The Disobedient and the Faithful

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. (Hebrews 11:31)   As pastor Michael pointed out yesterday, we've skipped over 40 years in the wilderness between the Red Sea and Jericho.  Or at least—that section of time is skipped over here in chapter 11's litany of faith.  But the time of wilderness testing did figure earlier in the book of Hebrews, quite prominently in fact.  So why doesn't it show up here?  Because the writer considers the wilderness to have been a time not of faith, but of disobedience. This is what we read in chapter 3: "Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was [the Lord] angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief." (Hebrews 3:16-19)  The author uses the same word—disobedient—in our verse today: Rahab, the woman of faith is contrasted with "those who were disobedient."  We presume that the "disobedient" must refer to the other inhabitants of Jericho who died.  Maybe.  But if we remember back to the book of Joshua—there were also disobedient Israelites killed in the Jericho affair.  If Joshua, chapter 6 told the story of Rahab's faith that literally stood out amid the crumbling walls of Jericho, chapter 7 tells us of the disobedience of Achan who grabbed plunder from Jericho's fallen ruins in direct defiance of God's command.  Achan held on to Jericho rather than God and perished.  Rahab held onto God rather than Jericho and lived. We can often presume that the faithful are the ones inside the church and people of God.  The Bible rarely sees it that way.  Very often the wicked and disobedient are mixed up within the people of God and it's the foreigners and sinners like Rahab the Prostitute who witness to God's people about what it means to be people of faith.  This is the story here.  The distinction between outsiders and insiders is obliterated like the walls of Jericho.  What matters is not whether you were born to Abraham or within the church—what matters is the faith of Abraham and the faith of the church.  All of us are "the disobedient," and whether in the church or out of it, we remain so UNLESS we place our faith in God.  This is the distinction that matters.  Will you let go of all other forms of wealth and security and hold on to nothing but God, in faith that he alone will save?  Rahab had such a faith, and was saved.  It happened right there in the very moment of Jericho's fall: her life was held secure even as all else crumbled around her.  God made a way for her where there was no way, just like he did for Israel as they crossed the sea.  He still does the same today for all who cling to him in faith.   As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:     May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.