Faith that God Himself Commends, Part 2

As I finish my two month sojourn in the Faith's Hall of Fame I can't help but notice three broad empowerments of authentic faith: "who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised" [Hebrews 11:33a]. And this was not only the corporate experience of the half-dozen men listed in yesterday's blog, but the general experience of the preceding sixteen members of the great Hall of Faith.

The second trio lists some of the forms of personal deliverances that they experienced: "who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of flames, and escaped the edge of the sword" [vv. 33b, 34a]. Samson, David and Beniah all shut the mouth of lions through physical force. Samson, barehanded, took a charging lion by the jaws and ripped it apart. David grabbed a sheep-stealing lion by the beard and thrust it through. Beniah descended into a pit on a snowy day and dispatched another king of the beasts. But Daniel is the preeminent example, through his faith and prayer [Daniel 6:17, 22]. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trusted God, and thus cooly conversed in a blazing furnace while the awe-struck king looked on [Daniel 3:24-27]. King David, as well as the prophets Elijah and Elisha, escaped the sword, as did many others [1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Kings 19:8-10; 2 Kings 6:31, 32; Psalm 144:10].

The third triad tells about the astounding power that came by faith "whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again" [vv. 34b-35a]. Elijah stretched himself out three times on the dead form of the son of the widow of Zarephath and cried to God for his life -- and then carried the child alive down to his grieving mother [1 Kings 17:17-24]. Elisha, his understudy, accomplished a similar feat for the Shunammite woman's son -- "mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands ... the boy's body grew warm" [2 Kings 4:34].

Three triads -- nine empowerments -- what power comes through faith! This, again, was important for the fledging church to know and believe under the darkening skies Nero's impending genocide. Clearly, God delights to effect mighty triumphs through His people of faith. It is faith that pleases God [and really nothing else ... for anything not done through faith is ultimately sin] ... and faith empowers that empowers His people. God can deliver the faithful anytime He wants from anything! Noah's family was delivered from a flood that drowned the all the rest of humanity. Moses and Israel walked through the Red Sea. Joshua and Israel crossed the flooded Jordan. Rahab survived the fallen walls. Gideon prevailed while outmanned a thousand to one. God can deliver us triumphantly from anything if He so pleases -- sickness, professional injustice, domestic woe, the growing oppression of a neo-pagan culture -- whatever, whenever! And He will do it again, and again. But remember, it is always "by faith" in His Word!

But the parallel truth glares out as well, God has not promised wholesale deliverance in this life for His people at all times and in every situation. Not all of us will be "winners" in this life. From the world's perspective some people of faith are huge "losers." To balance the record, the writer of Hebrews changes the emphasis as he completes his chapter by showing that faith also provides a different empowerment -- the power to persevere to the end. "Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison" [vv. 35, 36].

R. Kent Hughes asserts that the apparent reference here is to the Maccabean persecution because "the word for tortured has etymological reference to the tympanum, a large drum or wheel on which Maccabean victims were stretched and beaten or even dismembered. 2 Maccabees details the gruesome torture of a 90 year-old priest, Eleazar, who refused to eat swine's flesh [6:18-31], and then goes on to recount the even more revolting accounts of systemic torture of seven brothers for the same reason [7:1-42]." Each of them could have been released if they had compromised, but each categorically refused -- the reason being, as our text explains, "so that they might gain a better resurrection" [v. 35b]. Better? How can one resurrection be better than another? The answer lies in that it is a "better resurrection" because it is a resurrection not just back to life on this earth, as happened to the women's sons mentioned above, but a resurrection to everlasting life in the world to come. Significantly, the Maccabean accounts of the torture of the seven brothers carry the words of heroic encouragement by their mother based on her hope of the resurrection: "I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in His mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of His laws" [2 Maccabees 7:22, 23].

