"Deep Mercy and Lavish Grace" Joshua 2

Our first reading is found in Joshua chapter 2, verses 1 through 14.

Joshua 2:1–14

And Joshua, the son of Nun, sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go, view the land, even Jericho.

And they went and came into a harlot's house named Rhea, who lodged there.

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country.

And the king of Jericho sent unto Rhea, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house, for they be come to search out all the country.

And the woman took the two men and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I was not whence they were.

And it came to pass, about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out.

Whither the men went, I wot not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them.

But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flack, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan, unto the fords.

And as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof.

And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us,

and that all in the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came up out of Egypt.

And what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of the Jordan, Sion and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt.

Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you.

For the Lord your God, he is God, in heaven above and in earth beneath.

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness,

that you will also show kindness unto my father's house and give me a true token,

and that you will save alive my father and my mother and my brethren and my sisters and all that they have,

and deliver our lives from death.

And the men answered her, Our lives for yours.

If ye utter not this our business, and it shall be done,

when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Amen.

The popular historian Tom Holland, some of you would know him from the podcast The Rest is History,

or some of his books, especially the big tome called Dominion.

He has rightly observed that in the 21st century, we in the West have collectively replaced Satan with Hitler,

as the epitome of evil.

I don't think he's wrong.

I think he's spot on.

And for, in some ways, right reason.

I mean, the 20th century has been marked by horrific atrocities,

and horrific atrocities that take the form of ethnic cleansing.

The Armenian genocide by the Ottomans,

the Holodomor genocide in the Ukraine under Stalin,

and the former Soviet Union,

the ongoing conflict in Sudan,

the Rwandan genocide,

and of course,

because Hitler is the new Satan,

the Holocaust committed by the National Socialists.

When we think of pure evil,

you know, this is what comes to mind.

And the short form of all of it is Hitler.

And we are rightly disgusted and horrified by ethnic cleansing.

So last week, I introduced Joshua chapter 1.

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

It's our first week in a 10 to 12 week sermon series in Joshua.

I introduced the book by mentioning that on first reading,

the book, it lends to a reading that God has divinely mandated ethnic cleansing.

The land of Canaan, the promised land,

the land that would be the land of Israel,

it is to be taken over,

and the inhabitants forcibly removed,

even in some cases,

it is said that they are to be devoted to destruction.

So, I said last week,

and I'll say this week,

there's hard bits in the Bible.

Our commitment here at the church

isn't to somehow,

in every single way,

answer every skeptical objection to the faith.

I think in some ways,

we help you with that.

You're the ones that are going to have to wrestle with that.

But what we will do always

is walk towards some of these uncomfortable bits,

not away from them.

So, the question is,

is God indeed a bloodthirsty,

Hitler-like character?

Should we be hesitant to assume the goodness and merit

of this book,

or any of the books in the Bible,

or the God that this Bible proclaims?

And as we look at Joshua chapter 2 this morning,

Joshua 2 · chapter mention

we're going to focus on a Canaanite woman.

Not an Israelite,

but a Canaanite woman.

A woman who lives in Jericho,

who in every respect,

ought to be the antithesis

of what we might expect

this,

a hero to be in this story.

She is a remarkable figure,

and one who will help us to see

that the God of Scripture

is most certainly not a bloodthirsty,

Hitler-like character,

but a God of deep mercy

and lavish grace.

Joshua chapter 2,

Joshua 2 · chapter mention

we're going to spend,

we're going to look at the entire chapter,

but we're going to spend the majority of the time

in verses 1 to 14.

I've broken up verses 1 to 14

into two points,

and they are going to really focus on this person

who is Rahab,

this Canaanite woman.

The first point,

a bold act she will commit,

and then a humble confession she will make.

A bold act and a humble confession.

Look with me starting in verse 1,

and we'll just read verses 1 and 2.

And Joshua, the son of Nun,

or Nun,

sent out two men secretly from Shittim as spies,

saying,

Go view the land,

especially Jericho.

And they went and came

into the house of a prostitute

whose name was Rahab,

and lodged there.

And it was told to the king of Jericho,

Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight

to search out the land.

