Jer 39:1-18  Nebuchadrezzar Besieged Jerusalem

[Study Aired May 22, 2022]

Jer 39:1  In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.
Jer 39:3  And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.
Jer 39:4  And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
Jer 39:5  But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
Jer 39:6  Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
Jer 39:7  Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
Jer 39:8  And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
Jer 39:9  Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.
Jer 39:10  But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
Jer 39:11  Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
Jer 39:12  Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
Jer 39:13  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;
Jer 39:14  Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.
Jer 39:15  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jer 39:16  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
Jer 39:17  But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
Jer 39:18  For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

The first two verses of this chapter tell us how long the siege of Jerusalem lasted:

Jer 39:1  In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

Jerusalem is the great whore in type in this story, and Isaiah makes that very clear in the very first chapter of his prophecy:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Isaiah even calls Jerusalem ‘Sodom’.

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

The reason Jerusalem is signified by a harlot is to let us know that the great whore of Revelation 17-18 is a “Mystery” to this world:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The Greek word translated as ‘mystery’ is:

G3466
μυστήριον
mustērion
moos-tay’-ree-on

From a derivative of μύω muō (to shut the mouth); a secret or “mystery” (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites): – mystery.

“Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots” is a ‘musterion’ because she is the Lord’s own apostate covenant people. What we all at first fail to realize is that God had a covenant with Noah and his seed long before He was in covenant with Abraham and his seed:

Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

While the only stipulations of this covenant are:

1) Gen 9:3  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

2) Gen 9:4(a)  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

3) Gen 9:4(b) “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”.

4) Gen 9:5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.

This is still a covenant with Noah and his seed (Gen 9:9), therefore all men are in covenant with God, and all religions of mankind are part of the whore and her daughters.

Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

From the tenth month of the ninth year to the fourth month of the eleventh year means that the siege lasted 18 months, or a year and a half, and the famine in the city was severe:

Jer 52:5  So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
Jer 52:6  And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

The number ‘nine’ as we all know, signifies judgment:

Jer 39:3  And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

In our King James version of the bible, there appears to be six princes here, two of whom have the same name. We will not go into the meaning of all these names. If we had the time to do so, it would be easy to make the case that there are just three princes with the first name being their name and the second name being their title. Here is a cut and paste from the Jamison-Fausset-Brown Commentary on the titles attached to each first name:

“Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo — proper names formed from those of the idols, Nergal and Nebo (2Ki 17:30, Isa 46:1).
Rab-saris — meaning “chief of the eunuchs.”
Rab-mag — chief of the magi; brought with the expedition in order that its issue might be foreknown through his astrological skill. Mag is a Persian word, meaning “great…powerful.” The magi were a sacerdotal [priest] caste among the Medes, and supported the Zoroastrian religion.”

Jer 39:4  And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
Jer 39:5  But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
Jer 39:6  Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.

As Jeremiah had prophesied, Zedekiah did indeed see the face of Nebuchadnezzar:

Jer 32:4  And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

These are the words the Lord gave to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah remained faithful to these very unpopular and unpatriotic words. With His life at stake, Jeremiah repeated the words of the Lord to wicked King Zedekiah, just before the breach of the city by the armies of Babylon. This is from last week’s study:

Jer 38:13  So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

As severe as the circumstances were, Jeremiah remained faithful to what the Lord had told him would be the fate of the king of the kingdom of apostate Judah, the Old Testament type of the great whore (Isa 1:21):

Jer 38:14  Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.
Jer 38:15  Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?

This all happened, and it is all written down to let us know that the kingdom of our own old wicked ‘king… the man of sin’ within us, is doomed to destruction and was “made to be taken and destroyed”:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Greek: ‘tupos’, types of us]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked [our old king] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Evil men like wicked King Nebuchadnezzar are the Lord’s sword which He uses to punish His own wayward elect:

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

The Lord even uses our own wicked old king as His sword to correct us.

Jer 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

The ten horns on the beast of Revelation 17 symbolize our flesh when it becomes aware of how the whore has deceived and abused the beast. It is our own carnal mind which will hate the great whore and will be used by the Lord to destroy that harlot system by “eating her flesh and burn[ing] her with fire” just as Nebuchadnezzar did in a literal sense, to Jerusalem:

Jer 39:7  Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
Jer 39:8  And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.

