Friday, Ordinary 31, Proper 26, Oct 31

The Harlot Rahab and Two Spies

The Harlot Rahab and Two Spies, James Tissot, Wikipedia CCL

Meditation

Friday, Ordinary 31, Proper 26 showed discernment for truth and falsehoods. The Old Testament lesson in Joshua reveled in the exciting story of spies being sent into Jericho, encountering Rahab and hiding out on her roof, while having her lie to the authorities about their ‘not’ being there.

The New Testament lesson zeroed in on the truth versus the false prophets. Peter wanted the church to be on guard against people who would teach false teachings and lead believers astray by encouraging them to do things that were contrary to God’s law.

It’s easy to identify the Jonestown types as being false prophets, but the fact that Peter was writing his letter to believers—not crazy type prophets. He was warning about those who would be subtle in their teaching. The false prophets would convince people of the rightness of what they said was true so that people would give them money.