The writer now moves on to explicitly remind his little church that some of the faithful persevered even to death: "They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword" [v. 37a]. Since stones are plentiful in Palestine, they were often the murderous weapons of choice against the prophets. It was none other than Jesus who mourned this fact, when He cried out: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often have I longed to gather your children together" [Matthew 23:37]. There is an extra-biblical account that asserts the prophet Isaiah was sawn in two by the false prophets of Manasseh, who stood by "laughing and rejoicing," and that "he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spake with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in twain" [Ascension of Isaiah 5:1, 2, 14 as quoted by R. H. Charles]. And, of course, untold numbers of the faithful were slain in a more conventional manner, by the sword. So we see that although some "escaped the edge of the sword" through faith [v. 34], others, equally faithful, suffered its pain. But through faith they persevered to death whether stoned or sawed or stabbed. What power!

Lastly, there were those of the faithful who knew deprivation: "They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated -- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground" [vv. 37b, 38]. The calculated irony here is that the world has rejected such people, and yet the world does not deserve to have them even if were to accept them! Also this verse skewers what we today call the "prosperity gospel!" Here saints who are so holy and so full of faith that the world is not worthy to contain them, and yet they are called to persevere in persecution, deprivation and death. Not only that, but the reason they are able to persevere IS their great faith! Christians under the oppressive old paganism of Roman culture were to take note, and so must we in the growing neo-pagan darkness of our day.

Now, what was the outcome for those who were faithful in persecution, deprivation and even death? Amazingly, it was and is the same for those who experienced great public triumphs in their lives [the Noahs, Moseses and Gideons]. First, they were "all commended for their faith" [v. 39a]. Recall that this is how the chapter begins -- "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for" [vv. 1, 2] -- and this is how it ends. All the faithful [the known and the unknown, the famously triumphant and those who anonymously persevered in suffering] were "commended for their faith." God forgets no one who loves and serves Him! It is His great pleasure to commend their faith!

The second result is that "none" -- that is, none of the great triumphant members of the Hall of Faith or those who persevered without earthly triumphs -- "none of them received what had been promised" [v. 39b]. Although many promises had been given and fulfilled in their lifetimes, they did not receive the great promise -- namely, the coming of the Messiah and salvation in Him. Every one of the faithful [sans Enoch and Elijah] in Old Testament times died before Jesus appeared. They entered Heaven with the promise unfulfilled. Why? "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect" [v. 40]. No one was "made perfect" under the Old Covenant, because Christ had not yet died. They were saved, but not until Jesus' work on the cross was complete could salvation be perfect. Their salvation looked ahead to what Christ would do. Ours looks back to what He has done -- and ours is perfect.

All the faithful through all the ages are made perfect in Christ. We are all in this together -- from Abel to Rahab -- from Paul to us. And the message to the embattled little church, and to us is: how great our advantage! Right here, while we walk this earth, we have the perfection of Christ available to us. And it is so much better under the New Covenant than it ever was under the Old. We now have a high priest who has offered a perfect sacrifice for our sins once and for all. Our Saviour and our Priest sits at the right hand of the Father and prays for us! We have, then, a better hope! How much easier then is it for us to walk in faith -- even if we must walk down the shadowy roads of a neo-pagan, post-modern culture. We must not succumb to the delusion that a gentle rain and perpetual sunshine will continue to fall on the church in America as the culture continues to sink into the morass of post-modern relativism and neo-paganism. What foolishness! How ahistorical. What ego! What hubris to imagine that the church will continue to sail untouched through the bloody seas of history. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear God's steeling Word through the saints of old!

Faith that God Himself Commends, Part 1

"And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated -- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." -- Hebrews 11:32-40

So now we finally come to end of the Hall of Faith. Sixteen heroes have so far been presented along with the faith behind their triumphs. By faith the heroes of old were enabled to live so as to deserve the testimony that they were "righteous" [v. 4], that they "pleased God" [v. 5] and that they were people of whom God was "not ashamed" [v. 16]. And all of them experienced triumphs over great difficulties. Remember that this chapter was composed primarily with the hope of steeling the tiny, expatriate Hebrew church against the great persecution that was mounting against them and was soon to fall in the genocidal waves of horror orchestrated by the mad emperor Nero. And, indeed, those who did persevere did so because of their profound faith in the promises of God's Word. So it is that we must understand to grasp the author's intent in Hebrews 11. It was not just an entertaining aside, but rather was essential life-and- death teaching for the Hebrew church. It may well become the same for us and our children over the next 10-20 years.

