awwpoux - Line of Christ

10.9.07

From Egypt to the Promised Land

Last week in the history of the Israelites, we left off with Jacob giving his final blessing to his sons. At this point in time Jacob, his sons, their wives and families and all that were with them had traveled to Egypt. Since Joseph was a high ranking official in the Egyptian government, the family settled in that land. The Israelites remained in Egypt for the next several generations until eventually the Egyptians didn't remember who Joseph was and began to be concerned about the number of Hebrews living among them. In fact, they became so worried about this fact that the Egyptians enslaved the Jews. This led to much suffering and crying out to God. God heard his people and raised up a deliverer: Moses (See Genesis 49 - 50 & Exodus 1 - 3).

As it turned out, Moses' life was spared as an infant and was raised in the Pharaoh's house. When it came time to lead the people out of Egypt, the Pahraoh wouldn't let them go. Seven plagues later, he let them go and Moses parted the Red Sea as a grand finale (Exodus 2 - 14).

Unfortunately, due to the Israelites grumbling and generally disobedient nature, they were forced to wander the desert for 40 years before they would be delivered to the Promised Land. Part of that requisite was that the current generation would have to die out, as they were not allowed into the Promised Land. (They were a very ornery people.) Unfortunately, this included Moses himself. Therefore before his death, he handed his ministry over to a young man named Joshua, from the tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 14 & Deuteronomy 34).

This week we are picking up the Israelites story on the brink of entering the Promised Land, with Joshua at the helm. (Again, this is the AMC summary - for a more accurate narrative of events, check out the books of Exodus and Numbers).

Joshua Son of Nun

Before we dig into the text for this week, I'd like to briefly take a look at Israel's new leader Joshua. After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they soon came to Canaan, the land the Lord was to give them as the Promised Land. In Numbers 13 God told Moses to send one man from each of the 12 tribes to go spy out the land. When the men came back 10 reported that it was too scary and they should not invade the land. Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, (go Judah!) silenced the people and argued that the should take the land. But the people would not listen and instead they began to grumble against the Lord (Numbers 14). Moses intercedes on the Israel's behalf and the Lord replies that he will forgive the people - but none who witnessed his miracles in Egypt would live to see the promised land. They would wander the desert for 40 years before entering the Promised Land.....except for Caleb of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua the son of Nun (Numbers 14:20-38).

So it is easy to see that Joshua is a man of extraordinary faith. In a time when everyone else disagreed and grumbled against the Lord, only he and Caleb remained faithful to the Lord's promise and were rewarded for it.

Sending Two Spies to Jericho

So after 40 years of wandering and with Joshua now leading the Israelites, it was time to enter the Promised Land. We pick up our story at Joshua 1. This gives us a nice little re-cap and brings us up to speed. In Joshua 2 we see he is ready to send in the spies. This time around only two spies are sent into the land, instead of 12. I read a few commentaries that said this may be representative of the 2 spies who came back with a positive report 40 years earlier (interesting, no?).

The two spies come to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and hide in her home. This may seem odd and a little cavalier of the two spies, but it was believed that they chose the home of a prostitute because it would not be uncommon for two foreigners to briefly stay in her home. (Pretty clever, huh? It's almost Jason Bourne-esque.)

Unfortunately the king of Jericho is savvy to their plan and sends a message to Rahab to send the spies out. But Rahab doesn't do that. Instead she hides the men and tells the king the men have already left. If they leave quickly perhaps they can overtake the spies. In a surprising turn of events, Rahab protects the spies and sends the king's men on a wild goose chase. Rahab then confronts the spies and admits that she knows this land belongs to the Lord and that he will be giving it to his people. She offers a trade: she will protect the spies and keep their mission a secret if they will spare the lives of her and her family when they invade the land. The men agree: their lives for her family's lives. Rahab is then instructed to hang a scarlet cord in her window to indicate to the Israelites her home is not to be touched.

After the Israelites take the city, Joshua honors the agreement between the spies and Rahab. Rahab's family is brought out of the city into a separate camp while the rest of the city is destroyed. Her family is spared and lives the rest of their lives among the Israelites (Joshua 6:22-25).

Extraordinary Faith

Rahab's story is one of a bold faith. She takes a large risk to protect the spies and align her future with theirs. She boldly strikes up a deal with them, trading her own safety for theirs. She confesses the sovereignty of the Lord and chooses to bless his people rather than persecute them. Her faith is aptly rewarded and goes so far as to be recognized by two New Testament writers.

