Delivered on October 23, 2005, Melana

talks about "Working for God"  We hope you enjoy

reading her sermons and wish you would

join us each Sunday to hear the

new one in person.

 

Working for God                                             Joshua 6:17-25, Matt. 1:1-10

 

        Today I want to share my story with you - my name is Rahab.  Most people know me as Rahab, the harlot.  I have not been able to lose the second part of that name, even though many things changed in my life.  I played an important part in the history of God's work with the people of Israel.

 

Let me remind you of a little of that story.

 

        You will recall that the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness for forty long years. This was the punishment against a generation who did not believe in God's ability to bring about the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. They wandered in the wilderness, but through it all, God provided them with manna to eat and water to drink.  It was the water that kept Moses from entering the promised land. One day the people were grumbling in the wilderness, as they often did, and they cried out to Moses, as they had in the past, complaining that he had brought them out into the desert, saying they would have been better off staying in Egypt.  God had used Moses to take care of such a water shortage before, so on this day, Moses lifted his staff and brought it down on the rock and water poured out.

 

        But Moses failed to give God the credit for what had happened and consequently, God punished Moses, by telling him he would not enter the promised land. Moses stood on Mt. Nebo and looked into the land that God had promised, but he did not cross over into it.  After Moses died, the people needed a new leader, someone who would listen to God and follow God's laws and lead the people with gentleness, but firmness. God picked Joshua to be that new leader and gave him a plan to conquer Canaan.

 

        I lived in Jericho when my part of the story begins.  Jericho is very close to the Jordan river, which makes it a crucial vantage point for the Hebrews to conquer.  Joshua sent two spies into my town, to see what sort of weapons we had and how many people would put up a fight.  People in Jericho were terrified of the Hebrews.  We had heard stories about what their god had done for them - stories of food provided in the wilderness, of the Red Sea standing still as they walked across it, of illnesses healed.  People in Jericho were very afraid - no one wanted to try to win a battle against the God of the Hebrews.  When the spies came into Jericho, they came to my house to spend the night.  I was a prostitute and they assumed no one would think anything of two strange men coming to visit me.  I saw a way out of the life I had been forced to live - God sent them to me so that I could help them, but they could also help me.

 

        Someone did see strangers enter my house, and because of their great fear, they told the soldiers about it.  The soldiers came to my house, but I hid the spies on the roof under some flax.  I told the soldiers that the men were spies, but they had already left my house and had gone out of the city before the gate closed for the night - if they hurried, they might still catch up with them.  The soldiers hurried to the city gate and out into the night in search of the spies that were hidden on my roof.  When I returned to the roof, I told the Hebrews what I had done and then told them that everyone was afraid of them and they could easily take over Jericho.  Then I begged them to save my family when they came back to conquer.  They promised to protect my family if I did not tell anyone of their plans.  Early in the morning, I let them down outside the window of my house which was situated on the city wall.  They gave me a red cord to attach to the window so that all the Hebrews would know that my house was protected.

 

        In another week, we heard that they were on their way across the Jordan.  Our spies returned to us, telling of a large box, carried on poles by priest - the Hebrews called it the ark of the covenant - this box was carried by the priests into the flood level Jordan river.  When they stopped in the middle, the water stopped flowing behind them and the people could walk across the river without getting wet.  The people of Jericho were even more afraid after hearing this report.  What could we do against such a force?  We were going to be conquered.  It took over two weeks more before we saw the Hebrews camped within sight distance.  I checked to be sure the red cord was still attached to my window.  The attack, if you want to call it that, started the next morning.

        Our gates were tightly shut and there were soldiers on the city walls - we expected arrows and spears to be used against us.  Instead, their soldiers, followed by seven priests with ram's horns, marched once around the city walls - then they went back to their camp.  We did not know what to make of this - was this a trick to get us off our guard?  Were they planning to come back in a few hours to finish us off?  The tension within the city was so high, it would have been better if they had attacked us, at least we knew what to do in that case.  Nothing happened the rest of the day.

 

        That night I checked the red cord again.  The next morning was a repeat of the previous day - soldiers and priests walked once around the city walls and returned to their camp.  People were getting very anxious - they could have walked right into the city at this point, I think - anything to have the suspense over.  The same thing happened on the third day, and the fourth, and the fifth and the sixth.  With each day things inside the city grew worse - and each night I checked the red cord.  On the seventh day, they returned, but this time they didn't leave after walking around the walls - instead, they walked around again - and again - seven times they walked around the walls - then we heard a deafening sound of seven rams' horns blowing and all the soldiers shouting.  Then, amazingly, the walls of the city fell - we had no more protection - Jericho had fallen to the Hebrews - just like that.  My family and I were spared, just as the spies had promised - and my life changed forever.

 

        I gave up my people and joined the Hebrews and lived by their laws - that is why I said I had hoped not to be known as Rahab, the harlot.  But perhaps it is better that you know that God used me for a great purpose, despite my disreputable profession.  God used me and changed me - made me part of a great history that has continued to change the world even to the present.

 

        I married one of the spies who came to my house that night that they checked out Jericho.  We had a son named Boaz, who married a foreign woman named Ruth and they gave us a grandson named Obed.  Obed had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David, who became the great king of Israel.  I did not, of course, live to see David on the throne, but my name is still remembered in the genealogy of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew.

 

        God used me to help bring about the greatness of Israel and the salvation of all humanity.  God seems often to redeem people in order to use them as part of God's great work.  God works great things in the world, but seems to choose to do so through people.  You can be part of God's work, too - you probably already are and just haven't opened your eyes to see your part in the great story of love and grace.  Think about the times you have felt like you were supposed to do something - visit someone, call someone on the phone, take part in a project, write a letter, those are the ways God often uses us to be part of the great history.  At the time, you may not think you have done anything significant, but later someone may tell you that your work or gesture or listening ear changed things for them.  No matter where we have been in our lives, no matter how unworthy we may feel, God calls us and uses us in the midst of God's great plan for creation.

 

        Look at your life this week, try to discover how God is using you and your talents and abilities - you might be surprised at what you find when you look.

 

 

© Melana Scruggs 2005

 

 

  

     

    

 

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