Weirdo Series: A Harlot

Things have been quite interesting for me. I'm still trying to make sense of it. A whole city fell down around me!! I knew it was going to happen but that doesn't make the experience anymore incredible when it happens. *sigh* Let me start from the beginning.

I lived in Jericho. I had a good job. Well, I had to work most nights but I got paid well. I hated my job, it was very degrading. I won't really get into what I actually did for a living but let me put it this way: the women in the neighborhood would call their children to them when I walked by. I was a bit of an outcast.  Since what I did wasn't glamorous job, I lived in a questionable neighborhood on the city wall.

My job took me throughout the city and I interacted with some very influential people. I heard most of the news of what was going on in and out of Jericho. I heard about the Red Sea crying up so the Israelites could cross and escape the Egyptians. I also heard about how two kings of big kingdoms had been defeated. Wait. Not just defeated, completely destroyed. None of the gods my countrymen worshiped were half as mighty.

Or reliable.

I didn't know much about Him, but I was sure that this was a god that I wanted to know more about. And even better yet, to serve. What a mighty God indeed.

One day, as I was working in my garden, I saw two men walking down the alleyway. They obviously did not belong in our city and I knew the city guard would be coming soon. I brought them into my home and hid them upstairs under some piles of flax I had on the roof drying so I could make linen. Apparently, somebody else saw the men and saw them in my yard and told on me. The city guard paid me a visit telling me to bring the men out. I knew that denying it would just get me thrown in jail. Jericho jails were not known for their luxury. So I told them that, yes, the men came to my house but that they had left and had already gone out the city gates. I told the guard that if they hurried they might be able to catch them.

The timing was perfect. The guards left the city and started searching and as soon as they had left, the city gates were shut so they could not come back in until morning.

I knew that these men were here to scout out our city in preparation for battle. I also knew that they would win. So did everyone else in the city. Everyone in town was freaking out and started to just accept whatever defeat would be coming. My people are a proud people and it was weird to see them lose heart like that. Whatever God these Israelites worshiped was truly mighty.

Before they fell asleep, I went to talk to the men. I told them the attitude of the men of the city including how upset they were about everything they have heard. I also told them how I respected and revered the LORD. I asked them if they could spare my life and the lives of my family when they destroyed the city.

These men spoke plainly to me. They said that if I didn't tell anybody of their plan or presence that they would surely save me. They told me to gather my family at my house and that if any of them were not in my house, they would die. They told me to hang a scarlet rope out of my window so the Israelites would know to protect us.

I gave my word.

I also told them what I told the guards and then suggested that they leave the city and wait until the guards came back before returning to their tribes. I lowered them out of my window which was on the wall. They made it out safely.

I did exactly what I said I would do. I gathered my family and hung a red rope out my window. Then I saw an army just walking around our city. They weren't trying to raze the walls or knock down the gates. They just walked with trumpets blowing. They did this for 6 days and then on the 7th, they just kept walking. I saw them walk by my window 7 times. After the 7th time, I heard a man talking to the people. I'm not quite sure what he said but I swear I heard my name. Then all of a sudden they all starting shouting. 

It was so loud! But it was nothing compared to the sound of the walls falling. FALLING! Those walls were so strong. No army had every conquered those walls and now they were falling. Half of my house was gone!

But all of us were safe. Somehow, with all the rubble and the crashing and the horrible noises, we were all safe! What a might God indeed.

Eventually, the two men that I had hid came and took my family and myself out of the city. Nothing stood. Everything was destroyed. What a mighty God indeed!

After that day, I stayed with the Israelites until my dying day. They became my people and their God became my God. I met a man named Salmon who was the son of the tribal leader of Judah. We got married and had kids. I am actually the great-great grandmother to King David.

That's right! THE King David! Eventually, the Savior of mankind would come from my line. The line of a harlot. 

What a mighty God indeed.