Listen, before we get into this first point

about Rahab's bold act,

it's helpful for us to understand the story thus far.

So, just really briefly,

the Lord, he, in chapter 1,

in the first,

especially the first nine verses,

he proclaims a comforting word to Joshua

that as he was with Moses,

so he will be with him.

He comforts him with his presence

and his promises.

If you remember last week,

those are the two big things

that God promised to Joshua,

but also to the people of Israel.

His promises and his presence.

Then, we didn't read this,

but the rest of the chapter,

it is Joshua actually commanding the people.

He's taking command,

and he is telling them,

Listen, make provisions,

get ready,

and the people get behind him

with one voice.

We will follow you.

We will go your way.

The Lord is with you.

Anybody, anybody who opposes you,

they will surely die.

The Israelites,

they are of one mind.

They are about to take on the people,

the inhabitants of Canaan.

They are going to take hold

of the promised land from the Lord.

But here's the thing.

Joshua's been here before.

Okay, 40 years earlier,

Moses, he gets a spy,

one from each of the 12 tribes, okay?

12 spies go into the land.

They come back.

Two of them, Joshua being one of them,

say, Listen, we can do this.

The people are big.

They're strong.

They have better guns than us.

They have better tanks than us.

They have a whole fleet of fighter jets.

I mean, but whatever.

We have slings.

We have spears.

We can take them on.

The rest of them, no chance.

They're bigger than us.

They're scary.

And the fear really permeated through the rest of the Israelites.

And what happened?

God's people ceased to trust in him,

and they spent the next 40 years wandering into,

until the generation,

this generation of unbelief died,

and the next generation came up.

So what ends up happening?

We get to our point now,

the beginning of chapter 2.

Joshua, now this might be a bit of me reading into the narrative,

but just bear with me.

It says that he secretly sent two spies, okay?

What he didn't do is he didn't then, like Moses,

take a spy from each of the tribe.

He takes two,

and he secretly sends them in to the land to scout it out.

What he's not doing is he's not saying,

listen, we're going to do a repeat of what happened 40 years ago,

because God forbid it's a repeat of 40 years ago.

And then there's another 40 years of wandering.

Maybe it's wandering for 80 years or 120 years.

Joshua is a good leader, and he's learned from his mistakes.

So what does he do?

He sends secretly the spies, two of them,

into the promised land in a bit of a recon mission

to see what is going on.

So the spies, they're sent out by Joshua.

They go to Jericho,

and they go to the house of Rahab, who was a prostitute.

Now, there's been great lengths,

a lot of ink spilt by commentators,

both rabbinic commentators,

so Jewish people that do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah,

and also Christian commentators,

trying to say, like, listen,

Rahab, she ran an inn.

It was a nice tavern.

That's what she was doing.

This could be translated a different way.

There's a whitewashing of Rahab.

Because the implication would be,

if Rahab's a prostitute,

then the spies have just gone into a brothel.

And we can't have our heroes do something like that.

But the reality is,

the translators that we're reading from,

and most of them,

they've gotten it right.

Rahab is indeed a prostitute.

Whether or not the men, though,

went into her home for reprehensible actions,

they were given over to their desires.

I think the text is very clear that they did not do that.

There's a lot of other words that the Hebrew could have employed

to get that across.

But it seems, though,

that what ends up happening is the spies

are going to a prostitute's house

because, and we'll see this in a bit,

she deals in the currency of information.

She deals in the currency of information.

She has her finger on the pulse

of what's going on in Jericho.

She knows who's coming in,

who's going out.

She knows some secrets.

She's actually, in many respects,

the right person to go to

if you want to get a real good lay of the land,

if you want to understand what's happening in Jericho.

So the spies go in.

And this is where our story picks up.

Because almost immediately,

their cover seems to be blown.

So whether or not,

you know,

they let something slip,

maybe they were dressed in non-Jericho garb,

maybe their accents gave them away.

The text isn't clear on the reason why,

but almost certainly,

their cover's blown as soon as they go into the city.

And this is where it picks up.

Look with me at verses three,

and we'll read to verse seven.

Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab,

saying,

Bring out the men who have come to you,

who entered your house,

for they have come to search out all the land.

The king knows what's happening.

And by the way,

it's not like a king sitting on a throne.

This is like a bit of like a city state.

So think about like a ruler or a warlord,

something of that nature.

But nevertheless,

we're going to call him king for the rest of our time in Joshua chapter two.

Verse four.

But the woman, Rahab,

had taken the two men and hidden them.

And she said,

True, the men came to me,

but I did not know where they were from.

And when the gate was about to be closed at dark,

the men went out.

I do not know where the men went.

Pursue them quickly,

for you will overtake them.

But she had brought them,

the two spies,

up to the roof

and hid them with the stalks of flax

that she had laid in order on the roof.

So the men pursued after them

on the way to the Jordan

as far as the fords.

And the gate was shut

as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

Rahab

lies to the highest authority in the land.

She risks her head for two spies

that she's never yet met.

Sorry, that she hasn't met up until that moment.

It's a bold act that she does.

She's committed an act of treason.

She has helped out a foreign power

and it is at the potential cost of her life.

You know, she's hidden them upstairs

on the roof, a flat roof.

The flax is drying or aging or whatever.

She's hidden them amongst the bundles of flax.

All it would have taken is one person to say,

we're searching this house.

We're not going to believe you.

Maybe we'll pursue them

to the fords of the Jordan.

But first, let us look around a few corners

in a few closets under this and that.

And that would have been it.

She took a huge chance at hiding them.

And then she took an even greater chance

by lying to her king.

She has officially switched sides.

She has chosen to put in her lot

with a group of former slaves turned wanderers

without military might,

without a home base,

without any technological means

of scaling the walls

of the forbiddable city

that is her literal home.

We'll find out she's literally living

in the walls.

It doesn't make sense

from an earthly point of view.

She's already on the winning side,

the strong side,

the mighty side.

Why on earth would she throw her lot in

with the Israelites?

So we'll find out her motive later on,

but right now,

her motive is yet to be disclosed.

But she uses the only bit of currency

that she has for the cause of God's people.

It's her information and her reputation.

So when I said before,

this would have been a home,

almost certainly a place

where she would deal in information.

Notice that the king's men

didn't say to her,

listen, we're going to overturn this place first

and then we're going to pursue after these men.

They just believed her.

She had a,

I mean, listen,

she's somebody with almost no agency

in the ancient world.

Nevertheless,

her reputation was such that

they believed her at face value.

She risks it.

She totally dealt her last card.

She put all her chips

into the middle of the table.

She showed great kindness to these spies.

What's interesting,

and we'll touch on this

closer to the end of the sermon,

the kindness that she showed,

the writer of the Hebrews,

the book of Hebrews,

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11,

describes Rahab

and what she did

as an act of welcome to the spies.

James chapter 2,

James 2 · chapter mention

again in the New Testament,

says her actions

were works that justified her.

But before we go on any further,

let's just consider this.

She's done something wonderful.

The New Testament picks it up

and gives her her flowers.

But Rahab lied.

She bore false witness.

She broke one of God's ten commands.

Not only that,

but she committed treason

against her people.

And yet,

somehow,

in some way,

this furthered the purpose of God

in whom

there is only truth

and no deceit.

So,

why on earth

is God using

this liar

and treasonous person

to see his purposes

furthered

as the people

are about to take the land?

Listen,

if you get into

some of this stuff

with the commentaries,

it's wild

how much there's wrestling with it.

Some commentators

have tried to justify

Rahab's lie

as ethical

to explain it away

as actually not a lie

at all.

Yes,

lying is bad,

but it's like

a poisonous herb.

This is John Cassian.

He was a fourth century monk.

He says,

yeah,

but what she did,

it's like taking

a poisonous herb,

but you mix it

with a couple other ingredients

and then you apply it

on a wound

and it becomes healing,

a source of healing.

Others,

like Augustine

and also John Calvin,

they'll say

about Rahab's lie,

yeah,

it was a lie,

but she was atoned for

because she did it

with the right motive.

Listen,

the scriptures

are very clear

on a lot of things

about lying,

about putting our lot

in with God

and his people.

