How did Rahab survive?

[buffalo1d]

You all probably know the story of Jericho in Joshua. The spies went to Rahab and they made the deal but the Israel spies did not know what would happen to Jericho. Now she lived in the walls and the walls came tumbling down. How did she and her family survive? Thanks

 

[LostSoul]

Buffalo,

In truth, if we review that same biblical text, perhaps we could see that is was Rahab's faith that saved her. After all, if I am not wrong...she was the mother of Boaz, who later was husband to Ruth.

May God Bless You

Danielle

 

[Caroline H]

It was the power of the Lord that made the walls come down, nothing else...so if he can do that, I'm pretty sure he can save her house from going down with it. Danielle is right, it was her faith that saved her, because of her faith the Lord was faithful to her and her family.

 

[Blazin Bones]

I would also add a bit more emphasis in the one who brought down Jericho. it wasn't just her faith in the God of the Hebrews, but it was also God's power to provide for her to be saved.

 

[Rick W]

I don't mean this to be facetious but was she still in Jericho? We don't know. The Father has a way of moving people around. ;)

 

[cyberjosh]

It could simply be (and by "simply" I mean in the sense of it being divinely purposeful & protective as well) that the wall broke and fell unevenly in a jagged fashion, where Rahab's house was probably closer to the base of the wall where it was less likely to collapse. It's not necessarily the case that the entire wall starting at the base made a perfectly neat 90 degree "ker-plop" as if turning on the hinge of a door. When walls break they often do so unevenly, which can also be witnessed in pictures of the aftermath of town bombings in World War II where a major section of a building is gouged out while one small section may still have its wall standing up and intact going up several stories. Also it is evident from the Biblical narrative that Rahab's house was to be a house of protection for all the family that fled to it because anyone outside the house would be fair game for destruction. Thus God marked their house for protection.

It may not be the best analogy but when the Atom Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima not every structure was leveled. There was a famous building, the Genbaku Dome, that still stood erect after the blast as you can see below, that is used as a commemorative memorial today as a symbol of surviving the destruction:

This is ample testimony that some things can survive amidst a wide spread destruction. The survival of Rahab's house is evident, but didn't last long because after they evacuated Rahab and her family they razed the city to the ground with fire. But that the house had survived after the wall's fall, and the fact that all was destroyed after they were evacuated, is evident in Joshua 6:22-24, "And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, 'Go into the harlot's house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.' So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives, and placed them outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it."

I hope that's an adequate enough reasoning process for you to comprehend. Ultimately, yes, it was her faith that saved her due to God's protection, although how exactly that occured physically is difficult to determine. None-the-less I think the explanation I gave makes some level of sense.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[cyberjosh]

I don't mean this to be facetious but was she still in Jericho? We don't know. The Father has a way of moving people around. ;)

That was my initial pondering, but upon rereading the account it explicitly places them in the house during the events. Infact they were told not to leave the house under any circumstances on pain of death. My alternate explanation above might prove adequate though.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Cornelius]

You all probably know the story of Jericho in Joshua. The spies went to Rahab and they made the deal but the Israel spies did not know what would happen to Jericho. Now she lived in the walls and the walls came tumbling down. How did she and her family survive? Thanks

I went to Jericho once and stood and look at the ruins of the walls. They truly did fall over. The WHOLE wall did not crumble, the wall fell down and left some parts standing. Enough of the wall fell, so that Israel could get into the city. God left Rahab's bit standing. That is how she survived.
Obviously we cannot see the wall today, there are only foundations left.Many think God used an earthquake. Even so, the whole wall did not fall. We know this, because Gideon sent the spies (after the wall fell) to Rahab's house (which were obviously still standing at the time)

C

 

[Rick W]

I don't mean this to be facetious but was she still in Jericho? We don't know. The Father has a way of moving people around. ;)

That was my initial pondering, but upon rereading the account it explicitly places them in the house during the events. Infact they were told not to leave the house under any circumstances on pain of death. My alternate explanation above might prove adequate though.

God Bless,

~Josh

Thanks Josh.

 

[Cornelius]

Buffalo,

In truth, if we review that same biblical text, perhaps we could see that is was Rahab's faith that saved her. After all, if I am not wrong...she was the mother of Boaz, who later was husband to Ruth.

May God Bless You

Danielle

Amen, and she is showing us the way that we too will be saved in the days ahead.
There is NO trouble that the Lord cannot save us from.

We should all know the answer to this question.: If I am sitting on a bomb that will explode in exactly 0.5 seconds from now, and it is not my time to die in God's calender, will I die? or can and will God really save me. Do we REALLY believe He can, or do we just SAY He can ?

C

 

[cyberjosh]

I went to Jericho once and stood and look at the ruins of the walls. They truly did fall over. The WHOLE wall did not crumble, the wall fell down and left some parts standing. Enough of the wall fell, so that Israel could get into the city. God left Rahab's bit standing. That is how she survived.

Well then ...! Why couldn't I have said it so elegantly and straight-forward in the first place? ;) Thanks for your thoughts. They summed up all my above thoughts rather succintly.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Cornelius]

I went to Jericho once and stood and look at the ruins of the walls. They truly did fall over. The WHOLE wall did not crumble, the wall fell down and left some parts standing. Enough of the wall fell, so that Israel could get into the city. God left Rahab's bit standing. That is how she survived.

Well then ...! Why couldn't I have said it so elegantly and straight-forward in the first place? ;) Thanks for your thoughts. They summed up all my above thoughts rather succintly.

God Bless,

~Josh

LOL, yep you said it first .