Anything?

Right after Joshua died last December, Jeff started reading through the Old Testament book of Joshua. He found a lot of encouragement and insight, as well as comfort and some truth he needed to hear. A few weeks back, I decided that I'd like to read through the book as well. It is a book with stories I think most Christians are familiar with and I'm trying to re-introduce myself to some the OT stories that I haven't spent much time with in recent years.

Early in the book of Joshua, there is an account that focuses on the spies Joshua sends to Jericho to scope out the city before the Israelites were going to take the area. Joshua 2:1 tells us that the spies went to the house of a prostitute named Rahab to stay while they were there. If your Sunday School lessons were anything like mine, the teacher always made a point to say that the spies went to stay in Rahab's house because it was such a good place to hide and they wouldn't be conspicuous there. Your Bible study notes might say the same thing, and for all I know that might be true. But, what if it's not? The Bible itself doesn't say so one way or the other. I'm not saying that my Sunday School teachers or your study notes are wrong, but I can't say with certainty that they are right.

Reading that got me thinking for the first time that maybe the spies' intentions in staying at Rahab's house were less than honorable, perhaps staying there was not part of a bigger plan to elude the authorities. What if they were there for the reason all the other men who walked through that door were there?

If you go on reading the account of the spies in Jericho, you read that the King found out there were spies in the land and went to Rahab's house to call the spies. The spied hid on the roof and Rahab lied for them and said that they had already escaped. We learn that Rahab lied to her King because she knew about the God of the Israelites and she believed in Him. We can't know what Rahad had heard about this God of the Israelites and what she believed about Him, but we know her convictions about Him was strong enough that she lied to the King of her city and endangered her own life to protect the spies. In return, the spies promised to spare Rahab and her family when the Israelites returned to take the city. God used this prostitute who believed in Him to hide the spies for His Nation and ultimately spared her life and made her a part of His bigger plan.

So, going back to those spies and their intentions on entering Rahab's house: it is amazing that God can redeem ANYTHING for His purpose. He can redeem and use two men who possibly went to use the services of a prostitute and protected all of their lives in the process and allowed all of that to be worked into His plan. If you continue reading Joshua, you see how true that is and how that thread of redemption is woven throughout.

It's honestly eye-opening to see how God worked thousands of years ago. It is the same way he works today. He can redeem the mistakes and the disobedience that I bring to the table as well as the pain and hurt that the fallen world bring.

I want to end with a disclaimer to say that I honestly have no clue as to why those men went to Rahab's house, so I'm not trying to disparage the story or how God worked in it. I'm simply reminded by all of the unknowns that God can use anything and work it for good.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Angie Smith has a great post, much more eloquent that mine on the same story - albeit from a different perspective. You can see that here.