Joshua 2:1-24, The Covenant With Rahab

turning your Bibles to the book of Joshua we're gonna continue our study in the book of Joshua and now we're going to really start racing through the text we're gonna do the entire second chapter of Joshua as we try to give you a great big picture remember what we've been talking about the Joshua is a book where you go from bondage slavery to recovery to victory and they're getting ready to enter the land but before they do there's an exciting thrilling spy story that's going to unfold some of you may not have read this since you were kids in in Sunday school but turn in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 2 we're gonna look at the the whole chapter and a message I'm in Title II the Covenant with Rahab Joshua chapter 2 beginning in verse 1 let's pray Heavenly Father again we thank you for this time Lord we know that when we open up the Bible we're opening up truth provision resource nourishment Lord we know that the Bible is a lamp so that we can see its nourishment to our soul and Lord it provides us direction for our life and Heavenly Father we know that we're living in a world that's fast approaching judgment Lord we look around ourselves and we see the malls and we see the houses and we see the material things and sometimes we forget that it's a world that's been placed under judgment but Lord we thank you that grace precedes judgment and that we live in a time and have this wonderful opportunity that we can tell our family and we can tell our friends that there's life and there's hope and there's forgiveness and the person of our Savior Jesus Christ so again Lord I pray that you would open up our hearts you would open up our eyes and you would give us a wonderful opportunity to glorify you and perhaps make a difference in someone's life in Jesus name Amen Joshua chapter 2 beginning in verse 1 it says now Joshua the son of nun sent out two men from acacia Grove to spy secretly saying go view the land especially Jericho so they went and they came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there and it was told the king of Jericho saying behold men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country so the king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying bring out the men who have come to you who have entered your house for they have come to search out all the country then the woman took the two men and hid them so she said yes the men came to me but I did not know where they were from and it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out where the men went I do not know pursue them quickly for you may overtake them but she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid an order on the roof then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan to the Fords and as soon as those who pursued 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 are faint-hearted because of you for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you and when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the amorite and who were on the other side of the Jordan Sea hone and AAG whom you utterly destroyed and as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you for the Lord your God He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath now therefore I beg you swear to me by the Lord since I have shown you kindness that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token and spare my father my mother my brothers my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives from death so the men answered her our lives for yours if none of you tell this business of ours and it shall be when the Lord has given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with you then she let them down by a rope through the window for her house was on the city wall she dwelt on the wall and she said to them get to the mountain lest the pursuers meet you hide there three days until the pursuers have returned afterward you may go your way so the men said to her we will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear unless when we come into the land you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down and unless you bring your father your mother your brothers and all your father's household to your own home so it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of the house into the street his blood shall be on his own head and we will be guiltless and whoever it is with you in the house his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him and if you tell this business of ours then we will be free from your which you made us swear then she said according to your words so be it and she sent them away and they departed and she bound the Scarlet cord in the window they departed and went to the mountain and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned the pursuers sawed them all along the way but they did not find them so the men returned descended from the mountain and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of nun and told him all that had befallen them and they said to Joshua truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted because of us The Book of Joshua began with a commission to Joshua now it continues with a covenant with Rahab perhaps one of the most unlikely subjects that you think would enter into a covenant now again in this second chapter it's kind of a spy thriller I don't know if you are a James Bond fan or a spy thriller fan or a Jason Bourne fan so I've decided to do the rest of the sermon in my shot and cognitive voice no I'm not going to do that I was just teasing you just a little but wouldn't that be great if we could do it in Sean Connery and make it really feel like a spy thriller but like any good spy thriller in order for the story to be riveting the stakes have to be very very high and in this story the consequences of the drama are going to save Rahab and her family but it's also going to set in motion a series of events that are going to have