Rahab: See the Big Picture
God’s People on Mission
Rahab: See the Big Picture
The story of Rahab is fascinating to me. We don’t know a whole lot about the circumstances of her life other than that she is living among the peoples that inhabited Canaan as the Israelites were preparing to take the land, that she is described as a Harlot, and that her house was situated on the city wall of Jericho.
But how is it that the two spies end up in the home of a harlot when they go into spy out the city? (Only God right!!) And so here they are, right where God wants them, in the home of someone who is ready and looking for God to move, for Him to save. Rahab grasps her moment, a small window of opportunity before her. And God works a miracle in her life. She knows what is going on, her eyes are open wide. All the city is in fear of the God of Israel, and His people who will overtake Jericho and inherit the Promised Land.
So she reaches out and strikes a bargain with the two men that she shelters. We read:
Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:12 – 13)
Rahab makes a choice. In that moment she is given the same gift that we are all given: We get to choose the winning side. It will take full trust and surrender on her behalf. Her bargaining tool was mostly a bluff. She may have held the lives of the spies in her hands, or at least the ability to hand them over to the rulers of the city. But she knew that the city was doomed, and that her only chance was to cast her lot with the Israelites, and more importantly, the God of the Israelites. If these men refused, she was lost. Fortunately, they were listening to God, and remembering that He is mighty to save. Even to save Gentiles in Canaan.
Rahab was wise enough to lift her eyes and take in the big picture, and because of this she recognized the gift of salvation when it was presented to her. If only our neighbours, friends and loved ones would do the same thing. How can we help them to do this?
Of course it begins in prayer. To pray that their eyes are opened to see the big picture, and to know where the world is headed, and importantly what the outcome is going to be. I’m talking to more and more people these days who are very aware of the evil around us, but paying no attention to the path to Eternal Life.
Along with praying for them, we need to pray for ourselves, that we be given wisdom to recognize when God is opening the eyes of people around us and alongside us, and that God gives us the words to say, the examples to give, and the evidence that is right before them, though they cannot see for looking.
I’m always encouraged and challenged as I remember the prayers of the Apostles and first Christians when they experienced persecution at the hands of the same people who sent Jesus to Pilate to be crucified. They prayed:
Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29 – 30)
There is a great end to the story of Rahab, and maybe this might encourage those we are talking to and witnessing to. Because the end of the story of Rahab is amazing, way beyond her expectation. God answered her prayer and then gave more. Not only was she saved, her parents, brothers and sisters and all that was theirs, but Rahab was then blessed beyond measure, she became part of the line of David, an ancestor from whom would come the Saviour of the World.
Can we remind people, that if they would open their eyes and see the God who saves, that He is the God who loves to bless also. Maybe not in the way we think we want, like riches and fame and temporary prosperity. But we are welcomed into the family of God, just like Rahab was, and our lives, when fully surrendered to Him, will give Him glory for all eternity, and that is what it means to see the Big Picture.
