Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
Reckless faith. This is the best way I can describe my past year. As I write this, it has been exactly one year ago that I put my resignation in to leave a fifteen-year career. Reckless because I had no job lined up or any idea of what was next. Faith because I knew without an ounce of hesitation that this was what I was supposed to do and had confidence that God would provide. As I look back on this past year, God has done just that, provided. Not necessarily in earthly monetary ways, but He has given me a deeper understanding of His provision and guidance when I fully surrendered to Him.
Rahab is a biblical example of someone who had reckless faith. She also happens to be the second named woman in the lineage of Jesus. Her full story can be found in Joshua chapter two. Rahab was a prostitute that lived in Jericho, and she became a very unlikely hero to the children of God.
The Israelites had been rescued from slavery in Egypt and wandered in the wilderness for forty years led by Moses. It was finally time for them to enter the promised land. God’s chosen successor to Moses, Joshua, was ready to take ownership of this land, so it was going to take military force since the land was already occupied.
Joshua sent two spies into Jericho to scope out the land. They entered the home of Rahab, and she immediately acknowledged their favor with the One True God. “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you” (Joshua 2:9). Rahab then negotiated a deal for protection; she proposed to hide the spies from the king of Jericho if they protected her and her family when the Israelites raided the city. The spies agreed and gave her an instruction to tie a scarlet cord in her window as a symbol of her protection (Joshua 2:18). Rahab’s home was built into the city wall giving the spies an easy escape.
The spies kept their end of the deal by protecting Rahab and her family when the Israelites invaded Jericho (Joshua 6:17). What Rahab did was reckless. She could have been killed for being a traitor or she could have been killed by the Israelites. However, she had faith in the God of her enemies. The people of Jericho had watched how God protected and provided for the Israelites from a distance for forty years. They were “melting in fear” as God led His children closer to their city.
Rehab’s reckless faith is what saved her life. The scarlet cord was a symbol to the Israelites to protect her home as death came sweeping into the city. The scarlet cord is a similar symbol of the blood from the Passover lamb painted over the door frames of the Israelites homes forty years earlier protecting them from the plague of death in Egypt.
Rahab became part of the community (Joshua 6:25) and it is safe to assume she accepted the One True God of the Israelites as her own. She later became the mother of Boaz, a great man of faith and character. In this amazing story of salvation, a Gentile prostitute became a part of the chosen children of God and the royal line of King David, then later the Messiah himself.
Just as the blood of the Passover lamb is the blood of salvation of the Israelites and the scarlet cord is the symbol of the blood of salvation for Rahab and her family, the blood of Jesus is our blood of salvation. It is His blood that was spilled for you and me that cleanses us of our sins and gives us righteousness before a Holy God. This is what Jesus ultimately came to do, shed His blood for the salvation of sinners, both Jew and Gentile. It is His blood alone that saves us from the plague of eternal death and makes us a part of the family of God.
This Christmas, remember the sweet Baby’s birth we celebrate eventually became the Savior of the world through His sacrifice on the cross. He was sent to us to die. To save us through His blood and the forgiveness of sins. Joy to the world! The Lord has come!
Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!