Rahab: Choose This Day

Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010 Posted: 1:34:56PM HKT

Joshua 2

The king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you.” (v. 3 NRSV)

Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho. She was used to having men visit her house. But nothing could have prepared her for the choice she faced one momentous day. Two groups of men came knocking on her door one afternoon. The first group was two Israelite young men, sent by Joshua to scout out Jericho on behalf of God’s people. The second group was a delegation from the king of Jericho, looking for the Israelite spies.

Rahab faced a choice: to side with the Israelites and their God or to side with the Canaanites and their multitude of gods. She had heard stories about the awesome power of Israel’s God; as a result, she and her family chose him.

Rahab’s life-changing choice charts the course of the book of Joshua, where many people faced a similar choice: Achan, the Gibeonites, other Canaanite tribes. Those who sided with God, his law, and his people lived. Those who did not were destroyed.

This theme comes to a climax in Joshua 24:15: “Choose this day whom you will serve . . . as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” God’s Word places before you that same choice today, and the consequences are no less crucial: Choose Jesus and live forever. Reject Jesus and face eternal destruction (John 3:16).

Prayer: Lord, I choose to live for you. Help me to be obedient to your law. Amen.

Used with Permission

Verlyn Verbrugge