They knew their land had been given to Israel and their cold stone gods were powerless to defend them. All Jericho seemed to be paralyzed with fear, but one remarkable woman processed all the stories of coming doom and tempered her fear with faith. God has never expected folk to have blind faith, so what did Rahab hear and see that made her come to such a politically_incorrect position?
Rahab knew the God of Israel had crushed Egypt, the most powerful nation of the time. As a harlot (innkeeper or temple prostitute), she surely heard the stories of a large group of former slaves moving toward Canaan. This movement was lead by a whirlwind by day and a strange fire at night. The Canaanites must have burst into uncontrollable praise to their cold lifeless gods as for some unexplained reason the sea of people turned south…toward the Red Sea. It looked liked the Israelites were headed for a trap with no possible escape.
Their temporary joy was suddenly shattered with the stunning news of an impossible rescue. The Red Sea was split apart and this massive group of people and livestock easily crossed from one bank to the other (approximately 10 miles) on a dry Dead Sea bed. The shock was magnified as they heard how the Egyptian army charged after the Israelites and was destroyed as the water joyfully rushed back to its normal place. For most of the Canaanites, fear was magnified! Did Rahab begin to understand the great protection provided by God?
Rahab wondered about the aftershock that rumbled through the land as Sinai shook violently with the presence of God. Did she connect this with the giving of an unfamilar law written from the heart of the God? Rahab must have compared this with her cold, stone gods that had no heart.
The spies of Jericho must have returned in record time to give the devastating news that the rescued, re_charged Israelites were turning north again…on a straight line to Canaan. The heart_melting reports of how the night fire moved closer and closer were magnified by the unexplainably stop at the southern border of Canaan. Twelve Israelites boldly spied out their Promised Land and the Canaanites were powerless to stop them.
There must have been complete shock, bewilderment and a collective gasp of relief…as the Israelites unexplainably moved away from the border. But, for almost four decades the strange glow in the southern sky was a constant reminder of reality…and the emotional ups and downs of every report as the Israelites moved closer and farther away from Canaan slowly drained the Canaanites of their courage.
Did Rahab begin to feel the love of God from the strange reports of water from rocks, hoards of quail and mysterious manna? Rahab must have remembered stories of the Egyptian disaster when God_sent hornets appeared and a painful physical plague was piled on top of Canaanite mental trauma. The cold, lifeless gods of Canaan were no match for the God of Israel!
What went through the mind of Rahab when the final reports came that the mass of former slaves had turned north? She heard how they crushed everything in their path, including Og and Sihon, the kings of the territories east of the Jordan River. She did not understand it all, but she was certain of the power, majesty and compassion of the God of Israel.
Israel was calmly camped on the eastern side of the Jordan River…less than 10 miles from Jericho. The fire and whirlwind were gone. The Israelites were still and the nights were strangely dark. The people of Jericho knew that since they lived a fortified city it was a sure target. But, since the story was that Canaan was already given to Israel, their mighty walls were no comfort against the God of the Red Sea. The only thing between Jericho and destruction was the Jordan River which was probably at flood stage. The Jordan was imposing, but nothing compared to the Red Sea.
The people of Jericho had the same information and most of them huddled in hopeless fear. But, Rahab processed the information in a different way and her fear was not hopeless. She demonstrated such remarkable faith that she was included in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith. She courageously demonstrated her faith by helping the spies…and saved her family.
Former slaves or Mighty God?
Normally we process the story of Rahab through the lens of her faith. At the same time we tend to see the people of God as imperfect, grumbling vagabonds trudging in circles for decades. The other side of this event in history is how God’s imperfect, sometimes ill_tempered people demonstrated faith in their willingness to follow the wind and fire…and were used to destroy the resolve of the enemies of God. But, the Canaanites were not so impressed with a mass of former slaves, they were impressed with the remarkable, unique God of the slaves!
Imagine what would happen if we confidently believed the power of God that demolishes strongholds, arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against Him really works in us? Is it possible the awesome power of God demonstrated in the church today would cause the enemies of God to be confused and demoralized because their lifeless, synthetic gods have no power to stop us? If not, why not?
What would happen if we passionately wrapped our hearts and minds around the reality that everything in this world has been put under the unmatchable Lordship of Jesus…for the church? (Eph. 1:22,23)
We serve the same impressive God as Rahab!