Skip to main content

A Prostitute's Theology

Joshua had learned an important lesson from his earlier "spy-life". Two many cooks spoil the broth or too many kooks spoil the story. Moses had sent 12 chosen leaders to spy out the Promised land and they had come back with the "good and bad" news. So, Joshua sent just two.

These two unnamed men encountered a frightened but wise woman at her workplace. In their interchange with Rahab, she opened her heart to the coming doom of her city but also expressed her confidence that there was hope for her family. Rahab was named because she would become an important figure in the distant future. 

Hebrews 11:31 says, By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

That is a revelation! It was her faith in the LORD that saved her and her house. Look again at what she said. 

“I know that the Lord has given you this land - In her mind, and in fact, it was a done deal. The land was given. This was not only a bold declaration but it must have greatly encouraged the two spies. She uses the sacred name YHWH as she declares her faith in the coming destruction. This destruction had been anticipated for 40 years and there had been no seeking of repentance by the city dwellers. 

- and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 

We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 
11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

12 “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”
Drop here!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.
3 comments
Read more

Entertaining Angels

Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hospitality is a gift. It can also be a learned trait. Some people seem as if having strangers in their homes is normal and natural. Others have to fight against themselves in order to have friends over for a meal.  The author of Hebrews says that some have entertained angels when they thought that they were helping a stranger. That's weird. This statement brings questions to mind. Do angels eat? Of course, silly, they eat angel food cake!  Seriously, who in the Bible entertained angels by accident? Well, how about Abraham, Lot or Jacob? Granted, Jacob's treatment of the Angel of the Lord was questionable. But he did wrestle the night away, when in fact that angel could have dislocated Jacob's hip early in the match.  Abraham, read Sarah, prepared a big meal and Lot had to offer ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...
Post a Comment
Read more