Joshua 2: 11b
The Lord your God, He is God in Heaven above and on Earth beneath.
This is Rahab's faith, the hotel owner who concealed the Hebrew spies when they were checking out Jericho. Verses 8-11 record what she told them: That God had given them the land, and everyone was terrified of them, because the Lord had dried up the Red Sea for them, and how He gave them victory over the powerful kings who lived on the East side of the Jordan.
Hearing the news of how God had done these things convinced her, and she completely renounced all the gods and idols she had previously worshiped and put her faith in the God of Israel as the only True God Who is worthy of worship.
And she proved her faith by putting herself in danger by helping the spies.
God rewarded her for her faith by saving her and her family from death when, "the walls come a'tumblin' down" and the Israelites each walked straight in and conquered the city (6:20).
And she was even granted to be in the direct line of Messiah! She married Salmon, and gave birth to Boaz, who then married Ruth and had Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who's youngest son was King David (Matthew 1:5-6; I Samuel 16:6-13).
God knows who are His in every Nation, every tribe, every family; and every person who recognizes Him for Who He is and puts their trust in Him fully, God will call to repentance and faith (John 3:16-17). Even back then, when Israel was the only Nation to worship God, individuals from other Nations would come to know Israel's Lord God and renounce their local gods and idols to put their faith in the Great YHWH (Yahweh or Jehovah), the Lord God in the Old Testament Who we know as Jesus.
Rahab and Ruth were both foreigners who put their faith in the Lord God of Israel, and they are both in Jesus' ancestry.
God knows how to reward His children for their faith. He will never leave us on our own, He's always here with us to show us the way.
I want to get to know Him so well that I will have no doubt or hesitancy in following Him. I know He has a plan for my life that is so much better than anything I can think of, and I don't want to miss out on any of the blessings He wants to give me, no matter how scary the path may seem at times. I want to persevere and carry on, until I reach the end of my Earthly road, when He calls me home or I meet Him in the air.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
