Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
"Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land."
So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
"Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, "The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
Joshua 2
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Before Israel would cross the Jordan into Canaan, Joshua decides to secretly send two spies tom “look over the land” and “especially Jericho”. The two spies do as Joshua commands and scripture tells us they enter “the house of a prostitute named Rahab” where they stay.
We think the spies entered secretly but somehow the king of Israel finds out about them. We read where he sends a message to Rahab saying, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land." But Rahab had no intention of blowing the spies’ cover. Instead, she hid them under the stalks of flax on the roof and said the following to the king’s men:
"Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them."
The king’s men believed Rahab and “set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan” with the gate being shut “as soon as the pursuers had gone out”. The spies were safe for the present but would have to leave Jericho soon before the king’s men returned.
So Rahab went to the spies on the roof before they “lay down for the night” and said to them:
“I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
Rahab’s words were words of faith in God. She knew of God and what He had done and believed He could do all that she heard and more. She feared God because she begged the men to intercede for her and her family before the Lord, sparing their lives as she was sparing theirs by diverting the king’s men who would have surely killed them for their spying. The spies agree to honor her request but only if she continues to conceal them and not tell what they were doing.
So Rahab lets the spies “down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall” and she said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way." And so the spies agree to ensure Rahab and her family were protected when Israel entered Jericho but she had to tie a “scarlet cord in the window through which (she) let (them) down”. She was to have her entire family in the house because it was the only way they would be safe. Anyone going outside would break the oath and no fault would fall on the spies for their deadly decision. Rahab sends the spies on their way and ties the scarlet cord in the window as requested.
Meanwhile, the spies “went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them”. They then “started back”, going “down out of the hills” where they “forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them”. They told Joshua, "The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
The spies only returned to Joshua and Israel because of Rahab and her willingness to protect them. She was an important part of God’s plan…even though she had been a prostitute. Why else would the spies have been led to her home in the first place? Through this account we learn two important things:
1. We should never underestimate what God might do to fulfill His plan.
Surely, the last person that one would have expected to be a savior for the spies would have been a prostitute. And yet, God used Rahab in powerful ways to His glory. In the end, she and her family become part of the Israelite family. So as we begin to wonder what God might do in our lives and the lives of others, all options are open and all people are possibilities for God to use. In Rahab, we see how God transforms people from the inside out…especially when they acknowledge and revere Him like she did.
2. Never rule out who God might use for awesome purposes.
When we look at the New Testament and the apostles, the one apostle mentioned more than any other is Paul. On the surface, one might think that Paul had been the epitome of servitude and holiness his entire life but not so. For Paul was Saul, a persecutor and killer of Christians before Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and set in motion steps that would bring transform him forever for the cause of Christ and lead to his name changing to Paul. Likewise, we see a prostitute, a woman who represents the highest levels of sexual immorality, transformed and changed by God to not only serve Him and His people but earn her way into His family of faith.
I’m sure you have looked at someone in society and held a less than favorable opinion of them, possibly even feeling like they had committed some act that was beyond forgiveness. We have a way of labeling them…murderer, rapist, thief, child molester, abuser…and in today’s scripture, prostitute. And as we label, we are very good at not labeling ourselves. We want to think of ourselves as somehow better than others who have committed greater sins than we have. Maybe sometimes we act as if we had never sinned before.
The truth of the matter is that we all have sinned in one way or another. And the Lord doesn’t classify sins as being any worse than another. The truth is that no one is beyond the work of the Lord’s Holy Spirit. There is hope for anyone who will choose to repent, turn from their sins, and commit themselves to the Lord’s service. It’s what Rahab did…it’s what Paul did…it’s what we have done…and it’s what anyone else can do too. Let this be our prayer for all people everywhere…that they would turn from sin in exchange for God’s will for their lives. There is no doubt that He can and will change anyone for His purpose...which leads ultimately to His glory. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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