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Church of the Nazarene East Rockingham Campus
Joshua: Part 2 East Rock
Joshua: Part 2 Rahab “God is Faithful”
Today we are continuing our teaching series in the book of Joshua.
Our goal in this series is not just to brush up on ancient history, but to join the generations of God’s people who have looked back to see the faithfulness of God.
Our teaching text today is about an unlikely hero, with an even more unlikely faith.
Joshua 2:1-3
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”
Following God’s command to Joshua and the people of Israel to be strong and courageous, these verses record some of the first actions steps.
Stepping out in faith still required a plan, so Joshua sends out two spies to have a look at Jericho, a heavily fortified city across the Jordan River, about 15 miles away.
A bit of irony appears in that these spies failed miserably in staying hidden. Immediately the news makes it to the King who dispatches men to capture these Israelite spies.
It would seem like this first step into the promised land was as step on the wrong foot for the Israelites.
Joshua 2:4-7
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
As the King’s posse arrives to detain the 2 spies, Rahab steps in. She’s quick on her feet, she knows how to deal with men at her door.
The unlikely hero re-directs the Kings men to pursue them out of the city gate. With her quick thinking and convincing words, the kings men don’t even bother searching her house. They take off for the city gate, thinking they are in hot pursuit of the jewish spies.
The original audience reading this account would have been in stitches laughing at the comedy of errors and irony portrayed in this story on the part of the Canaanites.
But for all of the irony, the danger for Rahab cannot be missed. Lying to the kings officers could have gotten her killed without question. She took literally took her life into her own hands.
But why? Why would a Canaanite prostitute risk her lives for two Israelite men who showed up on her doorstep?
Joshua 2:8-11
Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
With the city gate closed, Rahab has the upper hand over the Israelite spies, they are literally at her mercy. But what comes next is not a bargain for profit or some other benefit- it’s a profession of faith in the first degree.
Rahab not only believed these truths about God, she took action, risking her very life. She wasn’t just trying to save herself or her family from the impending invasion. No, she was responding to what she believed about the God of Israel. Her faith leaped into action in these moments.
In the book of James, Rahab’s faith is celebrated right beside the faith of Abraham.
James 2:25 says 25 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?
This unlikely hero, had a heroic and historic faith.
Joshua 2:12-14
“Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”
The Hebrew word that Rahab uses for kindness here is hesed. And it’s way more than just for a favor.
It speaks of loyalty, mercy, kindness, faithfulness. The word carries a very strong relational tone.
Rahab was pleading relationally- “I have proven my loyalty and my faithfulness to you and your God. I have risked my life to prove my faith, now please spare me and my family”
Rahab was pleading for rescue, to be welcomed into the people of the God in whom she believed. She was throwing herself on God’s faithfulness.
Rahab would let the spies down out of the window to escape after they promised to spare her life. Before they took off the spies instructed Rahab to tie a scarlet red cord in her window so that they would know not to harm anyone in that house.
From there, the spies take the long way home and when they arrive back to Joshua they give him the report of what God had been doing before them.
God promised them the land and commanded them to be strong and courageous. He assured them of his presence. Now they can begin to see just how God is fulfilling that very promise. Their first enemy is already melting in fear before the battle even starts.
God was faithful to his people.
And Rahab?
Matthew records that she is the great-great- grandmother of King David, the direct ancestor of Jesus himself.
God was faithful to Rahab too.
Just as God was faithful in fulfilling his promises to Joshua and the Israelite armies, he was faithful to a Canaanite prostate who believed in him.
And friends, God is still faithful today.