The falling of the walls of Jericho is one of most well known episodes in the Bible. As with the Passover Lamb, there is no natural reason why their marching around the city should have caused the walls to fall. It was an act of faith. We need to live by faith in order to see God do things.
Rahab the prostitute demonstrated faith. She believed that the Israelites would take over the city, when a natural assessment of the situation would have said this was unlikely. We need to be consider which people we welcome. James warns against favouring the rich and powerful over the weak and poor. To follow this instruction is an act of faith. For a natural view would be to say that it is wise to favour the powerful so that they can do us a favour. But the Bible makes it clear that God is on the side of the poor, so we should be on the side of the poor.
The writer then lists a whole series of incidents, some specific, some more general. Two key points are that their weakness was turned to strength, and that the world was not worthy of them. Being persecuted does not fell like a glorious thing, so the writer is trying to encourage his readers. They are not the first to face opposition, and will not be the last.
The closing sentence of this chapter is very important as it expresses the context of the writer's teaching. He has not been teaching a faith can give you everything teaching in a cheap sense that it is sometimes given. Faith does work, but it is not an easy route. The people in the Old Testament did not receive the goal of their faith, they would only do so along with us. They were looking for something better, and God had planned something better.
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