BACKGROUND
Joshua was a part of the 12 spies who explored the land (Numbers 13-14). He and Caleb were the only ones who brought back a good report. In this chapter, he sent spies to go and check out Jericho before they went to possess it. Jericho was a walled city that was the gateway to the passes of the Jordan Valley. My kids and I studied Jericho in home school history, and it may be the world's oldest discovered city. According to the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History
, "Jericho grew rich by trading with other communities, and people in the nearby villages became jealous. To protect themselves, the people of Jericho built a massive stone wall around the town" (p. 109). There are many pictures on the web of the site. (By the way, the book I referenced above was our favorite home school history book for the elementary years, but the first 100 pages talk about evolution. I did not let this deter me from liking the rest of the book and just skipped it in the grammar stage (Grades 1-4). I used it to talk about creation versus evolution in the logic stage of their maturity (Grades 5-8). It can be healthy for kids at this stage in their development, to learn critical thinking from looking at other viewpoints. I do not believe in "throwing the baby out with the bath water" even when it may have viewpoints I do not agree with.)
REFLECTION
This is a story about the faith of an unlikely woman who made it into the "Hall of Fame" of faith:
By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she welcomed the spies in peace. (Hebrews 11:31)Many people get caught up in the fact that she lied to protect the spies and that she was a sinful woman. You might ask, "How could God put her in this 'Hall of Fame of Faith'?"
The Bible says her faith was approved, and that her works proved it (James 2:25). So, isn't this a story about God's amazing, crazy grace that we just cannot wrap our heads around? Rahab declared her faith in Israel's God: For the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath" (2:11). Her faith saved her (Genesis 15:6), and this is what saves all of us!
APPLICATION
As you read and meditate on Joshua 2, it is important to not just walk away from it and forget about it because James 1:23-25 says:
My "I WILL" Application (today):
When I meditated on this chapter, I thought that I must respond in praise because I am no better than a harlot, and if God can put a harlot in the Hall of Fame of Faith, there is hope for everyone! My mind has gone back to 1979 when I had to make one of two choices. I sincerely believe that one choice would have led me to destruction. The other choice of faith led me to the full, rich, meaningful life I live today. God saved me from destruction just as he saved Rahab in the destruction of Jericho. I am so eternally grateful, and I have already shared my story with others this morning so that they might learn too. I am praising Him with all my heart.
Our applications are all different. What do you walk away with as you meditate on this chapter? How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you today?
PRAYER
Lord God, thank You for teaching me the meaning of true love. Thank You that the story of Rahab gives me such hope. I love You. Amen.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.Rahab was a doer. She did something with her faith in Israel's God. We are not just reading through the Bible so that we can check it off our "To Do" list. We need to ask God, "How do you want me to respond to this? Below is my application, but it does not have to be yours! Also, God speaks to us at the moment. So next time I read this, my response will probably be different.
My "I WILL" Application (today):
When I meditated on this chapter, I thought that I must respond in praise because I am no better than a harlot, and if God can put a harlot in the Hall of Fame of Faith, there is hope for everyone! My mind has gone back to 1979 when I had to make one of two choices. I sincerely believe that one choice would have led me to destruction. The other choice of faith led me to the full, rich, meaningful life I live today. God saved me from destruction just as he saved Rahab in the destruction of Jericho. I am so eternally grateful, and I have already shared my story with others this morning so that they might learn too. I am praising Him with all my heart.
Our applications are all different. What do you walk away with as you meditate on this chapter? How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you today?
PRAYER
Lord God, thank You for teaching me the meaning of true love. Thank You that the story of Rahab gives me such hope. I love You. Amen.
1 comment:
I read this off the heels of reading and then watching *Lonesome Dove*. One of the main characters is a prostitute, and back in that time (as in Rahab's time), prostitution was the only way for a defenseless woman to survive. I think about my favorite book, *Les Miserables*. Fantine is one of my favorite characters in literature! She went down of road of prostitution, but that was to support her daughter. I am not saying prostitution is good, but I think it is so easy to judge because we have the resources and a society that accepts and supports single women alone in the world. So, I pray. I think of one single woman I know right now who has had some terrible things happen to her. She is NOT a prostitute though, but she is very alone right now. So, I lift her up in prayer.
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