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Courage Under Siege

Someone was pounding on the crude wooden door. She knew who it was. She knew what she had done. The soldiers would break it down if she didn’t open it soon. Fear taunted her heart. She had known this would happen. A secret this big couldn’t be kept. Someone would have seen. Someone would have reported her. She had crafted her lie, but could she sell it convincingly?

Her mind went to the two men she had hidden under stalks of flax on her flat rooftop. Maybe the soldiers wouldn’t look there. If there did… she shuddered at the thought as she moved toward the door, careful to keep a calm appearance even as her heart was doing aerobics.

Death surrounded her. There had been no good choices. If she betrayed the hiding men, the king would probably reward her. But the army encamped across the river was about to invade. They would leave no survivors. The men on her roof were spies for the foreign army. If they were found in her house, they would be slaughtered, and she would be charged with treason. Even as she had hidden them, she had weighed her options. She could risk her life now and plead for mercy from the spies later, or she could save her life now and lose it when they invaded.

Her hand touched the door latch. She had heard the stories. They all had. The God of the Israelites had destroyed the most powerful nation on earth. He had parted the Red Sea. He had kept them alive in the hostile wilderness for forty years. No one should have survived that. And He had promised them Canaan as their new homeland, starting with her city. Fear permeated the city, but the king was determined to hold his ground. Deserters would be killed. She would be killed…if they knew.

Facing Danger

While the city was gripped in fear as they nightly stared across the Jordan River at the flickering campfires of the Israelites, something else stirred her heart. Her eyes had gone to the idols that littered her living room. As she compared them to what she had heard about Israel’s God, she realized how powerless and pitiful they were. The incense that wafted through the room and had once soothed her, now turned her stomach. That day, she had determined to serve Israel’s God and join His people if the opportunity ever arose.

How surprised she had been earlier in the day when she opened the door to two men, who quickly brushed past her. In hushed whispers, they explained that they were spies from the army across the river who had been spotted in the city. They needed help before they were tracked down and killed. She had realized that her opportunity had come. It would not come again. Now was the time.

Plastering a smile on her face, she opened the door. An officer stood there. His face was stern. Behind him were two soldiers with drawn swords. He barked out his order that she surrender the two men that had come to her. She gave him a knowing look as she sweetly explained that they had come to use her services and then left. The officer appraised her. He had used her services many times himself. As a loyal citizen, she dropped her voice and confided that she had seen the men leave the city just before the gates were closed. Intensely, she urged them to pursue the spies and capture them. Men like that should not be allowed to live. If she had known who they were, she would have turned them in at once.

The officer leered at her as he considered her words. Contempt rose in his heart for these men who reputedly served a holy God, then turned around and visited a common prostitute. Hypocrites! Didn’t they have any women in their own camp? Maybe spying hadn’t been the first thing on their minds. Turning, he nodded to his men, and they rushed off toward the city gates.

There is more to this story, but let’s pause to consider our own opportunities. Rahab, the woman in this true story, was not a fool. Her city of Jericho was well fortified. Its defenders were experienced warriors. They should have been able to hold off a siege for years. Their allies would have come to help them. This hoard of ex-slaves with little battle experience should have been easily wiped out. It made no sense to commit treason against her people to join this ragtag mob with strange customs and only one God.

But Rahab considered all the facts. She refused to limit her thinking to what her eyes could see. The Egyptian disaster. The Red Sea miracle. Survival in the wilderness. These weren’t unsubstantiated rumours. There had been eye-witness reports. And hadn’t she seen with her own eyes the smoke rise from the cities of their powerful neighbours across the Jordon? She considered the facts and decided to join the people of God if the opportunity ever arose.

Christianity Takes Courage

Today, Christians are the people of the Living God. Converting to Christianity takes courage. Jesus never made an emotional appeal for followers. He told people to follow Him. He expected them to take the time to count the cost. He wanted them to weigh the facts. Following Christ can be risky and costly. People have had family cut them off, friends reject or assault them, bosses fire them, landlords evict them, and some have lost their lives for Jesus. They decided the cost was worth it because they loved Jesus and understood that this world is only temporary. Like Rahab, they have risked all to join the people of God.

Don’t let your past hold you back. Rahab was an idol worshipper and a professional prostitute. Yet she longed to be embraced by the living, holy God. Was that even a realistic hope? Yet God saw her, loved her and provided the opportunity for her to leave her past behind and join the people of God. He will do the same for you. The only thing that can separate you from the love God wants to pour out on you is a hard and proud heart which refuses to repent and come to Him.