a final fruition in the book of Matthew and in the genealogy of Jesus to the coming of the Lord this is the story of two spies and a brave woman who's going to risk everything to save them but in the process of risking everything to save them she's also going to save her family the woman's conversion is also going to take place in the most unlikely place and she's going to become an ancestor of Jesse and David and Jesus so look again in verse 1 now Joshua the son of nun sent out two men from the Acacia Grove to spy secretly saying go view the land especially Jericho so they went and they came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there now again the story begins with the spies assignment the mission it's top secret it's classified now remember Joshua is a seasoned spy himself he along with Caleb and the other men were tasked with spying out the land and his experience at Kadesh Barnea left a permanent scar in his heart from numbers chapter 13 and 14 those of you who are familiar you'll remember that the 12 spies went 10 of them delivered a bad report two of them delivered a good report but the mission was known to all of the people and so Joshua decides that he's going to conceal the mission even from the other tribe members just in case the spies come back with an unfavorable report now we learn about the the Acacia Grove in numbers chapter 25 verse 1 this is the last stop before you enter into the land so when you read Acacia Grove read the last stop before we enter into the place that God has given to us as a promise and so for me the Acacia Grove becomes a type if you will and a picture of the last moments of bondage and the numbing journey in the wilderness they're so close to entering the promised land now remember the mission it's to view the land and focus on Jericho if I were gonna make this into a made-for-tv movie I might have an exploding pot where you have the your mission should you decide to accept it is to spy out the land and particularly go into to Jericho because Jericho is a strategic city that controlled the trade routes now I didn't ask her to put up a map but if there was a map if we had a map of the promised land you'll note that where the Jericho River flows there is a passageway from the Acacia Grove to the place of Jericho which is really north of the Dead Sea and for those of you who have been to Jerusalem you know and you know if you've ever been to the Dead Sea the road goes from Jerusalem down to Jericho but Jericho is sort of in the center of the land if as a matter of fact if you have a Bible and if you have maps at the end of your Bible you you can see adjustable above Bethabara Jericho if you literally are unfamiliar with Bible lands think of the Sea of Galilee follow the Jordan River almost till it comes to the mouth of the Dead Sea just north of there that's Jericho and it's going to serve as a strategic entrance and it is a fortified city so this city is going to determine whether or not they are going to be able to continue not only to occupy the land but then to take over the land so remember within three days the people of Israel are going to break camp and they're going to come into the land so the spies make their way into the land and they find themselves in the house of a harlot named Rahab now just for your information this is all taking place about 1400 BC by the way out of all the people who lived in the city of Jericho in 1400 BC how many of the names do we know from that time period none Rahab is the only one we know she's the only one we're aware of living in the city now we're not even given the spies names or even the name of the king of Jericho we're only given her name and sheep he appears again an unlikely character to be the heroine of the story she's called a harlot I hope I don't have to spell out what that means but if you can imagine as a ha as a harlot she operates a house of prostitution she now - just to be fair both to the text into our story in the Hebrew language the word harlot is very much like another word called innkeeper and so you'll notice she is an innkeeper and Josephus later on will picture her as an innkeeper but I suspect that she's probably a harlot and an innkeeper why because of the repetition in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews and in the book of James where she is specifically called a harlot but what is really the point the real point isn't that she lives a life of sexual brokenness that the real point is that she's a sinner just like you just like me I want you to think for just a moment she is a person living in Jericho she is a sinner she is living in a city that's destined for judgment this is the story really of all humanity we are sinners we're living in a world that's destined for judgment and it so it gives us a picture of hope wicked individual living in judgment can experience God's grace and God's mercy people can turn to the Lord in faith and find deliverance so again when you're making your journey outside in the outside world and I'm sure that you've done this you've looked at at buildings and you've anticipated that one day they're no longer going to exist the shopping lights are gonna go off the buildings are going to crumble and then you start walking down the street and you look at the faces of the people and maybe just for a split moment you look in their face and you look in their eyes and you look at their lives and you ask yourself I wonder if that person saved I wonder if this person is just living a life of emptiness and sorrow apart from God now just for a moment we also want to pause and consider the claims of the critics The Critic claims that the God of the Bible and the God of Israel is embarking on a genocide acam pain to wipe out innocent people in order to occupy a land that doesn't belong to them but then for those of you who have been studying with us you'll remember that I've repeatedly told you when we looked at Joshua in the book of