2002 Devotion 36

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Joshua 2:1 "And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. 6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. 8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: 14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him."

After the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and came into Jericho, Joshua sent two men out to spy the city. They came to Rahab's house. Rahab was a prostitute who lived on the wall of the city. She may have been a prostitute, she may have been living in sin, she was probably even an idolater but she was no fool! Rahab had heard of what the God of the Israelites had been doing for them and she was afraid. She made a bargain with the two men. She hid them and helped them escape but in return she wanted to be protected from the certain invasion of Jericho. The spys told her to hang the cord that she used to let them down the outside wall in her window and keep her family inside and she would be spared. Her life for theirs.

THE WALLS OF SIN

Rahab had sin in her life but God saw the goodness and belief in her heart. I'm so glad that God sees what is inside us and not just the outside as the world does. So many people wait until they feel like they can clean up their lives before they come to God. Others feel like they can't be saved because they have too much sin in their lives. You can't clean up your life by yourself and there is no sin too great for God to forgive. God gives us Rahab as an example of the type of sinner he can save. No matter what you have done, God can forgive you. Rahab recognized that God could destroy Jericho, even though the city was surrounded by two thick walls. There is no wall too thick for God to crumble! Tearing down the walls of sin is His speciality!

THE WALLS OF FEAR

Rahab must have been very afraid. First of all, she must have been afraid of the men of her city. If they had caught her hiding the spys on the roof of the house they would have surely killed her. But she took the chance because she feared the God of Israel even more. She knew that only by putting all her trust and faith in Him could she save her life and the lives of her family. There is nothing or no one in the world that can protect you like God can. When you place your faith in Him there is no reason to fear anything that man can do to you. God can crumble the walls of fear in your heart.

THE WALLS OF DEATH

Without the cord hanging in her window, Rahab and all her family were already condemned to die. She knew that and was very careful to follow the instructions of the spys. She placed the cord in the window and then called all her family in. I would have loved to hear her explaining to them why they all must come into her house and why the cord was hanging in the window. Every day they must have watched as the Israelite army marched around the city, never knowing when or how they would storm the walls. The first day passed and nothing happened, then the second and the third all the way down to the sixth day. Some of Rahab's family may have began to doubt that they were in any danger. After all, nearly a week had gone by and so far all the great army of Isreal had done was march around the walls. They hadn't even uttered a word. But Rahab had not stopped believing because she kept them all safe inside the house with her. When the great walls of Jericho tumbled down on the seventh day her faith saved not only her own life but the lives of her family as well. If you have been praying for someone in your family for years don't ever give up hope. Keep believing and keep praying. God is able. As long as Rahab was able to keep her family in the house with the cord in the window, they were kept from harm. God can crumble the walls of death.

You don't have to be perfect for God to use you. Throughout the bible we read how God chose imperfect people to do great things. He chose a stutter to speak for Him (Moses), an old woman to be the mother of His chosen nation (Sarah), a boy to kill a Giant and become a king (David), a man who was persecuting His people to bring the gospel to the Gentiles and to write His words down for future generations to live by (Paul) and a young virgin to be the mother of His Son. God can use you, too, if you will let Him. All you have to have is faith! You have to believe that He can save you and that He can keep you safe. You do not have to fear the death that sin brings about if you have the faith of Rahab. God will calm your fears, cleanse you from your sin and walk you through the shadow of death into the light if you just believe and keep the cord of faith hanging in your window! What is hanging in your window?

"And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window."

After studying this lesson about Rahab I decided to cut some lengths of red ribbon and place them throughout my house to remind me of Rahab's great faith in God. I'm afraid that I am often a little weak in this area. I placed one on my refrigerator, one on my bathroom mirror, one on my computer and one in my Bible. Each time I see a ribbon, I am going to ask God to increase my faith. I'd like to challenge you to do the same this week.

I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK

LOVE, MEME

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