"And the
king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to
you who are entered into your house:for they have come to search out all the
country. And the woman took the two men and hid them and said thus, There came
men unto me, but I knew not whence they were; and it came about the time of
shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; where the men
went I know not:pursue after them quickly, for you shall overtake them"
(Josh. 2:3-5).

Rahab’s faith
in receiving "the spies in peace" is commended in the New Testament
(Heb. 11:31). Furthermore, her faith was manifested by her works "when she
had received the messengers and and had sent them out another way" (Jas.
2:25). But there is a bit of a black cloud hanging over this scene because in
her eagerness to protect the spies she lied to the Jericho police.

Rahab is
commended for her faith, but Scripture is careful not to commend her for her
lie. She is never openly condemned for her lie either, which shows the grace and
longsuffering of God toward His new disciple.

How could
Rahab have acted any differently without jeopardizing the lives of the two
spies of Israel? Had she lived in a later period of Biblical history, she would
have known the story of Elisha and his servant and the Syrian army. First his
servant’s eyes were kept from seeing the host of angels protecting him and
Elisha. Then the Syrian army was stricken with blindness (2 Ki. 6:15-20). In
the New Testament, the Lord Jesus, when threatened by a mob, passed through the
midst of them without being seen (Luke 4,29,30; John 8:59). Modern day
smugglers of Bibles into countries that outlaw the Bible report incidents in
which the authorities open their suitcases and look directly at the Bibles and
apparently do not see them. Probably some of our readers have experienced the
same thing:we have mislaid something, looked all over for it, and
finally—perhaps after praying about it—find it in a place where we had already
looked several times before.

Had Rahab been
more experienced in the ways of the LORD, she might have invited the king’s men
to search the house while praying that the God of Israel would blind their eyes
to the presence of the spies.

Rahab also had
the option of remaining silent and committing herself into the hands of God.
Christ is our example in this:"The high priest arose and said unto Him,
Answerest Thou nothing? what is it which these witness against Thee? But Jesus
held His peace … And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He
answered nothing. Then  said Pilate unto Him, Hearest Thou not how many things
they witness against Thee? And He answered him to never a word" (Matt.
26:62,63;

27:12-14).

Finally,
suppose you or I were to engage in a traitorous    act for Christ’s sake, as
did Christians who hid Jews from the Nazis during World War II. We would be at
high risk of finding ourselves in a situation where we might feel we had to lie
to preserve our lives and those of others. I suggest it would be most
appropriate to pray the prayer Jesus taught His disciples:"Lead us not
into temptation" (Matt. 6:13), and also, "Help me, Lord, not to
dishonor Thee by lying or in any other way, even if it costs me my life"
(Judg. 5:18).

We are so used
to our lives of ease and comfort that it is difficult to think in such terms of
giving our lives for Christ’s sake. The Lord exhorts us, "Be faithful unto
death, and I will give you a crown of life" (Rev. 2:10). And in contrast
to ourselves, the apostle Paul expresses the desire "that I may know Him,
and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
made conformable unto His death" (Phil. 3:11). In the words of another,
"The knowledge of Christ in glory was the supreme desire of Paul’s heart,
and this desire could never exist without producing an intense longing to reach
Him in the place where He is. Hence the heart that longs after Him
instinctively turns to the path by which He reached that place in glory, and
earnestly desires to reach Him in that place by the very path which He trod.
The heart asks, ‘How did He reach that glory? Was it through
resurrection? And did not sufferings and death necessarily precede
resurrection?’ Then the heart says, ‘Nothing would please me so well as to
reach Him in resurrection glory by the very path which took Him there.’
It is the martyr spirit. Paul wanted to tread as a martyr the pathway of
suffering and death, that he might reach resurrection and glory by the same
path as the blessed One who had won his heart."

The topic of
Rahab’s lie has led us into some very solemn and far-reaching considerations.
Let us make "putting away lying" (Eph. 4:25) of all kinds a high
priority of our daily lives. (This may mean refusing to participate in a
surprise party that depends on people telling "little white lies.")
If we are in the daily habit of not lying in the smallest matter, then we will
be prepared to respond truthfully in situations where much more may be at
stake.

Let us also
develop a habit of self-sacrifice in the small matters of life. Only then will
we be properly prepared to offer the supreme sacrifice—the laying down of our
lives for Christ’s sake—should that be God’s will for any of us.