Exodus Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy did the Lord God repeatedly promised the land to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Moses also Jericho and its people were the object of God's divine judgment the Lord God reserved the right to use Joshua and the children of Israel to be the instrument of that divine judgment in other words the people of Jericho were hopelessly depraved and in case you don't believe me reread Leviticus chapter 18 verses 24 through 26 I'm tempted to go there I think I will in in Leviticus chapter 18 I didn't mark it so I didn't think I was going to go there but I think I must it says this some of you are familiar in verse 21 we go all the way you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech nor shall you profane the name of your God I'm the Lord you shall not lie with a male as with a woman is an abomination nor shall you mate with any animal defile yourself with any animal nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it stand it's a perversion no kidding do not defile yourselves with any of these things for by all these the nations are defiled which I'm casting out before you for the land is defiled therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it and the land vomits out its inhabitants you shall therefore keep my statutes my judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you he paints a picture of the grossest the most severe the most disgusting activities and behaviors of a people group imagine a nation that kills its own children in order to satisfy what it seems to please the gods imagine them with no prohibitions or restrictions of any kind whatsoever the people of Jarek imagine a city where almost everyone in it is like Jeffrey Dahmer or a serial killer so the people of Jericho are hopelessly depraved and they had chosen to fight and resist Israel instead of seeking mercy like Rahab and so this week an important point for you if we ask and we answer the question does God have the right to judge the world in which that he created I think that the answer is yes but think about our Joshua Jesus who says for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him wouldn't perish but have everlasting life and then Jesus says these words he says but God didn't send me into the world to condemn the world but that through me the world could be saved these people are going into this circumstance to spy out the land and this of course is the critics real concern does God have the right to punish sin the real concern of every critic to this story into the Bible is they're asking a different kind of a question and that is does God have a right to judge me to hold me accountable for what I am and what I've done I want you to think for a moment Rahab believes God Rahab believes that God is going to destroy Jericho she believes in the God who has liberated the children of Israel forty years earlier she believes it's strong enough that she's willing to turn her back on her own people and her own circumstances and what do we know about her again we know that she's a sinner we know again some early Jewish commentators and even Josephus suggests well maybe she's an innkeeper maybe it isn't as bad as all that but like I said in Hebrews eleven thirty when it says by faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she received the spies with peace James 2:25 likewise was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way the writers in the New Testament point to her faith that's informed by grace the text itself and the New Testament writers give us a picture of a person who's under condemnation God had already decided that he is going to overthrow and he's going to destroy Jericho it's just a matter of time everything everyone in the city is about to become completely wiped out do you think that the people inside felt they were doomed do you think that the people inside thought that they were safe I'm gonna suggest to you that they did think that they were safe they were living in a fortified city and we'll talk a little bit about that in just a moment of exactly what that means I'm gonna suggest to you that they probably for the most part felt like they could withstand whatever siege might be laid against them they didn't they didn't understand they didn't think they didn't really comprehend the fact that there was an imminent judgement that was about to take place and again just think about in our own culture in our own society are there people who think about the end of the world yes there are you know people envision an asteroid and coming out and wiping out the earth or some climate catastrophe or some nuclear exchange or some plague or something I mean I know that there are people who live in constant fear that the earth as we know it is going to come to an abrupt halt but I'm going to suggest to you that most people don't think that way most of your family and most of your friends and most of your neighbors they don't think that this could be their last day they don't think that this could be the last cup of coffee that they ever have they don't think that I could have a car accident they don't think like the Brazilian team that just crashed in column can you imagine when they go off they play a game they have every expectation people play soccer everywhere in South America played and planes are coming and going you expect your loved one on a plane to come home and then they don't and I'm gonna suggest to you that the vast majority of the people in Jericho had no idea what was about to befall them but also it becomes a type and a picture of the people that we live with most people who go to bed tonight will not even consider even for a moment what the Bible says about the future of humanity and so in verse 2 look what it says and it was told the king of Jericho saying behold men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out our country the secret mission is exposed this is a top-secret classified op how did they find out how was it