We are looking at the faith of Rahab the harlot. She had a courageous
faith (vv. 1-7), a confident faith (vv. 8-11), a concerned and contagious faith
(vv. 12-14), and today we will find that Rahab had a covenant faith (vv.
15-24).
A covenant is simply an agreement, a contract between two
or more parties, with certain conditions laid down for all parties to obey. You
find a number of divine covenants recorded in Scripture: God's covenant with
our first parents in Eden (Gen. 2:16); God's covenants with Noah (Gen. 9),
Abraham (12:1-3; 15:1-20), and Israel (Ex. 19-20); the covenant concerning the
land of Palestine, as explained in Deuteronomy; the messianic covenant with
David (2 Sam. 7); and the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ Jer. 31:31;
Matt. 26:28; Heb. 12:24).
Before the two spies left Rahab's house, they reaffirmed
their covenant with her. Since the men didn't know God's plan for taking the
city, they couldn't give Rahab any detailed instructions. Perhaps they assumed
that the city would be besieged, the gates smashed down, and the people
massacred. The men were certain that the city would fall and that ultimately
the land would be taken.
Often in biblical covenants, God appointed some physical or
material "token" to remind the people of what had been promised. His
covenant with Abraham was "sealed" by the rite of circumcision (Gen.
17:9-14; Rom. 4:11). When God established His covenant with Israel at Sinai,
both the covenant book and the covenant people were sprinkled with blood (Ex.
24:3-8; Heb. 9:16-22). God gave the rainbow as the token of the covenant with
Noah (Gen. 9:12-17), and the Lord Jesus Christ used the broken bread and the
cup of wine as tokens of the New Covenant (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
In the case of Rahab, the spies instructed her to hang a
scarlet rope out of the window of her house, which was built into the wall
(Josh. 2:18). This scarlet rope would identify the "house of safety"
to the army of Israel when they came to take the city. The color of the rope is
significant for it reminds us of blood. Just as the blood on the door posts in
Egypt marked a house that the angel of death was to pass over (Ex. 12:1-13), so
the scarlet rope marked a house on the Jericho wall whose occupants the Jewish
soldiers were to protect. Rahab let the men down from the window with that rope
and kept it in the window from that hour. This was the "sure sign" of
the covenant that she had asked for (Josh. 2:12-23).
It's important to note that Rahab and her family were saved
by faith in the God of Israel and not by faith in the rope hanging out the
window. The fact that she hung the rope from the window was proof that she had
faith, just as the blood of the slain lamb put on the door posts in Egypt
proved that the Jews believed God's Word. Faith in the living God means
salvation, and faith in His covenant gives assurance; but faith in the token of
the covenant is religious superstition and can give neither salvation nor
assurance. The Jews depended on circumcision to save them, but they ignored the
true spiritual meaning of that important rite (Rom. 2:25-29; Deut. 10:12-16;
30:6).
Many people today depend for their salvation on their
baptism or their participation in the Lord's Table (the Eucharist, Communion);
but this kind of faith is vain. Rahab had faith in the Lord and in the covenant
promises He had made through His servants; and she proved her faith by hanging
the scarlet rope from the window. When the Jews captured Jericho, they found
Rahab and her family in her house; and they rescued them from judgment (Josh.
6:21-25). Her faith saved her! “Then she said, "According to your
words, so be it."
Today, is your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ
on the cross?
God bless!
