Rahab: Harlot Turned Hero, Part 1

Joshua chapter 2 is where we're at. Joshua chapter 2 and this is a great story about Rahab the harlot turned hero. This story is so great. Listen, I wanted to use it on Mother's Day. That's right. You know, I know it's coming up and I thought, wow, man, what a great Mother's Day message. Rah, the harlot, turned hero. Not because she was a harlot, but because she became a great hero. And you know what? I don 't think we understand. how great a hero she truly was. And my prayer is that this week and next week, you'll come to grips with this great heroine and what God did in her life to transform her.

From harlot to her. You know, when I think of the story of Rah, I'm reminded of the fact that God can save anybody. God can save anybody's soul. And I love the fact that she's mentioned in the New Testament along with the patriarch Abraham. She's mentioned along with Abraham and James too as the great patriarch. She's the prostitute. But both had faith. And both of them proved their faith by their work. James says it this way in James 2, verse number 25. And in the same way, was not Rah the harlot also justified by works work when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way for just as the body without the spirit is dead so also faith without works is dead James gives two illustrations of people who had a working faith.

That is, their faith in God truly produced good works. The first was Abraham, the patriarch. The second was Rahab, the prostitute.

And then in Hebrews chapter 11, the great hall of faith, do you know there are only two women mentioned in the hall of faith? One was a princess, the other was a prostitute. Sarah, the princess, was the first woman mentioned because of her faith.

Rahab, Hebrews 11, verse number 31, is the second woman. By faith, Rah the harlot. Did not perish along with those who were disobedient after she had welcomed the spies in peace. Now you'd think a princess and a prostitute didn't have much in common. Ah, but you're wrong because they had everything in comm. Because they both belie and trusted in the God of the universe. And they had that one commonality, that one thing that brought them together, and that is their trust in the living God. And I read about that, and I think to myself, you know, how many times do we go through life thinking, you know, I don't have anything in common with those people.

I mean, I don't have anything in common with the people in my church. What do you mean you don have anything in common with the people in your church? Of course you do. You've got the only thing that matters in common, right? Jesus Christ our Lord. That makes us a part of the body of Christ, right? But there's also Matthew chapter 1. The gen of Christ. Matthew mentions Rah there as well. Believe it or not. Matthew 1, verse number 5, and to Solomon was born Boaz by Rah, and to Boaz was born Obed by Ruth, and to Obed Jesse, and to Jesse was born David.

The king. Boy, let me tell you something. For a woman to be in a Jewish genealogy is unheard of. Because in Jewish thought, women are not count as much. Women don't mean much in the Jewish frame of mind. They're just there to bear children and raise children. So to put a Jewish woman in a genealogy was to give her a very su position. So not only is Rah there in the genealogy, but you also have Tamar, you also have Bathsheba. And you begin to realize all that God's doing along with Ruth. So you have a woman who committed incest, you got a woman who was a prostitute, you got a woman who was an adulterer.

And you got a Canaanite woman in there. Why? Because the genealogy of Christ is not about the people in the genealogy, it's about putting. The grace of God on display. The whole reason of the genealogies in the Bible is to show you the grace of God. It's not to show you the people that are there and the grace of God. Is comple and utterly unobscured when it comes to the genealogy of Christ. But I'm way ahead of myself. I got to go back to the beginning. Got to go back to Joshua chapter 2. I want to read the chapter to you.

And then I want to talk to you about the character of Rahab. And after I talk to you about the character of Rahab, I want to Of Rahab, then the confession of Rah, the concern of Rah, the consolation from Rah, the commendation of Rah, and then give you some conclusions about Rah's life. That will apply to your life as well. That's where we're going. Joshua 2, verse number 1. Then Joshua, the son of nun, sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, Go view the land, especially Jericho. So they went and came into the house of a harlot, whose name was Rah, and lodged there.

And was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rah, saying, Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark that the men went out.

I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them in the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan, to the fords, and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now, before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the terror of you has fallen on us.

And that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt. And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who are beyond the Jordan, the Si and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And when we heard it, our hearts melted, and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God, in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, please swear to me, by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you will also deal kindly with my father's household, and give me a pledge of truth.

And spare my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver out our lives from death. So the men said to her, Our life for your, if you do not tell this business of ours. And it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you. Then she let them down by a rope through the window. For her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. Did you get that? You need to remember that. I'll come back to it.

