Rahab's Faith

I've been often asked over the years What is my favorite book of the Bible? Well, I respond by saying my favorite book of the Bible is the one we're studying

So that would be Job and Hebrews Someone say what is your your favorite verse? It's usually the one That I'm on that week It's usually my favorite verse What's your favorite story in the Bible? Well, it's the one I'm covering that week whether it's Old Testament or New Testament Because whatever the book is whatever the verse is Whatever the narrative is it's all pointing to the same God the true and living God the God of Israel And because it points us in that direction No matter what the verse no matter what the story no matter what the book It's all extremely important today is Like no other day or is like any other day when it comes to the study of the scriptures Because you come to a verse that gives us a narrative About a lady a Lady, we all know fairly

Well Her name is Rahab Rahab the harlot It reads this way

He was 11 verse 31 by faith faith Rahab the harlot Did not perish Along with those who were disobedient After she had welcomed the spies In peace This verse is so important because Not only does it tell us about? Rahab's faith in the true and living God But it gives us so much information About the power and the providence of God Rahab is mentioned along with the patriarch in James chapter 2 For Abraham and Rahab are mentioned side by side about two people to Old Testament individuals who lived by faith and Their works proved their faith James chapter 2 verse 25 says in the same way Was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works? 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 so Rahab is mentioned in James 2 alongside of the great patriarch So you have a prostitute and a patriarch? both whose works proved their faith in Hebrews 11 Rahab is a second woman named She's the third woman in Hebrews 11, but she's the second woman named The first woman was Sarah Sarah was a princess

That's her name means Rahab was a prostitute but both lived by faith the second woman in between Sarah and Rahab is a parent Jacobet the parent of Moses the mother of Moses

She was mentioned before we stay the life of Moses So here's Rahab in James 2 the prostitute alongside a patriarch Hebrews 11 the prostitute is alongside a princess and the parents all living by faith What does a prostitute a Princess and a parent all have in common the commonality is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ How many times you hear people go to church say well, you know, I love that church But I just don't have anything in common with those people

What does that mean? Or our children go to youth ministry say well, you know, I want to be a part of that youth ministry But we don't have anything in common with those people What do you mean anything in common? If you love the Lord right and you give me life to Christ you have everything in common with the people of God No matter if they live in a in America or they live overseas or they go to a small church or a big church if you are Believing the Lord Jesus Christ and so are they You have the only thing that matters in Common and that is faith in Jesus Christ our Lord but Matthew 1 Also tells us a little bit about Rahab because she is in the genealogy of the Messiah the Bible says Solomon was the father of Boaz by Rahab Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth and Obed the father of Jesse

Jesse was the father of David the king So here is this woman He was 11 verse 31 a Prostitute in the same hall of faith as a princess and a parent in the same chapter that deals with faith and how works prove your faith with the patriarch and now before all that She's in the genealogy of the Messiah now for a woman To be named in a Jewish Genealogy is rare For a woman to be named in a Jewish genealogy Who's not a Jew is? really rare But in Matthew 1 you have Rahab Bathsheba Tamar and Ruth Tamar an incest incestuous woman Bathsheba an adulterer Rahab a prostitute and Ruth a Canaanite all in the genealogy of the Messiah Because Those people are not on display the grace of God in Their lives is what's on display when it comes to the genealogy of the Messiah But I'm way ahead of myself because there's so much in Hebrews 11 31. I gotta take you all the way back to Joshua chapter 2 So if you got your Bible turn back with me if you would to Joshua chapter 2 and let's unfold the story Maybe a very familiar story to you But our prayer today is that we will be able to come up with some things that will help you understand the uniqueness of this this harlot turned Heroin by the one true God of Israel Joshua chapter 2 verse number 1 begins this way 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 to the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab and Lodged there

There is so much in that verse

It's overwhelming To begin to begin to realize that Joshua sends out two spies, right? Two spies why because he's learned well not to send 12 spies Okay, and when they come back they report back to him not to the people again He learned well because way back in the book of Numbers Twelve spies were sent out and when they came back they reported to the people not to Moses So Joshua sends out two spies Not twelve make sure that when they come back they report only to him not to the people because Joshua was learned so well But note the job the spies have no names But there is one person named That's Rahab The harlot Why is that Why is her name mentioned but the two spies names are not mentioned Because God doesn't want you to forget Rahab That's why she's in James 2 Matthew 1 Hebrews 11 Psalm 112 verse number 6 The name of the righteous is to be remembered forever Bible tells us in Proverbs 22 that a good name is better than great riches Ecclesiastes 7 verse number 1 a good name is better than a good ointment Rahab Had a good name a great name But why is she always called the harlot? Rahab the harlot Rahab the harlot it's because God wants you not to remember her profession as much as his power that changed Her profession From a prostitute to one who truly believes in the Son of God Let's look first of all at the character of Rahab right the character of Rahab First of all, you have to know that Rahab was a Gentile She was a Gentile and Because she was a Gentile she was a a foreigner and Because she was a foreigner she was without God and without hope Remember what it says over in Ephesians chapter chapter 2 verse number 12 when it says this it says Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ excluded from the commonwealth of Israel strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in The world that's the unbeliever The Gentile is without God and without hope if you don't have God you have no hope with God There is hope right? Well, here is Rahab

