Rahab of Jericho - the woman (Part 2)

This follows on from Part 1.

Hebrews 11:31

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish along with those who were disobedient,

      after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

Jericho is also known as "The City of Palm Trees" ~ June 2012

Rahab is one of only two women mentioned by name as a hero of faith in Hebrews 11 – the other one is Sarah who appears in verse 11. What, you might say! Only two women out of sixteen named individuals? So much for equal representation of genders! But keep in mind that the author of Hebrews was writing at a time when an abysmally low view of women existed in the Jewish subculture.

For example, in the Book of Sirach (c. 180 BC), the Jewish scholar Jesus ben Sirach wrote:

·        Sirach 22:3 

It is a disgrace to be the father of an undisciplined son, and the birth of a daughter is a loss.

·        Sirach 42:14 

Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good,

      it is woman who brings shame and disgrace.

So, we can see that the author of Hebrews actually holds a comparatively high view of women. What we should really be surprised by is that in a patriarchal society where women were seldom recognised by name, Hebrews 11 actually names two women, and these two women are commended as heroes of faith and portrayed as actors on the stage of redemptive history!

And when we read about Rahab in the Old Testament (Josh 2:1-24), we are astonished to discover that, there too, she is cast in a very positive light [1]! Even by 21^st century standards, she’s hardly your stereotypical damsel in distress, or fading wallflower who sits passively in the corner waiting for the men to make all the decisions. No, there’s none of that with Rahab!

Her character seems to defy patriarchal gender roles and expectations – you might even dare to say that this woman is the picture of strength and courage.

Glance back at Joshua chapter 1 and you will find that Joshua, the new leader and military commander of the Israelites, is told a total of four times: “Be strong and courageous!”  – three times by the LORD himself (vv. 6, 7, 9, and 18). Then, in the very next chapter, the scene abruptly switches and focuses not on Joshua, but on a hereto unknown character who is Joshua's complete antithesis...  

      ...a woman who exemplifies what it means to be strong and courageous - Rahab!

Yes, Rahab is strong - she’s the protagonist, the active agent [2], in Joshua 2:1-24 who is assertive, independent, able to take control, remains calm under pressure, and who demonstrates kindness (v. 12; interestingly, this an attribute of God himself)...

Notice the number of actions she performs: 

the woman had taken... and hidden them (v. 4) 

she had taken them... and hidden them (v. 6)

she went up... (v. 8)

she let them down... (v. 15; cf. v. 17)

she sent them away (v. 21)

she tied (v. 21)

She makes assertions and agreements:

she said... "I did not know" (v. 4)

                  "I don’t know" (v. 5) - admittedly vv. 4-5 contain falsehood

she said... (v. 8) "I know..." (v. 9)

she replied, "Agreed. Let it be..." (v. 21)

And gives directives (to men, who obey!):

"Go after them" (v. 5) ...So the men set out (v. 7)

"...please swear to me… because I have shown kindness" (v. 12)

"Give me a sure sign" (v. 12)

she said... "Go to the hills... Hide yourselves... and then go on your way" (v. 16)

you [Rahab] made us swear (v. 17)

Rahab is also courageous [3], and just like Joshua, she is a saviour:

She defies the king of Jericho and takes the risk of hiding the two men under the stalks of flax out on the roof (vv. 3-4). She protects and rescues the spies from certain death (v. 14) and her actions result not only in her own life being spared, but also in her father, her mother, her brothers and sisters, and all who belonged to them being saved from death (vv. 13, 18; 6:17, 22-23, 25). Her courage and kindness saved the lives of many people. [4]

Rahab’s story reminds us that even in Old Testament times when patriarchy prevailed, God has cast women in significant roles in his grand plan of salvation. Rahab the woman turns out to be an important part of the good news God is telling the world – she is one of only five women mentioned by Matthew’s Gospel in the genealogy of Jesus Christ himself (Matt 1:5). [5]

Rahab’s character and actions break the stereotypes of what our society often expects men to be like and women to be like, and she shows that women have the potential to be just as strong and courageous as men. In our communities, and especially in our churches, let’s be careful not to overlook faithful women. We’re not merely the support acts, and we’re not simply passive observers - depending on our gifting, personality, spiritual maturity, and willingness to serve, we have the potential to meet the challenge given the opportunity!

(You can read Part 3 here.)
________________________________________

[1]  Aaron Sherwood, "A Leader's Misleading and a Prostitute's Profession: A Re-examination of Joshua 2",  JSOT 31.1 (2006), 43, 45.

[2]  Judith E. McKinlay, "Rahab: A Hero/ine?", Biblical Interpretation 7.1 (1999), 46, 47, 48.

[3]  Catherine Clark Kroeger & Mary J. Evans, The IVP Women's Bible Commentary (Downers Grove: IVP, 2002), 120.
[4]  McKinlay, 49.

[5]  Irene Nowell, "Jesus' Great-Grandmothers: Matthew's Four and More", The Catholic Bible Quarterly 70 (2008), 2.

