Sunday 18-01-09

… Facing the future

Biblical text: Hebrew 11:30-31 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

Complementary text – Hebrew 12:1-3

Thought of the day:

The conquest of Jericho by Joshua is not a simple subject. Does God take sides? Is it necessary that one part is destroyed so that the other part wins the land? Genesis 15 and 16 gives us a deeper point of view on this subject (in the days of Abraham, the measure of inequity of the Amorites was not yet full, but it was already full in the days of Joshua). God’s judgment over the Canaanites, comparable to the fall of Sodom, is a proof that God makes justice in this world claiming for justice. God does no want for the sinner to die, but instead He wants the sinner to repent and live (Isaiah 18:31-32).
Rahab’s example shows us that, even if we stand in a place that is being punished and judged by God, we can still repent and be saved. Jesus said it is easier for a prostitute to go to heaven than for a righteous man (Mathew 21:31-32). The same happened in this story. Rahab understood perfectly well that the arrival of the Israelites was a sign that God’s judgment was to be shed over that town. The other inhabitants of Jericho are described as being “disobedient”, showing that they didn’t understand the signs that it was the time for their salvation.
We may stumble on the “white lie” of Rahab (Joshua 2:4-6), but her clear confidence in God’s will made her win an honorable place among the “heroes of faith” referred to in the book of Hebrew.
This text in the Old Testament seems to contradict the love of God, so let us read John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” In the New Testament, God’s judgment is always behind God’s love: it is the love of Jesus Christ that protects us from the judgment (Romans 5:8-10). The story of Rahab, in its own historical context, is an eternal example of the reality of those who are in Christ. We must have the courage to abandon all the unrighteousness and all the sinful practices of this world and find salvation in Jesus Christ.

Worship and Thanksgiving:
- The holiness, the righteousness, the love and the mercy of God;

Intercession:
- For us to abandon unrighteousness and sin and return to God;
- For holiness, clear profession of our faith, defense of truth and of the plan of God;
- For the environment, globalization and the fears concerning the future; for the “tax collectors and sinners”.