how was the king of Jericho told how did they discover these guys now again we don't know how that happened is it possible that they look differently or they clothed their clothes were differently clearly these weren't people who normally would be in Jericho but Jericho was the crossroads of civilization the people from the north would usually come through Jericho as they're making their way through Egypt the Egyptians going up to Assyria are gonna make their way through Jericho it quite literally is a crossroads but we're not told how we they find out a great deal of archaeological research has been conducted in the ruins of Jericho I've had the privilege of being there three times in the last 30 years Jericho for the most part is closed because of the israeli-palestinian conflict Jericho is completely controlled by the way by the palace Palestinians but at the time of Joshua the city covered about eight acres that may not seem like very much to you this building is an acre so imagine a city that's about eight times the size of this church we also know that there was an outer wall and an inner wall the inner wall was twelve feet thick and the outer wall was six feet thick both the inner wall and the outer wall was about 30 feet high an excavation show that the walls were violently destroyed and burnt in times past so we have great archaeological evidence to support the Bible's account of what's going to happen at Jericho later on in Joshua chapter 6 but look at verse 3 so the king of Jericho sent 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 country so again why does the king seek out ray AB and how does he know that it's that Rahab has knowledge of the spies were not told but apparently they seem to have good information to support it so the king makes every effort to find these men now again we have every reason to believe that the spies were unaware of their danger at this point they have no idea that they've been found out they have no idea that they've been made they have no idea that the king is after them and so we might speculate how did they know again could be language could be tress could be physical appearance but we have to remember that Rahab saves them and spares their lives and one of the things that you should be thinking about even as you're looking at this text and you're reading it let me ask you the question could she have turned the men at any moment yeah she could have said you know what I'm not gonna play this game I'm here in Jericho I'm turning him over but she makes the courageous decision to hide them and not to reveal their presence and were given an answer in part in verses four through six look look again what it says then the woman took the two men and hid them so she said yes the men came to me but I did not know where they were from and it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out where the men went I don't know pursue them quickly for you may overtake them but she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid out in order on the roof now the the stalks or the stems of flax is a type of a plant if you will that they would soak in water and they would cut it in lengths of three or four feet and after soaking it in water they would put it on top of the roof to dry out because they're going to peel the stalks because they're they use this to make linen sheets or linen clothes or or fabric just like you would cotton and so apparently there is a roof and she's hiding them under there so again what would lead us to believe that Rahab has a change of heart that something is happening to her that that something dramatic and fundamental is changing inside of her and I'm gonna suggest to you that there are several reasons number one it would seem that she's willing to turn from her old lay life and embrace a new life with the children of Israel and the people of Israel something is happening to her she's living in a world where she sees and understands that whatever kind of a life that she has in the circumstance that she finds herself in is unacceptable and she is going to make one of the most courageous choices that you could ever make and that's to turn from people that you grew up with and that you cared about and to turn your back on them and identify with the people of God and the things of God clearly Rahab's actions are treasonable but her courage and other signs of faith include the fact that number one she hides the spies she admits that the strangers had come but she denies the knowledge of their intent and verse four she claims that the spies left the city before nightfall before the closing of the city gate however she doesn't know their whereabouts in verse five she suggests that she might that they might be captured at the guards act quickly in verse five she hides them on the roof under the stalks of the of the flax and people again the critic will say she lied just brought approve of lying and you know what the right answer to that is the right answer is of course God doesn't approve of lying the Bible doesn't say oh by the way we approve of lies the Bible rather approves of her faith and her courage the Bible doesn't seem to criticize her for lying but applauds her for her faith and for her courage this has prompted questions like if you were living in Nazi Germany in 1943 would you hide Jews if you're living in Mosul and 2016 and Muslim terrorists come because they're going to crucify Christian children and chop their head off are you going to protect them what are you willing to do to protect them and so we can debate the morality or we can remind ourselves that this woman desperate desperate to keep these men alive is going to make a very difficult choice in verse seven it says then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan to the Fords and as soon as those who pursued them in God out they shut the gate the king's patrol they leave they take her advice and they head out in hot pursuit and by the way the Fords are the place that