She's a Gentile She is without hope in this world, but on top of all that she is an Amorite and Because she was an Amorite She was destined to be obliterated she was destined to die Way back in the book of Genesis the 15th chapter when God is speaking to Abraham and God tells Abraham that Israel will be in bondage for 400 years he tells him that in advance so that they will know this is where they're going He says this as for you, you shall go to your father's in peace You will be buried at a good old age then in the fourth generation They will return here for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete But when you come to Joshua chapter 2 the iniquity of the Amorite is Now complete that is they've had their fill of sin and God says that's it

So not only is she a Gentile she is an Amorite She's excluded from the life of God she has no hope and she's destined to die without God That is the characteristic of every unbeliever, right? Every unbeliever is without God without God

They have no hope and the destination the destination is an eternity separated from the Living God and And except God steps in by his grace you will never be saved and God steps in in Rahab's life and does something unique and saves her Because she has no hope She doesn't know God She is destined to die without God Unless God steps in and saves her That's the way it is for every unbeliever unless God steps in and saves you You are destined to a life without God And that's what God does in the life of Rahab But not only was she a Gentile not only was she a foreigner Not only does she have a life without God

Not only was she an Amorite, but she was a prostitute She was a harlot And the Bible reiterates that over and over again so the question is why is it two spies find themselves lodging with a prostitute How do you reconcile that It's not that difficult first of all If you're a stranger in Jericho and you're a Jew And you don't want to be recognized You do what all the other strangers do Go to house of harlotry

No one would ever question that right? But it goes way beyond that Because if you read he was 11, which we did James 2 which we did It tells us that she had come to faith Before she received the spies So, how is it the spies knew to go to Rahab's house They weren't told that by Joshua Joshua didn't say okay Listen when you go spy out Jericho, there's a lady there who's given her faith in the Lord God of Israel Find her and lodge with her

No because Joshua had no idea So, how did they know to go to Rahab's house This is the providence of God at work My friends you need to understand God's providence at work in your life These two spies Had no idea that this woman Rahab was a prostitute having given her life to the Living God now she was having a home that was Making clothes as we will read on in the story

That's what a new profession was But they had no idea Let me tell you something if you're a believer and God wants to hook you up with another believer That's the providence of Almighty God God's at work God does that you ever met those people say well, you know if I if I stay if I stay here if I stay here I'll never find a husband, right? I'll never find a wife Really you just denied the providence of God And what's the providence of God the providence of God are the details of God's decrees It's the outworking of God's sovereignty piece by piece There are people say well, well if I go to this school, I might not get this job really How do you know that? How do you know that if I if I stay in, California, I might not be able to make it So I'll move out of California How do you know that You see we easily deny the providence of God working in our lives every single day God is at work as he was in the life of the two spies as he was in the life of Rahab, how did they connect? Sovereignty of God God's providence Working things out My friends you need to understand that God is working out every detail of your life Where you live who you marry how many kids you're going to have what job you're going to have your health He is working all those things out after the counsel of his own will He's either in charge of everything or he's in charge of nothing And he's in charge of everything The providence of God is is crucial like a job, right? Satan is called the Satan in Job chapter 1 He's called the Satan the adversary But guess what? He's God's Satan he's God Satan Why because God's in charge of him Job asked asked for I mean, yeah, Satan has to ask permission But Satan's uh is rebellious in nature So why does he just rebel against God and kill Job anyway? Because he can't Why because he's accountable to the true and living God He can't take a step Without approval from God That's how provident Providence works God's in charge of everything. I Can remember when I had you know There's no the story when I had lost my job and I was looking for a new job and my wife had cancer and I Had no insurance didn't know what to do Resumes all around the country because there was no email at that time