Rahab of Jericho - Faithful & Righteous (Part 1)

 

Remains of the Canaanite town of Jericho near Tell es-Sultan ~ June 2012

Context - Joshua 2:1-24; 6:17, 22-25:

Joshua secretly sent two of his men as spies to Jericho on a reconnaissance mission (Joshua 2:1). So they went and came to the house of a woman named Rahab, a prostitute, and stayed there (2:1). When the king of Jericho learned about the two Israelite spies, he sent word to Rahab ordering her to surrender them (2:2-3). However, Rahab had taken the two men up to the roof and under stalks of flax (2:4, 6), and although she admitted that the men had come to her, she told the king’s messengers that she didn’t know where the men were from and said the spies had already left the city before the gate was shut for the night (2:4–5). In return for the kindness that Rahab had shown them (2:12), and her promise to keep what they were doing confidential (2:14, 20), the spies took an oath that she and her entire family would be saved from death when Joshua conquered the land (2:12–14; cf. 2:17-20). They further stipulated that when the Israelites entered the land and the conquest began, she was to gather her all family members into her house and tie a scarlet cord in the window, which would serve to identify her house (2:17–21). Rahab acted in accordance with the agreement and tied the scarlet cord in the window, and so when the Israelites conquered the city, she and her entire family were spared (6:17, 22–23, 25). After the total destruction of Jericho, Rahab and her family were brought to live among the Israelites, who accepted her into their camp (6:23, 25).

Introduction:

Today there are numerous advantages to being accepted as an immigrant to Australia – obviously, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many people wanting to come and live here! Some of you know that I, my husband, and our then two-year-old son, emigrated from South Africa just over 16 years ago – our daughter was born here in Brisbane... she’s the true blue Aussie of the family. Anyway, as an outsider coming in you tend to notice things about Australian culture and national identity that insiders, born-and-bred Aussies, simply take for granted.

One of the things we were intrigued by when we first arrived was the fact that, by and large, Australians consider it a matter of pride to have a convict ancestor. Coming from South Africa - a country with a turbulent history and its own shameful record of apartheid - we found it strange that Australia’s convict past did not seem to be viewed as a source of shame.

Records show that at least 14% of Australians that delve into their family tree find they are related to a convict deported from Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries.  In 2014, Ancestry.com commissioned a report which examined Australians’ knowledge of their ancestors and their attitudes to them and found that Australians were more likely to be proud of an ancestor who was a thief, criminal, or drunkard, than any other nation represented in the study. A few decades ago many Australians were ashamed to admit blood links to the First Fleet. Now, it's become fashionable!

However, although attitudes towards Australia’s convict heritage have become considerably more positive over the last 30 to 40 years, so much so that having a convict ancestor is worn as a badge of honour, in the last decade especially, Australian attitudes toward immigrants have increasingly become more cautious. The reality is that immigrating to Australia nowadays is extremely difficult. In the past, being a criminal meant you were guaranteed entry to Australia, and while many Australians are now proud to be related to these criminals, today we don’t want criminals coming to live here! In a complete reversal of fortune, people with any kind of criminal background arriving in Australia today are guaranteed of being shipped straight back to where they came from. Ironic, isn’t it?

For Christians, being confronted by Rahab of Jericho is a bit like an Australian who discovers they have a convict ancestry. We admire Rahab at arm’s length, but are somewhat uneasy about being urged to imitate her, which is exactly what a couple of New Testament writers want us to do! Hebrews and James both mention Rahab:

Hebrews 11:31 says:

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

πίστει Ῥαὰβ ἡ πόρνη οὐ συναπώλετο τοῖς ἀπειθήσασιν, δεξαμένη τοὺς κατασκόπους μετ’ εἰρήνης.

And James 2:25 says:

And in the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous by what she did when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different road?

ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ῥαὰβ ἡ πόρνη οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη, ὑποδεξαμένη τοὺς ἀγγέλους καὶ ἑτέρᾳ ὁδῷ ἐκβαλοῦσα

Well, it’s fortunate for Rahab that the rules of baseball don’t apply to being nominated for a place in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. In the game of baseball, you get three strikes and then you’re out. Rahab had at least three strikes against her: 

She is a woman - first strike!

She is a Canaanite, i.e. a Gentile - second strike!

And she is called a prostitute - third strike!

No wonder we are uneasy about imitating her! At first blush, she seems like a person of questionable background who exhibits the sort of lifestyle of which we would firmly disapprove. But let’s take a closer look at the person behind the story in Joshua 2, and I suspect that we will discover that being related by faith to Rahab can indeed be a badge of honour.

(Read Part 2 here.)

Few leaps & bounds to spiritual formation

Quantum Physics Quantum Theory Discovery Science Channel Documentary | Full HD 2015 by Flawless_Documentary (CC BY 4.0)

"God hides his work, in the spiritual order as in the natural order under an unnoticeable sequence of events." ~ François Fénelon

This hidden work of God is a nurturing that prepares us for what appears to be a quantum leap forward. What we see as the quantum leap may actually only be the smallest part of what has been going on in a long, steady process of grace, working far beyond our knowledge and understanding, to bring us to that point where we are ready for God to move us into a new level of spiritual awareness and a new depth of wholeness in relationship with God in Christ. There simply is no instantaneous event of putting your quarter in the slot and seeing spiritual formation drop down where you can reach it, whole and complete.

