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Autumn 2026: The Book of Joshua
- Saturday 10th October – Joshua 6:22-27 & Matthew 1:5-6 ‘Rahab’s destiny’
Our week began with Rahab. It’s fitting that it ends with Rahab, too – as she is indeed spared, along with all her family. Her courage and faith were rewarded, not just with life, but with a place in God’s people: ‘she lives among the Israelites to this day’ (v25).
As we reflected yesterday, this is a beautiful story of grace and redemption in the middle of a robust narrative of conflict. Somehow Rahab had grasped who the Lord was – despite, as far as we know, never having encountered the Israelites directly before – and was prepared to risk her life to serve this Lord. It is a wonderful reminder of how God’s grace is at work in all kinds of places and all kinds of people. No-one is beyond God’s love, or reach.
But there is a beautiful post-script to this story – one we don’t learn in Joshua, but only many centuries later, at the start of Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 1:5-6). After the events at Jericho, Rahab is freed from prostitution and marries a man called Salmon, one of the Israelite settlers. They have a family, including a son called Boaz. This is the Boaz who marries Ruth in the Old Testament story who bears her name. Boaz is King David’s great-grandfather… in other words, Rahab is King David’s great-great-grandmother! And therefore also, by definition, a direct descendant of Jesus himself.
It is fitting that a woman of such faith and courage should have a bigger part to play in the story of scripture. It also reminds us that when God rescues us, he also gives us a new purpose in life. We all have a valuable part to play in God’s kingdom coming: there are ‘good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ (Ephesians 2:10) We may be aware of (some of) those things which God has planned for us; we may even feel we have largely fulfilled them, one way or another; or we may still be wondering. Perhaps God is pointing you in a new direction, or stirring something new in you?
Grace saves us as we are. But it doesn’t leave us as we are. We journey with the Lord, in faith and hope. May Rahab’s story inspire us this week, and renew our desire to live fruitful lives, for God’s glory. Grace is truly the fuel for life.
- Saturday 17th January – Psalm 34 ‘The Taste’Read more...
As we conclude our week, a reflection from the Psalms:
I’ve always loved my food. I don’t have a big appetite, but I enjoy eating pretty much everything – finding as much joy in cheese and beans on toast as a gourmet dish. At school it became a lunchtime ritual for my friends to dare me to taste ...
- Friday 16th January – John 11:49-53 ‘Better that one man die…’Read more...
Many years ago I was privileged to pastor a young lady who’d come to faith on an alpha course our church had run. I asked her how she’d found her way to Alpha. She replied that some people from church had been handing out fliers for alpha in the train station, and her partner had taken one. He’d got home, looked ...
- Thursday 15th January – John 11:43-48 ‘If we let him go on like this…’Read more...
Light attracts some creatures and repels others. We see this all through nature; and it’s not just the unappealing creatures who prefer the darkness: think of owls or leopards – beautiful animals, however deadly they are!
It’s easy to imagine that Jesus’ miracles must have been universally welcomed. After all, who could possibly be offended by bodies being ...
- Wednesday 14th January – John 11:40-44 ‘Lazarus, come out!’Read more...
Of all Jesus’ miracles, the raising of Lazarus is the most dramatic. The feeding of the 5,000 may have been on a larger scale, the walking on the water more terrifying – but the combination of extraordinary power and sheer pathos we see here gives this miracle a unique position in the gospels. John certainly gives it that kind of billing: ...
- Tuesday 13th January – John 11:38-40 ‘The glory of God’Read more...
‘If you believe, you will see the glory of God.’
It’s quite a promise, isn’t it?
When we talk about glory nowadays, we usually mean some great achievement, or something which merits great praise – this weekend we’ve had talk of FA Cup glory, for example, for the winning teams, especially those who registered shock ...