Atypical Rehab

Many Faces of Wisdom

Faith and Wisdom in James
Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

 

Faith Without Works Is Dead

Joshua 2:1-7
New International Version

Rahab and the Spies

2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut 

For Reflection

The spies were tired. They had been dodging their pursuers and found rest in an inn where they found Rehab, a woman of ill repute.  Rehab is not someone one would be expected to serve God's will,

God chooses the ones to serve. God does not always choose who others would judge the most appropriate. Rehab had the courage to send the pursuers on a goose chase while hiding the spies. Should she be criticized for telling a lie? Surely it was questionable that her understanding of divine law gave her pause. Is this a case where the command against telling a falsehood can be overruled by her compassion? Should she be revered? 

Pray

Pray and withhold your judgment about God's action or non-action. Pray and understand that God's will is sometimes only seen in the dim light of our humanity. Pray and be humbled by the wisdom of God.


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