As we continue our discussion of Joshua 2 today, we see in Rahab a reminder that it is faith that brings us and holds us together as God’s people. Our faith in the Lord binds us together with other believers today and for all ages. Rahab’s faith is mentioned twice in the New Testament. Once in James 2:25 and also in Hebrews 11:31 in Hebrews the author tells us that it is Rahab’s faith that kept her from being destroyed along with those who lived around her. Her faith in the Lord is what kept her from death. Paul tells us that it is through faith that we are saved, Ephesians 2:8. In the text I mentioned from James, he connects Abraham and Rahab as examples of faith. Think of that, Abraham, the father of the faith, was saved by the very same process as Rahab the pagan prostitute living among the condemned people of Jericho. The connection grows even deeper when we consider the imagery that the spies give to Rahab to exhibit her faith by. The scarlet cord hanging outside the window of her home was to be the sign by which she and her whole household would be saved from the coming wrath of God. It is difficult not to immediately think of how all Israel was saved from God’s wrath when He judged Egypt on the night of the Passover. In fact that is what the word passover means. God had said, “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:13). Here Rahab is told that when they see the scarlet cord, she and her household will be spared when Jericho is destroyed. She is to be saved as all God’s people had been and have been saved, by grace, through faith. Each of us finds ourselves forgiven, redeemed, saved, cleansed of our sins by the same means. Not one person who calls themselves part of God’s people became a child of God a different way. We must all come to the Lord humbly confessing our desperate need of forgiveness due to our sins. Apart from trusting on the Lord’s offer of salvation not one person is worthy to stand before the Lord. Whether we have the character and nature of Abraham the father of our faith or Rahab the prostitute, the need is the same, FAITH! As you stand for the Lord on the this Thursday, you do not stand alone, you stand beside the countless multitude who have come before, who are standing now, and who will stand for eternity, trusting on the Lord’s gracious offer of salvation. As you go to serve the Lord today you do not go alone, you march alongside the army of the Lord’s redeemed, sprinkled by the blood of the Lamb. The only One whom we have to to fear is the Lord God, and He gave His only Son to redeem us! So let us praise God for our brothers and sisters in Christ and go boldly as a people together to a world that so desperately needs to hear the message of hope that we have heard, trusted, and followed just like our great example we find here in Rahab.
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