This post came about through a random study that ended in a beautiful story that I would like to share as encouragement for the brethren. I would be remiss by not stating that this will especially bless the sisters, but I also believe our brothers can glean from it as well -- after all, the core of the message is faith! I started out a few days ago wanting to look up the paleo Hebrew meaning of the word, "behold". This was after one of my sisters shared that its Hebrew word "hinneh" means so much more than we realize and that she was deeply blessed in what Father had shown her in this regard. She was right!! It is amazing and worth learning and remembering each time we see this word (so store that in your back pocket as well, because it actually comes up again later)! It was my search for a YouTube study on this word that ended up bringing me to another word that caught my attention. This word was "asaph or acaph", which is rereward or rear guard in English. As I listened to the study on this word, it brought me to several scriptures, but I ended up stuck on two of them in Joshua 6. It is in this chapter that I found my real focus and where I stayed planted... on Rahab. As I read about Rahab the "harlot" in the story most of us already know, I began to ask... Father, why did you choose her? Why did you choose this woman out of all the Canaanites in Jericho, especially when you had ordered every person to be destroyed as the Israelites took the city? Why her, the one who has been referred to a harlot almost every time her name is mentioned? I looked up the word "Rahab" in Hebrew, which is actually "Rachab", and found that it means proud, wide, roomy, broad, in any direction, at liberty. This didn't shed any light on my questions at all, so of course, I was eager to get to the paleo Hebrew breakdown of her name, and that is when I found something beautiful! The paleo breakdown of Rachab is resh, chet, beyt (and this is reading from left to right as is the custom with Hebrew). So how does this look? Now what does this mean? As you can see from the expanded meanings under each picture, to me it clearly says... "The Head or Prince (Yahusha) is a refuge or inner sanctuary for the House of Israel"! Rachab's name carries such beautiful and prophetic meaning!! And what did Rachab do? She risked her own life to hide the two Israelite spies in the flax on her roof (a refuge) so the House of Israel could take the land chosen by Yahuah... all to to fulfill the Word, which is ultimately about the Prince! It sure seems to tie together! All in all, Rahab believed, and she believed with great, great faith! ... for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Joshua 2:11 She was used by the God she believed in, Yahuah, to bring forth His will because of her great faith, which shown brightly like one single beacon of light in a very dark place (the Canaanites were very wicked)! As I pondered her faith, I began to try to live what she experienced to understand it further. Can you picture this woman, having her heart melted with fear of knowing that the God of Israel had parted the Red Sea for His people and had given them victory over all those who were currently occupying the land He chose for them (she expresses this as how her people felt about Israel in Joshua 2:9-11)? She saw the greatness and majesty of Yahuah, and she saw His utter faithfulness to His people. She understood with reverence how He had totally destroyed the Egyptians, the world power at that time, in the Red Sea for the sake of His precious own. Amongst all her wicked Canaanite people, who were the complete opposite of the Israelites, she sat alone in her home thinking about this God... knowing who He was... and believing in Him and wanting to know Him! And then the opportunity came! Can you imagine how she felt seeing the two Israelites come to her home? I can see how she would be shocked and excited and even fearful, but also zealously wanting to talk to them and help them, obviously at any cost! This Rachab is one of great faith, and I personally do not believe the Bible has described it in fullness, so that maybe we will go and search for ourselves to learn more of her. This woman and her family were the only ones out of all the Canaanites to survive Israel's conquest of their land, and the Word says that she continued through her life dwelling with Israel! I would even go so far as to say that she rejoiced passionately as she received the greatest desire of her heart... to know the God of Israel and to dwell with His people! And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Joshua 6:25 And the story continues... it did not stop with her faithfulness to the Israelites and her belief in their God, nor even with her dwelling with Israel. The Word tells us that she became the wife of Salmon who begot Boaz, and Boaz with Ruth begot Obed, and Obed begot Jesse, who was David's father. This supposed harlot full of faith was chosen to be in the lineage of our King Yahusha! And as many of us have probably wondered... would the Heavenly Father really choose a harlot? We know He is merciful beyond human ability and comprehension, and we know He can use anyone or anything to do fulfill His will, but would He use a harlot? Well, maybe He would, but I have had my