Look at me, just ripping along with the readings and neglecting the tens of readers that are following along. Shame on me. Apologies to everyone, and I'll try to keep up a bit better.
In fact, when I started writing this post, I had intended to just catch up, but 15 chapters is just too many, so I'm going to take it two days' readings at a time until I'm caught up. Hope that's okay.
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After the almost unbroken narrative drought of Leviticus through Deuteronomy, we`re back in Bible story territory, with two fairly well-known stories coming in quick succession within these opening 8 chapters - Rahab's sheltering of the Israelite spies and the conquest of Jericho.
The first thing that struck me was either how bad at spying the Israelites had become, or how good at catching them everyone else had become. The first time around, there were 12 guys skulking about in the Promised Land, and they made it back without incident.
This time around, the two of them are, it seems, detected quite easily, to the point where not only does the king know that two guys from Israel are poking around, but exactly which whore house they've shacked up in for the night. That, my friends, is counterintelligence.
There's a whole element to this story that would make for a pretty solid Christopher Nolan gritty reboot film version. Usually when presented (granted, to children, but so was Batman, originally) the story just sort of glosses over the fact that Rahab was a prostitute. It doesn't necessarily deny it outright, but it certainly rushes past, holding its breath.
I like it. The fact is that a house of ill repute would be the kind of place that spies would likely choose to hide out, since everyone tends to be that much more anonymous there anyway. People ask fewer questions, they expect less information, and nobody cares to talk much about anything. Maybe this is blatantly obvious, and it's just dawning on me now for some reason, but Rahab's involvement in this story, to me, serves as one of those reality-grounding details that would not necessarily be something that would have been injected into a story that was made up. Good stuff.
Also, I like how Rahab ties the scarlet cord out her window immediately, as opposed to waiting around until the trouble started. If I could have that kind of proactive approach to emails I had to write or chores that needed doing, my life would be easier.
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There's an agreeable symmetry to Isreal 's crossing of the Jordan. The parallels to the Red Sea crossing are obvious, but not unimportant, I feel. I think that the symbolism of crossing a river is more or less completely lost in an age where there are virtually no limits to the extent of possible travel.
I remember seeing a commercial for some army or other where the soldiers come up to a roaring river and the impressive voice-over says something along the lines of "so what do they do when they come to an obstacle like this? They build a bridge over it." I always remember being sort of let down by this, because - of course they build a bridge. It's like going around something, but less challenging in most ways that are important. I don't know. It always fell flat as great moments of ingenuitive triumph go.
There's no doubt that God does rivers and water crossings in general with style, though. Giant walls of water, incongruitously dry land, and a way that oughtn't be there. Again - good stuff.
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That's pretty much it for me for these, as it's late and I'm still trying to catch up. I'm excited about where things are going now, what with stuff picking up and all.
Also, I'll leave you with Hugh Laurie singing about Joshua. Yes, Dr. House himself. He's awesome. You should buy his album.
Anyway, here you go.
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