Rahab Confesses the LORD in Heaven Above and on Earth Below

"For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you" (Joshua 2:10). Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: When Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, His name is magnified in the world, as it is said, "For we have heard how He dried up..." "for the LORD your God, He is God," and it says, "And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites heard..." But when Israel does not do the will of the Omnipresent, His name is profaned in the world, as it is said, "And when they came to the nations where they came, they profaned My holy name, in that men said of them, These are the people of the LORD, and they have gone out of His land" (Ezekiel 36:20). "For the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath" (Joshua 2:11). Jethro said, "Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods" (Exodus 18:11) -- they said he left no idolatry in the world that he had not worshiped; therefore he said "than all gods," granting substance to idolatry. Naaman acknowledged the matter more fully: "Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel" (2 Kings 5:15). But Rahab acknowledged the matter more than all of them: "for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Rahab: You said "for the LORD your God is God" -- on earth, well and good; but in heaven above, you spoke of what you did not see with your own eyes. By your life, your descendant shall stand and see what even the prophets did not see, as is said, "the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God" (Ezekiel 1:1). Rahab left a portion in the empty space of the world; Moses came and said, "Unto you it was shown, that you might know... and there is none else" (Deuteronomy 4:35) -- even in the empty space of the world. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You said "and there is none else"; give him of the fruit of his hands -- "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses" (Deuteronomy 34:10).