A congregation accused a certain man of subversion and sin. Although the edict that convicted him of the crime has never been released, his evasion of the arrest is recorded in the annuals of history as one of the most daring escapes and rescue. The other best escape is recorded for all of us to take note. The person in the second drama was a woman who today would be shunned because of her moral decadence.
The record of the second case reads, “ Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab:“Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”
The prostitute lied to the government and hid the spies and finally they left. She negotiated with the spies in a celebrated case of moral protest in the history of moral objection to governmental evil. “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death. “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.” So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”(Joshua Chapter 2)
The first escape is of the apostle Paul, who after preaching the gospel of Christ was under death threats from the (Jews) Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Paul was a Pharisee who believed in both angels and the resurrection of the dead. When his nephew reported the plot to kill him to the Roman General, this un-Godly man vowed to protect him against what he believed was injustice. This is the recorded order that he set out.
“Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.
He wrote a letter as follows:
Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
This man (Paul) was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.” Acts 23
In these two cases, our definition of morality is silenced as God again reminds us that the earth and those who dwell in it are His: that even those whom we despise many times can also not only be born again, but that God can, even in their condition, use them for his purposes!
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (Ph.D.)
HTBluff Associates
BBN TV
Diaspora Messenger Senior Columnist
Reach the writer at TeddyKamau@Diasporamessenger.com
Redemption: When God Uses “Evil” People-Dr Teddy Kamau