In Hebrews 11 the author begins the chapter by defining faith as being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. Then he continues on to what is known as the "Hall of Faith" stating example after example of God's people who have exhibited great faith throughout Israel's long history. 16 different verses exclaim that "by faith...." the Lord's servants chose to trust the Lord instead of their own logic. In verse 31 the author recognizes Rahab's actions as what they were: a measure of faith.

Similarly, James also commends Rahab's act of faith essentially claiming that she put her money where her faith was. In a hearty argument that faith without deeds is meaningless, he recognizes Rahab as an example of faith WITH action. She was considered righteous for what she did (See James 2:14-26 for the entire discourse).

As modern Gentiles ourselves, I think we are in a position to identify with Rahab's faith more than with the faith of the Jews. The Jews were active participants in the history of God's people. They witnessed his miracles, they received his law, they were lead by his prophets - of course they believed! But like us, Rahab had witnessed none of this, yet she believed. She had heard of what the Lord had done and proclaimed it as truth to the spies (Joshua 2:9-11). She claimed that truth and acted directly upon it.

In Romans 10:17 is says, " Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Rahab is a fulfillment of this word. She heard and so she believed. And that belief led to action based on faith. How incredible! It is tempting to unappreciate her belief because neither have we seen the Red Sea parted or the 7 plagues...however, we have the Holy Spirit, which adds a whole new element to the equation. She was one of the first to believe in the Lord by word of mouth. I'll say it again - how incredible!

Now, before we go putting Rahab on a golden pedestal and labeling her faith as impenetrable, I think it's worth taking a moment to evaluate this moment in history fully. While it is absolutely true that Rahab exhibits great faith in her actions, it's also quite likely that she was acting from a somewhat selfish motivation. She saw an opportunity and she capitalized on it. She saw the chance to save her family and she took it. But while her motivations might have been selfishly based, they were still committed in faith. Just like we talked about last week, God uses us right where we are and untangles the rest of it later. He takes us as we are: imperfect.

A Little White Lie

As the shrewd reader that I know you are, you must have noticed that Rahab's confession of God's sovereignty and agreement of protection of the spies also comes with a big fat lie to the king of Jericho. Hmm. No scriptural comment is directly made about this nice little fib, but perhaps we can still draw a lesson from it.

So does this make lying okay? Well, if we look at another example of fibbing for personal safety in the Old Testament, we'll see that perhaps it wasn't the best choice. Twice in his travels Abraham tells a king that his wife is his sister in order to protect their lives. In both occasions, the Lord protects the king from sinning against himself and reveals the truth to the king. The response of the king to Abraham both times is the same: Why did you do that? What were you thinking? (See Genesis 12:10-20 & Genesis 20:1-17.)

Abraham was taking matters into his own hands to protect his family, but in the end, it was God who did the protecting. While the lie may have served it's purpose, it was not necessary for God to accomplish his will. God is greater than man....a well known fact we are too quick to forget. I think this same principle is applicable with Rahab: God did not need Rahab to lie. He would have protected the spies if she had not lied. God is not bound by man. Whenever we think we need to "help" God, we are putting him in a box and robbing him of the absolute power we know him to have. He does not need us to accomplish his will; rather, he allows us to be used to accomplish his will.

Redeem: To Buy Back

When we look at Rahab's story, it's easy to draw from the lesson of faith. Scripture compounds that her example is a worthy one. However, when I was looking at the stories of the woman in Christ's lineage what struck me the most was their redemption. Ruth will prove to be the strongest example of redemption, however, I see God's hand at work in the life of Rahab too.

Like all of us, Rahab was living a life away from God. She was a part of a nation that did not know God, earning a living as a prostitute - trading her body for cash. But when the moment of truth came, she put her chips down on the Lord's side. As we've already read, Joshua - and by extension the Lord - honors the agreement made with the spies and her family is spared. But what I really love about Rahab's story, is what we learn in Matthew 1; she becomes a part of the line of Christ.

Once the Israelites move into the promise land, Rahab's life does not go back to what it once was. Instead her life is redeemed: instead of leading a broken life without God, selling her body as a means of living, she is blessed with a husband and a family and a family line of godly people. I absolutely adore the contrast of what her life was, to what her life becomes. She transforms from empty to full. God not only honors her oath with the spies, but he brings her out of a life of sin and into a life of blessing!