
I started out by saying that this is a story of God’s mercy, which indeed it is. When the spies arranged to save her life, they said that she was to tie a scarlet cord in her window. That was to mark the house, such that no one would touch it when the Israelites came. It was a powerful symbol of her deliverance.
I started out by saying that this is a story of God’s mercy, which indeed it is. When the spies arranged to save her life, they said that she was to tie a scarlet cord in her window. That was to mark the house, such that no one would touch it when the Israelites came. It was a powerful symbol of her deliverance.
Do you know that this woman is praised twice in the New Testament for her faith? One of the places in which she is praised for her faith is the great eleventh chapter of Hebrews, which contains a roster of the heroes and heroines of the faith. It says of her there in verse 31, “By faith, the prostitute, Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” It’s a short reference, but it’s a good one. And it’s as long as the references that are given for Jacob, and Joseph, and a number of the others who are mentioned.
Continuing the idea from yesterday’s study, isn’t it striking that in this story of judgment, the first thing is not of judgment, but of an act of mercy as God reaches out to save this pagan woman. It should direct our attention to the mercy of God, in Rahab’s case and in other cases as well.
Rahab’s story is set in the midst of a greater story, and this greater story is that of the conquest of the land. And, moreover, it’s entwined with another story which is also part of that greater story, and that is the story of the sending of the spies.
It would be a miracle greater than the Jewish crossing of the Jordan or the falling down of the walls of Jericho if Rahab, the Amorite prostitute, knew Latin. This was because Latin didn’t come to Palestine until the Roman conquest, which was about 1000 years after the days in which she lived. But if Rahab had known Latin, Rahab might well have described her situation in Jericho as “Rahab contra mundum,” which means “Rahab against the world.”
The final thing I want to say is that Christian leaders must also demonstrate genuine faith in God. Joshua was preeminently a man of faith. God told Joshua, “This is the land and I’m going to give it to you.” Joshua believed God, so when he went into the land with the other spies and searched it out, he didn’t care if there were giants. It didn’t bother him that there were walled cities.
There’s a third thing I want to mention, and that is that a person who would be a leader must know, and have, and study, and meditate upon God’s objective revelation. It’s important to say that because that subjective and specific call must always be evaluated by, and at times, corrected by, the objective Word of God.
Canadian Committee of The Bible Study Hour
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