Daily Lesson for Tuesday 7th of October 2025

Rahab’s deal is very clear: life for life and kindness for kindness. The word cḥesed (Joshua 2:12), “loving-kindness,” has a richness of meaning that is difficult to express in one word in other languages. It refers primarily to covenantal loyalty, but it also carries the notion of faithfulness, mercy, benevolence, and kindness.

Image © Standard Publishing from GoodSalt.com

The words of Rahab also are reminiscent of Deuteronomy 7:12, where Yahweh Himself swore to keep His cḥesed toward Israel. “ ‘Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy [cḥesed] which He swore to your fathers’ ” (Deuteronomy 7:12, NKJV).

Interestingly enough, the same chapter (Deuteronomy 7:1-26) prescribes the ban (cḥerem) on the Canaanites. Here is Rahab, a Canaanite who is under the ban, and yet she claims, by her emerging faith, the promises that were given to the Israelites. As a result, she is saved.

The first image that inevitably comes to mind related to the conversation of the spies with Rahab is the Passover at the Exodus. There, in order for the Israelites to be protected, they had to stay inside their homes and mark the doorposts and lintels of their houses with the blood of the sacrificial lamb.

“ ‘ “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” ’ ” (Exodus 12:13, NKJV; see also Exodus 12:22-23).

“By obedience the people were to give evidence of their faith. So all who hope to be saved by the merits of the blood of Christ should realize that they themselves have something to do in securing their salvation. While it is Christ only that can redeem us from the penalty of transgression, we are to turn from sin to obedience. Man is to be saved by faith, not by works; yet his faith must be shown by his works.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 279.

In that case, the blood was a sign that saved them from the destroying angel of God. As God spared the lives of the Israelites during the last plague in Egypt, the Israelites were to save Rahab and her family when destruction reached Jericho.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25d-02-new-allegiance/

Daily Lesson for Monday 6th of October 2025

Central to Rahab’s story is the lie told to protect the spies. In considering her lie, we have to realize that she was embedded in a society that was extremely sinful, which finally led to God’s decision to judge that society (Genesis 15:16, Deuteronomy 9:5, Leviticus 18:25-28). While it is true that the New Testament commends her faith, a careful analysis of the New Testament references to Rahab’s act reveals that none endorse everything about her, and none validate her lie.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

Hebrews 11:31 confirms her faith in casting her lot with the spies instead of choosing to hold on to a corrupt culture. James 2:25 commends her offer of lodging to the two Israelite spies and for giving them directions on how to return by a safe route. In the middle of a decadent, corrupt culture and Rahab’s own sinful lifestyle, God, in His grace, saw a spark of faith through which He could save her. God used what was good in Rahab—which was manifest faith in Him and in her choice to belong to His people—but never commended everything she did. God valued Rahab for her exceptional courage, for her brave faith, for being an agent of salvation, and for choosing Israel’s God.

After seeing what was happening, she declared, “ ‘For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath’ ” (Joshua 2:11, NKJV). It’s significant to hear a Canaanite woman acknowledging that Yahweh is the only God, especially on a roof where, in her pagan religion, prayers were usually offered to what they believed were celestial deities.

The expression of Rahab is previously found only in the context of God’s exclusive right to receive worship (Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 5:8). Her words bear witness to a premeditated, conscientious choice to acknowledge that the God of the Israelites is the only true deity. Her confession demonstrates her understanding of the close relationship between God’s sovereignty and the judgment under which Jericho is doomed.

Her moral choice recognizes that, in light of Yahweh’s judgment, there were only two possibilities: to continue in rebellion against Him and be annihilated, or to choose to surrender in faith. By choosing the God of the Israelites, Rahab became an example of what could have been the destiny of all the inhabitants of Jericho had they turned to Israel’s God for mercy.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25d-02-value-in-unexpected-places/