Recent history has again reminded us that no democracy or dictatorship is eternal. Freedom, and especially religious freedom, is fragile. Moreover, dark forces are at work in our culture to the extent that it has become politically correct to call "evil good and good evil" [see Isaiah 5:20] especially as we begin to see the widespread acceptance of homosexual marriage, yesterday's vote in the Congress to end "Don't ask, don't tell," the growing "irrelevance of marriage" in the eyes of the majority in our culture, the near universality of pre-marital sex, etc. To the purveyors of this politically correct cultural agenda, Judeo-Christian morality is reactionary. And if any of us think that being reactionary is a safe thing, consider what the social engineers have done to the reactionaries in the twentieth century. There is only one unforgivable sin in the eyes of the popular moral pundits, and that is intolerance. "The one thing we will not tolerate is intolerance. It is un-American. In fact, it is un-Christian," goes the specious logic. But Jesus Himself was intolerant -- and His followers must humbly follow His loving example. It is more than possible -- it is highly probable -- that the church, once pampered may become the church persecuted. So then is everything, then, hopeless? Not at all! A church that lives with a dynamic certainty that comes from believing God's Word can have a profound effect on the culture -- as both salt and light. So it is that the church that sure of both God and His Word can foster great hope. And even if the culture proceeds down its neo-pagan path, even if it becomes overtly Neronian in its treatment of the church, there remains substantial hope for those who possess a Hebrews 11 faith -- for they will be empowered to persevere and will sometimes win dazzling and astounding victories.

At God's direction, Gideon underwent a remarkable divestment of power in preparation for his phenomenal victory over the Midianites. Obediently he reduced his troop level from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300. Then the 300, armed with only trumpets and pitchers that concealed torches, routed the Midianites whose "camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore" [Judges 7:12]. Gideon's feat was a stupendous act of faith. Likewise, Barak, obeying God's Word as given through Deborah, sallied forth to meet the great army of Sisera with its 900 chariots of iron and myriads of troops. Barak himself having only 10,000 men drawn from just two of Israel's tribes, Naphtali and Zebulun [Judges 4:6]. But his token army was victorious. Once again faith carried the day.

Normally we do not think of Samson as a man of faith, but rather a great doofus whose moral brain waves had flatlined. But there was a substance of faith in Samson that ran deep. He knew God had given him power to deliver his people from the Philistines -- though he had largely frittered it away. But once blinded, he regained his spiritual eyesight, and in a great act of faith prayed and received supernatural strength to avenge both himself and his people [see Judges 16:25-30]. Neither would we imagine Jephthah as a man of faith because of his infamous and foolish vow to sacrifice his own daughter [see Judges 11:30-39]. Nevertheless, this illegitimate son, this outcast Hebrew Robin Hood, was called back to save Israel -- which he did through his faith in God. He conquered because of his faith -- notwithstanding that his raw uninformed faith tragically was perverted so that it became the source of his rash and wrongful vow to sacrifice "whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me" [Judges 11:31].

King David, on the other hand, is well-known for his acts of faith, not the least of which was his challenge and defeat of Goliath, to whom he cried, "It is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands" [1 Samuel 17:47]. What towering faith! The prophet Samuel had lived a life of faith since he was a little "boy wearing a linen ephod" [1 Samuel 2:18], serving Eli in the house of the Lord. Through faith he fearlessly delivered God's Word to anyone, anywhere, at any time -- even the sinning King Saul [1 Samuel 15:22, 23]. This faithful proclamation was the hallmark of all true prophets.

Viewed together, this dynamic half-dozen bore remarkable similarities to one another. Each lived in a time when faith was scarce -- definitely the minority position. During the days of the judges, everyone did "what was right in his own eyes" [Judges 21:25], and this ethic was very much alive during the transfer to the monarchy. From Gideon to David, each battled overwhelming odds -- Gideon with his 300 against and innumerable host -- young David against the giant. Each stood alone contra mundum. And most significantly, perhaps, each of these heroes had a flawed faith. In fact, it was none other than John Calvin who remarked that "there was none of them whose faith did not falter." Nevertheless, although their faith may have been imperfect and incomplete, it did not cease to be approved by the Lord. How encouraging this should be to us! Faith's empowerment is not beyond any of us. As believers, we have untapped faith capacities that will surprise not only others but, even more than that, ourselves. Each of us possesses an interior spiritual dynamite that even a small amount of faith can ignite.

