29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
Faith believes in God's promises. God told the Israelites that He would part the sea for them to walk through. Can you imagine how scary that actually would've been? Yeah, sure the walls of the sea are there right now - but will they stay held up?! Sometimes God needs to prompt our faith (with a rapidly approaching Egyptian army, for instance), but faith believes God's word and acts on it.
MacArthur (emphasis mine)...
Faith takes God at His word and is victorious. Presumption drowns. The Egyptians presumed and they drowned. Listen, if you're waiting for a ferryboat to live the Christian life, it'll never come. If you're waiting for calm water, it'll never come. You're going to have to walk through with it all piled up on both sides and believe God that it'll stay there cause the Christian life is a matter of believing God's promise.
Faith is courageous. And courageous faith conquers obstacles.
The wall of Jericho was one huge obstacle! And the manner in which God told them to overcome that obstacle must've seemed ludicrous and embarrassing and likely even dangerous (are the people of Jericho going to shoot arrows at them or throw rocks down on them as they're walking around the city?). But they had faith in God and demonstrated that faith by courageous obedience - and emerged victorious!
Rahab - now that is a lady with courageous faith! Not only was she a prostitute, but she was a Gentile. Not only a Gentile, but a Canaanite. Not only a Canaanite, an Amorite - the very race God had marked for destruction.
MacArthur (emphasis mine)...
she was a member of a race that God had devoted to destruction; but that's how God's grace works. His mercy's open to all who will receive it; and God's race has always been wider than Israel, even in the Old Testament.
It took courage for Rahab to believe in this God of the Israelites. She believed, against the odds, that God would destroy Jericho. She risked her own life to protect the spies. And she believed the spies when they promised to spare her life. Amazing courage!
God honored that prostitute in Jericho, that Amorite. You know how He honored her? First of all, He honored her by salvation; but more than that, for our consideration at this moment, certainly not more than that in terms of eternal things, she became the mother of Boaz. Boaz became the husband of Ruth, the great-great-grandmother of David. Rahab the harlot moved right into the Messianic line. That's God's grace.
God honoured Rahab's courageous faith.
She believed in a big God. The "size" of our courage and strength is in direct proportion to our beliefs about the God we claim to follow. Who would have much faith in a teeny, tiny God? The bigger our God, the bigger our faith will be. And we have a great God. Our God is sovereign, loving, faithful, trustworthy and powerful. We can take Him at His Word. We can bank our lives on it. The Hebrews 11 heroes of the faith did. Will we?
Will we demonstrate the kind of courageous faith that God honours?
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Hebrews 11:32-34
1 comment:
Man, every time I hear the story of Rahab I love it more.
"Sometimes God needs to prompt our faith (with a rapidly approaching Egyptian army, for instance), but faith believes God's word and acts on it." Love that!
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