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Aug 24, 2022 18:30pm

We Must Be Prepared

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The weathermen had been warning of severe weather for several days. Everyone was talking about what was coming. Tornado season puts fear into the hearts of many, and this year was no different. The skies were beginning to darken to an odd shade. It wasn’t really black or grey, but had a brown hue and a hint of blue. Lightning could be seen throughout the clouds, and they seemed to build bigger and bigger as they came closer. The wind picked up. Rain was coming down, but not extremely hard. It was just the wind that was hard to contend with. The air was warm. The sun had just been shining not too many hours ago.

The report came across the radio, a funnel cloud had been spotted. “Get to your safe spot now!” they exclaimed.

So, down to the cellar we went.

When it was over, a massive wave of destruction laid in the path of the tornado. Houses completely removed from their foundation. Trucks thrown into trees. Whole trees uprooted and slammed into buildings. Debris littered for miles.

But as we opened the door to that cellar, we realized we had been spared from the destruction. We had been saved. Those that had not been prepared would not have survived.

The wall of Jericho has fallen. The Israelites are to destroy everything and everyone in the city, except one house with a scarlet thread hanging from the window. The house of Rahab.

“But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.” (Joshua 6:22-25)

Out of all the people in the city of Jericho, one woman and her family are to be saved, and she is nothing more than a harlot, a prostitute. Why her? Why was her life spared and not others’?

Because she alone had put her trust in God to save her.

She knew the Israelites were coming. Remember, she had chosen to risk her life to hide the spies that Joshua sent. She had heard of their powerful God and she trusted that they would spare her when they came to destroy the city.

She could have fled the city. After the spies left, she could have packed up her family and ran for the mountains. But Rahab trusted in the promise that she would be saved. She was prepared. As the Israelites charged the city, she and her family were pulled out from the path of destruction.

What a beautiful picture of the gospel. A wretched sinner saved by faith. See, it didn’t matter who she had been in the past, the only thing that mattered was her decision to believe in who God was and trust to be saved from the coming judgment. She was prepared. Are you? What are you trusting in to save you?

There is coming a day, soon, when the Lord will return and judgment will be poured out upon the earth. Those that have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior will be pulled away and saved from the coming destruction. But those who are not prepared, those who deny God and His power and authority, will be destroyed. And the end doesn’t stop there. It will be an eternal separation from God, His light, His blessings, and His protection. They will spend eternity being tormented in Hell because of their sins.

God says trust in me. No matter your past, no matter who you used to be, God will save you if you put your faith in Him.

I am living proof.