Thought for the Month - March 2016

"Harlot to heroine " by Barry Adair
(The blood-red scarlet thread)

This month I wanted to write about a prostitute. Her name was Rahab and she lived within the fortified outer walls of the Canaanite city of Jericho many hundreds of years ago. I'm sure you know the story of how she went from being a harlot to a heroine. The Bible also lets us know that she even went on to become a relative of the Lord Jesus Christ! (See Matthew 1:5)

It is a story I love and every word of it is true. It is such a good example of God's grace at work. Although she lived in a doomed city, practised an illicit profession (prostitution) and then lied about her actions, by her simple faith she was spared the judgement of God.

I like to think of her as being pretty, practical and purposeful. From the Biblical account of how she hid the two spies, thereby saving their lives, we read about how she ultimately secured her own life and those of all her relatives. Her strength of character is apparent as she resists giving up the spies when asked of their whereabouts from the King himself.

As for the eventual escape of the spies, this is pure Biblical "James Bond" material, if I may put it so! And the use of a scarlet thread (or cord) to ensure both a means of escape for the spies and then for her whole household, led me to think about the blood-red scarlet thread which runs throughout Scripture. I thought about the Passover where the house doorposts with the streaks of blood were passed over by God, thereby saving the firstborn within that house. And I thought of the streams of innocent blood falling down from Calvary's cross which bring ultimate redemption to all those who believe in His sacrifice for a sinful mankind.

Rahab wasn't saved because of her fear or her actions or her motivations or her character. She was saved because of her faith, pure and simple!

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.
(Hebrews 11:31, emphasis mine)

I like how John MacArthur summarises the story of Rahab…

God placed the prostitute Rahab in His plan to bring His Son into the world. Rahab is extraordinary because she received extraordinary grace. There’s no need to reinvent her past to try to make her seem less of a sinner. The disturbing fact about what she once was simply magnifies the glory of divine grace, which is what made her the extraordinary woman she became. That, after all, is the whole lesson of her life.

I quoted this Bible verse last month but it seemed appropriate to do so again here…

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
(Fanny Crosby)

Until next month (DV)…

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!