In this case,

there is no comment

in the text

made about it.

It's simply

that she lied

and this somehow,

some way,

factored into

God's plan.

And I think

it's wonderful

and I think

it should give us

not a pause

for confusion,

but a great confidence

in God

and his word.

Why?

Because it simply

describes what happened.

The scriptures

are not trying

to whitewash

the human experience.

They're deeply

spiritual,

the scriptures are,

but they're also

deeply human

and in that way

they are relatable.

Who here has not

been in a moral

conundrum?

Okay?

A situation

where there are not,

it's not the difference

between a right way

and a wrong way,

but there's like,

which one's less bad?

This is,

this is the human experience.

It's messy.

And the scriptures

just,

they record it.

It's a remarkable thing.

A dear

man and wife,

they were here

for a number of years.

They've since gone back

to Germany.

He's a Dutch national

and he would tell

the story

about his father

who would

consistently lie

to the Nazis

because they were

hiding Jews

on their property,

on their farm.

it's a lie.

I mean,

they're lying

to the occupying forces,

they're deceiving,

they're bearing

false witness.

On the same token,

they're saving a life,

but it's coming

at great cost.

What do you do

when you have

moral conundrums?

Okay?

When things aren't

exactly super clear,

what do you do?

I think in many respects

what we are called

to do is to pray

and to seek

the Lord's face

and to ask

for wisdom

and then just

to act

and ask the Lord

for his mercy

and grace

no matter what.

I thought you were

going to get

like a rock solid

fantastic answer

on how to navigate

like a principle

to navigate

moral conundrums.

Life is messy.

Okay?

We live in a broken

sinful world.

God is using,

okay,

he's using

a prostitute,

somebody who's

sexually immoral,

who's also lying,

who's also deceiving,

who's doing it

we'll find

very soon.

Okay,

on one hand

it's an act of faith,

on the other hand

she's just

saving her bacon.

You know,

like this is

a lot of gray here

and I think

we need to

remember that

gray is

the predominant

color

in this world

when it comes

to moral things.

It just takes

a lot of wisdom

to navigate it.

But remember

how Joshua

opens up

in chapter 1

verses 1 to 9.

Three times

in four verses

what does

the Lord

say to Joshua?

Be strong,

be courageous.

Be strong

and courageous.

What does he say?

Only be strong

and courageous.

And then Joshua,

we didn't read it

last week,

but if you read

the second half

of chapter 1,

he tells the people

be strong

and courageous.

who's the first

person that we

are finding

in the narrative

who is being

strong and courageous?

It's Rahab.

A non-Israelite,

but somebody

who's just seeing

what's in front

of her

and really,

truly,

by faith,

making a very

difficult decision

with the

very messy,

with the cards

that were dealt

to her.

It's a messy

situation.

And I'll end

this point

by just saying

this.

God draws

straight with

crooked lines.

And it's a

wonderful truth

because even

through all

of this,

God's purposes

will not

be thwarted.

Jericho

will not win

in the end.

There is not

a stronger God.

There's not

a mightier

deity.

The God

of Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob

will prevail.

So Rahab,

she has a

purpose behind

her actions

and they are

bold indeed.

For what we

see next

is one of

the most

candid

acknowledgments

and humble

confessions

in the entire

book of Joshua

and maybe

potentially

the Old

Testament.

Look with me

starting in

verse 8

and this is

our second

point,

a humble

confession.

We'll read

verse 8

and then

up into

the first

half of

verse 11.

Before the

men lay

down,

Rahab

came up

to them

on the

roof

and said

to them,

I know

that the

Lord has

given you

the land

and that

the fear

of you

has fallen

upon us

and that

all the

inhabitants

of the

land

melt

away

before

you.

For

we have

heard

how the

Lord

dried

up the

water

of the

Red

Sea

before

you

when

you

came

out

of

Egypt

and

what

you

did

to the

two

kings

of the

Amorites

who were

beyond

the

Jordan

to

Sihon

and

Og

whom

you

devoted

to

destruction

and as

soon

as we

heard it

our hearts

melted

and there

was no

spirit

or breath

left in

any man

because of

you.

