An Unlikely Faith
Text: Joshua 2:1-24
Introduction
1. Illustration: A wife woke up one morning and said, “Honey, I just had a dream that you bought me a new gold necklace. What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know, but Valentine’s Day is coming soon. Tuesday, you’ll know,” He replied.
A few nights later, she again woke up after having a dream, “This time, I dreamed you gave me a pearl necklace. What do you think it means?”
“You’ll know Tuesday,” He replied.
The night before Valentine’s Day, she again woke up telling him about her dream, “This time I dreamed that you brought me a diamond necklace. What do you think it means?”
“Honey, be patient. "You’ll know tonight." he said.
That evening, the husband came home with a package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it--to find a book entitled, "The meaning of dreams."
2. We don’t always get what we expect, and it is like that with faith. God can use anyone who has the faith to believe. God can use:
a. Unexpected People
b. Unexpected Events
c. Unexpected Circumstances
3. That is what we learn from the story of Rahab. She is the last person you would expect God to use, but that is exactly what He did.
4. In the story of Rahab we see:
a. Faith In Action
b. Faith In Words
c. Faith Rewarded
d. Faith’s Affect
Proposition: God can use unexpected people with extraordinary faith to do extraordinary things.
Transition: In this story, we see...
I. Faith In Action (1-7)
A. Prostitute Name Rahab
1. Before stepping out into the Jordan, Joshua wanted to know what they had to deal with on the other side of the river, so he "secretly sent two spies from Shittim.”Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho."
a. Jericho is located by an oasis about 5 miles west of the Jordan River and six miles north of the Dead Sea.
b. It guards the strategic passageway between the Jordan valley and the central hill country to the west, as well as the major ford between the Jabbok and the Dead Sea. (The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed.) InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL).
c. This would be a strategic city because it was a gateway to the rest of Canaan.
2. When the spies got to Jericho, they "entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there."
a. This is where the unexpected portion of this story begins. Why would they go into the house of a prostitute?
b. Rahab’s house was likely a way station, inn, tavern, or a combination of these.
c. It would have been a logical place for spies to frequent, as a public gathering place and a potential source of information—(New American Commentary).
d. Not to mention the fact that as strangers they would have been inconspicuous there.
e. So were not looking for a good time, but were looking to find out what was going on and to keep from being noticed.
3. However, their plan does not work, and someone tells the king that some spies are at Rahab’s place, and the king comes to Rahab and insists that she deliver the men to him.
4. Again, here is where an unexpected part comes in, as verse 4 tells us "But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them."
a. Apparently, God has already done a work in her heart.
b. Even though she had everything to lose, she took a step of faith and hid the Israelite spies.
c. If she is found out she would not only lose her home and place of business, but she could also lose her life.
d. Yet she risks everything to save them.
5. Furthermore, she not only hid the spies, but she lied to lead the king and his men in another direction. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I do not know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them."
a. Keep in mind that she is not an Israelite. She is from Jericho, but puts herself in jeopardy to save the spies.
b. Notice something else, she was a prostitute, yet she was an instrument in the hand of God.
c. She may not have been the one that you or I would have chosen, but she was the one that God had chosen.
B. Unexpected Faith
1. Illustration: Michelangelo was browsing about in a marble shop one day. His attention was drawn to one particular piece. He walked around and around it, pondering its beauty. After a time, he told the shopkeeper that he wished to purchase it. The shopkeeper, evidently an honest soul, agreed that though it was indeed a fine piece of stone, it had a major flaw. "I know," said his famous customer, "I want it anyway. I see an angel in there and I must set it free." Michelangelo’s exquisite work of David was the angel he set free from the flawed marble. God, it seems, is able to see an angel in the most unlikely of his people.
2. Too many people think that they cannot be used by God. They think that they are not:
a. Talented enough
b. Smart enough
c. Spiritual enough
3. The story of Rahab is proof that God can use anyone.
a. If God can use a prostitute, he can use you.
b. If God can use an idol worshiping Canaanite, he can use you.
c. If God can use a lying, scheming woman like Rahab, he can use you.
4. There are only two differences between Rahab and some of you.
a. She had the faith to believe.
b. She was willing.
5. If we have the faith to believe that God can use us, He will use us.
a. It does not matter how talented you have.
b. It does not matter how smart you are.
c. It does not matter what your background is.
d. It does not matter what limitations you may have.
e. If you believe, God can use you.
6. If we are willing to be used, God will use us.
a. All it takes is saying "here I am Lord, use me."
b. All it takes is saying "here I am Lord, send me."
Transition: Stop listening to the lies of the Devil; God can and wants to use you!
II. Faith In Words (8-13)
A. I Know that the Lord
1. The men had been laying on the roof under some stalks of flax.
a. Flax is a plant used for making linen. Young plants are used for high quality cloth and ripe, tougher plants for sturdy material such as rope.
b. The harvested plants need to be laid out to dry before “retting,” a process involving soaking in stagnant water to separate the usable fibers.
c. The stalks must then be laid out to dry thoroughly before the process can continue.
d. The smell and the sogginess would have made hiding here a distinctly unpleasant experience, perhaps equivalent to burying oneself in a pile of pig slops. (The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic Ed.). InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL).