The Faith of Noah, Part 2

The next great thing we see about Noah's faith is that it brought obedience -- the obedience of faith -- as evidenced when Noah began to build the ark. "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family." There on a broad expanse of dry land, presumably far from the ocean, somewhere in the Fertile Crescent, Noah began to lay the ship's great keel.

First, he obeys in "holy fear," which is probably better translated as "holy reverence," because fear does not fit Noah or the context in Genesis. Noah obeys, not because he dreads the consequences of disobedience, but because of the sweet reverence he has for God. If there is any "fear" here, it is that of holy regard and devotional awe. Noah's obedience is built on a warm heart for God -- not a servile fear, but a loving fear like that of a child who does not want to displease his father. Noah's reverent obedience tells us that at the very heart of a life of obedience, there must be, and there always is, a holy reverence for God. We need to beware of obedience that is unemotional, that leaves our hearts beating at the same rate as before we believed. A reverent heart is a holy point of light in a dark world, for it is an obedient heart.

Understanding that faith's obedience is fueled by a reverent heart, we must next understand that obedience must always be practical. Noah got right down to doing what God had told him and "built an ark to save his family." The Genesis account adds, "Noah did everything just as God commanded him" [6:22, 7:5]. He followed the blueprints implicitly. As Noah finished the incredible 450-foot keel and began to install some of the ark's ribs, we can imagine the abuse he took! How many "Noah jokes" and clever jibes do you think people could come up with in 120 years? Imagine the insults, taunts and amusement that came at the expense of Noah and his family. Nevertheless, Noah maintained his practical obedience, doing exactly what God had said for 25 then 50 then 75 then 100 and finally 120 years -- until the ark lay like a huge coffin on the land. Faith always obeys! It obeys with a heart that is both reverential and practical. And true faith always acts. So to make this story real for us ... there was no way that Noah could truly believe that THE FLOOD was coming without doing what God told him to do to save his family. Similarly, we must ask ourselves if we truly believe God's Word -- that He is coming in judgment -- if we do nothing to warn those around us and point them toward His salvation.

There is a beautiful sequence that emanates from true faith: faith involves a certainty of belief, which produces obedience, which in turn produces witness. And this is precisely what Noah's faith did because his witness condemned the world -- "By his faith he condemned the world," through the witness of both his word and his life. The Apostle Peter tells us that Noah was a "preacher of righteousness" [2 Peter 2:5]. This means that for 120 years while he labored to construct the ark, he preached to all who would listen. Perhaps sometimes he preached from the construction scaffolding to the curious and the mockers who came out to gawk. Other times, no doubt, he went preaching missions throughout the countryside. His message was a call to faith in God, repentance and righteous living. For twelve decades this went on and on -- talk about a long pastorate! Moreover, along with this was the very witness of his life. His continual preparation of the ark was a constant visual witness that judgment was coming. And on top of that, there was also the powerful witness of the way he lived his life, because Noah was a profoundly righteous man.

Some people were probably reproved by both Noah's word and his walk. Some may even have begun to long for righteousness. But, sadly, not one person responded in a century-plus of such consistent witness. In fact, the world became progressively darker. No doubt his contemporaries saw him as the first "boy who cried wolf." The abiding lesson? True faith witnesses by both word and by deed. But the results, as always, must be left to God. We do not have the power to bring conviction in nor generate faith in the heart of any man. That has always been the work of the Spirit of God.

