Keeping the Promise to the Prostitute Rahab

This meditation is based on a passage for July 18, 2010 in the Daily Lectionary Year 2 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Joshua 6:15-27

Reflection and Question: Jericho falls miraculously in this first step toward possessing the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership. The story of Rahab, the Jericho prostitute who assisted Joshua’s spies, ends here. Her whole extended family is spared the slaughter that was customary military practice at the time. And yet she is a prostitute. Joshua follows God’s will meticulously in this campaign, which includes honoring his word to Rahab. Why is it important to the story that Rahab is a prostitute?

Prayer: Eternal, loving God, ancient ways are not our ways. We would deplore the razing of a city in such destruction with orders against any rebuilding. Open our hearts to the Truth for us here, perhaps found in Your sparing of Rahab. Amen.