Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
Last evening Mark and I did a ZOOM meeting with the TCBS group that typically meets on Tuesdays at Echo Lake Church. Not nearly as good as having dinner together, telling the things we are thankful for, worshipping together, and sharing in core groups, but I pray it was an encouragement to all to keep up with reading the verses in Hebrews and answering the questions.
As I wrote in a previous blog, we were right in the middle of Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. So one of the people I highlighted was Rahab.
The two spies that were sent to spy out the promised land found themselves in the house of a prostitute.
A very unlikely place to find incredible faith!
Yet, her home was the very place God intended for the spies because…
Rahab was a woman who chose faith over fear.
Rahab knew how fearful everyone in Jericho was because of the Israelites. As a woman who was frequented by men she heard the incredible, impossible, amazing stories they told about the Israelites. And she heard their reactions when they realized these very people had crossed over the Jordan and were in their back yard, eyeing up their city.
The reputation of the Israelites went before them!
It was God’s power and love for His people that brought fear upon the great walled city of Jericho!
But Rahab chose to allow her fear to turn to faith!
Rahab chose to believe in the God of the Israelites and saw the two spies as her answer for salvation!
Rahab’s faith took action, so that by faith she had the courage to hide the spies even when the king’s men came looking for them. So by her protection of God’s people, and by her profession of faith in God, Rahab and her family were saved from the destruction all around her.
The scarlet chord placed in her window as the sign of faith, became her salvation.
And it is the scarlet chord that weaves all throughout the Bible, beginning with the blood shed to provide animal coverings for Adam and Eve, to the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross that tells of the salvation found by faith in Christ alone!
And as further evidence that Rahab’s faith was rewarded…she is in the lineage of Jesus!
