People God Uses

Introduction

Hey: More and more we are hearing about other religions. False religions that say you must do something in order to be saved. But we serve the true God, who reached out to us to provide salvation.

You: Have you found salvation in the Lord today? Or are you still trying to earn it.

Look: This morning we are going to look at the prostitute who placed her faith in God and received salvation from destruction.

Do: This morning you can receive salvation as well by trusting in the Lord.

Passage: Joshua 2:1

1Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia.„T He instructed them, ¡§Spy out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.¡¨ So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.

Prayer

1. Joshua sends the spies

We talked last week about how the Israelites chose to follow Joshua. And then Joshua told them that they would be leaving in three days.

Now Joshua was ready for his next task. He sends out two spies.

Look at verse one:

1Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia

Now, notice some things about this passage. First of all, Joshua sends two spies. This is significant because we see that Joshua learns a lesson from this first experience. We saw last week what happened what Moses sent twelve to spy out the land. Now of course God told Moses to choose the twelve. But there¡¦s no record Joshua having such a command from God. So Joshua takes a lesson that he learned. When the spies went out before ten came back with negative reports, and two came back with positive reports. Joshua we remember was one of the two. So this time the only sends two.

But also you will notice that Joshua send them out secretly. Joshua doesn¡¦t tell everyone that the spies are going. Why? Because everyone would want to know when they got back. Why is this a problem? Because the last time the whole camp waited to make the decision to go into the Promised Land or not. Joshua was not going to be deterred this time. He was going to be strong and courageous and in sending his spy, they where to do one thing¡Kspy out the land and pay particular attention to Jericho.

2. They come to the house of Rahab;

So Joshua sends out the spies. Look at the last part of verse one:

So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.

We don¡¦t know all the details of how they got to Rahab¡¦s house but it appears that the spies listened to Joshua and made bee-line straight to Jericho. They of course wanted to pay particular attention to Jericho. And then they came to Rahab¡¦s house.

Rahab was an immoral woman. She had made it her profession of selling herself to the sinful lusts of men. As you would imagine, she had given all of herself away. She had nothing to live for. Over the years she had been beating and bruised emotionally and probably physically. She was sure to have been rejected by her family and her friends for what she had become. Her whole life was surrounded by the hopelessness, despair, rejection and filthiness of sin.

But now she saw an opportunity to save herself. She saw an opportunity to make a difference for herself and her family. She saw that she could have a fresh start.

3. Rahab protects the spies

She saw the opportunity to protect the spies. She brought them into her house and hid them. It is interesting to me that much of the city of Jericho knew they were there.

Some of you may have seen the movie, ¡§Black Hawk Down¡¨. I read the book several months ago. In the book, the author describes the delta force. The delta force is the super secret branch of the US army. And the soldiers are trained not to act like soldiers but like civilians. And this is what I picture these spies as. They are the best of the best. They are smart. They are knowledgeable. They are resourceful. And they blend into the society.

But even when you are trying to blend in it is impossible to totally hide who you are, particularly what your nationality is.

So the king hears that the Israelite spies are in their midst. So the King sends orders.

Verse three:

3So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: ¡§Bring out the men who have come into your house. They are spies sent here to discover the best way to attack us.¡¨