The destruction of the city of Jericho is such a powerful story. We see God’s might and power. But sometimes we might wonder if the Lord was really fair and just in destroying the whole city. We wonder if God enjoyed killing all those people. Even the women and children were killed. We don’t really like reading that.

So what can we learn about the Lord in this story? Firstly, we can see God’s anger and judgement at sin. God didn’t destroy the whole city just for fun or because he got any pleasure out of it. Not at all. The city of Jericho was destroyed because it was full of wickedness. The city was so full of sin, and the people were so wicked, that God needed to destroy the whole city. God wanted his children, the people of Israel, to see his righteous anger at sin. The Lord has a holy hatred of sin. By destroying Jericho in this way, God showed how much he hates sin.

But God also showed more than his hatred of sin. One part of the wall stayed standing. The part where Rahab’s house was didn’t get destroyed when the rest of the wall and the city did. Here we see God’s mercy and grace. Rahab was not destroyed with the rest of the people but was saved because she had faith. All the other people of Jericho rejected God, but Rahab and her household had faith instead. They trusted God.

Rahab was allowed to experience God’s grace instead of his judgement. Rahab and all of us deserve to be totally destroyed by God’s holy anger at sin. We all deserve the judgement that Jericho got. But instead we receive the grace that Rahab received. God worked faith in her heart so that she believed in him. And God in his love and grace works that same faith in our hearts. We deserve to be punished by God’s wrath, but instead Jesus Christ received that punishment in our place. He took all of God’s anger at our sins on himself, and so we, like Rahab, can escape this wrath and be saved.

Reflection with your child:

How can we see God’s grace in this passage?

Source: Sermon by Rev. R. Vermeulen