ODJ: saving rahab

October 28, 2013 

READ: Joshua 2:1-23 

The Lord knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2:19).

The RQ-170 Sentinel is a sophisticated, secretive, unmanned stealth aircraft used to collect intelligence before and during military operations. It’s believed that this spy drone played a critical role in surveilling the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was hiding in the months before he was killed.

In another age, ‘Operation Occupy Canaan’ had commenced. The military commander leading an attack on the highly fortified city of Jericho needed accurate intel on the enemy forces. It was no surprise that “Joshua secretly sent out two spies” to “scout out the land . . . especially around Jericho” (Joshua 2:1). But God’s strategy for conquering the city didn’t require such intel. So, we ask ourselves, did the spies risk their lives unnecessarily in entering enemy territory? (vv.2-7).

While Joshua sent the spies to collect intel, God led them “to the house of a prostitute” to make contact with a woman who confessed, “The Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below” (vv.1,11). Rahab’s faith, proven genuine by her helping the spies, brought her into the family of God (Hebrews 11:31). She later married Salmon, whose son Boaz married Ruth and became the father of Obed, the grandfather of Jesse, and the great-grandfather of David (Matthew 1:4-6; Ruth 4:20-22). This Canaanite prostitute was an ancestor of Jesus!

“The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19). “He cares for those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7 NIV). God sent the two spies into enemy territory to save Rahab! (Joshua 2:17-21). “For the Lord . . . will not forsake His faithful ones” (Psalm 37:28 NIV) and “their inheritance will endure forever” (v.18). —K.T. Sim