Lastly, a faith like Noah's makes one heir to a grand inheritance, as our text reminds us in its closing line: "By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." This is the author of Hebrews' one and only use of "righteousness" in the objective, Pauline sense of righteousness that comes by God through faith. This is what many consider to be an alien righteousness because 'alien' stresses the fact that it does not come from man, but is an objective gift from God. The great Pauline texts often repeat the phrase "righteousness from God." Examples include: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith'" [Romans 1:16, 17]. "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the Law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" [Romans 3:21, 22]. Similarly, in Philippians 3:9 [my life verse] Paul expresses a desire that he/I might be found in Him, not having a righteousness of his/my own that comes from the Law or from works, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

The glorious result of receiving this 'alien' righteousness is that we become the righteousness of God, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 -- "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." The point being that this righteousness from God is necessary for salvation. Self-generated righteousness is never enough. Moreover, we can never earn salvation, for it only comes by faith, as the preceding passages of Scripture emphasize. The only way we can obtain this righteousness is through faith in Christ [belief that He died for our sins, plus trust in him alone for our salvation]. This is the gospel!

Noah was saved by faith -- his faith led to his salvation. There finally came the day when the rain began -- and it continued for forty days uninterrupted -- and the pre-diluvians suddenly began to realize that perhaps Noah was not so crazy after all. Noah and his family got into the ark, and the jokes stopped for good as the water rose first to their knees, then finally over their now stilled lips. Just as God came to the pre-diluvians through Noah, he comes today to us post-diluvians through the words of His Son who said: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man" [Matthew 24:37-39].

Yet today in this dark world, there is still light wherever there is faith. To him who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The Faith of Noah, Part 1

"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." -- Hebrews 11:7

Faith must have something to believe -- and in this case it was a warning from God because our text tells us Noah was "warned about things not yet seen." The primary unseen thing he was warned about was, of course, that the earth's population was going to be destroyed by a monstrous, cataclysmic flood -- judgment by water [see Genesis 6:17]. Implicit in this was a second thing not seen and certainly never dreamed of -- that God was going to deliver Noah and his family through a great ark, which Noah himself was going to build. In fact, the Genesis account records God's explicit instructions: "This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high" [Genesis 6:15].

Now imagine how this all came down on this pre-diluvian farmer. The only floods he had ever seen, if indeed he had seen any, were the wadi-washers which came from an occasional thunderstorm. And he had certainly never set his eyes on anything as big as the ark, much less a ship! But he heard God's Word, and he considered it [some believe God's Word was also heard by others] -- and after thinking for a moment he alone believed God!

As to what took place inside him, we are given clear instruction because here the phrase "warned about things not yet seen" is meant to direct us back to the opening verse of the chapter: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Inwardly, Noah came to visual certitude. He saw a terrible mountain of water come and cover the entire earth, destroying "every creature that has the breath of life in it" [Genesis 6:17]. And he saw an immense ark of cypress wood, the work of his hands, riding high on the tempest.

This visual certitude was combined with a future certitude, for he was "sure of what he hoped for" -- namely, the promise of salvation for him and his family. Thus, a dynamic certainty swept over his soul. He believed God. He saw the unseen flood. For him the future promise of salvation was so real, it was already present. And this great belief was combined with trust in God, so that he became a man of towering faith. Faith is always more than a certainty of belief. Faith is belief plus trust. In that instant, Noah entrusted everything to God. Thus, long ago before the Flood, the standard for faith was set in the midst of a midnight of unbelief. Faith hears God's Word and believes with such a profound certainty that it makes the promise to be already present, so that the believer actually sees it and rests everything on it. Faith's requirement of us today is no less.

The Faith of Rahab, Part 2

Joshua 2:4, 5 presents a very awkward truth – Rahab’s first act of faith was a lie! “But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, ‘Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.’” Actually, Rahab told three lies in one. First, she said she did not know where they came from. Secondly, she said they had gone. And finally, she said she did not know where they were. So here we have the amazing conundrum – a lie being Rahab’s act of faith! Does this give us license to lie in certain situations? I don’t think so.

The Scripture does, of course, record the lies of saints such as Abraham [see Genesis 12:10-20], but it never approves of such deception. Rather, God’s Word uniformly condemns falsehood and calls us to be men and women of truth. Moreover, the life of Christ, our quintessential model, provides us with the supreme example of truthfulness. Our Lord never lied nor deceived anyone. And as members of His Body, we are obligated to do our best to live according to His example.