There were no cell phones No text messages This is way back in the 80s, right? And so I had to send out 72 resumes by mail and wait for someone to call me or Respond back if they called I had to be home because if I wasn't home, I wouldn't be able to see the phone call Why didn't have cell phones? And so God was at work, but I only got one phone call only one out of 72 resumes I got one response You would think I'd get more responses to that right? Come on

Look at me. I'm not that bad-looking You think someone respond but only one responded why because I was only gonna go to one place one place Okay All the while my wife had cancer Didn't know when she was gonna die or if she was gonna die, but she did all the while Lori is looking for a school to go to and she's off to Wheaton That's where she's gonna go but God changed everything gave her scholarship So now she goes to Kings the province of God, right one response one phone call Get the job offer take the job Take my wife with me

She ends up dying and Then I meet the young lady who was on her way to Wheaton But received a scholarship from Kings and decided to go there instead because it was closer to home Met her 36 years later eight kids later That's the story But it's all about the providence of Almighty God And I can go through every one of my children from Drew to Ashley to Aaron to Anna to Kate and detail The province of God working in their lives that brought them together with their soul mate and their lives Why because God's in charge And as God was in charge of the two spies He was in charge of Rahab's life because they walked by faith and not by sight I being in the way justice 24 the Lord led me

Our responsibility is to be in the way

What's the way? It's the way of righteousness according to book of Proverbs Because trade but child in the way he should go and when he's old he will not depart from it What's the way book of Proverbs is the way of righteousness versus the way of unrighteousness versus the way of wickedness So we are to be in the way we are to be doing what God's called us to do and not be so preoccupied about what's gonna happen next but be preoccupied with Obedience to God and doing what he says and everything will begin to unfold as God has it The sovereignty of God Manifesting itself in God's providence Here was a woman Who was an Amorite a Gentile a foreigner? But yet she was saved

She was born again She had given her life to the true and living God and now she's walking by faith

The spies are walking by faith and God brings these three people together Because God has a plan for Israel By the way, everything about the providence of God is about Israel remember that It's all about the future of Israel God has a plan That's why she says I know that God has given you this land How does a prostitute know that God gave Israel that land but people today don't know that God has given Israel that land How does she know that? Because she believed in the true living God see Everything that was happening was happening for the sake of Israel and the province of God was already at work with the Exodus from Egypt and the death of Pharaoh's army So that one woman Rahab would hear about that death and that destruction and give her life to the Lord God in his providence would kill an entire army to save one harlot That she might follow the Lord in obedience And upon saving her house the two spies upon housing the two spies Have a way for Israel to destroy the city see God's at work and One thing you need to know about the life of Rahab is that God is providentially in control of every single event of your life That nothing happens without him being intricately involved with That is so important my friends So here was the character of Rahab an unbeliever But by faith gives her life to the Lord which leads us to number two the courage of Rahab the courage of Rahab Listen to this It was told the king of Jericho saying behold men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight To search out the land and the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab saying bring out the men who have come to you who have entered your house for they have come to search out 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 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 or 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 the courage of You see she had faith in God and because she had faith in God she had no fear of the king And I know this is gonna come so let me answer it for you

Yeah, but she lied She lied and The great thing about this story is that everybody who loves situational ethics will use this story to prove That there is a reason to lie I Think about this with me If you ask me, is there a reason to lie ever ever ever ever ever under any circumstances? I'm gonna ask you answer that with this question

Is there any Any way any reason for you to take the name of the Lord God of Israel in vain? Is there a time for you ever to steal is there ever a time that's okay to commit adultery Is it ever okay to dishonor your parents Because you see two lies to break a commandment if you're gonna break that commandments will break them all right if it's okay to lie It's okay to commit adultery If it's okay to lie and to steal to feed those who are hungry or to lie to protect Jews from the Nazis It's okay to commit adultery It's okay to steal It's okay to take the name of the Lord God in vain Is it? It's not It never is See why that's kind of harsh pastor Listen, I didn't make the came a hemisphere God did God never commended Rahab because she lied She committed he commended her because of her faith Not because she lied So, please remember this it's very important you say well There are so many illustrations

What about the midwives in Exodus chapter 1 they lied, right? No, they didn't Yes, they did Nope You read it wrong

Turn to Exodus chapter 1 Turn to Exodus chapter 1. I'll prove it to you Exodus chapter 1 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives verse 15 One of whom was named Shapara and the other was named Pua He said when you're helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool If it is a son, then you shall put him to death But if it is a daughter, then you shall Then she shall live but the midwives Feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them why have you done this thing and let the boys live The midwives said to Pharaoh because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women For they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them So God was good to the midwives and the people multiplied and became very mighty because the midwives feared God He established households for them Does it ever say they lie At best you can say they delayed in arriving Okay, they willfully delayed in arriving at the birth of the child But it never says they lied to the king about the child being a boy or girl doesn't say that So, please read the text when you want to go through your situational ethics class and bring it up to say Well, you know, it's okay to lie to protect someone

