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December 8

Joshua 2: 1-7

2 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.

² The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³ 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.”

⁴ 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. ⁵ At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” ⁶ (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) ⁷ 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.

In Hebrews Chapter 11,  there is a glorious record of those who lived by faith, and been a wonderful example of what it means to be a person of faith.  Tucked away in the middle is this woman Rahab.  That is remarkable for all kinds of reasons.  She was a woman,  she was named as a foreigner.  She was not Jewish but a Canaanite,  a native of Canaan,  the land promised to the Jews and  a resident of Jericho,  the city about to be conquered by Joshua in the name of God.  

Rahab was faced with thought choices and she made the choices that she believed were right.  That meant betraying her own people to save herself and her family,  but in doing so,  she also gave God’s army victory and allowed His plan for them to proceed.

How many messages we could take from this story,  but I shall content myself with only one.  Were it not for the actions of Rahab,  the history of God’s people would have been very different.  This outsider,  with no real understanding of God,  and no real hope of a better life, became the 29 times great grandmother of the Messiah.

How often we can feel as though we are outsiders,  as though we have little to contribute to the world.  We can feel insignificant and powerless.  But this story reminds us once again,  that God uses those who find themselves in challenging situations and seek to use them for good.  Is that not the whole message of the gospel,  and is it not a tremendous example for us to follow?