How many of us have ever sinned? All of us, of course. God is not transcendent. We know God is personal. Some who don’t believe He is personal focus too much on His hatred of sin. How do we tie His love for us into His hatred of sin?
As we know, Jesus never sinned. He is God in flesh even in the Old Testament. He chose to do all He did, living, dying to take our punishment for our sin, and rising again, because of His love. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Ron. 5:8) But, the first place we’re going to turn is not a Gospel, but to Joshua.
Rahab was like the woman at the well.(John 4) She lived in Canaan. It’s possible they were Nephilim like in Genesis 6:1-4– a mix of fallen angels & people. We know Canaanites were so evil they sacrificed young children, burning them in fire to a false god, Molech. God snatched their souls from Satan since they were below the age of accountability so the kids are in Heaven. It’s possible she even lost a child this way & learned if she turned to God to save her, she’d see them in Heaven, we don’t know. The point is God used Joshua’s army to punish Canaan. She helped them take Jericho, the biggest city.
The Israeli spies told her to get everyone who was willing to turn from their sin and trust God into her home and put a scarlet thread (thick enough to see, not thin like a sewing thread) on the window. This scarlet was, of course, real and also symbolic of the blood of Jesus. We don’t know how many Rahab saved, but it was likely more than Noah’s Ark had. Matthew 1 shows Rahab wound up in the line of Jesus Christ.
By the way, some people think the conquest of Canaan was evil. You can reply by asking if they realize the Canaanites worshipped false gods by doing human sacrifice. Plus, these may have been Nephilim anyway, which are part demonic (just like in Noah’s Flood.) You can also share that those children are in Heaven, as are any people who repented and trusted God to save them. (Like Rahab.) They didn’t get long life here, but they get to spend forever in God’s perfect Heaven with no pain, no suffering, etc..
We don’t know if she lost a kid. We do know Rahab acted really immoral with many guys, like the woman at the well. We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) Hopefully none of you has ever sinned like the woman at the well.
But, think of the worst sin you ever committed or thought about committing. Jesus died to take the punishment for it and rose again. Sure, you may have faced discipline on Earth. Still, if you trusted & called on Jesus by faith to forgive and save you from your sin & make you new inside, that sin is gone from your record. Jesus took the punishment for all your past, present, and future sin. And, there’s something else great, too.
God’s love means once you call on Him to be your Saviour, He calls you His child. Since He’s the King that makes you a princess/prince. He wants to hear from you and speak with you through His Word, through others, etc.. Only a personal God would be so giving. One that is transcendent isn’t giving of themselves because they are above it all and have nothing to do with us. But, God is personal and involved in our lives.
God loves relationships based on Biblical love for one another. That’s not a worldly typ. Worldly love is all about us. I can say “I love pizza” and mean it, but that’s the Greek “eros” which is really “lust.” Love is about giving for each other. This is why the devil tries to kill, steal, & destroy.(John 10:10) But, even if a person struggles with lust versus love – like Rahab or the woman at the well. – God will help them overcome that.
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