Of Rahab, Rehab and the Lord’s Radar
Perhaps, there is not a single media-savvy soul, who is not concerned about the fate of the missing Malaysian plane that lost its contact with ground control on the early hours of March 8th 2014. Eleven days later (at the time of this Message) there has been minimal progress in determining precisely what happened or where the plane with its 239 passengers and crew aboard ended up.
As of March 18th 2014, Malaysia said the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet now encompassed an area slightly larger than the entire land mass of Australia. "The entire search area is now 2.24 million square nautical miles (7.7 million square km)," acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a press briefing on Tuesday. Australia has a land mass of around 7.6 million square km. The search area extends north into south central Asia, passing across far western China, including Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as south deep into the Indian Ocean west of Australia.
"This is an enormous search area. And it is something that Malaysia cannot possibly search on its own," Hishammuddin said. "I am therefore very pleased that so many countries have come forward to offer assistance and support to the search and rescue operation." Twenty-six countries have deployed dozens of aircraft to search for the missing Beijing-bound jet.
While many of us are keeping their fingers crossed, there comes a comforting Scripture portion which applies as much to a righteous soul treading the Lunar surface high up on Moon or the one plumbing the depths of a pacific ocean which reads thus:
“For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them….” 2 Chro 16:9
All of the dismayed passengers of the missing jet and their relatives whose “hearts are perfect toward Him” can hold fast to this promise. That brings me to the ever-edifying Rahab rehab story which is a perfect lesson on how those of unwavering faith can never go missing on the Lord’s radar. More simply put, right from the start (in Joshua 2:1) till the end, Rahab’s saga, if anything proves the fact that the omniscient God was orchestrating the entire sequence of events in order the name of this woman of faith should forever be etched in the annals of Biblical history.
Risk I
“Then Joshua sent two spies from the Israeli camp at Acacia to cross the river and check out the situation on the other side, especially at Jericho. Then Joshua sent two spies from the Israeli camp at Acacia to cross the river and check out the situation on the other side, especially at Jericho...”-Joshua 2:1
If there was no Divine compulsion, why would the Leader of Israeli army –Joshua-send two spies on a special mission “to check out the situation” inside that walled city of Jericho. Doubtless this was a step fraught with risk, as the only earlier spying mission had boomeranged (Numbers 13 and 14) with tragic consequences resulting in Jacob’s descendents wandering in the desert for 40 years from the time of their departure from Egypt. We see the Sovereign hand in this move of Joshua, for how else would the two spies encounter this woman of faith without first stepping into that City noted for its Palm trees (Deu 34:3)!!!
Revelation
“For we have HEARD how the Lord made a path through the Red Sea for you when you left Egypt!... your God is the supreme God of heaven, not just an ordinary god. –Joshua 2:10-11
Imagine the reaction of the two Jewish spies, when they heard a Gentile woman of questionable character speaking with conviction borne out of reverence and awe of the Almighty God. Her faith had been moulded not so much by “seeing” awe-inspiring acts of might of the Supreme One but by mere “hearing” of the same. Talk of walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7)…
The spies no doubt listened with their eye-brows raised in admiration. For right before them had not their fathers perished for displaying singular lack of trust in their Redeemer God despite “seeing” many a miracle with their own two eyes, right from the time, He had “softened up” the hard-hearted Egyptian Pharoah with ten woes (Hebrews 3:16-19)?
Now this distinctive faith of Rahab did not escape the “radar” of the ALL SEEING ONE whose eyes (I reiterate) search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them….” No wonder, He put the escape plan for Rahab in place and started executing it with precision. In God’s lexicon, the words coincidence or accident would be conspicuous by their absence, for everything happens in the lives of His elected ones’ by His fore-ordained will. The steps of the two spies once they entered Jericho were led to the house of Rahab and NOT to any other house…by His Sovereign will. Many years later, that of her would be daughter-in-law-Ruth- too would be led to her son’s field by Divine direction (Ruth 2:1-3). Hey, how many of us know that Rahab was Ruth’s second mother in law (Matt 1:6)!!!
Risk II
“…she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath piles of flax that were drying there.”-Joshua 2:6
“By faith—because she believed in God and his power—Rahab the harlot did not die with all the others in her city when they refused to obey God, for she gave a friendly welcome to the spies.”-Heb 11:31
What is faith…if it doesn’t spur anyone to put everything at God’s altar trusting in His eventual deliverance all the time? There was Rahab despite being fully aware of the consequences of “treason” (her neck would be in the Royal chopping block) still risking her life to be in God's scheme of things…which amongst others included the immediate safety of the two spies….
Reward I-Rescue
“…we’ll see to it that you and your family aren’t harmed,” they promised. “We’ll defend you with our lives.” – Joshua 2:14-15
Her immediate reward for displaying exemplary faith? A solemn promise was made that at the imminent annihilation of the City of Jericho, she along with her relatives would be personally protected by these two men, whose lives she had saved by putting her own at risk. As far as rewards go, her first one was merely the “tip of the iceberg”!!!