you would go to the Jordan in order to cross the river but this gives us a geographical clue as to where Rahab's house was located the archaeologists reading the tax and thinking about the layout of Jericho on the eighth acre plain there's going to be a north side and there's going to be a south side and there's going to be an east side and there's going to be a west side and we know that her house is on the western wall it's the wall that faces the Judean mountains because on the eastern side is the Jordan and so she sends the soldiers in the opposite direction and so Rahab has made a decision she's gonna leave her old life she's going to embark on a new life with the people of God and that's what every single Christian does at some point in their life don't they they have to come to grips and they have to ask and answer the question am I going to identify myself with a world that's under judgment or or am I going to identify myself with God's Savior and with God's people and that's exactly what we do we forsake sin we embark on a new life in Christ we repent we turn from our sin we turn to the Savior in Acts chapter 17 verse 30 it says and the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commands all men everywhere to repent and Rahab is that that crossroads in her life what am I gonna do and how am I going to do it and again there are clues that are given to us Rahab believes the testimony concerning God in verses 8 through 11 look what it says now before they lay down she came up to them on the roof and said to them so in the story it's a flashback she's taking him up to the roof before they hide under the flax stalks that are there on the roof she has this conversation with them so this is a flashback that has taken place before she lies to the king and to the soldiers now before they lay down she came up to them on the roof and said to the man I know that the Lord has given you the land that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt and and what you did to the two kings of the amorite who were on the other side of the Jordan cyclone and oak whom you utterly destroyed and as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you for the Lord your God He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath listen carefully to what she's saying Rahab is making a confession I know that the Lord has given you the land think about that for just a moment the moment she admits I know that the Lord has given you the land she's admitting that their occupation their time is up Rahab believes the testimony of God she believes what she's heard about the true and living God again keep in mind Rahab could have betrayed them at any moment at any moment in any point in the process of this story she could have turned them in but she opens her heart to God and the spies under this strong conviction about her life and the life of her family and in that conviction she gives important information to the spies about the people and their state of mind this is the information that Joshua needs the people are gripped by terror and fear over the presence of Israel and Joshua needs to know that he needs to know their mind set the same is true for you you need to know the mindset of the people that you live with and that you talk to some of you remember what it was like to be unsaved you remember what it was like to live in the dark in the wickedness you remember what it was like to go to bed at night wondering and wonder if the Bible's true and I wonder if Jesus is really the Lord I wonder if there really is a heaven and and there really is a hell many of you may have grown up in a religious tradition and you believed it a little bit but not enough to sort of change your life or to change your mind some of you remember the mindset of what it was like to be an unbeliever what it was like to be terrified that you might die and that you're not ready Rahab confesses that the God of Israel is look what it says the God of heaven and earth in verse 11 and in that confession that God is personal and God is powerful and that he is supreme and that he is true and that the God worshiped by the it by the people of Israel could keep his promises to them about the land Rahab believes the testimony about God and what does that tell us about ourselves we too have to believe the Bible's testimony don't we we believe what the Bible says about God about Jesus about the truth of the human condition the truth of the future that we have now Rahab requests salvation for herself and her family in verses 12 through 16 look what it says now therefore she says I beg you swear to me by the Lord since I have shown you kindness that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token in other words a covenant an exchange give me something to know that I am going to be okay in verse 13 and spare my father my mother my brother's my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives from death so the men answered her our lives for yours remember all along all along can she turn the minute a moment could she say unless you're willing to spare my family I'm not willing to spare you could she have berated them and and and manipulated them and and been self-serving but she's not look what she says what they respond our lives for yours if none of you tell this business of ours and it shall be when the Lord has given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with you here's the deal don't betray us and we won't betray you verse 15 then she let them down by a rope through the window for her house was on the city wall she dwelt on the wall and she said to them get to the mountain lest the pursuers meet you hide there three days until the pursuers have returned afterward you may go your way in brief Rahab makes a desperate plea she pleased for life of her family to be saved from death she wants a guarantee of safety she wants no harm to come to her family in verse 12 she expresses the sincere belief that the people of Israel are they gonna