Excerpt
RAHAB studied the distant plain of Jericho from herwindow in the city wall, her heart stirring with fear andexcitement. Out there, just beyond the Jordan River, theIsraelites were encamped, only the floodwaters holdingthem back. Soon they would cross over and come againstthe king of Jericho with the same ferocity they had shownin battle against Sihon, Og, and the five kings of Midian.And everyone in Jericho would die.
The king had doubled the guard at the gate and postedsoldiers on the battlements. But it would do no good.Destruction was on the horizon. The only hope was tosurrender and plead for mercy. The king worried about thesize of the invading army, but he failed to see the realdanger: the God of the Hebrews. All of Pharaoh's warriorshadn't been enough to defeat Him forty years ago. Not eventhe pantheon of gods and goddesses had saved Egypt. Butall the king of Jericho could think about was improving thebattlements, stockpiling weapons, and increasing thenumber of soldiers! Did men never learn?
Jericho was doomed!
And she was imprisoned inside the city, bound by a lifeshe had carved out for herself years ago. What hope hadshe, a harlot? Her fate had been set in motion years ago,when she was little more than a child, a peasant's daughtersummoned by a king.
"You must go!" her father had said. "As long as you livein the palace and please him, I shall prosper. He's arrangingmarriages for your sisters. And if you refuse, he will haveyou nonetheless, killing me to remove any obstacles. Thinkof the honor he bestows upon you. He chooses only themost beautiful girls, Rahab."
An honor? "And will he marry me, Father?" Her fathercouldn't look into her eyes. She knew the answer. The kinghad several wives, all of whom he had married for politicaladvantages. She had nothing a king needed?merely a bodyhe wanted to use.
Even then, young as she had been, she knew that lustburned hot but eventually turned to ashes. In a week, amonth, a year perhaps, the king would tire of her and sendher home wearing a beautiful Babylonian robe and a fewpieces of gold jewelry her father would confiscate and sellfor his own profit.
"When I return, will you allow me to sell dates and pomegranatesin the marketplace again, Father, or will I end uplike so many others? Selling my body for a loaf of bread?"
He had covered his face and wept. She'd hated him fortaking advantage of her ruin, hated him for making excuses,hated him for telling her she would be better off in the king'spalace than in the grove hut where he and her mother andbrothers and sisters lived. She hated him because he had nopower to save her.
She had hated her own helplessness most of all.
Even in her wrath, Rahab had known her father couldn'tsave her from the king's lust. A king could take what hewanted. Any gifts he gave were meant to dissolve thoughtsof revenge. Life was hard and uncertain, but if the rightopportunity arose, a beautiful daughter could make afather's way smooth. Tax exemptions. Land use. Anelevated position in the court. The king was generous whenit served him, but usually his generosity lasted only as longas his lust.
Rahab rested her arms on the window, gazing out. Sheremembered setting foot in the palace that first day, vowingnot to end up as a discarded sandal. She intended to find away to take advantage of her wretched situation and theman who used her. She'd hidden her fury and revulsion,pretending to enjoy the king's embrace. Every moment inhis company, her mind was crouched like a lioness studyingits prey, watching, waiting for his weakness to show. Andshe found it soon enough: the constant arrival of emissaries,spies, and messengers. Without their stream of information,he wouldn't know who his enemies were or what petty jealousiesand rebellions were on the rise.
"Give me a house, and I'll gather information for you,"she had boldly proposed, once her opportunity becameclear to her. How the king had laughed at her sagacity!She'd laughed with him, but continued to entice and solicitfor further benefits. She was tenacious in her determinationto have something tangible when she left the palace, somethingwith which she could make her own way and sustainherself comfortably for a lifetime. She deserved it aftersuffering the caresses of that fat, foul-smelling, arrogant oldman!
Well, she had gotten what she wanted: a house, a prosperousliving, and the illusion of independence. The kinghad given her this house situated near the eastern gate soshe could watch the comings and goings of Jericho. Fortwelve years she'd looked out this window and picked outmen to share her bed, men who might tell her things thatwould protect the king's throne and increase his treasury.Every transaction she made brought a double payment. Themen paid to sleep with her, and the king paid for the grainsof information she gleaned. She knew even more aboutwhat was happening outside the walls of Jericho than theking did. And when she wanted to know what was goingon inside the palace, she beckoned Cabul, the captain of theguard. He could always be counted on to spill out everysecret while in her arms.
She owned half a dozen Babylonian robes, boxes inlaidwith bone and ivory and filled with jewelry. Her house wasfurnished with objects of art, her floor covered with multicolored,woven rugs. Her customers slept on the finestcolored linen sheets from Egypt perfumed with myrrh, aloe,and cinnamon. She could afford tasty delicacies and rich,heady wines. Everyone in the city knew she was a friendand confidante of the king. They also knew she was awhore.
But no one knew how much she hated her life. No oneguessed how helpless she felt in the face of the plans madefor her by father and king. Many would wonder why shehad cause to complain. On the outside, she had an enviablelife. The king respected her, men desired her, and she couldchoose her clientele. There were even women in Jericho whoenvied her independence. They didn't know what it feltlike to be used, stripped of humanity. Even now, despite ahouse of her own and plush surroundings, she was helplessto change anything about her life. She was locked into it.
Yet no one knew the fierce heart that beat within her. Noone suspected the stored resentment, the gathering fury,the aching hunger to break free and escape. She was in aprison others had made for her, a prison she had succeededin filling with earthly treasures. But she had other plans,other dreams and hopes.
And they all depended on the God out there, the One sheknew had the power to save those He chose. Somehow shehad known?even as a young girl hearing the stories forthe first time that He was a true God, the only true One.When He brought His people across the Jordan, He wouldtake this city and crush it as He had crushed all Hisenemies.
The end of everything she had known was in sight.
We're all going to die! Doesn't anyone else see that? Are theyall blind and deaf to what's been happening for the last fortyyears? People come and go as they always have, thinkingeverything is going to be all right. They think the walls we'vebuilt will protect us, just as I thought the walls of my father'shut could protect me all those years ago. And we're not safe?we'renot safe at all!
She was filled with the terror of death, filled even morewith a terrible longing to be a part of what would come. Shewanted to belong to the God who was coming. She felt likea little girl wanting desperately to be swept up in herfather's arms and saved from...
