Joshua 2:18-19 KJV
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.
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.
The thought came to me that it must have taken quite the faith to live in a home with a window on the wall. The wall's function was to prevent intruders from entering the city by force. Once the gates were shut soldiers could then defend the city from the tops of the walls. Having a window exposed to the outside would seem to me to be a weakness in the wall. Certainly to remain in the room with the window would be to be exposed to greater risk. I would even expect that soldiers would have wanted to have been in that room to guard the window against those who would enter the city through it.
Now the Jews have surrounded the city, the battle is engaged, and the rest of the walls have fallen down flat. What faith it would take to remain inside the house!
This world looks at Jesus Christ as a sort of weakness. Men and women need Christ, in their minds, who are too weak to face life and death without this sort of spiritual support. As the battles of life rage around us, who have come into Christ, there are temptations to flee. When it seems like the battle focuses on and against Christ, there are those we believe to trust Christ but show their true faith by fleeing from Him in times of great trouble. Only those who stay inside Christ are spared. Perhaps the battles that we face have as the main goal, to find out those whose faith is in Christ and those who only claim that faith, but do not possess it.
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.
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.
The thought came to me that it must have taken quite the faith to live in a home with a window on the wall. The wall's function was to prevent intruders from entering the city by force. Once the gates were shut soldiers could then defend the city from the tops of the walls. Having a window exposed to the outside would seem to me to be a weakness in the wall. Certainly to remain in the room with the window would be to be exposed to greater risk. I would even expect that soldiers would have wanted to have been in that room to guard the window against those who would enter the city through it.
Now the Jews have surrounded the city, the battle is engaged, and the rest of the walls have fallen down flat. What faith it would take to remain inside the house!
This world looks at Jesus Christ as a sort of weakness. Men and women need Christ, in their minds, who are too weak to face life and death without this sort of spiritual support. As the battles of life rage around us, who have come into Christ, there are temptations to flee. When it seems like the battle focuses on and against Christ, there are those we believe to trust Christ but show their true faith by fleeing from Him in times of great trouble. Only those who stay inside Christ are spared. Perhaps the battles that we face have as the main goal, to find out those whose faith is in Christ and those who only claim that faith, but do not possess it.
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