win are they gonna lose they're gonna win they're going to prove victorious this is her way of saying I know you're going to win I know we're gonna lose I know that this city and everyone in it is destined to die the only way that's not going to happen is if you deal kindly with me that's what she's saying and so she wants the assurance in verse 14 spare my family and she's given the assurance the spies make an oath one that must be honored by Joshua and the incoming army in other words the spies are negotiating a deal and when they're negotiating this deal is Josh we're gonna have to honor the deal the answer's yes the spies pledged their word and their lives the spies are offering their lives in pledge for the promise their lives become the guarantee that Rahab and her family will be safe however again Rahab must not betray them if they're betrayed they were they're released from their oath and verse 20 now Rahab is going to demonstrate that faith in a real way in a tangible way in a recognizable way she's going to allow her faith to become real and then to be put into action and this is exactly what the New Testament writer says that Rahab isn't saved simply by faith but by works in what sense in the sense that what she deeply believes she's now going to have to act upon and she will demonstrate it in a recognizable way she's going to allow her faith to become real she helps the spies escape and even advises them to seek shelter in the mountains knowing that the Qing soldiers are in the opposite direction now think about what's happening she's calling on the spies to spare her family that's exactly what we do we call on the Lord to be saved we call on him because we believe in him and we trust in him in the New Testament it says believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord the Bible says call upon the Lord and He will save you in Romans chapter 10 verse 12 it says for there's no difference between Jew and Greek for the same lord over all is rich unto us that call upon him for whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved there's an invitation that a real God who can really help and so many times you have mothers and brothers and fathers and sisters and neighbors and friends and you say to them call on the Lord and they'll say well I prayed and he didn't listen what do you say to them the Bible says that if you'll call upon him he will listen the Bible note the Bible says he knows the truth about you and he knows the truth about your heart and he knows the truth about what you're willing to do or not do and this is what the Bible says that if you'll call on him he will save you and look Rahab receives instructions for herself and her family salvation at the end of the chapter look what it says in verse 17 so the men said to her we will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear unless when we come into the land you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down unless you bring your father your mother your brothers and all your father's household into your own house so it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street his blood shall be on his own head and we will be guiltless and whoever is with you in the house his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid upon him and if you tell this business of ours then we will be free from your oath which you made a swear then she said according to your words so be it and she sent them away and they departed and she bound the scarlet cord in the window now I want you to think about this the scarlet rope the scarlet cord it was a rope of some sort and it was the color of scarlet now think about this for just a moment it's tied at one end and it's dropped down this 30-foot wall and it becomes the instrument of the spies salvation they're gonna be safe from death because of that rope and her family is going to be saved from death because of that rope now many have seen again in the scarlet cord of Rahab a type a picture of safety through sacrifice Sir Arthur helps writes quote was anything real ever gained without sacrifice of some kind and I've told you repeatedly salvation in the Bible from a spiritual sense is always by grace it's always by faith it's always by a sacrifice it's always by a person so Rahab is given three conditions for saving herself and her family before leaving the spies spell out exactly what has to be done the conditions have to be followed to the letter number one look what it says Rahab must leave the scar rope lying in her house and then tie it to the window in verse 18 the Rope identifies her house as the house of safety the soldiers will pass by that house in other words they will execute judgment on the entire city but they will not execute judgment on that house it becomes a picture sacrifice a blood it becomes a type and a picture if you will just like the Passover lamb when the avenging angel comes for the children of Israel they see the blood on the doorpost and they pass their way there'll be more about this later number two Rahab has to bring her family into the house and keep them there in verses 18 and 19 she had to make sure that no one would leave the safe house if any member of her family would not come and would not stay if any member decided to rejoin the people of Jericho their rejoining a people destined for judgment and execution you don't have to be a theologian to figure this out do you the church isn't the safe house there's only one place where you can run to and be safe from a world that's destined to die it has to be a type and a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is why you invite your family and your friends you have to say to them you can come to my house and I hope you feel safe when you're at my house but in order for you to be saved from the coming judgment you have to run into the house that's been designated and number three Rahab must remain true to her promise she can't betray the spies but rather she's called upon to protect