JOSHUA: GOD IS SALVATION (part 4)

There is a wonderful story of faith and redemption contained in the second chapter of Joshua.  It is not only a story of God's faithfulness to His people, the Jews, but it also reveals His ultimate plan to bring the Gentiles into His fold by faith.

Joshua chose two men to go to the city of Jericho as spies and discover what they could about the city's strengths and weaknesses, and what the attitude of the people in Jericho was.  When the two spies reached Jericho they entered into the house of a prostitute by the name of Rahab.  The name "Rahab" is an indirect Quranic name for boys and girls that means “vast”, “spacious”, “open-minded”, or “generous”.  Rahab was all of that and more, to be sure.  Despite her profession, she feared the Lord Who had delivered these Jews from Egypt and across the Red Sea.  Someone saw the men enter her house and told the king of the city that they were there.  Rather than give them up, however, Rahab chose to protect the men and told the king's messengers that they had already left the city and were on their way back to the Israelites' camp.  She used this kindness to bargain with the spies for her life, and that of her family.  She then helped the men escape the city by hanging a scarlet rope from her window (which was on the wall) and letting them down to the ground.  The men agreed to save her and her family according to three conditions: first, she would not report them to anyone in the city; second, she was to hang the scarlet cord out of her window to mark her house on the day that the Lord would defeat the city; and third, she was to bring all of her family into her house in order for them to be saved also.  If any family member was found outside of Rahab's house, they would perish along with the city - their lives would be in their own hands.

It is a testament to God's great love and mercy that Rahab and her family would be saved over every other person in Jericho.  She was a Gentile first of all, but that didn't stop God from saving her.  She was a sinner, but God saw past that.  She was an enemy of Israel, but it didn't matter.  God saw the one thing in her that set her apart: her faith.  She believed God enough to risk her own life for His people, and to obey what was necessary to see that she and her family would be saved.  It wasn't her fear that saved her.  All of the Canaanites' hearts were melting from fear, but they still were determined to fight against God and His armies.  No, it was her faith turned to action that moved God's mercies.  The scripture tells us, "Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?" (James 2:25).  There is an important relationship that exists between faith and works which many find confusing.  The Lord is always the author of our faith.  He reveals His will to our spirits, and we then respond by acting on what we believe we have heard from Him.  God told Abraham to leave his home and country; and, as a result, he would receive the land of Canaan for an inheritance.  Because Abraham believed, he acted by leaving his home and sojourning in a strange land.  God told Noah to build an ark, and he and his family would be saved from destruction.  Because Noah believed, he worked every day on the ark.  Over and over we read of men and women whose faith was demonstrated by action.  Their actions were not based on their own thoughts, intentions, or works; but a simple response to what they believed God was saying.  James tells us that just as the body is dead without the spirit, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26).  It is what we do - the choices we make in life, and our obedience to God's directives - that set us apart, and mark us as lights in the world.  Without those actions, our professed faith becomes a dead corpse with little or no power to influence the world for good, or to transform us into the image of Christ. 

Just as the Lord is the author of our faith, He also is the finisher of it.  When we are willing to obey His revealed Word, He then gives us the ability to do what He requires.  "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13).  "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10).  It is no longer our labors, but God laboring in us.  This is what Rahab exemplifies.  Her faith required that she put herself in jeopardy in order to save herself and her family ultimately, and she was willing to do what her faith demanded.  "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace." (Hebrews 11:31). 

The scarlet cord that Rahab hung in her window as a sign that her house was to be spared is a picture of the blood of Christ which takes away the sin of the world.  It is reminiscent of the lamb's blood that was smeared on the doorposts of the Israelites before they left Egypt.  When the death angel passed through the land of Egypt, he passed over the houses that were marked with the blood, but destroyed the firstborn in every other house.  The same was true of Rahab's scarlet cord.  The armies of Israel passed by her house, but destroyed all others.  Likewise, it is only the blood of Christ shed for the world that will save souls from the destruction that lies ahead for this old world.  When the Lord returns to execute judgment on the ungodly, only those who have believed and received the atonement of Christ's sacrifice will be saved.  Oh, how I want to be in that number!