Ah So now what you're saying? It's okay to lie because I can protect someone better than God can I'm a better protector of man than God is you mean to tell me pastor that if someone came to your house and said I'm gonna kill your wife Is she here you wouldn't lie. I'd say no I wouldn't lie Why would I lie? Why would I lie thinking that that's gonna protect my wife when the creator of the universe the Almighty God Who controls everything is more powerful than the person standing at my door? Come on people

What do we believe about God? Do we truly believe he is a God of Israel who is omnipotent and all-powerful? And it can protect and preserve you through everything that happens in life, or do you not believe that? See, do you mean that tell me that Corrie ten Boom was wrong and lying? Yes I'll tell you that

Yes, she was Because she broke a command of God What was was was was King David wrong and having an affair with that Sheba Was he of course he was Did God override all that? Yeah, because through Bathsheba came who? Solomon and God can override all those things because God's bigger than your sin

God's bigger than Rahab sin God is in charge of everything But we want to make excuses for the things that we do saying well I can protect someone's life if I lie They'll be safe as if you're greater and more powerful than the God of the universe Well, how about Abraham the great patriarch he lied, oh, yeah, he did right Why well because he trusted in his own understanding and did not trust in God He was in Canaan and there was a famine in Canaan So what did he do? Did he pray? No, they trust God No, what did he do? He leaned on his own understanding

So what did he do? He went to another country He went to a another state another state where he could make a living where the governor wasn't as strong and Nasty and like ours is and went to another state where he could buy a house in a Ford house Which another state where he could have car insurance and afford that because it was better

He leaned on his own understanding He didn't trust God and Because he didn't trust God what happened? Hagar, right There's been no peace in the Middle East since Because he lied worse than that It's just 20 lied again He lied again He lied about his wife Saying that she was his sister Which is half true because she was his half-sister, but a half-truth is a whole lie in God's economy, right? and so he he lied and It cost him dearly why because guess who followed his father's example Isaac Just 26 He lied as well You see when you lie Not only is your testimony tainted Not only is your character compromised

Okay, but your sons and daughters will follow suit They'll become liars as well Why would you want to align yourself? with the character of the father of lies Instead of aligning yourself with the character of the God of the universe who's the God of truth Ask yourself that question And then you can retake your situational ethics class and say you know what it's never right to lie Because never right to break a command of God no matter what I think about what's going on in life It's never right to break a command of God Because if it is it's right to break any command of God at any time

What is it? What about protecting someone else's life listen? Abraham lied to protect his own life Rahab lied to protect the spies life Abraham Didn't want to die Tell them you're my sister so I don't die He was into self-preservation That's why he lied Rahab lied because she was into protecting the spine So so why did she lie? Why did she just tell the truth? Well First of all She didn't have the Ten Commandments The oracles of God were not given to the Gentiles

They're given to the Jews Romans 3 verses 1 and 2 So she didn't have the Ten Commandments Number two, she's probably a new believer What are new believers do? New believers do what they've always do Because they don't know all that they need to know about God and obedience to him and in following him So she did she reverted back to her old way of life because that's all she knew But she did believe in the Lord God of Israel and she wanted to protect these men So she did what she could but God never commended her because of her lie Never once does God do that because God's the God of truth Right

Why would he commend her because of her lie? He commenced it because of her faith in him she believed in the true and living God and Therefore she hid the spies because she wasn't afraid of the king And so she did what she thought was the right thing to do Even though it was wrong God would override all of her wrong to bring about his perfect purposes because God Providentially is in charge of every single thing and no sin that you ever commit is bigger than the province of God Working out the counsel of his own will God's in charge And got to work it out

So you move from the character of Rahab to the Courage of a head to the confession of Rahab

Look what says in verse number Number eight Now before they laid down she came up to them on the roof and said to the men I know that the Lord has given you the land how she know that and That the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted before your eyes That's almost a direct quote from the Song of Moses and X is 15 verses 14 and 15 In fact, I'm gonna read it to you Exodus chapter 14 I'm sorry, exodus chapter 15 verse number 14 the peoples have heard they trembled anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed the leaves of Moab tremble trembling grips them All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away terror and dread fall upon them by the greatness of your arm They are motionless as stone until your people pass over O Lord until the people pass over whom you have purchased You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance The place O Lord, which you have made for your dwelling the sanctuary O Lord Which your hands have established the Lord shall reign forever and ever So they would go back and she would go back and say our house