doubts about this description of Rahab for some time, so I did a bit more digging. As I looked into it further, I received the solid confirmation I needed. Rather than me trying to explain this, I would rather attach a video that I believe will bless you and also settle your heart on who this woman really was. We must remember that translators are not always perfect, and just as any other human, pre-conceived notions or biases could have influenced them. In all things the Spirit will teach us where man has failed, and in this we have peace and freedom! The video is presented at the bottom of this post, so that you can continue reading for more blessing before watching! As I was pondering Rahab's involvement in the lineage of Yahusha, it made me think of Aseneth, Joseph's Egyptian wife. Herein, I believe, lies another example of a woman's overwhelming faith in the God of Israel in the midst of great darkness and her role in the perfect will of Yahuah for His people. About four years ago, Father used the extra-biblical book "Joseph and Aseneth"** as one thing to help me through the condemnation experienced from a false doctrine against "non-Israelite" people of our time, and so her testimony is very precious to me. This beautiful story describes the conversion of Aseneth to serving the God of Israel as well as her subsequent marriage to Joseph. The words of Aseneth to Yahuah are some of the most beautiful words of repentance I've ever read, and His response to her is even more overwhelming. Aseneth, like Rahab and Ruth, was a woman of such great faith and obedience and became the mother of two of the tribes of Israel, Ephraim and Manasseh. And as we know, Jacob pronounced the name of Israel directly on the head of Ephraim, which is one of the two sticks that will soon become one again! This is a major part of Yahuah's plan! In hopes that you will be further blessed and edified, I would like to share a few of Aseneth's words, as well as a few of Yahusha's words that were spoken to her! This will further solidify the level of faith she possessed, which also connects her to the faith of Rachab. As Aseneth secludes herself away from all, puts on sackcloth and ashes, and withdraws herself from food and water for seven days of mourning and confession, she utters these words (and please don't let the length sway you - her words are a blessing!): And after she speaks these words and more regarding her love for Joseph, she is visited by One who identified Himself as the "chief of the house of the Lord and the commander of the whole host of the Most High". Aseneth describes Him as One whose face was like lightening, and His eyes like sunshine, and the hairs of His head like a flame of fire of a burning torch, and His hands and feet like iron shining forth from a fire, and sparks shooting forth from His hands and feet. As she is bowed down on her face before Him, He spoke the following words to her (and notice how many times He says "behold", as this connects back to the word my sister shared with me that initially started my search/study!): Courage, Aseneth, chaste virgin. Behold, I have heard all the words of your confession and your prayer. Behold, I have also seen the humiliation and the affliction of the seven days of your want of food. Behold, from your tears and these ashes, plenty of mud has formed before your face. Courage, Aseneth, chaste virgin. For behold, your name was written in the book of the living in heaven; in the beginning of the book, as the very first of all, your name was written by My finger, and it will not be erased forever. Behold, from today, you will be renewed and formed anew and made alive again, and you will eat blessed bread of life, and drink a blessed cup of immortality, and anoint yourself with blessed ointment of incorruptibility. Courage, Aseneth, chaste virgin. Behold, I have given you today to Joseph for a bride, and he himself will be your bridegroom forever and ever. And your name shall no longer be called Aseneth, but your name shall be City of Refuge, because in you many nations will take refuge with the Lord God, the Most High, and under your wings many peoples trusting in the Lord God will be sheltered, and behind your walls will be guarded those who attach themselves to the Most High God in the name of repentance. It is my prayer that this post has blessed you as you read, just as it did me. I wonder what words will be spoken to us on that day when we stand before our King and Savior! I hope it will be this good, and I have a feeling it too will likely begin with the word, "Behold!". In closing, I have attached the teaching mentioned above regarding Rachab's true identity. Please take a listen and be further blessed and encouraged! ** As with all extra-biblical books, we must be diligent to compare with the scriptures and use discernment, so we will know what to accept and what to resist.
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Special NoteThese writings are written in love and a spirit of servitude. They are not designed to judge but make us think. We are all sinners in need of saving, and we all need encouragement and absolute truth to endure on the narrow road to sanctification and ultimately eternal life. Categories
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