Hebrews 11 - Rahab
Readings for this week August 28 - September 2
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Day 1 – The Unexpected
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 11:31
Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses. Hebrews 11 is full of the names of these (and more) towering figures from the history of the Israelites and their storied walk with God. These names resonate with so many stories and moments of excitement, of trouble, danger, virtue and vice – but they remain names of faithful followers of God that many people aspire to emulate. We want to have faith like Abraham, to trust the Lord as Moses did, to see his promises come true as they did for Sarah. Big names, big stories, big faith – these are the biblical heroes we gravitate to, whose names we recognise and whose stories we remember.
But there are other names and stories the writer of Hebrews reminds his audience of and some of them are not so famous, not so obvious as faithful people, and if they are memorable it is sometimes for the wrong reason. Rahab is one such person. She was not a prophet, or a judge or a leader of people, but a prostitute – hardly someone you would expect to see listed next to such well-known figures as Moses and Abraham. But there she is, listed after Moses (no mention of Joshua!) and commended for her faith. God chooses the people we might not expect, seeing beyond the surface circumstances to the person underneath. He doesn’t write people off because of who they are and what they do, but calls to all to trust in him – something that Rahab did so well and faithfully that here we are thousands of years later, looking to her as an example of faith.
Question to Consider
Who are the unexpected people who have shown you more of God and his love and goodness? How? What did you learn?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, surprise me. Overturn my expectations and show me yet again that your ways and plans are bigger than me – but that you still have a part for me to play. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – Faith in Action is Faith that Risks
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Joshua 2:1-7
How did “go and spy out the land God is giving us” become “go visit a prostitute”? That seems a little odd, not exactly what you would expect. The Israelite spies infiltrated the city and went to Rahab’s house. We aren’t told why they went there, but there are a few things that might inform our view of their reason for doing so. Prostitution was part of Canaanite worship and so was not frowned upon as it was elsewhere. Also, prostitutes’ houses often doubled as inns or boarding houses, so staying there may have been their best option. But the spies were spied upon, and it is what Rahab did next that showed the depth of her trust in God and just how much she was willing to do in order to help them.
She acted on her faith. She took a risk, trusted that God would be with her and the spies she was protecting and hid them in her roof, at great risk to herself, as detection would have most likely meant death for her and them. Then she lowered them down the outer wall to safety. Rahab shows us the perfect combination of faith and works, faith in action, faith that transforms, faith that risks. Our faith needs to lead to obedient action. We need to act on what we believe in ways that make a difference to others and to the world we live in. So much of what we read about these heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 is not just of what they believed, but of what they did.
Question to Consider
What does your faith look like when you put it into action? In what ways have you taken risks to do so?
Prayer
Almighty God, help me put my faith into action. Help me take risks for the sake of others, so that they may see your love and concern in my actions and may come to know you because of it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Hearing is Believing
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Joshua 2:8-11
From foreign prostitute to revered woman of faith in the pantheon of the Israelites’ great heroes of the past, and a woman praised for her righteousness, how did Rahab’s journey to faith in Israel’s God begin? Like so many people throughout history, her faith originated from hearing the story of what God had been doing. Her journey began when she heard the story of the miracle of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt and their subsequent victories in battle, even though these events dated back 40 years. She believed because of what she had heard, just as Paul wrote, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). This is lived confidence in and “assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
Rahab did not witness the miracle herself, but believed because of what she had heard about God (in ironic contrast to the Israelites, who were right in the middle of the miracle and still failed to believe, grumbled against God and fell into sin). This reminds us of two things. We weren’t there for the miracles of scripture; this requires us to have faith too, to soak ourselves in God’s word and bathe our faith in these reminders of his love. But we will also have our own testimony of God, our own experience of his miraculous power, goodness and love that we can tell others about. From that same passage of Paul again, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14).
Question to Consider
How has your faith been shaped by what you’ve heard from others?
Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for those you have put in my life to who have shared stories of your goodness and love with me. May I always testify to your prominence in my life and the goodness you show me. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – The Many for the Sake of the One
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Joshua 2:12-24
It is Rahab’s name that we know, that is recorded, that we remember. But she was not the only Canaanite to be saved from the city. We do not know how tempting it might have been for Rahab to realise the danger the city and its people were in, to think only of herself and her own safety, and request rescue only for herself. But she didn’t. Whatever her family may have thought of her and her profession, whatever the relationship between them may have been (and nothing is said about these things), she asks for her wider family to be saved as well: parents, brothers, sisters, and all they have too.
She had heard of the mighty power of God and his miraculous rescue of the Israelites. She believed God was real, that he existed. But she also went a step further and developed a faith that believed God could rescue her and her family, that he was powerful enough to do so and that he would do so – would rescue her family for her sake. She chose to trust in him – not in the walls of Jericho, not in her city’s rulers or armies, but in the God about whom she had heard. She put the fate of her entire family into the hands of God, believing that he would deliver them from danger. God longs to save all people. His mercy extends to all people, not just us and those near us, but those who are as far from us as it is possible to get. God will rescue others for the sake of the one who asks on their behalf, something that his people should always remember.
Question to Consider
Who are those on whose behalf you seek God’s saving grace and goodness for?
Prayer
Heavenly Lord, hear my prayers for those I bring before you. Bless them and be with them; bring them to a saving knowledge of you. Show them the plans you have for them and the path you want them to walk. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – Where the Story Leads
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Joshua 6:25
The story doesn’t end here. Rahab saved the two spies and enabled them to escape capture and death, so that they could return to Joshua and tell him of what they had learned. And, as we read today, Joshua kept to the agreement the spies had made on his behalf and rescued Rahab and her family. They were welcomed into the family of Israel, of God’s people, and settled down as new members of this family, a wider family that she eventually married into, and contributed to. Her family line led to Boaz, to King David, and eventually to Jesus. Scholars are largely convinced that the Rahab mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of the ancestors of Jesus is our Rahab. From foreign, pagan prostitute to ancestor of the Messiah – that is some journey. But with God, anything is possible.
Rahab couldn’t have imagined what her hiding of the spies would lead to in the long run. God’s plans are often greater than we can see or even imagine. The picture he sees and the power he has to bring it about are both greater than we can comprehend. His plan is greater than our abilities and gifts – but he invites us to use them in helping his design for creation come to fruition. His plan is greater than our failures – and he doesn’t let them have the final say, but instead invites us to bring them to him, to lay our failures at his feet and to try again with his help. His plan is the most glorious work there is and we are called to join him in it – and to have faith he will bring it to a glorious conclusion.
Question to Consider
Where has God taken your story that you couldn’t have imagined before? How has your faith grown as a result?
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for your faith in me and in your people. It is amazing that you choose to work with us to restore your creation and bring it to a fullness we can hardly imagine. We praise your mighty name. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)