JOSHUA: THE LORD IS SALVATION Rahab s Salvation Joshua 2:1-24 Layne Lebo June 19, 2016 The theme for our Joshua series comes from the meaning of Joshua s name: The Lord is salvation. Today we ll see the truth of this statement lived in and through the life of a person we wouldn t expect a prostitute from Jericho named Rahab. Rahab, as we ll see, was both a means through which God s people experienced salvation as well as a recipient of God s salvation. I m looking forward to exploring Rahab s life today especially because I don t think I ve ever preached a sermon on Rahab. When we left the Israelites last week they, along with their new leader, Joshua, were camped on the edge of the Promised Land, with only the Jordan River between them and their long-awaited destination. In chapter 1 God encouraged Joshua and the Israelites with the assurance that He was with them and that He would keep his promises to them. Today, we ll be focusing on chapter 2, where just prior to their entry into the Promised Land, Joshua sent in two spies to make an assessment of Jericho the large, walled capitol city on the eastern edge of the Promised Land. I m going to read all 24 verses of Joshua chapter 2, so we have a chance to hear the complete story. And to help keep us engaged, I m going to ask you to read together aloud the parts of this passage that are bolded 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. 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, the men 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. 1
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 this land to you 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 and everyone s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 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. Now she had 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. The men 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. If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 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. 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. I don t want us to miss the significance of this moment. God s people the Israelites are standing on the edge of the land that has been promised to them for centuries. Way back in Genesis chapter 12 God told Abraham He would give him this land and multiply his descendants. God said that Abraham and his people would be blessed and they would in turn be a blessing to all nations. Several centuries later Jacob and his sons and their family numbering 70 people left their homeland during a severe famine to join their brother Joseph and they settled in a fertile region of Egypt. There this family flourished and became a nation of people, set apart for God. But even while in Egypt, God s people remembered his promises. Listen to the words Joseph spoke to his family in Egypt just before his own death. I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place. Gen. 50:24 & 25 2
The Israelites remained in Egypt 400 years and were enslaved by the Egyptians, who grew to fear them because of their extraordinary growth. Fearing that they might mobilize a rebellion, the Egyptians made the Israelites slavery increasingly difficult. God s people cried out to Him in their suffering and He sent them a deliverer named Moses to lead them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. The people of Israel then spent 40 years in the desert. Finally, they were prepared to reclaim their land that God had promised them for centuries. God s people were going to once again experience the truth, The Lord is Salvation, and they were going to experience that truth through a very unlikely source a prostitute named Rahab. First of all, in this story we see that God used Rahab to encourage his people and to strengthen their faith. The Israelites were aware of God s promises and they had experienced his provisions in leading them out of Egypt and in the desert, but crossing the Jordan River and going into their new land was an important step and God understood they needed encouragement. The spies entered Rahab s house thinking they could keep their mission a secret, but they were detected and the King of Jericho sent men to arrest them. Rahab hid the spies and deceived the king s men into believing that the spies had already gone. When the king s men were gone she spoke these words to the spies which encouraged their hearts and eventually the hearts of all the Israelites. In verses 8-11 we read, 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 this land to you 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 and everyone s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. After talking with Rahab, the spies realized that the residents of the city of Jericho were terrified of the Israelites because they had heard all that God had done through them. This news encouraged the spies and was also encouraging to Joshua and all of the Israelites. In verse 24 they told Joshua, The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us. Rahab s words encouraged the Israelites that God s salvation was at hand. The passage we re studying today also reveals God s provision of salvation for Rahab and her family. Rahab was a foreigner a resident of Jericho, which would soon succumb to 3
