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365 Devotionals: The Promised Land
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22 AMP
The Seeds of Promise Devotional Series
Rahab: The Woman Who Lived on The Wall
“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself”. John 1:1 AMP
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| March | Book | Read From | Read To | Devotional |
| 13th | Joshua | Chapter 2 | Chapter 6 | Rahab: The Woman Who Lived on The Wall |
Devotional Reading: Joshua 2:1 AMP
1 Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as scouts, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. And they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there.
Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom. Now that Moses God’s servant was dead, Joshua was commissioned to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Joashua sent spies to stake out the city of Jericho. The men found favor in the house of Rahab, a harlot whose house was built into the city wall.
Devotional Reading: Joshua 2:2-7 AMP
2 It was told the king of Jericho, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the Israelites to search out the country.3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out the land.4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, Yes, two men came to me, but I did not know from where they had come. 5 And at gate closing time, after dark, the men went out. Where they went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order there. 7 So the men pursued them to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone, the city’s gate was shut.
While it might have been considered uncouth, or unclean, Rahab had a thriving business. She had enough space to hide the spies. Why did she not fear to tell the King of Jericho’s men where the Israelite spies were? Why didn’t she break down and cry and witness falsely against them, saying that they threatened her and came in by force and she could not restrain them? Somehow, Rahab had the instinct to recognize that God was moving against Jericho; and that if she and her family should be spared, now was the time to act on their behalf. When the King’s messengers or warriors inquired of the spies wherabouts, Rahab had not yet spoken to them concerning the reward for keeping them hidden from the King. How did she know that the spies would agree to save her and her family alive. Rahab understood that the Israelites were blessed by God. She confessed that the God of the Israelites was the true God of heaven and earth. She must have believed that being a blessing to them would sow a seed of safety for her house.
Devotional Reading: Joshua 2:8-14 AMP
8 Before the two men had lain down, Rahab came up to them on the roof, 9 And she said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the [east] side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 When we heard it, our hearts melted, neither did spirit or courage remain any more in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now then, I pray you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a sure sign,13 And save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all they have, and deliver us from death. 14 And the men said to her, Our lives for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.
The spies made a covenant with Rahab, that in exchange for her deed of safety toward them, they would not destroy her family and all that they had when the men returned with the armies of the Israelites to take the city.
Devotional Reading: Joshua 2:15-21 AMP
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the [town] wall so that she dwelt in the wall. 16 And she said to them, Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers have returned; and afterward you may go your way. 17 The men said to her, We will be blameless of this oath you have made us swear. [The responsibility is now yours.] 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall bring your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household into your house.19 And if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless; but if a hand is laid upon anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, we shall be guiltless of your oath which you made us swear. 21 And she said, According to your words, so it is. Then she sent them away and they departed; and she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
Rahab gave the spies some advice as they prepared to leave Jericho quietly. She warned them the King’s guards would be searching for them, and that they should hide themselves in the mountain. Rahab had to gather all of her family into her house, from whence they would be rescued when the men returned. Rahab’s advice let the spies pass on from Jericho without being noticed or overtaken.
Devotional Reading: Joshua 2:22-24 AMP
22 They left and went to the mountain and stayed there three days, until the pursuers returned, who had searched all along the way without finding them. 23 So the two men descended from the mountain, passed over [the Jordan], and came to Joshua son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. 24 They said to Joshua, Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; for all the inhabitants of the country are faint because of us.
Based on the words of the spies, Joshua would later command that Jericho be destroyed, except for Rahab and all that were in her house [1].
Devotional Reading: Joshua 6:21-25 AMP
21 Then they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.22 But Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, Go into the harlot’s house and bring out the woman and all she has, as you swore to her. 23 So the young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred and set them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned the city with fire and all that was in it; only the silver, the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25 So Joshua saved Rahab the harlot, with her father’s household and all that she had; and she lives in Israel even to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Excerpt From “A Few Good Women“:
God used a woman to protect his investment. To fulfill his purpose. No matter what you may have done in your life. Don’t you ever think God can’t use you. The woman who hid the spies was one who may have been called the least of all sisters. She may have been called the chief of all sinners, like Paul said that he was. If you had known about that woman in her day, about her lifestyle, you would likely have said she was not worthy to be God’s right hand; but if God can make a mule speak to save a man’s life, I know He can use a woman.
Remember that God looks at the heart of every person. We may have seen that woman and thought that she was ordinary. But the Bible says, in Joshua the 2nd chapter, the 15th verse, that this particular woman let the spies down through a window of her house using a cord, because,
“…her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.”
The wall is the first line of defense against the enemy. Do you know who dwells upon the wall? The watchman [or the watchwoman]. When I was 23 years old, the Word of the Lord came to me like Ezekiel, the 33rd chapter and the 7th verse. God said, “… I have set thee a watchman…”
Footnotes
[1] Joshua 6:17
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