Advent Day 6

The Promised Redeemer’s lineage would include some of the following ….bravery, heroism, brilliance, faith, courage, prostitution, treason, deception….and this is just one person in the line of the Messiah….

After the children of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty years, it was time for them to enter the Promised Land. Joshua 2 tells of Joshua sending two spies on ahead into the land and into the city of Jericho. In Jericho the spies take lodging in the home of a harlot by the name of Rahab, who lived on the  outer wall of the city. The king of Jericho hears through the grapevine of the spies. He also finds out  they are lodging with Rahab.  The king sends her a message ordering her to bring the men to him. Rahab quickly hides the spies. She then proceeds to tell the king the men had already left, and that she had had no idea who they were when they lodged with her.  She finishes up this portion of her covert op by sending the king and his men on a wild goose chase after the men!

Rahab has just committed serious treason. She and her entire family can be put to death for this act. But she is unflappable. She waits until dark, and then helps the men escape from her roof, down the city  wall. She not only helps them escape; she gives them their instructions on how to avert capture. She was one seriously smart cookie. However, before they departed, she extracted a promise from them. In this  I will let her speak for herself.…

"I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death." Joshua 2:9-13

The men agreed. They told her, her life for their lives. They instructed her to tie a scarlet cord to the window and not remove it. This would identify her home when the Israelites came. They also told her only the family members who took refuge under her roof would be saved.

What a woman!! She was not just concerned about her own skin. She wanted to save as many of her family from destruction as she possibly could. What we may miss in reading this passage is the serious jeopardy she would have to place herself in to try and save her family members. She would have to tell them what she had done, and then pray none of them turned her over to the king. I am in awe of her bravery and faith in God! In AWE!!! She is named in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:31, and in James 2:25 she is given as an example of faith right alongside Abraham!

After Jericho falls, Rahab lives with the Israelites. She marries Salmon and has a son named Boaz, who marries a Moabitess named Ruth. We will visit them later, but for now…they have a son named Obed, who has a son named Jesse. His youngest son becomes King of Israel….King David!!

Do you think Rahab ever thought as she was lowering the men over the wall of Jericho what honor her faith would bring? Could Rahab have guessed, she, a woman of ill-repute…a Gentile….would be the great-great-great-grandmother of King David…..let alone be listed in the genealogy of KING of kings, the Messiah King?! She is one of only five women listed in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus! Because she lived her faith through her actions, not just her words!!!!

One more thing before I close this out today….during a German excavation of the tell of Jericho that spanned 1907-1909, something interesting was uncovered. There was a portion of the northern wall that had not collapsed like the rest of the walls around Jericho, and within this wall system…there were houses built against the wall. I love it!!!!!

May the blessings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, pour over your homes this Christmas season!