And she said to them, Go to the hill country. Lest the pursuers happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterwards you may go on your way. And the men said to her, We shall be free from this oath. to you which you have made us swear, unless when we come into the land you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window Through which you led us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father's household.

And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street. His blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free. But anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear. And she said, According to your words, so be it. So she sent them away, and they departed and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. And they departed, and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned.

Now the pursuers had sought them all along the road, but had not found them. Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them. And they said to Joshua, Surely the Lord has given all the land into our hands, and all the inhabitants of the land, moreover, have melted away. Before us. Great st. But let me talk to you first of all about the character of Rah.

The first thing you need to know about Rah is that she was a Gentile. She was a foreigner. She was outside the covenant promises of God. She was without hope. And she was that without God in this world. In fact, you can sum it up by looking at Ephesians chapter 2, verse number 12, when the Lord God said these words. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

You see, a person who doesn't know God is without God, is without hope, has no hope. That was Rah. She had no life. She was a prostitute. She was a harlot. That's what got her from day to day. But she had no hope. She was a foreigner. She was outside the covenant promise of God. She had not been entrusted with the word of God. The oracles of God were given to Israel. Romans 3, verses 1 to 2, tell us that the oracles of God were given to the Jewish people. Not only was she a Gentile and a foreigner, she was an Amorite.

Now that was a bad thing. Why was that a bad thing? Because she was a member of a tribe destined for destruction. Remember way, way, way back in our study of the book of Genesis, chapter 15, verse number 16, when God told Moses that he will let the people go. When the sins of the Amorites had been filled up, he said, Genesis 15, verse number 16. Then in the fourth generation they shall return here. Where's here? The promised land. For the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete. The iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.

Now, in Joshua 2. The iniquity of the Amorite is complete. That is, they have had their fill of their sin. They have gone through life living just as they want to live. Filling up their lives with their own iniquity. Talks to us about the grace of God, doesn't it? You know, God doesn't kill people just automatically when they sin. If that was the case, we would all have died in the womb. Okay? Because we were conceived in sin. But just the very fact that we came out of the womb and that we breathed this beautiful brown air in Los Angeles and we were able to live a week and then a year and two years and three years and 40 years and 50 years is all because of the grace of God.

Of God. We forget that. We live each day by the grace of God. Every breath we take is by the grace of God. The wages of sin is death. But the grace of God is something that allows us to continue to live from day to day because He wants us to be with excuse. And the iniquity of the Amorites has now been filled up. And now Israel is going into the promised land. And Rah was a person who was destined to die unless somehow God would intervene. Isn't that how salvation works? We're all destined to die.

We're all destined to a life without God. We're all destined to die not only physically, but die in a way where we would be. Eternally separated from God forever, except for the grace of Almighty God. She was an Amorite destined for Destruction. But not only that, she was a harlot. She was a prostitute. And isn't it interesting that when the spies went out and they went to Jericho, they went to her house. Why did they choose her house? Maybe it was a great plan. I mean, after all, she would be taking in strangers all the time, right?

So these two men who would come in would be strangers. They would be less likely they would be questioned as to why they were there or what they were doing. But think of it this way: it could be, it could be. That she at this time, and I believe it is, has already trans from that way of life. The Bible never tells us that the spies knew that she was a harlot. We know according to Hebrews 11 and James chapter 2 That she had already come to faith in God before she received the spies. So it could be that she had a house that would board people or board visitors and she was gainfully employed Through the weaving and making of garments, thus all the the flax on top of her roof But the providence of God would bring them together.

That's important for us to grasp. We need to understand that. But more about that in a second. So she was a woman who was a Gentile. She was a foreigner. She was outside the covenant promises of God. She was a prostitute. She was an Amorite. But you know what? She was saved. She was born again. She had given her life to Christ. It's the sinners who recognize their need are the ones who become saved. The righteous, the self-righteous, don't recognize their need. For a Savior. And this woman, according to Hebrews 11 and James 2, had already given her life to Christ.

had already believed in the Lord God of Israel, had already exercised faith in the living God. Listen, with very little information about God. We'll talk more about that in a minute. But this is that woman. This is the character of Rahab. In verse number one, I want you to notice something that says Then Joshua, the son of nun, sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim.

