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For concerning Joshua son of Nun, he said, "The Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, the minister of Moses". We hear the apostle also saying: "But I say that Christ Jesus has become a servant of the circumcision for the sake of God's truth, in order to confirm the promises given to the fathers". and again, "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons". Therefore, having been born under the law, so also was he called a servant of the circumcision. So also he said to the Jews: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me". For they had said to Joshua son of Nun, 270 "Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you". II Why, then, when God promised to give them every place on which the sole of their foot would tread, and the wilderness, and the Antilibanus as far as the great river Euphrates, did he not fulfill the promise? The reason is clear and does not need much interpretation. For first, it is said, "every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread, I will give to you". It is likely, then, that they did not tread upon the rest of the land while Joshua son of Nun was leading. But the continuation completely solves the problem. For he added, "just as I said to Moses," and he did not make the promise to him indefinitely, but "if you keep my commandments and my statutes". They, therefore, since they immediately transgressed the law, did not obtain the complete promise. But the divine apostles took possession not only of those places on which they trod, but also of those in which their all-wise writings were read; and they made the formerly desolate wilderness a divine paradise. Concerning this wilderness the prophet Isaiah also said: "Be glad, O thirsty wilderness, and rejoice, O wilderness and its villages". And the Lord God through his tongue promised to make the wilderness into marshes and the thirsty land into aqueducts. He said this wilderness would again become like Carmel. And the heralds of the truth also inherited the Antilibanus; and this too alludes to the salvation of the Gentiles; since Jerusalem was also called Lebanon. "For the eagle," he says, "with great wings, who has the leadership 271 to enter into Lebanon and plucked off the tender shoots of the cedar and the cypress". For he called the Babylonian an eagle, and Jerusalem Lebanon; and the tender shoots of the cedar and the cypress, the king and the rulers. These our Jesus sent not only as spies but also as generals. And just as the spies sent by Joshua son of Nun saved the believing prostitute, having given her the scarlet cord as a symbol of salvation, so the apostles of our Savior turned the church, formerly a prostitute dedicated to various idols, away from its former licentiousness, and deemed it worthy of eternal good things; not using a scarlet cord as a symbol, but procuring salvation by the all-holy blood. Let no one therefore think that the type of Rahab is unworthy of the church; but let him hear the apostle saying, "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another". And again, "But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods". And elsewhere: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord". And in another place: "Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor idolaters, nor covetous, nor thieves, nor revilers, nor drunkards, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God". Then he added: "And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit 272 of our God". So also Rahab was formerly a prostitute, but she received the spies faithfully and when the king ordered them to be handed over, she did not yield, but hid them; for she believed in the

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περὶ γὰρ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ναυῆ ἔφη, " εἶπε Κύριος τῷ Ἰησοῦ υἱῷ Ναυῆ τῷ ὑπουργῷ Μωϋσῆ ". Ἀκούομεν καὶ τοῦ ἀποστόλου λέγοντος· " λέγω δὲ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν διάκονον γεγενῆσθαι περιτομῆς ὑπὲρ ἀλη θείας Θεοῦ, εἰς τὸ βεβαιῶσαι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τῶν πατέρων ". καὶ πάλιν " ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, γεν νώμενον ἐκ γυναικός, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον, ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐξαγοράσῃ, ἵνα τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολάβωμεν ". ὡς ὑπὸ νόμον τοίνυν γενόμενος, οὕτω καὶ διάκο νος ἐκλήθη περιτομῆς. οὕτω καὶ τοῖς ἰουδαίοις ἔφη· " εἰ ἐπιστεύετε Μωϋσῇ, ἐπιστεύετε ἂν ἐμοί· περὶ γὰρ ἐμοῦ ἐκεῖ νος ἐλάλησεν ". καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι πρὸς Ἰησοῦν εἰρήκεισαν τὸν Ναυῆ, 270 " κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἠκούσαμεν Μωϋσῇ, ἀκουσό μεθα καὶ σοῦ ". II Τί δήποτε ὑποσχόμενος ὁ Θεὸς πάντα τόπον δώσειν αὐτοῖς οὗ ἂν ἐπιβῶσι τῷ ἴχνει τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ τὴν ἔρημον, καὶ τὸν Ἀντιλίβανον ἕως τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου Εὐφράτου, οὐκ ἐπλήρωσε τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν; Σαφὴς ὁ λόγος καὶ οὐ πολλῆς ἑρμηνείας δεόμενος. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ εἴρη ται, ὅτι " πᾶς τόπος οὗ ἐὰν ἐπιβῆτε τῷ ἴχνει τῶν ποδῶν ὑμῶν, ὑμῖν δώσω αὐτόν ". εἰκὸς οὖν αὐτοὺς μὴ ἐπιβῆναι τῆς ἄλλης γῆς Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ναυῆ στρατηγοῦντος. ἡ ἐπαγωγὴ δὲ τέλεον λύει τὸ ζήτημα. ἐπήγαγε γάρ, " ὃν τρόπον εἴρηκα τῷ Μωϋσῇ ", οὐκ ἀορίστως δὲ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐποιήσατο τὴν ὑπόσ χεσιν, ἀλλ' " ἐὰν φυλάξητε τὰς ἐντολάς μου καὶ τὰ δικαιώματά μου ". ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν, ὡς εὐθὺς παραβεβηκότες τὸν νόμον, τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τελείας οὐκ ἔτυχον. οἱ δὲ θεῖοι ἀπόστολοι οὐ μόνον ἐκείνων τῶν τόπων ἐκράτησαν ὧν ἐπέβησαν, ἀλλὰ κἀκείνων ἐν οἷς αὐτῶν ἀνεγνώσθη τὰ πάνσοφα γράμματα· καὶ τὴν πάλαι ἔρημον παράδεισον ἀπέφηναν θεῖον· περὶ ταύτης τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν Ἠσαΐας· " εὐφράνθητι ἔρημος διψῶσα καὶ εὐ φράνθητι, ἔρημος καὶ αἱ κῶμαι αὐτῆς ". καὶ ὁ δεσ πότης Θεὸς διὰ τῆς ἐκείνου γλώττης ὑπέσχετο ποιήσειν τὴν ἔρημον εἰς ἕλη καὶ τὴν διψῶσαν γῆν ἐν ὑδραγωγοῖς. ταύτην πάλιν γενήσεσθαι τὴν ἔρημον ὡς τὸν Κάρμηλον ἔφη. ἐκληρονόμησαν δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἀντιλί βανον τῆς ἀληθείας οἱ κήρυκες· αἰνίττεται δὲ καὶ οὗτος τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν σωτηρίαν· ἐπειδὴ καὶ Λίβανος ἡ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὠνομάσθη. " ὁ ἀετός, γάρ φησιν, ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος, ὃς ἔχει τὸ ἥγημα 271 εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν Λίβανον καὶ ἀπέκνισε τὰ ἁπαλὰ τῆς κέδρου καὶ τῆς κυπαρίττου ". ἀετὸν γὰρ τὸν βαβυ λώνιον κέκληκε, Λίβανον δὲ τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ· τὰ ἁπαλὰ δὲ τῆς κέδρου καὶ τῆς κυπαρίττου, τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας. τούτους οὐ μόνον κατασκόπους ἀλλὰ καὶ στρατηγοὺς ὁ ἡμέτερος ἀπέστειλεν Ἰησοῦς. κα θάπερ δὲ οἱ παρὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ναυῆ πεμφθέντες κατάσκοποι τὴν πεπισ τευκυῖαν διέσωσαν πόρνην, σύμβολον αὐτῇ σωτηρίας δεδωκότες τὸ σπαρ τίον τὸ κόκκινον, οὕτως οἱ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀπόστολοι τὴν πάλαι πόρνην, τὴν διαφόροις εἰδώλοις ἀνακειμένην ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ τῆς προτέρας ἀκολασίας ἀπέστησαν, καὶ τῶν αἰωνίων ἠξίωσαν ἀγαθῶν· οὐ σπαρτίῳ κοκκίνῳ χρησάμενοι συμβόλῳ, ἀλλὰ τῷ παναγίῳ αἵματι τὴν σωτηρίαν πραγματευσάμενοι. μηδεὶς οὖν νομιζέτω ἀνάξιον εἶναι τῆς ἐκκλησίας τῆς Ῥαὰβ τὸν τύπον· ἀκουσάτω δὲ τοῦ ἀποστόλου λέγοντος, " ἦμεν γάρ πότε καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀνόητοι, ἀπειθεῖς, πλανώμε νοι, δουλεύοντες ἐπιθυμίαις καὶ ἡδοναῖς ποικί λαις, ἐν κακίᾳ καὶ φθόνῳ διάγοντες, στυγητοί, μισοῦντες ἀλλήλους ". καὶ πάλιν, " ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν ὡς οὐκ εἰδότες Θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς μὴ οὖσι θεοῖς ". καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· " ἦτε γάρ ποτε σκότος, νῦν δὲ φῶς ἐν Κυρίῳ ". καὶ ἑτέρωθι· " μὴ πλανᾶσθε· οὔτε πόρ νοι, οὔτε μοιχοί, οὔτε μαλακοί, οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖ ται, οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι, οὔτε πλεονέκται, οὔτε κλέπται, οὐ λοίδοροι, οὐ μέθυσοι, οὐχ ἅρπαγες, βασιλείαν Θεοῦ κληρονομήσουσιν ". εἶτα ἐπήγαγε· " καὶ ταῦτά τινες ἦτε, ἀλλ' ἀπελούσασθε, ἀλλ' ἡγιάσθητε, ἀλλ' ἐδικαιώθητε, ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ πνεύ 272 ματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ". οὕτω καὶ Ῥαὰβ ἡ πόρνη τὸ πρότερον ἦν, ὑπεδέξατο δὲ τοὺς κατασκόπους πιστῶς καὶ βασιλέως παραδοθῆναι τούτους προστεταχότος οὐκ εἶξεν, ἀλλὰ κατέκρυψεν· ἐπίστευσε γὰρ τῷ