Joshua Chapter 6
Chapter 6 verses 22 through 25 we get a quick look at salvation in the midst of God’s judgment. Sandwiched in between the notices of Jericho’s destruction is this lovely story of salvation and rescue. Rahab so feared the coming judgment of God (chapter 2 verses 1-21), that she fled to his mercy. Now she received mercy. This pagan gentile and her family now stand within the circle of the chosen people. Why, then, should we be surprised if her God should one day take those who are far off and “bring (them) near by the blood of the Messiah” (Ephesians 2:13)? (Davis, Dale R. No Falling Words, MI Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, , pg 56)
In my mind this woman of faith was more impressive than any other woman in the biblical record for she believed with so little light. She never saw the redeemer; she had no knowledge of the promise made to Abraham and the children of Israel. Furthermore, she had absolutely no support or sympathy from her neighbors except perhaps her own family – we can imagine that her neighbors scoffed at her faith especially during the comical seven day parade encircling those high walls. Yet she persevered in her faith! Now the time had come for her to reap the reward of her faith … in her case it was but a short interval between the sowing and reaping. She was not only spared the destruction of her city but also was adopted into the family of Israel. She became an heir of Abraham’s blessing – she is the only other woman, besides Sarah, the wife of Abraham, included in the role of the faithful in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. She would not have been included unless she had indeed been ‘changed’ and proven to be one of the elect. We may refer to the book of James, chapter 2 verses 24-25 – “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” In this we see that though Rahab made the good confession, she also hid the spies and hung the red chord from her window on that dreadful day. The Apostle James isn’t saying that her works saved her, no, the works that Rahab did originated with the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit and the fact that she did those ‘works’ were ‘proof’ of her conversion.
We don’t know why Rahab was a prostitute but let’s consider some possibilities. There are and were, of course, prostitutes because of greed, prostitutes because of need, and prostitutes because of slavery. A slave prostitute had little choice but this seems not to have been Rahab’s situation. She was free enough to live with her family in her own home. She had the privacy necessary to hide the spies and she apparently had enough freedom to choose to follow Jehovah. Furthermore, we see no evidence of poverty on her part. We don’t get the impression that her family would have starved if she had chosen a different profession. More likely she was motivated by a desire for more … things! Whether it was jewelry, a bigger home, the best food we don’t really know. We do recognize that love for money (stuff) is a great temptation for nearly all.
When Rahab was a little girl she was probably no different that my daughter or yours. Perhaps you can remember your own life as a child - loving life and beauty in all innocence and joy. Yet somewhere and somehow, because of her desire for beautiful things, or a desire to be accepted and loved, or perhaps simply a desire for luxury, the enemy snares her, chains her into sin - deeper and deeper into the mire until she is a hopeless slave to her circumstances. As the Preacher said, “… riches were kept by their owner to his (her) hurt …”(Ecclesiastes 5:13)
By the grace of God, she may eventually see that that her loves have consumed her and now have deserted her. Those things that she loved most, whether pleasure, relationships, luxury – she discovers to her dismay that they provide no lasting joy. A child-like life of joy and contentment now turns into a life of dismal servitude to her lust for more riches. “Can these bones live” (Ezekiel 37:3)? Can such a woman ever find her way to the “King’s chamber” (Song of Solomon 1:4)? That is the glory of the gospel – that dead men and women may live again! Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). The Apostle Paul reminds us that, “… you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). So we see that the Lord may change, “the sexually immoral … idolaters ... adulterers ... men who practice homosexuality ... thieves ... the greedy ... drunkards ... revilers ...” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). “And such were some of you.” The happy feelings of her childhood return to her, as if she had drunk from the River of the Water of Life, and we can imagine she sang like a child again for the joy of her new life!
So now, Rahab with newness of life, begins this new life with the Lord’s people. Verse 23B says, “And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel.”point here is simply that they were to be treated as unclean until the rites of purification would be performed. She was not an actual physical descendant of Abraham – and her past was obviously ‘unclean’ due to her former title: harlot. For both reasons she required the rites of purification. We might be stretching the point a little but might the rite of purification represent the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit?
Do you suppose her new sisters gave much encouragement to her as she joined the ‘church?’ She was a big unknown from their point of view and surely the ladies knew who she was in her previous life. Perhaps in their minds she was a threat to their marriages and to their children. Furthermore she was of a different race. It is possible that she was given the, ‘cold shoulder’ by her new sisters? If so, was Rahab disappointed to find that the people of God were so suspicious and cold? She had lived in a thoroughly quid pro quo society in Jericho, and would have expected the society of God’s family to be different. She had received grace and mercy from God; she had hoped that this new community might reflect that same grace of God – not the market based trading of affections as in her former life. Would not the foreigner expect the society of God’s people to reflect His love, generosity, purity, and nobility?
If she was treated thus is to her credit that she was not deterred by any of these disappointments. She was apparently more in love with the God who saves and His glorious attributes than the possible failures of his imperfect family! She apparently was looking beyond the fickle attitudes of men; keeping her eyes instead on the unchanging glory of Jehovah. Admiring His grace and power; in doing so insulating herself from the disappointment that comes from looking to people, even God’s people, for satisfaction.
Application:
1. As the Spirit of God moves in revival (are we praying for revival?) we may expect formerly ‘vile’ sinners to be saved. How may we receive such believers? Do our lives reflect the grace of God? It has been said that if the church today would take seriously 1 Corinthians 13, unbelief would vanish. I don’t know about that but if we want to be a serious witness for Christ we might spend less time devising clever ‘evangelistic’ methods and work on this: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Brother Brandon mentioned a few weeks ago about meeting some youth with Mohawk hair, multiple piercings, and tattoos – these things can become distractions for us but if we desire to be like Christ we will welcome the outcast. With whom did the Lord spend more time – the underclass or the outwardly ‘religious’ and politically powerful? As the Apostle James said, “show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ ..” (James 2:1)
2. Even though we are saved we may also, like the child Rahab, be seduced into thinking that things or persons may give us real joy. Things and persons are not, in themselves, bad things. It is when we put our trust in their ability to satisfy that they become idols – and our God is a jealous God who will not allow any to steal His glory. Idol worship is prohibited primarily because it ‘steals’ God’s glory (and He deserves all glory), but also because idols do not deliver joy and, in fact, idols distract us from true worship and eventually destroy hope and joy.
3. Fellow believers and even our spouses will disappoint us - look to Christ! He will not disappoint.
Robin