Rahab

is

saying

to the

two

spies

that

the

story

of God's

exodus

the

story

of God's

victory

for the

Israelites

in the

desert

it's

been

made

known

to the

people

of

Canaan

in fact

the

entire

Canaanite

population

has long

been aware

of the

Lord's

acts

in the

exodus

story

they have

heard

it

she says

they're

frightened

in fact

they were

terrified

it said

their

hearts

melted

the

breath

left

their

lungs

it's

like

if

you

hopefully

it

hasn't

happened

as

an

adult

but

when

you

were

a

kid

in

the

school

in

the

schoolyard

and

some

random

kid

punches

you

in

the

stomach

and

you're

winded

maybe

that

just

happened

to

me

it's

like

that

it's

like

you're

grasping

for

life

and

then

the

air

rushes

back

and

you're

okay

but

it

is

like

they

are

completely

undone

the

story

of the

exodus

is

God's

supernatural

victory

for

Israel

out of

Egyptian

slavery

the

mention

of

Og

and

Sihon

as

the

Israelites

were

in

the

desert

these

two

Amorite

kings

they

attacked

Israel

first

thinking

that

they

would

take

advantage

of

them

because

they

were

weak

and

yet

God

gave

them

supernatural

victory

again

he

brought

them

out

of

the

Red

Sea

in

a

very

dramatic

way

and

to

the

people

of

Canaan

these

are

not

myths

this

is

history

this

is

a

historical

count

in

which

the

one

and

only

eternal

God

acted

supernaturally

in the

natural

world

supernaturally

in the

natural

world

to

protect

and

to

save

his

people

and

because

God's

actions

are

always

an

expression

of

who

God

is

of

his

character

we

can't

separate

ever

God's

actions

from

who

God

is

the

Canaanites

now

understand

that

there

is

a

God

with

might

and

power

who

fights

for

his

people

he

is

not

to

be

trifled

with

so

what

is

Rahab

ultimately

saying

the

status

quo

in

Jericho

it's

overturned

their

gods

have

never

performed

such

acts

their

confidence

in

their

high

walls

is

at

an

all

time

low

the

morale

is

rock

bottom

they

are

no

longer

backed

by

strong

gods

and

if

the

God

of

Israel

can

destroy

Egypt

and

part

the

Red

Sea

and

give

them

victory

in

the

desert

what

are

mere

walls

that

surround

this

city

what

good

are

they

so

there

is

only

two

responses

when

the

reality

of

who

God

is

and

what

he

has

done

becomes

real

to

us

and

real

to

them

we

can

either

submit

to

him

bend

a

knee

to

his

might

to

his

glory

or

we

resist

and

we

continue

on

in

our

false

hopes

and

our

futile

attempts

at

autonomy

and

try

to be

free

on

our

own

terms

but

what

ends

up

happening

is

we

make

not

ourselves

the

Lord

of

our

own

lives

but

we

make

everything

our

appetites

our

desires

the

the

influences

around

us

we

make

those

things

the

Lord

of

our

life

and

in

the

end

we

are

not

free

people

we

are

people

that

are

living

in

a

type

of

delusion

and

this

is

what

we're

witnessing

in

Joshua

chapter

two

on

the

one

hand

we

have

Rahab

right

she

is

somebody

without

any

agency

one

with

little

power

who

chooses

to risk

her

life

to

help

these

two

random

spies

and in

doing

so

she

participates

in

God's

plan

and

then

on

the

other

hand

we

have

the

mighty

king

of

Jericho

and

his

men

we

have

the

walls

we

have

the

fortifications

we

have

the

strength

of

Jericho

and

what

does

he

do

I

mean

Rahab

if

we're

taking

her at

her word

if

God's

scriptures

are

true

that

he's

afraid

as

well

and

what

does

he

end

up

doing

he

tries

to

snuff

out

God's

people

and

therefore

snuff

out

God

himself

there's

only

and

always

two

responses

to the

reality

of who

God

is

and what

he

has

done

so how

do we

resist

the

Lord

today

I

mean

what

fortified

city

do we

live

in

so to

speak

we

can

deny

his

existence

deny

his

care

for

his

people

or

attribute

his

works

to