Quoted from: M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation (Downers Grove: IVP, 1993), 22.

A Tale of Two Gardens.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a most beautiful garden.

It was new, fresh, and teeming with life!

In it was planted every kind of seed-bearing plant, and trees laden with fruit.

And there were birds soaring across the expanse of the sky, great creatures diving in the ocean depths,

and beasts creeping, scuttling and roaming through the fields and forests.

The tale begins in an Edenic paradise planted by the Great Gardener for the ones he cared for most 

- two perfect human beings – the apple of his eye!

But the goodness of the garden was soon shattered in a moment of betrayal...

the humans disobeyed their Creator, taking a deadly taste of sin from the forbidden tree,

and Evil came flooding into the garden destroying its beauty.

Grief and Death entered the garden and corrupted the cosmos.

And when the Gardener came in the cool of the day to walk and talk with the ones he loved most,

ashamed they hid away, and His heart was broken.

But this is not The End...

The tale continues... many, many years later, a woman stood sobbing in the middle of a garden.

A new day was dawning, but through her tears she couldn’t see it.

Her world was dark.

The One she loved most had been cruelly executed before her very eyes.

His pierced and battered body had been laid in a tomb in the garden.

Oh, how she longed to see Him one last time. But his body isn’t there. It's gone.

Then, in the midst of heartbreak in the garden, she hears a voice. She thinks it’s the gardener.

“Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

She had come expecting to find Death. Instead, she finds that Life has burst back into the garden!

She IS standing with the Gardener in the cool of the day, but doesn’t realise it’s HIM...

until he calls her by name,

“Mary.” 

Called by the Living One who cares most for lost men and women in a dying world:

 “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.” ~ Isaiah 43:1

Are you listening for his call?

A Tale of Two Gardens (Genesis 1-3 & John 20:1-18) is really part of a much bigger Story - 

It's all about getting humanity back into a fully restored Edenic paradise

when can we finally see the Gardener face to face (Revelation 21:1-4; 22:1-5).

Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem ~ 15 June 2012

The mystery of the unnamed travelling companion

Have you ever tried doing an internet search for images of Jesus and the two (disciples) on the road to Emmaus? If you do, you will probably notice that most of the scenes consist of three men - Jesus, Cleopas, and one other man. For most of my life I pictured things that way too. However, not all of the images picture Jesus with two men. Try it for yourself and see what else you can find...

The well-known post-resurrection appearance recorded in Luke 24:13-35 is one of my favourite stories in Luke's Gospel mainly because of the vivid description of the encounter, the amazing transformation the characters undergo during the course of their journey, not to mention the glorious recognition of the risen Jesus at their destination. The Gospel writer gives us so many details of what happened on "the same day" that Jesus had risen from the dead while "two of them were going to a village" (v. 13), for example...

...the name of the city they had come from - Jerusalem (v. 13)
...the name of the village they were going to - Emmaus (v. 13)
...how far away the village was located - about seven miles (v. 13)
...what the two were discussing as they walked along - everything that had happened (v. 14)
...how they were feeling - sad and downcast (v. 17)
...the name of the stranger who joined them - Jesus, whom they didn't recognise (v. 15-16)


Then, Luke reveals the name of one of the two disciples. It's Cleopas (v. 18). He's only ever named once for sure in Scripture, in this verse. And he asks Jesus, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?" (v. 18) He honestly can't believe this stranger has not heard about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the one they had hoped was going to redeem Israel (vv. 19-21).

Interestingly, the Gospel writer says "they replied" to Jesus (v. 19). Both of the two disciples participated in answering Jesus. But, somewhat frustratingly, Luke never goes on to tell us the name of Cleopas' travelling companion! He just doesn't say. And as the results of my internet search revealed, most readers tend to simply assume the unnamed disciple is a man. However, Scripture doesn't explicitly say it was a man and there is a small bit of evidence to suggest that it might have been a woman!

Some commentators turn to John 19:25 which reads, "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene." It is possible that although the name is spelled slightly differently that Clopas could be a variation of the name Cleopas and that perhaps John's Gospel is referring to the same person as Luke 24:18 does. This would mean that the wife of Cleopas was present with the women who stood at a distance (Luke 23:49) when Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem three days earlier. And it is therefore not unreasonable to assume that Cleopas' wife, Mary, was the unnamed travelling companion returning to Emmaus with her husband on the morning of Jesus' resurrection.

I suppose that in the end, knowing the precise identity of Cleopas' unnamed travelling companion probably doesn't matter all that much one way or the other. It remains a mystery. Nevertheless, given that the very first witnesses to the resurrection were all women, I like to picture two disciples on the road to Emmaus that very same day......

...and of the two burning hearts walking alongside Jesus,

   I imagine that one beats with hope and excitement inside the breast of a woman.