Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, October 12, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Espionage. Secret pacts. Daring escapes. A thrilling spy story if ever there was one. Oh, and Rahab rocks. Talk about a woman of higher than average intelligence. I can totally see this being developed into a novel (maybe it has been and I just don’t know it). There are so many fascinating details we don’t get that the writer in me is dying to know. First of all, did the spies go straight to Rahab for some reason? Were they looking for her services as a prostitute to alleviate the incredible stress and danger of their mission? I mean, they slept at her house. Why did she hide them at a high risk to herself? She says she’s heard the rumors about the parting of the Red Sea and the Israelites vanquishing some other people and knows Jericho’s next. Who gave her the intel? Common knowledge on the street? Clients? Family? And after she hid the men and exacted a promise from them in return on behalf of her whole family (genius!), she sent them off to hid in the hills and she knew exactly where and how long to hide. How could she possibly have known this? Did she have some high-level government types with loose lips on her client list? Did she, as a prostitute in Jericho, have some level of status we don’t understand culturally? Is someone in her family in the government?
I realize this isn’t a true “devotion” per se, but maybe I can rescue it by encouraging you to read scripture with wide eyes and an open mind, a sense of wonder and creativity, and an invitation to God to fascinate and enthrall you. Sure, not every passage is like this one, but even in the challenging passages there are opportunities for such wonder. Go forth and dig in!
What Bible stories do I find most compelling and why?
