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Spies, Espionage and Faith

17th July 2005, hej

 

3) Rahab's Faith

It is certainly not beyond possibility that Yahweh guided the spies to find Rahab due to Rahab's faith. In all that city, which Yahweh wished to destroy for its wickedness only Rahab's family was to be saved. But salvation was not about surviving destruction, but rather about taking on the hope of Israel. At the time the spies arrived Rahab's faith was an acknowledgement of the power of Yahweh and that He is the Deity of heaven and earth.

"I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. (Jos 2:9-11 ESV)

The passage above reveals that Rahab knew by name Yahweh, and that He had given Israel the land. She refers to an event that occurred over forty years before as evidence of her faith and backs it up with the more recent defeat of Sihon and Og. From these two events Rahab concludes that Yahweh is to be feared. From the reaction of the King and the locking of the gates, it may be assumed that the fear was felt by all in Jericho, but that it was only Rahab, and those who came into her house, who acknowledged Yahweh's right.

For this acknowledgement Rahab was given the possibility to become associated with Israel. That she takes on the faith of Israel may be surmised if it can be assumed Rahab would have a legacy in the faith of her son Boaz.

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