Our hearts have have melted Before the Lord Because we have found out what has taken place And it says 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 Emirates Who were beyond the Jordan to Sahan and Og whom you utterly destroyed when we heard it our house melt our hearts melted 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 her faith puts Israel's faith to shame This is all the knowledge she had what she said, this is your land Your Lord is the one true God Your Lord is a God of Israel He is the one we follow

He's the one I serve our house melted before him and Yet she believed without reservation No other Amorite in the city believed but she did all of their hearts melted but hers melted to a point where she acted upon the terror of the Lord and She feared the true and living God This is her confession what a statement Do you know the Bible calls the God the God of Israel? 203 times the Lord God of Israel 108 times

God has never called the God of United States of America Did you know that? He's never called the God of China He's never called the God of Hungary the God of Sweden the God of England He's only the God of Israel did you know that? Because you see unless you believe in the Lord God of Israel, you can't be saved

That's who he is He is the Lord God of Israel and she believed that she understood that and she knew that Israel's God was the only true God So she confessed him as such and she believed and that's the courage of Rab If you read on down to the story you begin to understand that the concern that Rahab had for a family that she wanted a family to stay and Remain alive And so the two spies told her and I'll just I'll just Briefly go over with you the two spies told her look if you if you do everything we say You and your family will survive now

The key is where do we have live? Bible tells you that she let down By a rope through the window for a house was on the city wall verse 15 Ram's house was on the city wall The spies had no idea about the plan to destroy the walls of Jericho That's not the Joshua 6

That was last week's sermon, right? They had no idea They just knew that if she did not We make our word she kept her word that she in her household Would be spared and so what happens in Joshua 6 they're told about marching around the city wall And marching around it once a day for six days seven times on day number seven and the walls will come crumbling down What are the two spies going to do now How do we get word to Rahab? If the walls are gonna come down How are we gonna tell Rahab we can't text her we can't email her We can't private message her we can't walk around the wall saying you know Rahab Hey, get out of there while you can the walls are coming down How do they get word to Rahab? They can't So what do they do? They can only trust in the true and living God To spare her They can only trust in God So when the walls come down in Joshua chapter 6 everything comes down except one little section That's where Rahab lives he tells no don't go out of the house Put the scarlet thread outside your house

Okay? But don't come out of your house Stay there You can imagine they're in the house and they hear all this noise Okay, we're talking 46 feet of wall come tumbling down all around them Two two tiered walls coming down Can you imagine the noise and they're in the house thinking? What on earth is happening on the outside of us? They have no idea until they open the door and realize that they're the only house standing and Everything else is destroyed around them The walls came tumbling down Again, the province of God was at work

God was at work in the life of Rahab and their family And he spared them Why? Because she lived a life of obedience That's what Hebrews 11 is all about by faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were Disobedient what they disobeyed to? they were disobedient to the same things that she had heard and believed about the Lord God of Israel and that The land they were on was Israel's land and not the Amorites land They believed or she believed in the one true God of Israel

They disobeyed that they did not believe that she welcomed the spies in peace Why? Because she trusted in the true and living God here is a woman Who lived by faith? Which goes to tell me no matter what your background is, no matter what you've done God can save you and transform your life Because his his power in his providence is Bigger than whatever profession you're in engaged in whatever sinful behaviors are engaged in that's why in first Corinthians 6 it tells us that the Adulterer and the effeminate person and the murderer and the slander will not inherit the kingdom of heaven but such were Some of you, but you were washed You were cleansed by the blood of the Lamb Here was Rahab Who had been cleansed? She lived by faith She walked by faith not by sight She becomes the great heroine of Hebrews 11 James 2 Matthew 1 Joshua 2 Why? Because she put all of her faith in the Lord She believed what God said She believed Absolutely and behaved accordingly Does it mean that when you're saved you don't sin Because she did But God's bigger than your sin God's more powerful than then the decisions that we make Because he has a greater purpose That he's going to accomplish And nothing will stop that happening Because God's in charge Seems to in your life in mind And my prayer for you is that you would learn to trust God even all the more as Rahab did as a spies did Realizing that God's a complete control of everything Let's pray Father thank you for today the opportunity you give us to study your word We are a blessed people Our prayer father is that you teach us to follow you To live by faith Not by sight To trust you for everything Lord Knowing that you are sovereign over all The promise of God is working every detail of every single day out Exactly as you planned For that we are grateful in Jesus name Amen