by idem, p. 35.]

Lying is a more serious sin in some circumstances than in others, but it is always a sin (Exodus 20:16; Leviticus 19:11; Deuteronomy 5:20).

"For one to lie in this manner is for one to assume that he knows the outcome of a situation which, in fact, he does not. God has control of every situation and therefore it might well be the will of God that the spies should die. It is the job of the believer to represent the truth and allow the Lord to care for that situation." [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, p. 35. For an explanation of Rahab’s lie as legitimate, see Jim West, "Rahab’s Justifiable Lie," Christianity and Civilization 2 (Winter 1983):66-74.]