40 Years Afraid… Part 1

The Backstory

It must have been an amazing story she heard as she was growing up. It could’ve been an old tale in her adolescent years, but it lingered. The fear and reverence with which the narrative was told made it feel more and more believable with each retelling.

The Bible omits her backstory but somewhere along the journey, her innocence was taken. Her perspective of the world became jaded as she transformed from a lovable young girl to a woman that sold herself to survive. She did not merely become a woman of the night… no, she became the best! The men in her town knew her by name. Their wives feared her because with one glance she could fire up their husbands in ways they couldn’t. She gave them a good time… no, the best time. Visitors and statesmen alike knew her residence - they could find it in the dark. It was on the wall for all passing by to see. It was the window that faced the vast wilderness, one that welcomed all weary visitors.

We aren’t told of her age, but she was well advanced in her business acumen. The text reveals her ability to run a successful pleasure shop without the fear of being shut down in the face of a national security threat. Thus she may have represented what the town was known for — having a good time. While she may have been the best at it, she dreamed of a way out. She pined for an opportunity to walk away from this sordid life she didn’t want her family to model.

Each time she was talked about, every sideways glance or a clandestine trip to the supermarket, she knew this wasn’t best of her. She had more to give, more to offer than one-night stands. All she needed was one opportunity to start over and put an end to this way of life. But who would give a woman like her a chance like that?

In the recesses of her mind, she held on to a story that she heard as a little girl. She clung to a “fable” that she believed in her heart to be true. Somewhere there was a God that took care of His people. A God that rescued slaves from an evil monarch. A God that was tirelessly and madly in love with His people and was so loving that anyone that wanted to follow Him could become a part of His family. This God destroyed the fiercest kings and created a highway in the middle of a flooded sea. But would a God like that welcome a woman like her?

THE KNOCK

There was a buzz in the air that the mighty, yet mysterious Israelite army was coming to Jericho. Coming not to pass by but to destroy. Was this the tale she heard 40 years ago actually coming true? Was the Israelite God really going to destroy her town? What if, he would give prosperous yet unpromising prostitute a new start?

It was like a dream when they knocked on the door. She’d heard many knocks before. The soft, trying-to-be sweet knock. The hard gavel of a drunken soldier. The gentle rapping of a husband trying to slip in without being noticed. Some with urgency like they were being followed. Others silently like they did not want anyone to know they were there. But this time, this knock was different. This knock wasn’t like the others. There was an insistent hope…. Could this be that Knock?

She opened the door with the rehearsed naive smile plastered on her face that welcomed every patron. Her welcoming nature provided the peaceful atmosphere needed for the young men to enter searching for a place to be hidden.

They were strange. They did not glance in her direction. They didn’t look at her lustfully or approach her with sinister intent. It was obvious that they weren't from around here. They didn't notice the burning incense. They did not give a second glance at her intentional strides or her revealing lingerie. No these spies were here on a different type of mission.

THE ASK

She looked at them and immediately remembered the old tale! It was like her dream of starting over was standing right in front of her. Her life seemed like a nightmare, but this could be a chance to wake up and start over.

She knew why they had come and she seized the opportunity to take a leap of faith. She said, “my country has been scared of you and your God for years! … We are afraid because we have heard how the Lord helped you. We heard how He dried up the Red Sea when you came out of Egypt…” (Joshua 2:9–10, ICB). A casual reading of the text can miss the subtle nuance of her statement. She did not recount the most recent things the Almighty God had done: give manna each day, provide water from a rock, produce quail for the weary travelers or be a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. She referenced the RED SEA deliverance an event that happened 40 YEARS AGO!!! She retold the 40-year-old tale as if it happened yesterday.

While the Israelites were trying to figure out how God was going to deliver them, the harlot that lived in the wall already believed He would.

To be continued…