them in verse 20 if she breaks her commitment to protect them she will die by the way if she doesn't hang out the cord her house can't be identified as safe if she goes back to the people who are under judgment she can't be safe again all of this becomes a type in a picture for you as the Christian we trust Christ's blood we repent and separate from the world and we we must not turn back we must not turn back and your you will be tempted throughout your life I wonder I wonder if I should go back I wonder if I should go back to that life I wonder if I should go back to that world so again we see in these conditions a picture of ourselves and look at ray up saving faith finally it says they departed and went to the mountain and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned the pursuers sawed them all along the way but did not find them that so the two men returned descended from the mountain crossed over they came to Joshua the son of nun and told him all that had befallen them and they said to Joshua truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted because of us do you remember the information that they need what is their frame of mind what is their state of mind what is the preparation that they've made are they are they going to be physically mentally and emotionally capable of resisting us we know the answer and so what were the results of Rahab's faith think about what you've just read she saves the spies by the way she will save others the spies were able to return and give the full report to Joshua the spies take advantage and heed the advice of Rahab they stay in the Hills for the three days the kingsguard searches carefully doesn't bind them and when they couldn't find them they returned to the king with their own sad report and the spies returned to Joshua with their glad report clearly they spoke of Rahab's help and the promises made and by the way we see how all of this works out in Joshua chapter 6 verses 1 through 27 it's okay if you read ahead you won't get in trouble for reading ahead and look at the spies faith the Lord has given us the land the Canaanites panic-stricken and they are terrified I want you to think about this in relationship to yourself sometimes your family is gonna be terrified and panic-stricken that you decided to trust Jesus to love him and to serve him what did you do I became a Christian what I didn't raise you that way I raised you to be a heathen dog sinner like me it's terrifying to some of your family and friends when you say no I believe the world is under judgment I believe the only way I'm gonna escape judgment is to trust Jesus with my life the woman Rahab will find her way into the genealogy of Jesus she's a harlot a pagan a sinner condemned by God living in a city destined for judgment but then we see in her a picture of grace the city's been under condemnation and judgment by the way for 400 years but I'm gonna suggest something else to you when we fast-forward to matthew chapter 1 verse 5 we see one of the most remarkable passages in all of the scripture Salman begot Boaz by Rahab I want you to think about that purse she's a harlot but she's going to escape and she's going to identify with the people of God and you know what's in her future think about what you just read there's a wedding in her future she's gonna get married there's a wedding in her future she's gonna get married and she's going to have a baby and there's a wedding in your future it's called the marriage supper of the land there's a wedding in your future well you know what I've lived a pretty despicable life I know you don't have to tell me your Horror Story I've got my own but there's a wedding in your future and there's a wedding in her future because she's not simply going to be saved she's going to be saved for a purpose a harlot finds a husband and while Jericho perishes a marriage feast and a marriage ceremony is going to be a part of her future when this world perishes a marriage ceremony is gonna be a part of your future now now again Rahab is saved by faith she's not gonna be saved because she has an excellent character and she's not gonna be saved because she's very religious she's gonna be saved because she will turn from the world in which she lives and turn to a God who can spare her and make good his promises and she has to trust that whoever the spies report to let they'll keep their promise who to the spies report to who do you report to you report to Jesus they report to Joshua and we report to Joshua because you heard somebody say something a person said to you there's a God in heaven who loves you who's willing to forgive you and cleanse you and wash you if you'll turn from this world if you'll believe that it's under judgment and that he can save you and that Jesus will save you then you can rest assured that our Joshua will keep his promise and that my friends is chapter 2 the adventures going to even increase and drama so let's pray Lord thanks for this time Lord what a wonderful picture Lord we get to see not just this amazing story but we get to see in the story a picture of ourselves in our own future and Lord again when we think of the testimony of the New Testament concerning Rahab but she believed God it makes perfect sense to us that again we live in a world where people don't believe the truth but Lord we pray we pray that you would help us that you would help us communicate the truth in such a way that hearts would be gripped and people would be persuaded that maybe what the Bible says about the future this world is true and that we can escape judgment by placing our confidence in the captain of our salvation Jesus in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary South Denver

Views: 16,190

Rating: 4.6986303 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gino Geraci, Christianity, Bible Study, calvary south denver, CSD, Joshua

Id: ibX5vFYoX9w

Length: 60min 18sec (3618 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 01 2016