Lessons From Rahab's Faith

Reading Joshua this morning I was struck by a thought about the story of Rahab hiding the spies in her home in Joshua 2 and began contemplating what significance might be here.

The Holy Spirit quickly revealed to me some thoughts I would like to share.

1. Rahab, a prostitute, realized the source of the Israelite's success in leaving Egypt and the conquest of neighboring kingdoms. So well known was their success to the inhabitants of Jericho that their hearts  "melted" in fear. Why is it a prostitute could figure this out and no one else? I immediately saw a correlation between this story and Noah's ark where a handful of people were saved because of their faith.

2. She lied to her king. While we know lying is a sinful act, see here a new believer who lied to protect the spies she was hiding. It might also have been out of fear to protect her family from the king's wrath given her new walk, but I feel comfortable giving her the benefit of the doubt. Particularly when we realize why God was pleased with her act in that it must have been her heart was about fulfilling God's will.

4. God uses us in His works for our benefit. I saw another reminder of how God uses us to further His Kingdom as Jesus did with the wedding miracle (John 2:1-12). I love this story because it is of no doubt that Jesus could easily have spoken the water to become wine but he used the servants in the miracle to further demonstrate his power and because of this the servants could share their story of the encounter. Coincidentally, that is what each of us is to do; share our story or testimony as a tool to witness to others.

3. The red cord placed in the window. The color red symbolizes a couple things in the Bible. First, scarlett represents sin ("The great harlot dressed in scarlet and purple (Revelation 17:1-6) and the need for atonement which of course is effected through a blood sacrifice. I was struck by the similarity of the scarlet cord in a window and the lamb's blood, also scarlet, spread over the door of the Jews' doors in Egypt to protect the occupants of the household therein from the angels' death touch. As in Genesis   we see Rahab's family protected by this simple act.

4. I saw a parallel between the angels sweeping down on the occupants of Egypt and the Israelites doing the same bringing death and destruction to those not in a protected household. Symbolic also of the coming judgment with the angels sounding the Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8 & 9)

5. I see our faith perfectly illustrated here: First, the promise of the spies to Rahab in that if she were to complete one simple act of faith they would honor their agreement. The second being the promise of salvation which they gave her. Third, we see the fulfillment of that promise at the appropriate time which was unknown to the woman and her family, just as God's promise to us we will not know the hour of His return.

Lessons From Mary's Anointing of Jesus

Most everyone familiar with the Bible knows the story of John 12:3-8 in which Judas chastises Mary for using expensive oil to anoint Jesus' head. Reading that passage again this morning gave me new insight to a few things we might have missed in the past.

THE SCRIPTURE:

 3Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar12:3 Greek took 1 litra [327 grams]. of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5“That perfume was worth a year’s wages.12:5 Greek worth 300 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.  7Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”(NLT)

We all know of course Judas' motivation here because John explains he was a thief and his love of money is later exposed when he betrays Jesus for 30 silver pieces and we see Mary's pure love. What was revealed to me were just a couple simple thoughts:

1. Jesus knows our hearts and our true intentions, and He will reveal them to us or publicly as recognition or for correction.
2. Judas relied on worldly wisdom which would indeed seem to make sense of his comments but with true wisdom we see Jesus destroy the thought in 1 simple sentence. Simple as this verse is, "you will always have the poor, but you will not always have me" it is so profoundly deep in symbolism, prophecy, hope and truth.
3. This reinforces Luke 12:34 in which we are reminded where our treasures are, also is our heart. Be cautious of what you hold dear and pursue.
4. Mary's motivations were out of love and adoration so Jesus receives it and acknowledges her service and devotion. Judas, as Jesus knows, is all about how he can enrich himself riding on the coat tails of this upstart religious movement. For this reason, Jesus gently rebukes him in public and I suggest this shames him because he does not open his mouth again. Perhaps this pushed him to betray Jesus because he did not get to steal anything from the sale of the perfume. That could be an interesting topic of conversation. 

The lessons Jesus give us here spoke to me about Cain and Abel's offerings to the LORD in which Abel held back nothing and gave his best while Cain foolishly held back the best for himself. He then has the pride and audacity to be up set with his brother when he himself failed to be obedient. That's weird; just like his dad who failed to obey the LORD and protect his wife and to not eat of the tree. The nut does not fall far from the tree.

The takeaway should be for each of us to pray to the Lord to reveal what we hold dear in our heart and if it is not pure to please help me remove it. Just because we go to church does not mean we are a believer or are right with God any more than my hanging out in a garage makes me a mechanic. YOUR walk is between you and God. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?