Theme: DIALOGUE
Text: “And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.” – Joshua 2:14.
Comment: After the death of Moses, God chose Joshua, the son of Nun as the next leader of the Israelites. In this thrilling dialogue between a woman of faith, Rahab, and the two men Joshua sent from the city of Shittim for espionage activities at Jericho, they swore in the name of God Almighty that she would come to no harm as long as she kept the matter of their visit to the city, secret. She kept to her words. Earlier on, she had not only refused to produce the men, but had gone ahead to hide them in her roof among the flax. (Joshua 2: 9-11) In olden times, this is called “pledging” which means to put down one’s life for a friend or neighbour. In reference to the Jewish spies, one Bible scholar says: “It was prudent to make her life depend on her secrecy; had it been otherwise she might have been tempted to give information, not only concerning the spies, but concerning the designs of the Israelites. But her life being at stake, added to every other motive, she kept the secret for the sake of her own personal safety and that of all her relatives”. Rahab’s, hospitality and faith in God brought favour to her. People of God should be faithful by keeping to their promises. In the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “… let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil”. – Matthew 5:37.