Have you joined Jesus Christ and the Christian family? If not, search for Truth. Weight the facts. This is your opportunity, maybe the only one you will ever have. What will you do?

But that is not the end of the story.

Courageous Or Cowardly?

Rahab still was not out of danger. She climbed the stairs up to the roof of her house. She had helped these men with no conditions. She had not bargained for her life or tried to strike a deal. She had risked her life freely. Now, as she stepped onto her roof, she hoped these men would return her kindness. But was that too much to hope for? Who was she really? A dirty harlot who worshipped sadistic gods. These men served a holy God; surely they would despise her. Still, she would not let this opportunity pass until she had done all she could.

As the men crawled out from under the stalks of flax, she made her request. Now, it was the spy’s turn to show their courage. Christianity always requires courage.

Jesus said in the Book of Revelation chapter 21 verse 8: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” Cowards are listed with murderers and others who reject God. We must repent if we, as Christians, have acted cowardly when faced with challenging situations.

When the spies looked at Rahab, they did not see a foreign prostitute and idol worshipper. They saw a courageous woman who had proved her loyalty and desire to serve the Living God. But how could they go back and tell their General that they had made a deal to spare the life of a Canaanite, a people that God had told them to destroy? Would Joshua consider them traitors and violators of the Word of God? These men did not hesitate. It was the right thing to do. Not only did they guarantee that Rabab would be spared, but they also promised that anyone in her home at the time of the invasion would be spared. If any harm came to anyone in Rahab’s home, they would forfeit their own lives. Joy raced through Rahab’s heart. She could save her entire family - and she did.

Is this just some old story with no application for today? Ask the Christians during World War II who had Jews hiding in their basement when the Nazis knocked on the door. Some gave up, some stood, some died. Ask Pastor Kenneth Miller, who helped a woman and her daughter escape an abusive situation and spent almost two years in jail for his decision. Opportunities will come into every life to show courage. How will we respond?

Living In A World Of Gray

One roadblock is an unrealistic vision of the world. We all wish everything were black or white. Somethings are. But in reality, there can be a lot of gray. Consider our heroine Rabab. She looked the soldiers right in the eye and lied so convincingly that she saved the lives of the men she was hiding.

Ever since then she has been condemned by the self-righteous for her lie. She should have told the truth and left the consequences in God’s hands. If she had, those men would have died that day. God would have considered that treachery, not faith. She could have found another way, cry others. The soldiers were pounding at her door. There was no other way. Still, others try to excuse her with the claim that she wasn’t ‘saved’ at that time and as a poor heathen, she didn’t know any better. Self-righteousness is often just an excuse for self-preservation and the avoidance of responsibility.

The fact is Rahab had only one choice. She either had to convincingly lie or surrender the two men hiding on her roof to death and lose her place among the people of God. God twice commends the faith of Rahab in the New Testament, including making her one of only two women to make the famous Hebrews 11 chapter of faith. Never does He condemn her method.

There is black, and there is white. Some things are always wrong, and some things are always right. We are Christians living in a sinful world for the glory of God and trying courageously to expand the Kingdom of God and help hurting people. But what do we do when there are no “right” choices? We are familiar with this in the political realm when we have no good options and must vote for the least “bad” choice. The same holds in every area of life. If all our choices are various degrees of “wrong,” we must make the choice that is most likely to benefit the Kingdom of God and help others.

This is not situational ethics, which states that nothing is right or wrong in itself; you should just do what feels right for you in the situation. When making gray area decisions, the effect on ourselves is not our primary concern. We place the priorities of the Kingdom of God first above our self-interests or self-righteous pride.

In the case of Rehab’s lie, a general principle emerges from this and other Scriptures: Evil men bent on evil purposes have no right to the truth. In normal, everyday life, truth is the only legitimate option, but in a world with evil people, we are sometimes forced into the gray zone. As Christians, we need to know how to make God-honouring choices there.

Bible Reference

Joshua 2 and 6:17-23

For more information about Glenn Davis, see our About Glenn page or visit Glenn Davis Books.

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Courage Under Siege

Facing Danger

Christianity Takes Courage

Courageous Or Cowardly?

Living In A World Of Gray

Bible Reference

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