LEARNING DAILY

 

Joshua 2:4-5, Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” Rahab

 

Joshua sends two spies to look over the land, including Jericho. At Jericho they meet Rahab, a prostitute; when the men are discovered to be in the city, she hides them and eventually, makes sure they get out of Jericho unharmed. This is a pagan city and Rahab was a sinful woman. Yet, she recognized the God of Israel as the true God of heaven and earth; and God used her. Verses 10 and 11 indicate she had heard reports of what God had done for the people of Israel as they had moved toward the Promised land. Whatever she had heard had led her to abandon the gods of Canaan in order to believe in Israel’s God.

 

Many struggle with the verses above because Rahab is telling a lie to the men of Jericho as they were trying to find the spies. Both the Old and New Testaments express that to lie is a sin. But think back to our study of the Hall of Fame found in Hebrews 11. Do you remember that Rahab is mentioned there? She is in that Hall of Fame because her lie was forgiven and she is honored because of her faith; “in faith she joined with the Israelites and their God” (LSSB).

 

Let me share David Jeremiah’s thoughts found in the DJSB. “Even though Rahab knew her life was in jeopardy and her country was doomed (v. 2-11), she was honest with the spies. Rahab did not lie for her own protection. The truth would have been less dangerous! She put her life in greater jeopardy by hiding the two men and lying about their whereabouts. In addition, the Bible does not say where Rahab was in her faith journey at this point. While she had some knowledge of God, it is likely she did not come to internalize that faith until later in life. Rahab should not be held accountable for her conduct in the same way as someone who had walked in the faith, for many years and been raised under God’s laws.”

 

You and I need to understand that from a biblical perspective, Rahab’s lie does not mean lying is acceptable! God will never accept lying as okay. This is recorded in Scripture because He is Truth, not because He praises Rahab’s actions. Saving Rahab shows that God will accept anyone who fears Him and is trying to do the best they can under extreme conditions to serve Him.

 

Aren’t all of us saved by God’s grace? Is not true faith shown through our actions? When we come to Christ, in faith, we are told our past no longer matters because it is wiped clean. I include this event in the study of Joshua because it is a reminder of the grace of God that can save and change the worst of sinners, use them for His purpose and glory and bring them into the abundant life of Jesus Christ.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.