While all of this has a primary inward application, Jeremiah would have been disobedient to the Lord to have only applied these words to Himself and failed to warn the great whore in whose kingdom He lived his physical life. Jeremiah had already been through the inward fire of the Lord’s Word and was now required by the Lord to proclaim an outward judgment upon the great whore of Isaiah 1:21 quoted above. The Lord first deceives us and burns out our own old man before He uses us to warn others. Jeremiah is a type of each of us:

Jer 20:7  O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Jer 20:8  For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Jer 20:9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jer 20:10  For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
Jer 20:11  But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
Jer 20:12  But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

This story of how the Lord delivered Jeremiah is written to encourage each of us to be faithful to the Words of the Lord even as ‘all our familiars watch for our halting’, hoping to see us cave into the pressures of the persecutions and tribulations which we must endure to the end:

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Our physical brothers and our physical “familiars”, our friends and the society in which we live, will hate us and persecute us if we follow in the footsteps of Christ and do the things He commands us to do and abide in His words:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Joh 8:30  As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him [types of today’s Christians], If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth [Christ], and the truth [Christ] shall make you free.

Jeremiah typifies those who know Christ and who depend on Him for their salvation even if they are threatened with physical death. It is only if we are willing to forfeit this life that the Lord will give us life:

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Jeremiah had sunk down in the mire of the pit and was taken from the pit to witness the Lord’s judgment upon his enemies and all those who had persecuted him. So, it is with all of us who are given to remain faithful to the end:

Jer 39:9  Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.
Jer 39:10  But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

Leaving the poor of the land and giving them vineyards and fields is an entirely physical event in the history of this unfaithful nation with whom the Lord was in a covenant. Nevertheless, this event typifies these spiritual words from the mouth of our Lord:

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The “poor in spirit” know they have what they have only as a gift from God and not of themselves. Those who take credit for their works are the opposite of being “poor in spirit”. Jeremiah knew that his life was spared by the Lord Himself and not because of anything he had done of himself. Jeremiah knew that Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was in the hands of the Lord:

Pro 21:1  The king’s heart [Your heart and my heart] is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

The Lord had made Nebuchadnezzar aware of the prophecies of Jeremiah, and the Lord gave Jeremiah favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar:

Jer 39:11  Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
Jer 39:12  Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
Jer 39:13  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;
Jer 39:14  Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.

This is an incredible honor being bestowed upon the Lord’s faithful elect. This event typifies the fulfillment of these inspired words:

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

There had been many days through the years of Jeremiah’s prophecies in which he had very “little with righteousness”. He has ‘very little’ while in the pit and in the prison, but he remained faithful to the Words of the Lord, and now the Lord was making “even his enemies to be at peace with him”.

The holy spirit concludes this chapter of Jeremiah by taking us back to Jeremiah’s time in the pit and in prison to remind us that when we receive the Lord’s elect, we are receiving the Lord Himself:

Mat 10:40  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

The Lord does not forget us when we remain faithful to Him and to His body of elect believers. He is “a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”:

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

This is what the Lord had Jeremiah to prophesy concerning Ebedmelech the Ethiopian who had been used by the Lord to save Jeremiah’s life from death in the pit:

Jer 39:15  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jer 39:16  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
Jer 39:17  But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
Jer 39:18  For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

As we just read in Hebrews 11:6, He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

There are many examples throughout the Bible of how the Lord preserves His faithful through the trials He places upon them. Beginning with Abel, who was slain by his older brother, Enoch, who was taken away so he would not die, and then continuing on generation after generation, the Lord reveals how He delivered His faithful from those who would hurt them. But He first must give us the gift of “faith that He is” and that He will reward us for our fidelity to Him and to His promise of life. This promise of life is not necessarily in this present time, but life eonian in the ages to come.

I will conclude this study with a few verses on just how important it is that we have faith in the promises of God:

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Heb 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Heb 11:20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
Heb 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Heb 11:29  By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

It is only if we are given the ability to believe the Lord’s Words that we will be the overcomers and the recipients of all the promises made exclusively to the overcomers of Revelation 2 and 3:

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Let us all pray that the Lord, through His gift of faith, will give each of us “respect unto the recompense of the reward” and not treat our birthright with the lack of respect that Esau treated his birthright.