chance

or

the

universe

or

to

karma

I

just

Friday

connected

with

there's

a long

story

but I'm

going to

say

connected

that's

not

exactly

how

it

happened

but

this

guy

I

just

met

him

and

anyways

he

was

kind

of

blown

away

at

the

circumstances

by

how

we

met

there's

a couple

other

people

involved

as

well

and

he

said

it's

unreal

how

the

universe

just

puts

us

together

eh

and

this

other

guy

who

was

with

me

said

how

about

we

just

sub

out

universe

and

put

the

Lord

he's

like

same

difference

who

cares

he

didn't

use

that

language

he used

a bit

more

flowery

language

but

you know

here's

the thing

we

we

are

constantly

wrestling

and

resisting

!

how

often

do

you

do

it

how

often

do

I

do

it

constantly

resisting

constantly

taking

great

courage

not in

the

Lord

and who

he is

and what

he does

but in

our own

fortified

cities

I

think

we

do

it

all

the

time

nevertheless

why

is it

that

this

same

news

the

same

reporting

one

person

Rahab

she

she

takes

it

the

heart

she

bends

the

knee

why

is it

that

the

king

of

Jericho

instead

puffs

up his

chest

this

false

bravado

and tries

to destroy

God's

people

why

why

is it

that

when

the

gospel

is

heard

when

the

truth

of

God

is

proclaimed

!

Why

do

some

people

accept

it

and

some

people

deny

it?

Here's

my

other

wonderful

principle

that's

hopefully

that you

can take

to the

bank

I don't

know

I'm

not

sure

God

gives

faith

to

some

and

to

others

he

doesn't

Bishop

J.C.

Ryle

he was

a bishop

in the

19th

century

the

first

bishop

of

Liverpool

he

says

this

this

is

from

a book

called

holiness

and I

think

it's

apt

it's

very

good

for

us

this

morning

he says

this

quote

the same

fire

which melts

the wax

hardens

the clay

the same

sun

which makes

the living

tree

grow

dries up

the dead

tree

and prepares

it for

burning

same God

it's the

same

message

some people

are wax

some people

are clay

some people

are living

tree

some people

are rootless

God

knows

and therefore

God is the

one who

grants

faith

let's

continue

verse

12

well

I'll go

back to

verse 11

and as

soon as

we

heard it

our hearts

melted

and there

was no

spirit

left in

any man

because of

you

the second

part of

verse 11

for the

Lord

your God

he is

God

in the

heavens

above

and on

the earth

beneath

now

then

please

swear

to me

by the

Lord

that as

I have

dealt

kindly

with you

you also

will deal

kindly

with my

father's

house

and give

me

a sure

sign

that you

will save

alive my

father and

mother

my brothers

and sisters

and all

who belong

to them

and deliver

our lives

from death

listen she

has shown

the slaves

kindness

or the

spies

kindness

and the

word

here

is

it's

remarkable

the word

here is

the word

that is

used

I mean

it translates

into kindness

but it's

it's steadfast

love

it's mercy

it's loving

kindness

it's the

same word

often used

in scripture

where God

is showing

kindness

and mercy

to his

own people

it's a

covenantal

deeply

gracious

kindness

that she

is showing

to the

spies

and to

God's

covenant

people

by extension

and she

implores

the spies

to swear

by the

Lord

not to

swear

by her

gods

not to

swear

by

you know

something else

but swear

to the

Lord

and she

uses

the divine

covenant

name of

the Lord

the name

that God

himself

gave to

Moses

for the

people

of Israel

for his

people

and she

says

by Yahweh

by the

Lord

by the

covenant

making

covenant

keeping

God

swear

to me

that you

will

show

kindness

to me

like I

have shown

kindness

to you

she's

a Canaanite

woman

who maybe

the night

before

was praying

at a shrine

to whatever

god

that she

served

her family

gods

her regional

gods

her

the city

gods

she was a

pantheist

almost certainly

and now

she

seems to be

a monotheist

monotheism

is very

novel

in the

ancient

world

it

doesn't

really

exist

outside