Nevertheless, Rahab’s calculated lie was a stupendous act of true faith, for her subsequent actions – when she assisted the spies in their escape through the window and cleverly advised them to hide three days in the hill country – put her life in deadly peril [see vv. 15, 16]. In fact, if the king had gotten wind of her doings, her death would have been both immediate and terrible. Rahab’s faith was great and deserves the status it has been given.

We must also consider Rahab’s lie against the backdrop of her pagan culture and lowly profession. She had no knowledge of the revelation given to Israel at Sinai. We can be sure that godly morality and its radical truth ethic had not penetrated her pagan mind. True, she possessed a moral conscience, but it was not informed by God’s Word. Hence it very likely did not even occur to her that she was doing wrong. I am not saying her lie was okay but God recognized the motive behind the act – and that motive was faith! And remember that it is faith that God most desperately looks for on the earth. This is what pleases Him. This is what Jesus Himself wondered in Luke 18:8 when He asked His disciples, “when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” We must strive to assure that He will and realize that often real faith is salted with sin. And realize as well, that God finds faith where we do not [and often cannot] see it. We need to be slower to judge and quicker to perceive faith, even in its rawest of forms.

The classic symbol that revealed Rahab’s great faith was the scarlet cord she hung from her window over the wall of Jericho. We see in vv. 17-20 how the two spies promised her safety if she would display that cord in her window. In fact, they vowed that everyone in the house would survive if the cord were in place. Rahab’s faith invited their saving work. V. 21 says she replied, “‘Agreed … Let it be as you say.’ So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.” According the R. Kent Hughes, recent scholarship suggests that the scarlet rope may have been the mark of a prostitute and that Rahab lived, so to speak, in the “red rope” district. He also notes that since the Hebrew word for “rope” is the same word for “hope” – and, in fact, most often means “hope” – there may be an intentional play on words here: the “rope” being the prostitute’s “hope” for customers. But now that Rahab has confessed Jehovah as God, her scarlet “rope” signified a new kind of “hope” – that of deliverance by God.

Be that as it may, the scarlet cord tells us that Rahab’s faith, though nascent and uninformed, was completely trusting. If the Israelites failed to return and conquer the city, she would soon be found out. The gathering of her family into her home would be interpreted for what it was, someone would talk, and she and her family would go down to their graves in terrible agony. But Rahab completely believed that judgment was coming and that salvation awaited her. So she let down the scarlet cord in profound trust in God.

Some consider the scarlet cord to be a symbol of the blood of Christ and Rahab to be a symbol of the Church, because through it she obtained safety for her family. Some have even gone so far as to say the spies escaped down the red cord, which they interpret to be not only the blood of Christ but the bloodline of Christ throughout the ages. These interpretations may be a bit over the top, but it isn’t hard to infer a direct connection to the Passover, which had occurred a mere forty years earlier. Then the Israelites were commanded to gather all their family into the house [just as Rahab did] and paint lamb’s blood around the door, so that when the angel of death came and saw the blood, all inside would be spared [see Exodus 12:21-23]. What happened with Rahab parallels this closely, and it seems likely the spies [though not Rahab herself] were quite aware of the symbolism. In both cases the red upon the door or the window was evidence of the faith of those inside. What great trust flowed from Rahab’s faith. Rahab’s sequestering of her family and patiently awaiting the outcome demonstrably showed her trust. She stood alone against the whole of her culture, something few of us in our contemporary culture have had to do. She, like Moses before, saw the unseen when no one else did.

The Faith of Rahab, Part 1

Amazingly, as we consider the story of Israel’s conquest of Jericho, not all faith was outside the city on that fateful day. The collapse was complete, except for one small section from which a scarlet cord tossed about in the wake of the concussion. It was the cord of faith. Hebrews 11:30, 31 tells us, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she had welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

During the preceding seven days, all faith’s components had developed and swelled through Rahab’s growing soul. She gave implicit obedience to the explicit directions given to her by God through the spies. She kept all her family in her home, just as she had been told to do. Though some of them very likely questioned her wisdom, she refused to capitulate, but rather insisted that they remain. And her obedience bears testimony to an amazing faith. A faith that likely exceeded and an obedience that matched that of the encircling Israelites.