Joshua and his army. She was also a prostitute a woman who earned her living in a way that was completely outside the bounds of God s design. But in spite of the fact that she was a Canaanite and a prostitute, Rahab s faith in God positioned her to receive his salvation. Listen again to the words Rahab spoke to the two spies. She speaks on behalf of the residents of her city, but her personal faith is clear. I ve underlined portions that highlight her faith Joshua 2:9-11 I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us We have heard how the LORD for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. God had been preparing Rahab s heart and He orchestrated the spies decision to stay at her home. In spite of the fact that Rahab lived among polytheists people who worshipped many gods and goddesses she and her extended family placed their faith in the one true God. In return for her promise to hide the spies they instructed Rahab to place a scarlet cord in her window, which would serve as a sign to the Israelites that this home was to be protected. The role the scarlet cord played in sparing the lives of Rahab and her family bears a lot of similarities to God s instruction to the Israelites in Egypt to mark their door posts with blood from a lamb as a sign that their homes were to be passed over when the plague killing the firstborn of the Egyptians was unleashed Pharaoh and his people. In Joshua chapter 6 when Jericho was invaded by the Israelites, Rahab and her extended family experienced the Lord s salvation because of the faith they placed in God, signified by the red cord hanging from the window. And as the story of the Scriptures continue to unfold we learn that Rahab the prostitute became a prominent figure in the Israelites (and in our) salvation story. In Joshua chapter 6 verse 25 following the fall of Jericho we read, But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her and she lives among the Israelites to this day. Rahab s life and the lives of her family members were spared, but she also became a Jew, continuing to live among God s people. But her story doesn t end there. Rahab is mentioned several times in the New Testament. In Hebrews 11 she is listed in The Faith Hall of Fame along with heroes and of the faith like: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David and others. In verse 31 we read, By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. And it gets even better for Rahab. In Jesus genealogy in Matthew s Gospel chapter 1 verses 5 & 6 we read, Salmon the father of 4
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. King David was a direct descendant of Rahab s and she was ultimately part of the line through which Jesus was born. Bible scholars have at times debated whether or not Rahab was a prostitute. Thinking that a prostitute would taint God s salvation story, some of have claimed that the Hebrew word translated prostitute could actually refer to an innkeeper. But people who know a lot more about Hebrew than I do, claim that misrepresents the word and Rahab s identity. Others (and I agree with them) point out that Rahab s identity as a prostitute is a picture for us of the grace and mercy and forgiveness of a God who is known for giving us 2 nd chances. Rahab isn t the only woman with a sketchy history in Jesus genealogy. Also listed in our Lord s genealogy are Tamar, who was raped by her half- brother, Amnon; Bathsheba, who committed adultery with King David; and, Ruth, who was a foreigner with a pagan background. Rahab the prostitute, who placed her faith in God, is a good fit for the genealogy of Jesus. Rahab the prostitute (and I call her that not to diminish her in any way, but because that s the way the Scripture identifies her) may seem at first to be an unlikely person to play such a prominent role in God s salvation story, but she embodies the grace and mercy and forgiveness and ultimately, the salvation, that is available to each of us in Jesus Christ. Rahab was both a means through which God s people experienced salvation and a recipient of God s salvation. As the Israelites, were on the verge of entering the land that had been promised to their people for centuries, God knew that they needed reassurance that He was going to deliver them. He orchestrated events so that the Israelite spies sent to assess the situation in Jericho received words of assurance and confidence from a local prostitute that buoyed their spirits and allowed them to communicate to Joshua and all of the Israelites that God was on their side and that they would be successful in defeating Jericho and in conquering the land of Canaan. You and I serve the same God today. Our Heavenly Father wants us to place our faith in Him, but He s also aware that as humans we need assurance at times to help us push ahead in what we at some level know to be true. God was gentle and understanding of the Israelites weakness and He s also sympathetic to our struggles to fully place our faith in Him. I share that as a word of encouragement to us today. It s ok to struggle and to waver and even to stumble 5
and fall. Our Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves. He wants us to succeed. He s not playing hard to get. As the Psalmist David declares in his best known Psalm, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. God s gentleness and understanding and patience with his people are an encouragement to us. The confidence Rahab instilled in the spies was crucial to the Israelites experiencing his salvation, but Rahab herself also was a recipient of that same salvation. Rahab s prominent role in the Israelites entry into the Promised Land and in God s salvation story highlights the truth that all of us are candidates for God s grace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation. No matter what we ve done; no matter what we re currently walking through; and, no matter what our future holds, THE LORD IS SALVATION! Don t accept the lie that you are beyond the reach of God s salvation. Salvation is available to every one of us through faith in Jesus Christ. That was true for Rahab and it s also true for each of us. What does the truth, THE LORD IS SALVATION, mean for you today? Do you identify with the Israelites who had faith in God, but needed that faith to be reassured? If so, embrace the patience and kindness and gentleness of your Heavenly Father today? Or, do you most identify with Rahab s questionable pedigree? If so, understand that all of us are candidates for God s grace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation. THE LORD IS SALVATION! Like Rahab every one of us can be a means to others receiving God s salvation and we can be a recipient of his salvation ourselves. 6