Hiding the men of God

“When we heard of it [all the Lord had done for you], our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” - Joshua 2:11

Rahab pleads that her heart melted in fear.  I wonder if Rahab’s heart melted in the kind of fear that springs and settles with awe and wonder.  She was in awe at all Joshua’s God had done, in parting the Red Sea and driving out cities before the Israelites, preparing a new home for them.  A new Jerusalem.  I don’t believe the fear was a terror for her own life.  If that were the case, she would have immediately told the guards where the men were.

No.  Rahab’s heart melted in awe at catching a glimpse of a God who cared so much for his people, that he would take no short cuts in preparing their home and assuring the holiness and purity of his people.  Rahab felt the love of God.  She tasted it - and melted.  Love at first sight.  A melting that leaves you helpless and paralyzed and utterly dependent on the only one who can save you.  In that state of melted humility and brokenness, she acted in faith by hiding the men of God, by proclaiming the truth of who God is, and by stating her deep desire for wholeness and her family’s safety. 

And her red rope tied the line of broken saints that led to her savior many generations later.

originally written Aug 27, 2013 and one of the few salvaged from an old blog.

Photo by Natalie Watson