Rescued

While studying the story of Rahab, I keep thinking of Lot’s wife. Both live in cities about to receive the full judgment of God, and each woman is given the opportunity by two witnesses (angels and spies) to be rescued from certain destruction.

Comparing and contrasting similar stories is a thought-provoking way to study biblical narratives. Let’s look at these two stories. Mrs. Lot cannot influence any of her extended family to head for safety. It takes angels to rescue her immediate family, dragging them out of town by their hands. Rahab, on the other hand, somehow convinces her extended family that her home (on the wall, first in the line of danger) is the only means of safety and rescue. I imagine her clinging to their hands, preventing their departure when the march around Jericho had ended and nothing happened—for seven days. Mrs. Lot’s children do not seem to respect the warning from the angels, perhaps reflecting inconsistency or lack of integrity in spiritual matters of the parents, children, or both. Rahab’s family, one assumes, begins to respect her message because of her regenerated heart, the result of encountering the men of God sent by Joshua to spy out the territory. Mrs. Lot leaves her home with no enthusiasm and without her possessions. She looks back on her old life and loses not only her present life but also the promise of eternal life. Rahab is spared in her home with all that she has.

She looks forward to a restored life and gains the promise of eternal life through her descendant Jesus, our Savior. Rahab is passed over in judgment and rescued because of the scarlet thread—an image reminiscent of the blood dripping from the doorposts in Egypt at the Passover and of the blood dripping from the body of Jesus on the cross. Because of her faith, her entire family escapes the crashing walls of Jericho’s judgment.

They live in the Promised Land as God’s people.

Today, like Rahab and Lot’s wife, I live in a city facing the full judgment of God and imminent destruction. I believe salvation comes only to those under the protection of the scarlet cord—but is my belief as visible and palpable as the cord? Will my family be gathered in our ark of safety, expecting rescue by True Joshua? I pray we are all found worshiping Jesus and waiting with longing hearts to begin a new life as God’s people in the Promised Land of eternity.

Rebecca Turner