John Calvin Commentary Joshua 2:11

"And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Jehovah your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath." — Joshua 2:11 (ASV)

The Lord your God, he is God, etc. Here the image of Rahab’s faith appears, as if reflected in a mirror, when she casts down all idols and ascribes the government of heaven and earth to the God of Israel alone.

For it is perfectly clear that when heaven and earth are declared subject to the God of Israel, there is a repudiation of all the pagan fictions by which the majesty, power, and glory of God are portioned out among different deities; and therefore we see that it is with good reason that two Apostles have honored Rahab’s conduct with the title of faith.

This is sneered at by some proud and disdainful men, but I wish they would consider what it is to distinguish the one true God from all fictitious deities, and at the same time so to extol his power as to declare that the whole world is governed at his pleasure.

Rahab does not speak hesitantly but declares, in absolute terms, that whatever power exists resides in the God of Israel alone, that he commands all the elements, that he orders all things above and below, and determines human affairs.

Still, I do not deny that her faith was not fully developed; indeed, I readily admit that it was only a germ of piety which, at that time, would have been insufficient for her eternal salvation. Nevertheless, we must hold that however feeble and slender the knowledge of God the woman possessed may have been, still, in surrendering herself to his power, she gives proof of her election, and that from that seed a faith was germinating which afterwards attained its full growth.