Intro: For our Advent season this year, I have chosen to enjoy the Jesse Tree by sharing a 24-day practice to prepare us for the celebration of Christ’s birth; the event we celebrate and honor at Christmas. From the root of Jesse’s stump, we will discover or rediscover the people in the family Tree of Jesus Messiah who were instrumental in bringing the presence of God near to us in order to revive the Spirit-led family of faith. With each day’s reading, we will add a new symbol—an ornament—to our family tree.
Today, is day twelve of our journey and our symbol is the Horn.
Last week, I had the honor of officiating a celebration of life service for a retired military veteran and hero who spent his life serving others. At the conclusion of the celebration, two uniformed honor guard service members folded the U.S. burial flag and presented it to the family, followed by a gun salute, and the blowing of taps on the horn. I cried through the whole thing, because victory for this loved one had arrived—the end of the battle day on earth as he entered the Promised Land of eternal rest.
It may be hard for us to understand, but God tends to use unexpected people to enter into his unexpected plan for salvation—bringing deliverance from evil to His human creation. We see this time and time again throughout Scripture. For example, does it make any sense to our natural minds for the Israelites to wander through the wilderness for 40 years [a period of transition and/or judgment] when distance-wise it was really an 11 day trip? Not really, but God was taking Israel to a place where He could reveal His nature and character as their sovereign God; a place to teach them He could be trusted, as well as their proper response to His rule [government].
As the Israelites prepare to leave the wilderness and head into the Promised Land, Joshua sends spies into Jericho to connect with a lying gentile prostitute who will display and let down a scarlet rope from the window in her house that will protect her and the entire family abiding within when the horn blows. Unexpected? The walls of Jericho do fall according to God’s marching orders, but as a result of the prostitute’s faith, she and her family are spared death when the horn blows. That prostitute is Rahab, the great-grandmother of Jesus. Unexpected?
The cord is pretty easy to recognize as a symbol, because it reminds us of the blood of the lamb on the doorpost of the Israelites’ houses while in Egypt when the death angel passes over [Passover]. Everyone’s house marked with the blood was saved from death. But, what is with the horn? The Horn symbol reminds us of God’s power and protection to bring victory—crumbling the walls of sin—when, by faith, we obey God’s commands. Jesus offers us the same power and protection when we place our faith in His work on the cross where He shed His blood. If we love Jesus, welcome His blood to cover us, and are marked with the Spirit, we will obey His commands and step into spiritual victory.
Joshua 2:1-21 NLT Rahab Protects the Spies
1 Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
2 But someone told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.”
4 Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. 5 They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” 6 (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) 7 So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.
8 Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. 9 “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. 10 For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed [complete consecration of things/people to the Lord]. 11 No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
12 “Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that 13 when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families.”
14 “We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.”
15 Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window. 16 “Escape to the hill country,” she told them. “Hide there for three days from the men searching for you. Then, when they have returned, you can go on your way.”
17 Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions. 18 When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house. 19 If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death. 20 If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.”
21 “I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.
Joshua 6:15-17, 20, 25 NLT
15 On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. 16 The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the town! 17 Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed [complete consecration of things/people to the Lord] as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies.
20 When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.
25 So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.
Hebrews 11:30-31 NLT 30 It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down. 31 It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for our victory in Christ Jesus; now we can enjoy divine fellowship and be spared judgment. On the day of your second coming, the horn will blow again, so we are grateful for the blood of Jesus to protect us from destruction. We would rather you deal with our sin right now than at the return of Christ. Be glorified in the work only you can do in us, Lord! In Jesus’ name. Amen.