Never too far…

This post is for those women who society has written off, outcasted, and/or deemed unworthy of redemption. This is the story of Rahab.

Joshua, the son of Nun instructed two men from his camp to go and scope out the land of Jericho. As they entered the land, they came to the house of Rahab. Now, you and I can speculate all day about whether the things that happen to us or around us are coincidental, purposeful, or by our own doing. But one thing is for sure, and that is that anything God does always has a purpose. The moment the men of Israel crossed paths with Rahab, I believe was a God-intervened moment. As word circulated two strange men had entered the city, the king of Jericho sent a message straight away to Rahab telling her to surrender the men who had come to her house. But why Rahab? Why was the king so assured in his thinking that the men had been at her home that he sent a message demanding that she hand them over? You see Rahab was a harlot, a loose or promiscuous woman. It was not unusual for her to have men circulating in and out of her home. So naturally, she would be one of the first people to consult with about strange men in the city.

My perspective is that Rahab had a word from God out of knowledge about the children of Israel and their journey out of Egypt. (Joshua 2: 9-11) And I believe the testing of her faith was tried that day when those two men showed up at her house. She could have fallen back into her old ways and continued to make a living as a harlot or fall into her calling as a servant of God and assist the men Joshua had sent to scope out the land of Jericho. She hid the messengers. As a result of this decision, she was rewarded with favor against the wrath of God that would soon befall the city of Jericho and everyone who lived there.

There is one last thing I want to mention is that in order that Rahab receive the condition that her and her relatives be spared from the destruction of Jericho is that the men required her to bind a scarlet cord in her window. We know that one of the reasons Jericho was being destroyed in the first place was because as the Bible describes it, it was filled with “accursed things.” So, I wonder if this was a waving of the white flag to say, Lord I surrender. I surrender my ways for your ways. And what better place to bury old bones than a graveyard.

Please note that if you are what or in something society deems as unworthy of being redeemed or saved from, God just might be shaking the whole Kingdom down with laughter because He knows a guy who is fully capable of turning your earthly imprisonment into eternal freedom.