My Sunday Skl

How exactly did the Israelites end up defeating Jericho? I feel like I remember something about a wall falling. We sing that in Church.

Please open your Bibles to Joshua 6 verses 3-5.

3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.”

Hold on, the wall collapsed. As in flat, wow. But that doesn’t make sense for Rahab. She lived on the wall so wouldn’t that destroy her house and everyone in it?

You’d think that, but God has a way of making the impossible happen. While everything else crumbled around them, Rahab and her family were safe (Joshua 6:17).

But I still don’t get how she was spared? Didn’t the whole thing collapse?

I wasn’t there, of course, but I think you can infer that it wasn’t the entire wall which fell. Rahab and her family escaped unscathed despite the fact that they were hidden inside the city wall. After the collapse the Israelites proceed straight in, which could suggest it was the part of the wall in front of them which actually collapsed, allowing them to enter, acting as a sort of ramp. Furthermore, we are told that most of the people in the city of Jericho didn’t die directly from the wall collapsing anyway.

Or it could be put this way:

“She and her household survived notwithstanding that Rahab’s residence was built inside the wall. The text does not mention that she or her family suffered from the collapse or implosion of the wall. What is mentioned is that the fatalities in the city that ensued were by the swords of the Israelites (Joshua 6:21), and therefore not from collapsing walls. In other words, the wall collapsed so as to allow entrée to the Israelites, who, in turn, killed the inhabitants, plundered, and then burned the city. Thus the complete destruction of the city wall is not mentioned, but instead the complete destruction of the city itself (through subsequent plunder, killing of the people, and burning). The curse by Joshua against the city was not against anyone who rebuilt the city wall, but on anyone who refortified the city and rebuilt its gates (Joshua 6:26).” – Bible Hermeneutics Stack Exchange

Okay, that clarifies some things, but how did they know which houses to kill and which not to?

If we go back to Joshua 2:

17 The men said to her, “We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household. 19 It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.

Do note: Rahab wasn’t saved by the actions of the Israelites, but more so by the intervention and direction of God. The wall could’ve easily fallen in the area where she lived as well. Nowhere in the text does it tell us that as the Israelites reached Rahab’s area of the wall, they’d start tiptoeing, because they didn’t want her area to fall. They followed God’s instruction and marched around the entire city, and then God took care of the rest.

Wow imagine the scenes. The walls collapsed. People are getting slaughtered all around you. But God’s like, be still, don’t worry, I’ve got you.

It’s great to learn about God’s protection, but we’ve got to go back to the core message. This isn’t about how to stay safe in Jericho. Nor is this about how God rewards those who follow His instructions. It’s about how God can still work through people even when their past decisions may appear to disqualify them.

Oh no, He’s gonna call her a prostitute again.

Actually, Rahab was a Harlot.

I’ve got to emphasise this because God does. We don’t read about “Moses the murderer” or “Abraham the Liar”, but we do see Rahab the Harlot – again and again. Why? I think God wants us to know through her example that our past doesn’t have to determine our future.

I don’t know what your past is. I don’t know where you were 6 months ago, 12 months ago or even 5 years ago. I don’t know what you were thinking last night or what was the first thing you did this morning. I don’t know how many promises you’ve broken.
All I know is that the woman described as a Harlot is Joshua 2 is the same woman described as righteous in Hebrews 11.

You know the Hall of Fame. Well Rahab was inducted into the Hall of Faith. Her, Abraham, Moses and Sarah, doing up gang at the ceremony. We can’t forget Noah. Enoch and Abel. She didn’t have the same religious background as a lot of the others. Her career wasn’t as long and her stats may not have been as impressive, but when God called on her, she rose to the challenge and gave a Hall of fame (faith) performance.

You wanna know something that’s somewhat poetic. Rahab, after all of this, finally got her name back.

What do you mean?

So, Rahab still had a lot of life to live after the event of Jericho. She got married, had a kid. A kid who actually ended up being part of Jesus’ lineage.

Matthew 1:5-6 says,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Check out the first line. Rahab…but no harlot, no prostitute, nothing. Rahab was not only restored from her past, but she even ended up as the great-great-grand-mother to King David. In the moment she had no idea where God was going to take her and use her, but she stepped in faith, and her legacy was changed forever.

As He did with Rahab, He can do it with you too. God can start your life all over again. It’s easy to want to change, but it is hard to lose that reputation and title from your past. But God will take care of that. Your past decisions don’t dictate your future. It is what you do now and who you put your faith in that will dictate the shape of your tomorrow.

“God Wants To Use Her? But She’s a Harlot” : complete.

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