Imagination Inspired | Week 1

Read | Joshua 1:16–17

They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. Certainly the LORD your God will be with you, as he was with Moses.

Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.

Focus

View this work of art, titled Rahab and the Spies, by the Dalziel Brothers, connected to Sunday’s sermon passage.

As you look at this piece, take a few quiet moments to go through a three-step process. First, observe what you see in the image, from colors to composition to recognizable elements, without trying to understand what it is supposed to mean. Then read about the work, using these details to help you interpret the work of art. Ask God what he might be saying through the image, and listen for his insight in your thoughts, feelings, or prayers.

Commentary:    

This wood engraving was one of 62 engravings from a work of Victorian illustration, Dalziel’s Bible, which took over 20 years to complete. It is considered one of the last masterpieces of this medium, which went out of fashion when the first cameras were invented. The works from this project can be found in the collections of leading art museums across the world. Many leading artists from the Pre-Raphelite school of art in England were commissioned to create the illustrations from which the brothers Dalziel worked to create their engravings. 

While many depictions of Rahab focus on her disreputable status, this illustration focuses on Rahab’s courage and faith in the face of great risk. Her expression and posture are tightly wound with fear as she sneaks the spies onto the roof. 

As one of four foreign women highlighted in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, Rahab’s story is a reminder that God works through unexpected, ordinary people to bring about his salvation and renewal of the world. Rahab had heard of the power of God, and she chose to believe, abandoning all loyalty to the city and people among whom she had been raised. Her faith was her salvation, and through it she is rightfully woven into the tapestry of the heroes of faith celebrated in Hebrews 11.

Art Source: Rahab and the Spies, after Frederick Richard Pickersgill, Dalziel Brothers, 1865-81. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Pray

Thank God for the gift of art and artists, that bring more insight and deeper thinking into the study of his word. 

Going Deeper

If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.