8/5/2009 9:16 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Courageous Faith
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Joshua 2:1-7
Message of the verses: Ҧ
Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim,
saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went and came into the
house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. 2 It was told the king of Jericho,
saying, "Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to
search out the land." 3 And the
king of Jericho
sent word to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who
have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land."
4 But the woman had taken the two men
and hidden them, and she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not
know where they were from. 5 "It
came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I
do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them."
6 But she had brought them up to the
roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the
roof. 7 So the men pursued them on the
road to the Jordan
to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they
shut the gate.”
I
now move into the second chapter of Joshua and also the third chapter in “Be
Strong,” Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of Joshua which he entitles “A
Convert in Canaan.” The convert is Rahab and the Bible speaks of
Rahab and her faith in several different places. She is first seen here in the book of Joshua,
and she is also seen in the blood line of Jesus Christ in Matthew one, and she
is also seen in the book of James along with Abraham in a show of her faith,
along with in the hall of faith chapter in Hebrews, chapter eleven, again
showing her faith.
Rahab
was a believer before Joshua sent the spies into the city state of Jericho, for
she had heard of the wonderful things that the Lord had done for the children
of Israel by destroying the nation of Egypt and drying up the Red Sea and she
had a reverent and saving fear of the Lord because of what she had heard. Rahab was a prostitute and I am sure that is
where she had gotten her information from the men who came to her for her
services, but after hearing of the God of Israel she believed in Him and it was
counted to her as saving faith in Him.
The
issue of lying comes up in this section for she actually hid the two spies and
then told the men who were searching for them that they had already left the
city before the gates were closed. I am
sure that Rahab was a relatively new believer in the Lord and I am not making
excuses for her, but as Warren Wiersbe reports in his commentary on this that
more veteran people of faith had lied, like Abraham, Isaac and also kind David
and the circumstances of their lying were less dangerous for them than for
Rahab for her life was on the line and as Warren Wiersbe also points out she
was a freedom fighter for the cause of the nation of Israel and for their God. Lying is not the right thing to do and after
reading about what Rahab had done gives me no excuse for lying, but I can
certainly understand why she did it.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: What I admire about Rahab the most is her
courage and her faith, and what she had she gave to the Lord and He used her
life not only with the two spies incident but she was also used by the Lord
when she married into what was the line of Jesus Christ and her faith has been
passed down through the centuries of time so that I can read about it today and
because of it have my faith increased too.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
- Put on the spiritual armor: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
- Continue to pray for Pastor Greg.
- Give myself to the Lord today for worship and service.
- Continue to learn contentment.
- Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
- Trust the Lord through His Holy Spirit to search my heart for unconfessed sin so that I may confess them to the Lord and keep a short list with Him.
8/5/2009 10:08 AM
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