Representation
“We cannot be responsible for what happens to you unless this rope is hanging from this window…”Joshua 2:18
The scarlet rope which hung from her window was going to be her “passport” to safety. In a way, doesn’t the scarlet rope portend the Cross of Christ, which is the only “ticket” for us to safety from God’s wrath (I Thess 1:10)? Yes, if in the First Five Books of the Bible
a) the Ram (sacrificed in the place of Issac -Genesis 22:13),
b) the Pascal lamb (Exodus (12:1-13/I Cor 5:7-8)
c) the Scapegoat (Leviticus 16:20-22/Heb 13:12)
d) the Brazen serpent (Numbers 22:9/John 3:14-15) and
e) the Cursed tree (Deuteronomy 21:23/Gal 3:13) typified the redemption cross of Christ,
then it can be said without an iota of doubt that in the sixth Book of the Bible the Scarlet rope foreshadowed the same .
Reticent…
Agreed, we praise God for “loud” miracles such as the one of formidable Jericho wall crashing down with a loud “BANG” as it were but have we ever praised Him, for “silent” ones such as the one of the good Lord quietly putting a protective hedge around that portion of the wall on which Rahab’s house stood? It takes my breath away, when I consider the fact that even as a a huge Jericho wall (all of 18 feet thick) came crashing down that portion of the wall on which Rahab’s house rested didn’t collapse!!! Talk of a miracle within a miracle…a “silent” one occurring alongside its “loud” counterpart…oh boy…Rahab’s small house was standing tall on a tall crumbling wall. If the realization of this truth doesn’t produce a loud “Hallelujah”, I wonder what else would!!!
Remission…
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her.-Joshua 6:22-23
Let’s get it straight! No woman out of her own accord would become a prostitute. Any thought contrary to this observation would disgrace womanhood itself. Doubtless she is always forced into flesh trade by circumstances such as financial difficulties. For all we know, may be the parents’ of Rahab were the “guilty ones” for the family to suffer financially thereby constraining their daughter to take up a detestable trade. But Rahab by accommodating her seemingly “irresponsible” parents too in her “ark of redemption” (Remember good ole Noah’s ark….1 Peter 3:20… which bears resemblance to Rahab’s house), acted magnanimously, at once forgiving those responsible for she sadly becoming, so to say, a scum of the society.
Cheer up…women rights activists’…now you have something “juicy” coming your way!!! Hmmm…talking of Noah, hey didn’t Rahab go one better than her revered male counterpart!!! While Noah could bring only his nuclear family into the Ark (his numerous siblings -Genesis 5:30-and relatives perished in the Flood), Rahab could coax all her siblings and even her distant relatives into the protective custody of her house!!!
Reward II-Rehab
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. (Matt 1:5-6)
The Rahab rehab story has all the trappings of rags to riches soap opera….in the spiritual realm that is. Rahab after her miraculous deliverance may have initially found herself quite alienated in the new-found Jewish society in Canaan (Joshua 6:23), wondering where the Almighty, on whom she reposed so much faith, would eventually lead her. While her life had been spared during the conquest of Jericho, would she be a desolate outcast, forever in the Jewish society? Would there be any who would throw the marriage cloak around her? But how many takers in a Jewish society for the role of a husband of a Gentile lady whose reputation had been permanently slurred by her trade? Now throw in the risk of contracting contagious terminal venereal disease usually found in those of “flesh trade” (Proverbs 5:11) and the magnitude of God’s second reward in her life by way of a wonderful rehabilitation program emerges with no shades of doubt!!! He moved the heart of Salmon of the tribe of Judah to accept her as his wife. God’s reward of faith for Rahab, went way beyond merely sparing her life.
Before tying the nuptial knot, doubtless, the large-hearted Salmon would have encountered his own natural inhibitions and the apprehensions expressed by his “concerned well-wishers” with a focused conviction of man driven by Divine energy. His unwavering stand would have been “IF THE ALMIGHTY JUDGE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD HAS HIMSELF ABSOLVED THE SINS OF RAHAB, WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO TREAT HER WITH PREJUDICE BORNE OUT OF SPIRITUAL SHORTSIGHTEDNESS. AND IF THE DIVINE DOCTOR OF SOUL AND BODY HAD CLEANSED HER SOUL OF SINS, WOULD HE WOULD NOT HAVE HEALED HER PHYSICALLY TOO?” Hence, his bold exemplary step of faith in marrying her!
What a powerful lesson, the conviction of Salmon which spurred him to accept Rahab as his wife holds out to us of contemporary generation, who sometimes still tend to look at forgiven sinners (from a dubious background) in our Churches’ with jaundiced eyes.
Reward III-Royalty
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.… Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah (Matt 1:1-16).
I reiterate that God’s reward of faith for Rahab, went way beyond merely sparing her life. Now we come to ultimate reward in Rahab’s life, which overshadows her previous rewards of rescue and rehabilitation…, that of figuring in the lineage of the matchless, peerless Redeemer Jesus. There we see in the above-captioned Scripture portion, how her name stands out amidst other heroes’ of faith.
Coming back to where we started, that is when God by virtue of His omniscience saw reverence and faith oozing out of Rahab’s heart, He decided then and there to feature her in the genealogy of the Saviour Himself….in His master plan of Salvation for the whole World. Hey, Rahab was in God’s radar for her heart was full of faith for Him. Dear Church, do not go missing. HAVE FAITH AND BE IN HIS RADAR!!!
Finally, how about identifying ourselves with the Psalmist’s declaration, “I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.” (Psalm 139:7) and mouthing a loud Hallelujah!!!
Suresh Manoharan
An unworthy servant
ps...this message replete with pics/maps/charts can also be accessed at the following URL....
http://www.jandsmministries.com/message_march1_14.asp
