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.