Fellowship - 5627 River Valley Area - 12,431 Lives Impacted - 56,270
Advent
A Lineage of Grace This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Matthew 1:1-6
Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. Matthew 1:1-6
A Lineage of Grace Option #1: Each woman has a story that hints of misconduct, thus preparing the reader for the unusual circumstances surrounding Mary s pregnancy. Option #2: Each woman has a story that emphasizes God s providence; God works his will in the most unlikely and gracious ways. Option #3: Each of the women highlighted in the lineage of Jesus (minus Mary) is a Gentile; thus hinting at the wholly inclusive nature of God s kingdom program. Zach Benton
Rahab s Desperate Need 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. Joshua 2:1-2
She embodies the opposite of the traditional values held by the Old Testament s original readers: She s female, a Canaanite (Israel s mortal enemy), a prostitute, and a resident of Jericho the first city doomed to fall by the sword when the Israelites enter the land. She s like a death-row inmate waiting for the needle. Eva Bleeker
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. 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.) Joshua 2:3-6
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. 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. Joshua 2:7-10
A broken life reveals a deep need for salvation.
Rahab s Unexpected Faith 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. Joshua 2:11
The confession of Rahab reflects a striking difference in worldview. Her admission that the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below (2:11) shows that she has embraced Israel s God as Creator and acknowledged the history of Yahweh s victories over Israel s enemies. John Walton
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. So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. She said to them, Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way. Joshua 2:12-16
Now the men had said to her, This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. Joshua 2:17-18
If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear. Agreed, she replied. Let it be as you say. So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window. Joshua 2:19-21
When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us. Joshua 2:22-24
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Hebrews 11:31
Life comes through faith in God s provision.
Rahab s Redemption The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. Joshua 6:17
But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury. When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. Joshua 6:18-21
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, Go into the prostitute s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her. So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord s house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho and she lives among the Israelites to this day. Joshua 6:22-25
Rahab s story shifts the categories for the Conquest narrative. Without her, we have a story of ethnic cleansing. Every Canaanite is under the ban. With her confession of faith included in the story, we have proof that anyone, even the most unlikely, can believe. And the one who believes shall be rescued. With Rahab in the story, we see that God inspires belief in every category of people, and that he honors that belief. Eva Bleeker
God rescues from destruction and restores to new life.
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Matthew 1:16
The First Advent The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
God s faithfulness is displayed as His redemptive thread of grace weaves throughout history rescuing and restoring His people.