One thing you will not likely ever find on my blog is original poetry. One of my worst memories in school were those times when teachers demanded that we write original poetry. Equally bad was art, which other students begged for, but which I dreaded. Give me more math homework. I could not do and still have no ability in poetry or any of the graphic arts.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate poetry and art. I love biblical poetry. Almost all of our hymns and songs are poetry put to music. And the creativity of the poet can bring a concept to life in ways that prose cannot.
Reflect on this poem from John Piper on the incident of the destruction of ancient Jericho.
Your wall, O wicked Jericho, your ancient, mighty wall,
Your shame, where you have made your infants’ blood renowned,
Your boast, your monument, your Babel, tall
And endless on its side, bent ’round
Into a ring, a thrust,
Betrothing you
To dust;
Your wall, your peace, your life you thought would ever thrive,
Now hollowed with four centuries of pride
Into a labyrinthine hive
Of honeyed lust inside,
With brothels all
Will fall;
But for one slender segment, with it’s rooms
And beds and washing bowls and creams
And ointments and perfumes,
Enflaming dreams,
Now screams;
Where Rahab and her kindred hide,
All hanging by a thread
The spies supplied
And said
Would save, if they obeyed.
They ’wait the blade
In dread;
But there, instead
Of sword,
The cord.
©2013 Desiring God Foundation. Used by Permission By John Piper. ©2013 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org
Now just listen as the author reads the poem to you. The Gospel of the Wall of Jericho
For context, Read Joshua, chapters 2, 5,6. Reflect on the Gospel image of he scarlet cord as noted in Joshua 2:15-21; 6:24-26. Then note the New Testament references to Rahab – a mother in the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1:5; listed among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11:30-32; and the evidence of saving faith in James 2:24-26, In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction.
Tom Macy 