In the penultimate part of the series on the Lord’s benevolent radar and the Rahab saga of faith, we shall train the spotlight on the following subjects…
Reticent…
Agreed, we praise God for “loud” miracles such as the one of formidable Jericho wall crashing down with a loud “bang” as it were but have we ever praised Him, for “silent” ones such as the one of the good Lord quietly putting a protective hedge around that portion of the wall on which Rahab’s house stood? It takes my breath away, when I consider the fact that even as a a huge Jericho wall (all of 18 feet thick) came crashing down that portion of the wall on which Rahab’s house rested didn’t collapse!!! Talk of a miracle within a miracle…a “silent” one occurring alongside its “loud” counterpart…oh boy…Rahab’s small house was standing tall on a tall crumbling wall. If the realization of this truth doesn’t produce a loud “Hallelujah,” I wonder what else would!
Remission…
“Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, ‘Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.’ So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her.” (Joshua 6:22-23)
Let’s get it straight! No woman out of her own accord would become a prostitute. Any thought contrary to this observation would disgrace womanhood itself. Doubtless she is always forced into flesh trade by circumstances such as financial difficulties. For all we know, may be the parents of Rahab were the “guilty ones” for the family to suffer financially thereby constraining their daughter to take up a detestable business. But Rahab, by accommodating her seemingly “irresponsible” parents in her “ark of redemption” (Remember good ole Noah’s ark…1 Peter 3:20…which bears resemblance to Rahab’s house), acted magnanimously, at once forgiving those responsible for she sadly becoming, so to say, a scum of the society.
Cheer up..women’s rights activists…now you have something “juicy” coming your way! Hmmm…talking of Noah, hey didn’t Rahab go one better than her revered male counterpart? While Noah could bring only his nuclear family into the Ark (his numerous siblings–Genesis 5:30–and relatives perished in the Flood), boy…Rahab could coax all her siblings and even her distant relatives into the protective custody of her house (Joshua 6:22-23)! Now three cheers for her powers of persuasion, again wrought by great, unshakeable–and may I add here–“Infectious” faith.
Prayer: Father, put in us the great desire to not only forgive those kith and kin who have hurt us deeply but also lead them to Your saving grace. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Suresh Manoharan
An unworthy servant
J and SM Ministries
(To access the entire “Of Rahab and the Lord’s Radar” mini-series, please click here.)