Day after day, Rahab rose to the trumpeting of the shofars as they announced the approach of God and the Ark, then peered out over her scarlet cord. The Israelites likely silently and knowingly stared back, and she rested her faith in the fact that God really was with them. Hers was a focused faith. Perhaps she recited to her family something of the testimony she had given to the spies: “I know that the Lord has given this land to you … 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 Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below” [Joshua 2:9-11].

As Joshua was planning the conquest of Jericho, he sent out a reconnaissance team, as Jericho was a walled city situated in an open valley and its inhabitants, the Amorites, were on high alert. The ominous massed presence of Israel at the Jordan had made them suspicious of everyone and everything. They were fully aware of what God had done through Moses and this people in the preceding forty years. So theirs was an extra-perilous mission, and without Rahab and her exceedingly great faith in the Lord, it could easily have failed. “Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. ‘Go, look over the land,’ he said, ‘especially Jericho.’ So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, ‘Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.’ So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab, ‘Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.’” [Joshua 2:1-3].

The spies were apparently able to slip into the city unnoticed, disguised as Canaanite-Amorite in both clothing and speech. And once through Jericho’s gates, in a premeditated and studied attempt to ‘get lost’ in the city, they sought hiding in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. Lodging in such a place was characteristic of traveling merchants, and the spies felt their chances of escaping notice were best served there. But the strategy failed in two respects. First, someone saw them enter Jericho and followed them to Rahab’s home. Second, the prostitute immediately discerned their identity. From all outward appearances everything had fallen apart and they were doomed. The king was searching for them. They could not retreat back into the city. And if they jumped from the window, the king’s horsemen would easily run them down on the plain. It looked like their time had come, except for one totally unexpected thing – the faith and good works of a prostitute. So unanticipated, and so extraordinary, was this madame’s courageous faith that she is included in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, along with the likes of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Joshua. And it is likely most significant that the final person to receive individual commentary in the list of faith’s champions is a woman, a Gentile and a prostitute. Rahab’s faith, a prostitute’s faith, is given to us as an example for all who desire to have true faith – especially those who know they are sinners and who deep down want to be pleasing to God.

The Faith of Joshua and Israel, Part 2

The Lord Himself had given explicit instructions to Joshua that demanded implicit obedience [see Joshua 6:2-10]. They detailed the order and conduct of the famous procession around Jericho. The precise order was: soldiers, then seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns called shofars, then the Ark of the Covenant on the shoulders of more priests, then the people, and finally the rearguard of soldiers. The conduct of this unusual procession was likewise carefully specified, maintaining absolute silence while the priests blared intermittently on their shofars. On the seventh day they were to maintain silence while they circled the walls seven times – until Joshua gave the command to “shout” – v. 10.

By any outside estimation these instructions were ridiculous! The uniform witness of military history is that the foe is conquered by force. City walls are cleared by bombardment. Then they are scaled by ladders and ropes. Gates are smashed by battering rams, troops taken by sword. Cities do not fall by mystics making bad music on rams’ horns! When the Canaanites got a good look at the procession, they undoubtedly exploded in incredulous laughter and then hoots and catcalls. They could not believe their very eyes. What fools these Israelites were – utter clowns! And secretly some of the Hebrews agreed.

But though the instructions looked foolishly contrary to conventional human wisdom, Israel, as a corporate body, believed. Why their uncharacteristic faith? Obviously because of their recent experience in watching the Jordan dry up when the Ark penetrated its boundary. The freshness of that recent miracle made them receptive to faith. The other reason, already mentioned in the preceding blog, was the faith and character of Joshua.

Thus, Israel really did believe God was going to give them Jericho. When the writer of Hebrews says, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell,” he means that the Israelites actually did have faith. They were not pretending to believe. Theirs was not a bogus faith. As they marched silently around the wall, they did believe that the walls would come tumbling down! Their faith pleased God because they were believing that “He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” [Hebrews 11:6].