That means that nobody in Israel knew they were leaving. By nature, spies are secretive people, right? So he's not going to reiterate that the spies are going to be in secret in Jericho. He sends them out secretly. Joshua had learned well over the last 40 years. He had learned that, you know, he's not going to gather the people around and tell them everything so that they are well informed as to what's happening. The people of Israel were on a need to know basis, and they were not in need to know about the two spies that were being sent out.

And you will note that at the end, they come back and they report back to Joshua. They don't come back and report back to the people. Joshua's been through that scenario. He's not doing that again. He's learned well. He's sending them out, and they're coming back directly to him, not to the multitude. He's only going to send two. He's not going to send 12. He learned that lesson too. And by the way, did you notice that the names of the spies were not mentioned?

But Rah's name was mention. It wasn 't just a woman. It wasn 't just a harlot. It wasn 't just a city member. It was a specific woman who had a name. Her name is to be remembered forever. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7, verse number 1, that a good name is better than a good ointment.

In the book of Proverbs, the 22nd chapter, it tells us that a good name is to be desired more than great riches. Psalm 112, verse number 6 says that the righteous will be remembered forever. God intends that you remember Rahab forever. And the reason she's referred to as a harlot is to accentuate the grace of God, not her past profession. He wants you to understand how the grace of God was operative in this woman's life and in the whole scenario of Israel coming in and overtaking Jericho. God wants you to understand that.

But I find it rather interesting that the two spies don't have names. They got names. We just don't know who they are. But we sure do know who Rah is, don't we? Even when you read the New Testament, she can't be missed. Because God wants you to remember Rahab. Second thing I want you to see is the courage of Rah.

That 's in verses 2 to 7. This woman had great courage. This woman had to stand alone amidst the skeptics. We know of no other believer in Jericho. In fact, in Joshua chapter 6, we'll see that when the city is destroyed, everybody dies, except those In Rahab's house, just like the spies said. Meaning that no one else knew of the living God. And we'll talk more about that in a second.

But here was a woman who had to stand alone. That's courage enough, right? Here was a woman who had a past profession that when people would look at her, would look at her in a degrading kind of way.

So she was kind of out on an island all by herself. And lo and behold, these spies would come to her establishment, to her place of residence. Folks, that is the providence of Almighty God. God didn't say, listen, when you get to Jericho, there's a woman there named Rah. Seek her out, find her, she'll hide you, she'll protect you. How did they know that Rah believed in the one true God? They didn't know. But the providence of God is at work here, you see. And, you know, we go through life thinking, you know, what am I going to do?

If I go to this school, I might not ever meet anybody, and I might not ever get married. If I go to the mission field, I might not ever find someone to marry. If I go over here, well, you know, how's God ever going to get me a job? You know, we've minimized the providence of God. God just works it all out. And we are so worrisome about what's going to happen next, and where the next paycheck is going to come from, and if I'm ever going to have a baby, or if I'm ever going to have a job. Or, if I'm ever going to get married, or if things are ever going to work out well for me this way or that way, or if things are ever going to take place in my life, and they took place in somebody else's life.

God's at work, friends. The story of Rahab tells you about the providence of Almighty God, that He is completely in control of every situation. That God has a specific place, a specific person inv when it comes to your life. We so easily forget that, don't we? I remember when my first wife contacted cancer and I'd just been released from my job.

That's another way of saying I got fired from my job. And so I was looking, I sent out 7 resumes. To Christian colleges across the country. Seventy-tw. Nobody called. Nobody called. Can you believe nobody called? I mean, come on. Look at me, man.

I'm not that bad. Somebody would have had to call, but nobody called. Until one day the phone rang, and it was the president of the King's College, Dr. Bob Cook, the late Dr. Bob Cook. And you know, God just worked it out. I really truly wanted to come to a college on the West Coast. I really wanted to be out here in California. And so, you know, of the 72 applications that I sent out, probably about 25 of them went to Schools on the west coast, but you know what? God opened the door because God knew that my wife would die, and God knew that I had to find a wife, and my wife would be at the King's College.

That's where I met Lori. Of course, we got married. The rest is history. 800 kids later, we're off the races, you know what I'm saying? But see, God just works it out, God's in charge. It's the providence of God. He knows what he's doing. And God knew what he was doing with the spies. God knew what he was doing with Rahab because God knew what he was doing with Israel. Remember, I told you a few weeks ago in church that everything in the world happens for the sake of Israel.