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Monday, April 15, 2019

THE BRANCH SAVED THE TREE | Laity & Teacher #001



Laity: 
Please explain this phrase with scriptures “the branch saved the tree”

Teacher:
Her siblings would surely have been grateful. Why wouldn’t they be? She spoke on their behalf and that discussion has saved their lives. As it were, their fate hung by a thread or better put, a red rope.

Imagine her walking up to one of her relatives and saying “you need to be in my house before the end of this week if you want to live. Those men marching around the city will eventually gain access and kill everyone except those in my house”. If that relative thinks to himself “who does this harlot think she is? Does she expect us to just ignore her lifestyle and take her advice? No way!”. Well, whilst bleeding to death, he would remember her words as he looks through his door to see the same men that took other lives, shielding members of the family; led by Rahab, as they were being taken safely out of Jericho.

Some family trees have branches we are not particularly proud of but if we endeavour to walk in love, who knows, they might just be the branch that will save the tree.

Speaking of branches, I’m reminded of another Branch that saves. The red we see is not a rope but His Blood. Those that are under the covering of His Blood are the only ones truly safe.

Got Jesus?

Text:
Joshua 2:12-13, 17-20 MSG
12-13 “Now promise me by God. I showed you mercy; now show my family mercy. And give me some tangible proof, a guarantee of life for my father and mother, my brothers and sisters—everyone connected with my family. Save our souls from death!”
17-20 The men told her, “In order to keep this oath you made us swear, here is what you must do: Hang this red rope out the window through which you let us down and gather your entire family with you in your house—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Anyone who goes out the doors of your house into the street and is killed, it’s his own fault—we aren’t responsible. But for everyone within the house we take full responsibility. If anyone lays a hand on one of them, it’s our fault. But if you tell anyone of our business here, the oath you made us swear is canceled—we’re no longer responsible.”

Joshua 6:21-25 CEV
They killed everyone, men and women, young and old, everyone except Rahab and the others in her house. They even killed every cow, sheep, and donkey.
Joshua said to the two men who had been spies, “Rahab kept you safe when I sent you to Jericho. We promised to protect her and her family, and we will keep that promise. Now go into her house and bring them out.”
The two men went into Rahab’s house and brought her out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and her other relatives. Rahab and her family had to stay in a place just outside the Israelite army camp. [e] But later they were allowed to live among the Israelites, and her descendants still do…

John 3:16-18 MSG
16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

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