A Promise Kept
“Trusting someone with something so important you could die if betrayed is the ultimate vulnerability and the ultimate display of faith.”
Joshua 6:15-17, 22-25 (NLT)
On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the town! Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies.”
Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, “Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family.”
The men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel.
Then the Israelites burned the town and everything in it. Only the things made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron were kept for the treasury of the Lord’s house. So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.
Reflection
Trust is so important. Between God and man. Between one human being and another. But trusting someone with something so important you could die if betrayed is the ultimate vulnerability and the ultimate display of faith.
In today’s reading, we see that Rahab was willing to risk her life, and the lives of her family, to help Joshua defeat her own people. There was no guarantee Joshua would remember her in the heat of the battle, and as promised, sweep her and her family to safety. But Joshua reminded the two spies of their promise and charged them with Rahab’s rescue. How easy it might have been, in the middle of an invasion and ensuing chaos, for the spies to forget Rahab and allow her to be destroyed along with her fellow Canaanites. But they remembered their covenant with her and honored her for what she did for the people of Israel.
There is no doubt that God was present in this situation, yet in a very different way. God found in Rahab a woman of great strength and faith, a woman who recognized the awesome power of the God of Israel without needing an outward sign of confirmation. She was unique because her faith in the living God was based on her own observations and perceptions of His power and strength, and because she realized He was a God she could trust.
Interestingly, God turned this situation over completely to Joshua and his trusted followers. The Bible does not say that God had to remind Joshua to fulfill his promise to Rahab and ensure her safety. This was a trust between human beings, a trust sanctified by God.
I wonder what was going through Rahab’s mind as the walls of Jericho were falling? All she could do was sit, wait, and pray that she and her family would not be forgotten. When the spies arrived and moved her and her family to safety, Rahab’s trust and faith in the God of Israel was on full display. Because of her faith, trust, and obedience, her life was forever changed.
Action Steps
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I am so thankful for the love You have for me. Sometimes I find it difficult to trust You fully, only because of my own shortcomings. Open my eyes to the knowledge that You always have my best interests at heart. Help me to trust You with the same kind of unwavering faith as Rahab. To You I give all the glory. Amen.
On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the town! Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies.”
Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, “Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family.”
The men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel.
Then the Israelites burned the town and everything in it. Only the things made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron were kept for the treasury of the Lord’s house. So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.
Reflection
Trust is so important. Between God and man. Between one human being and another. But trusting someone with something so important you could die if betrayed is the ultimate vulnerability and the ultimate display of faith.
In today’s reading, we see that Rahab was willing to risk her life, and the lives of her family, to help Joshua defeat her own people. There was no guarantee Joshua would remember her in the heat of the battle, and as promised, sweep her and her family to safety. But Joshua reminded the two spies of their promise and charged them with Rahab’s rescue. How easy it might have been, in the middle of an invasion and ensuing chaos, for the spies to forget Rahab and allow her to be destroyed along with her fellow Canaanites. But they remembered their covenant with her and honored her for what she did for the people of Israel.
There is no doubt that God was present in this situation, yet in a very different way. God found in Rahab a woman of great strength and faith, a woman who recognized the awesome power of the God of Israel without needing an outward sign of confirmation. She was unique because her faith in the living God was based on her own observations and perceptions of His power and strength, and because she realized He was a God she could trust.
Interestingly, God turned this situation over completely to Joshua and his trusted followers. The Bible does not say that God had to remind Joshua to fulfill his promise to Rahab and ensure her safety. This was a trust between human beings, a trust sanctified by God.
I wonder what was going through Rahab’s mind as the walls of Jericho were falling? All she could do was sit, wait, and pray that she and her family would not be forgotten. When the spies arrived and moved her and her family to safety, Rahab’s trust and faith in the God of Israel was on full display. Because of her faith, trust, and obedience, her life was forever changed.
Action Steps
- Trust and obedience are paramount for a strong relationship with God. Do you trust God to help you with both minor and major decisions in your life? Develop a prayer to ask God to help you relinquish any trepidation you may have in this area.
- Make a small commitment to God for next week. Commit to spend more time in prayer, to witness to at least one person, to reach out to someone in need, or anything else that comes to mind. Let your obedience lead you to a deeper trust in Him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I am so thankful for the love You have for me. Sometimes I find it difficult to trust You fully, only because of my own shortcomings. Open my eyes to the knowledge that You always have my best interests at heart. Help me to trust You with the same kind of unwavering faith as Rahab. To You I give all the glory. Amen.
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