The evidence that they believed God’s Word was that they obeyed it. It was a little after dawn. The sun had lifted just above the horizon. Joshua had assembled his elders and had given them the instructions of the divine “commander.” Now they were moving quickly throughout the camp, calling the people together. Soon a long procession began to wind from the camp. Though it was vast in number, it did not include all the people, but involved a representative delegation from each tribe.

The ordered procession made its way toward the walled city in silence, broken only by the discordant, elephantine blasts of the shofars. The trip from Gilgal to Jericho took about two hours, although Jericho was encircled in about 25 to 30 minutes. Joshua kept Israel well beyond the range of Jericho’s archers, but, of course, not beyond the taunts of the increasing number of her inhabitants who lined her walls. Yet Israel never broke silence. The strange parade continued its absurd procession for six consecutive days. The Amorites shouted on, but the grim silence of the circling fools certainly began to wear on them.

The enduring object lesson here is that a life of faith is evidenced by a life of obedience to God’s Word, even when it seems absurd. Consider Paul’s comments in 2 Corinthians 10:3, 4, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.” To the unbelieving mind, the Christian’s weapons appear not only impotent but ridiculous. Who ever stormed a walled city wearing truth for his war belt, righteousness for a breastplate, the good news for shoes, faith for a shield, salvation for a helmet, the Bible for a sword? Come on now! This is the armament of clowns – fools’ armor. But God often gives us directions in His Word on how to meet our Jerichos that are folly to human logic: that we should not hide our income as a shield to paying taxes [when “everyone else does it”] causing our tax liabilities to rise and us to have to radically trust God to provide for us; when we could easily cheat in a class to raise our grades just enough to get into grad school when we are borderline candidates, but instead trust Him with our futures and look away from the answers available right in front of us; for not repaying evil with evil when we are wronged by our enemies; I could go on and on.

The Scriptures reveal a spiritual law: disobedience reveals our unbelief, but obedience to God evidences our faith. When difficult circumstances assail us, unbelief draws from the arsenals of the world, whereas faith causes us to take up the armor of God and join the absurd march around Jericho.

The first great dimension of Israel’s victorious faith was their obedience and the second factor was the focus of their faith. The centerpiece of the narrative in this passage of Scripture is the golden Ark of the Covenant – God’s very presence. The account mentions the Ark no less than eleven times! The Ark was borne, as stated above, in the exact middle of the procession, with the priests’ horns blasting constantly, as heralds of God’s presence. This is what shofars were used for – just as they had earlier been sounded at Mt. Sinai to announce the presence of God [see Exodus 19:16]. It was God’s presence that circled Jericho those seven days, and it was His presence that would bring its fall.

This is what enables us to conquer any evil opposition that confronts us as well – a sense that God is especially with us. If on a given Sunday morning we suddenly had the ability to see the unseen, we would see angels among us – maybe sitting next to us in human form. Perhaps if the preaching were good, we might see angels with their Bibles out listening intently, for Peter tells us that “even angels long to look into these things” [1 Peter 1:12]. The Greek gives the idea of them bending over or stooping to search the mysteries of God’s Word. And the writer of Hebrews says, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” [1:14].

As the Israelites encircled Jericho, the Canaanites saw nothing more than a ragtag people carrying a golden box, but the Israelites saw the unseen. Their focus was on God, and they knew God’s special presence went with them. This is faith’s focus. This is what brings down enemy walls!

It must have been very difficult for the Israelites to keep silent during those first six days. Their enemies likely practiced no restraint. Moreover, not one stone in the walls had loosened, there were no cracks in the city “wall up to heaven,” and the citizenry was far from crying “uncle.” It must, then, have been a great relief on the seventh day when Joshua ordered them to rise early and circle Jericho seven times, finishing with a great shout at his cue. Vv. 15-17, 20 describe the climactic event: “On the seventh day they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day the circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all the people who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.’”

When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted. And at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed, every man charged in, and they took the city. That was the voice of faith. It was the outward expression of the Israelites’ inward confidence in the power of God. Conquering faith declares itself. Faith that does not do so is not faith at all. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” [Romans 10:10].