"So Be It" (Josh 2)

“Then she said, According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window” (vs21).

There is no sense denying what she was. Joshua 2:2 says, “a harlot named Rahab”. This magnifies grace, that God saves sinners, that a person SO wrong in the past can do the right thing and live, that a life wasted and hell-bent can be changed. In a moment of time, and by firm resolve, a woman can go from whore to heaven bound, from sin's captive to its conquer, glorifying God's grace in laying it all on the line for Him and for the hope of Christ. Hebrews 11:31 says, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace”.

First, the flesh and devil tell us what to do to save ourselves, to live in sin, compromise Christ, and to live fearfully, but they are wrong. The King of Jericho said, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country. Then the woman took the two men and hid them” (Josh 2:3-4). She knew the commands of scripture and the will of God are good for the soul. She wisely heeded God and forgot men. She'd been a whore, but she'd be saved.

Secondly, we have something to do. “So the men answered her, Our lives for yours if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land,that we will deal kindly and truly with you”, so that there were conditions (Josh 2:14). We are saved BY faith, even as Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved”, and the Lord says, “he that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Acts 16:31; Mark 16:16).

We are not saved irregardless of what we do, but we're saved by belief of the truth, which is life long.

We read three conditions of peace: “So the men said to her: We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, (1) unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down [faith in Christ], and (2) unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home [hope in Christ]. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. And (3) if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear” [love for Christ and His people] (Josh 2:17-20).

1. We must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, relying upon Him completely. Just as Rahab puts out the scarlet cord, we trust the blood of Christ to save us, that because He died, God is reconciled to us, at peace, and we are right with God.
2. We must continue in the faith, hoping in Christ, and abiding in Him. We don't START and then not finish, but we believe the whole message of God the whole life long. Paul told the Colossians, “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Col 1:23). We are actually LIVING by the message.
3. We must also love, not turning our backs upon Jesus and His people by betrayal, like Judas, who betrayed the Lord with a kiss. This love is by the continued belief in the forgiveness of sins.

Be faithful to what He says do – faith, hope, and love (1 Cor 13:13) – and He will be faithful to spare you in the day of wrath. He says, “whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him” (vs19).

Finally, when we know God's terms, then we may respond, “so be it”, responding in faith, saying “Amen” to “Thus says the Lord”. She who had been a whore now says, “According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window” (Josh 2:21). We have been told what to do, and “so be it” is the declaration that we will.