# Rahab lets the spies escape in this [1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_066.png).

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Shhhh! Join us for Sabbath School story time! 

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Joshua and the children of Israel had been instructed by YHWH to destroy the wicked inhabitants of Jericho. They sent spies into the city. Rahab, the innkeeper, hid the spies. 

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Hey, teacher! Look [what it says in Wikipedia!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahab) Rabbis say that Rahab was a prostitute. She would have known what the spies wanted to hear: Canaanites weren't able to keep it hard when they heard about the Children of Israel's victories conquering Canaan. Sounds like you're sanitizing Talmudic porn to me!

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Shhhh! We're trying to have SABBATH SCHOOL here. Boys will be boys (rolls eyes). You want Jesus to come after YOU like he did stock brokers in the Temple?

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I wouldn't have had the guts as a good little Adventist kid for such a disruption. And the internet, to say nothing of Wikipedia, wasn't a thing yet. Now that I'm HERE, though, isn't it part of our lives to look at the topsy-turvy undersides of things we'd been told to revere on "sabbath" and through the week? 

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Thanks for indulging my fancy of a disruption! Speaking of disruption, the weekend's at hand! What does SDA-deconstructed choice look like in your life now instead of "sabbath" keeping?

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*After drafting this, I suddenly had this wow-how-did-I-overlook-this-Jericho-Sabbath intersection? moment. So the butchery of Jericho was preceded by six days that the Israelite throng circled 'round the besieged city one time. Then the seventh day they marched around it seven times and yelled, and YHWH destroyed the city's defenses (except Rehab's dwelling), leaving the survivors vulnerable to the Hebrew onslaught. I couldn't establish from the Biblical account which day of the week Jericho was razed. But it seems to me significant that the ancient Israelites participated in a scheme contributing to the destruction of the city on the Sabbath. I wondered what EG White observed of this. I certainly may have overlooked some other commentary of hers addressing this; however, in* Patriarchs and Prophets*, crickets! It's all about a test of faith rewarded with divine intervention in destroying the city's fortifications. Supposedly, as EGW put it, Israel was to learn to let God fight for them. Yes, YHWH assaulted the city walls as if with high explosives, but apparently, too, He expected the Israelites from there to do the actual slaughter, making sure anything in the city that breathed would breathe no more. She reinforces the case that inhabitants of the city deserved the violence against them as if it were a unique case. Such tired rhetoric of war makers against their enemies.*

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Fellow ring leaders! if you'll review recent sessions of our club, I think you'll notice that when my co-hosts start us out, there's generally a real live party. I think that's really great, reflecting a spirit of democracy and shared leadership, an antidote to the authoritarian patriarchy so many of us are done with. I can invite you, but from there it's up to you! Next week's not too soon! May these guidelines bring your ideas for a Sabbath Breakers Club session into another enthusiastic gathering! 

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🟤 🤍 🟧 🔵 🟥 ⚱️ 🟥 🔵 🟧 🤍 🟤

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Sabbath Breakers Club belongs to members of r/exAdventist on reddit. These guidelines are intended to suggest how anyone with posting privilege in this sub may start a week's Sabbath Breakers Club thread, not to control such postings.

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• Keep it timely. If it's SDA-defined Sabbath somewhere on earth and no one has already started a Sabbath Breakers Club thread, you're clear to start one.

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• Start Sabbath Breakers Club threads with that phrase "Sabbath Breakers Club." The reason for this is to make it easy to tell if no Sabbath Breakers Club thread has been posted for the present week. Just search "Sabbath Breakers Club" in r/exAdventist.

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• You're welcome to use the image that looks like from an old woodcut of Moses smashing tables of stone with the Israelite throng celebrating their golden calf in the background, but you're not required to. Different ideas to launch the thread may invite still more, and more diverse, participation.

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• Remember we're here to ease the church's attempts to control using Sabbath rules and guilt trips. Non-humiliating humor and empathy in your invitation can help set the tone, and enjoy exercising some spontaneous leadership in starting a Sabbath Breakers Club thread.

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• Pass it on. Cutting and pasting this "fine print" can help future Sabbath Breakers Club hosts self-identify and feel empowered to step up and shine.

Sabbath Breakers Club Battle of Jericho