Lessons From A Prostitute [four]

When we begin to read through Joshua chapter two...a question should jump to the forefront of our thoughts...
...if these “hand picked” spies were such upstanding moral examples...then why in the world were they visiting a prostitute...huh?...huh?
Let's look at the following story...my interpretation...to see if it explains this question...
The story places you in the shoes of the two spies...it is good for us to practice this when we read the Bible...trying to crawl into the skin of the Bible character you are reading about...trying to understand the times they were living in...
Let's go back in time...back thousands of years...over into the middle east...to the very borders of the Promised Land...
As you approach the city...you lift a silent prayer to the God who controls all things...praying for safety. The cities walls are massive...looming before you. A gigantic monument of security and protection for all within its arms. As the gate gets closer you observe soldiers interspersed around the sole entry and exit of the city...watching as merchants and citizens pass in and out of the city. You were chosen as a spy because you had shown yourself to be a member of the “special forces” in the armies ranks, you were an excellent fighter, a quick thinker, and most of all you kept your head when things got rough. As you scrutinize the clothing of the other passers by, you decide that you and your companion’s disguises are more than passable...you will blend in quite well...and you better had...your life is at stake. These are war times and the enemy will show absolutely no mercy to spies who are caught trying to enter the city walls. Soon you are amongst the crowd of people, flowing into the city. The soldiers are looking at everyone, here is where all your training comes in, too little or too much eye contact means disaster...one has to appear casual...even though you are the farthest thing from it. As you pass inside the walls you notice that the soldiers are counting heads, those coming in and those going out...they were keeping a close eye on things, they were always expecting attacks, always on yellow alert.
For the next couple hours you wander around the market place, checking out strategic points to attack all around you. As time goes on you notice more and more that you are being “noticed”...the citizens of the city are looking at you far too long to be normal. Lips are far too close to ears...whispering and subtle finger pointing. The people are on war alert, they are habitually suspicious, they notice you noticing them. You and your companion need to get out of the public eye...get to an “out of the way” nook or cranny where unwanted eyes wouldn’t be stuck on the strangers. Where could you go? The public Inn was far too...well...public...all sorts of unwanted types could enter there...especially soldiers. You needed a place of secrecy...a dwelling place of shadows, a place where people went to...when they didn’t want others to see what they were doing. You needed to find a place where it wouldn’t look conspicuous for “strangers” to be entering in. A place where the “resident” very likely didn’t have many close friends, wasn’t looked highly upon by decent citizens...and yet...someone who would know many of the secrets of the city...because many of her visitors would have been men of the city...from various occupations in life. Suddenly it comes to you, and you head to a back street to talk to an informant. After talking with a couple “seedy” looking characters you discover that there is a prostitute who has an apartment on the outer city wall, top floor, hidden away from all the hustle and bustle of the ground floor city life. As you head towards the prostitutes home, wondering exactly how you are going to hide your true identity, and your true agenda...what you don’t realize is that God is orchestrating everything...you are not just going to the harlots home to hide out and learn secrets, you are going to be used as a vessel of salvation...a messenger/spy.