Stay In The House

“And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.” (Jos 2:19 AV)

 

Rahab and her family were given very specific instructions.  When Israel invaded Jericho, they were to remain within her house.  If anyone ventured out during the invasion, they were subject to death.  This would have been very difficult.  Rahab’s house was hard upon the wall.  As we know, when the army of Israel compassed the city of Jericho, on the seventh day, the walls came down.  That would mean the only structure hard upon the wall that stood was Rahab’s house.  I can only imagine what it would have been like held up in that house as one witnessed everything around you collapse and fall flat to the ground.  I would have been terrified.  Upon looking at the walls crumbling and the army invading, I might be tempted to sneak out some why and escape the calamity before my eyes.  Yet, as long as they stayed in the security of the house which God provided, they were safe.  No harm would come to them. 

I was watching the weather channel recently and they were broadcasting another special on tornados.  They seem to love tornados.  They were interviewing those who survived the storm.  I cannot remember which storm it was, but I do recall the one they were highlighting I knew well.  They showed footage of the town after it had been hit.  They told of an aged mother and father who were tragically lost to the storm.  The mother was sucked up into the vortex.  The father survived, but upon hearing the news his wife’s body had been found, died of a heart attack.  This same family had an adult son who owned and operated Mel’s Diner.  Yes, that is a real place.  He spoke of the total destruction of the restaurant.  It was very close to his parent's home.  This fella spoke of their plan to escape the storm’s ravage.  He, the employees, and the clientele all receded into the walk-in cooler.  Brilliant!  There isn’t a storm ever seen that can lift one of those units securely fastened to the structure off its anchor into the air.  A photo was shown of the aftermath of Mel’s Diner.  There was nothing left except for that walk-in cooler.  One can only imagine what it might have been like listening to the raging storm outside and the constant striking of debris on the walls of that cooler.  They must have felt like sitting ducks.  But staying put is what saved their lives no matter how much uncertainty was going on around them.  Keeping still in the safety of that cooler was the best plan.

We tend to escape situations that require a great deal of faith.  I learned a great lesson a few days back.  Those decisions that require great faith are often life-changing and self-defining.  Trusting God when the world around you seems to be out of control takes a great deal of faith.  With Rahab, it was a once-in-a-lifetime choice.  It wasn’t the type of choice that had to be made every day.  This was a big one!  This was a blind one!  She had her reasons.  She explained those reasons to the two spies.  They had heard what God and done to Egypt and knew God had given Israel the land.  That was the reason and logic behind her faith.  However, when the walls began to crumble and the house began to shake, she had to question the wisdom of remaining in the land, to begin with.  Knowing God would conquer the city, why not flee well in advance.  God told them to stay put and they would be fine.  This is the message for this morning.  Stay put and trust God.  It is always better in the center of God’s will than trying to solve our problems on our own.