Joshua 2:8-11
There are two women who are personally named in Hebrews 11, the great hall of fame of faith chapter in the Bible. One is Sarah, the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. The other is Rahab of Jericho, whom we read all about in the second chapter of Joshua. Now, aside from both being women, Sarah and Rahab had nothing in common. They came from two very different backgrounds. Yet from the divine point of view, they shared the most important thing in life–they both experienced faith in the true and living God.
Rahab’s faith in God was demonstrated by receiving the spies and risking her life to hide and protect them. In the New Testament, James holds her up as an example of obedient faith that is motivated to action. Rahab’s faith was not in word only, but was authenticated through action. It involved her mind, her heart, and her will. It began when she heard about God’s faithfulness to Israel. She had heard how forty years earlier, the Lord parted the Red Sea for His people. She believed what she heard and knew that the Lord had given His people the land. She declared to the spies, “The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath!” In an obedient act of the will, Rahab protects the spies.
The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. With our mind, we understand the truth. In our heart, we believe the truth. With our will, we act upon the truth. There are a lot of people who have convinced themselves that they are Christians only because they have heard the truth. However, what they have heard hasn’t been truly embraced in their heart because their will remains unchanged. Self is still enthroned. Being hearers of the word only, they have deceived themselves. Learn from Rahab, my friend. True faith results in a changed life.
For more, read Joshua 2:1-24; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:14-26
