Joshua and the battle of Jericho is one of those stories burned in my memory as a child. It is hard to forget about a city that was conquered using only trumpets and people marching around. It is hard to forget that , though the people of Jericho were fortressed behind city walls, that the walls of the city came down allowing the Israelites to conquer them. But my favorite part of the story is the evidence of God’s grace and mercy shown to Rahab and all her family. Just as God promised through the spies of Israel, Rahab and her family were saved because she believed the Lord and protected the Lord’s people. In all the destruction of whole cities it is comforting to know that God responds with grace to those that put their trust in him.
It is difficult in the reading of all the massacres to see this grace. We usually assume that these are “innocent” men and women being slaughtered. A more careful reading of the Old Testament reveals otherwise. These were people who were committing things abhorrant to God, things like the sacrificing of children. They were worshiping gods in ways that were unspeakable. This is why the Lord warned the Israelites NOT to keep any of them alive, not to intermarry, and not to take up their gods and their worship practices.
Though we do not understand it and we do not like it, the truth is, if God REALLY is the RIghteous One of Israel, Holy, Holy, Holy, then whatever he does is good and right. (Gen. 18:25) The scripture reveals that God knows the heart of every person, whether it is for him or against him. Though we think of death as the greatest evil, it is not. Eternal death is the greatest evil. A person can live a whole and good life and die without God and be lost for eternity. This is what Jesus was referring to when he said, “What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and lose themelves?” (Luke 9:25) In gathering Israel as a nation, God is preparing the way of salvation for all nations so that “whosoever believes in him (Jesus) will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are deserving of death. But God in his great mercy promises a way of hope, even through our self-destructive ways. In Abraham he promised that all the nations of the world would be blessed, through the tribe of Judah, the house of David. This is the lineage of Jesus Christ. Even in the total destruction of entire cities in this part of Israel’s history, Rahab is evidence of God’s tender heart toward those who trust him. I am so grateful for the story of Rahab in these pages! As we prepare once again to welcome the Christ child this Advent, reading these stories is a great reminder of how very hard and long God worked to bring salvation to the world.