3. However, they were not asleep (imagine that), and so Rahab came up to speak to them.
4. She said, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you."
a. This is astonishing considering it was Rahab who said it.
b. This was not a priest or a prophet; this was a godless prostitute.
c. The NT commends Rahab for her faith, and rightly so.
d. Heb. 11:31 “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient”
e. James 2:25 “Was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?”
f. What she says here is evidence that God has done a powerful work in her life.
5. These words reveal a fundamental change in her personal beliefs as she embraced Israel’s God as her own.—New American Commentary
6. In verse 11 she says, "When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."
a. This is a remarkable thing for her to say.
b. She affirms that her own land will be given to the Israelites, and that the Lord had already done some impressive things for His people.
c. However, she takes it one step further and says that the Lord is the God of the universe.
7. Next, she shows that she wants to be counted with God’s people, and makes a deal with the spies. She says, "Please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
a. The word translated "kindness" is the Hebrew word hesed.
b. This word is theologically rich and is translated in many different ways, according to context: “kindness,” “mercy,” “steadfast love,” “loyalty,” “faithfulness,” etc. (NIDOTTE, 2:211-218).
c. However, it also carries with it the idea of "covenant love."
d. Just as the Israelites had entered into a covenant with God, now they enter into a covenant with Rahab.
e. They could not, and would not have done this if her heart felt words had not indicated a change.
B. Words Are Important
1. Illustration: It’s reported that a preacher in Redrock, Mississippi prayed this sermon: “Oh Lord, give Thy servant this mornin’ the eyes of the eagle and the wisdom of the owl; connect his soul with the gospel telephone in the central skies; ‘luminate his brow with the Sun of heaven; possess his mind with love for the people; turpentine his imagination, grease his lips with ‘possum oil, loosen his tongue with the sledge hammer of Thy power; ‘lectrify his brain with the lightnin’ of the word; put ‘petual motion on his arms; fill him plum full of the dynamite of Thy glory; ‘noint him all over with the kerosene oil of Thy salvation and SET HIM ON FIRE. Amen!”
2. Prov. 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death...
3. Our words have powerful effects, and our words about ourselves need to reflect what God thinks of us.
4. We need to start believing in ourselves, because God believes in us.
5. Eph. 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
6. It is high time we stop:
a. Talking about what we cannot do, and start talking about what we can do.
b. Talking about what we do not have, and start talking about what we do have.
c. We stop speaking death, and start speaking life.
Transition: We will take the land!!
III. Faith Rewarded (14-21)
A. Our Lives For Your Lives
1. Rahab’s faiths in action, as well as her faith in words, were enough to convince the spies.
2. Verse 14 says, "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
a. The spies seal this agreement with Rahab by putting their own lives on the line if Rahab and her family were harmed.
b. They responded to Rahab with reassuring words, echoing words she had used in her request to them.
c. Their pledge of their lives was in effect the “sure sign” that Rahab had asked for.—(New American Commentary)
3. So she continues to show her faith by helping them to escape. Verse 15 tells us "So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall."
a. Houses built into the side of the city wall were common to this period.
b. This benefited the city by adding extra width and support for the wall and benefited the resident by providing a firm wall to support the house.
c. Not only does she help them out of the city, but then she tells them the best way to escape.
4. As long as she continues in her new faith, then she and her family would be saved.
5. However, if she turned back to her old ways, or backslid, as we might call it today, the oath the men made to her would be null and void.
6. Notice what it says in verse 17-18, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house."
a. As long as she continued in her faith, and kept her part of the agreement she would be okay.
b. Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God...
c. Lk. 9:62 "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
7. However, as long she remained faithful she would receive the reward of faith.
B. God’s Reward
1. Illustration: Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is to see what we believe. Augustine.
2. Faith is believing:
a. God has called me
b. God has gifted me
c. God will use me
3. The reward of faith is seeing:
a. God not only use the gifts He has already given you, but also continually add to them.
b. God use you to make a difference in the church, in this community, and in the kingdom of God.
4. If we stand in faith, believe in faith, step out in faith, then we will see the reward of faith.
Transition: Let us stand in faith, and we will see what we believed come to pass.
IV. Faith’s Affect (22-24)
A. The Lord Has Surely Given
1. In the conclusion of this chapter, we see the affect that faith has on other people.
2. The two spies did exactly as Rahab had instructed them: "When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them."
3. Then they crossed the Jordan, and came and gave a detailed report to Joshua.
a. They told Joshua all that had happened to them, and all that they saw while in Jericho.
b. They also told him about Rahab, how she had helped them, and the promise they made to her.
c. They told him about her faith!
4. Look at the affect her faith has on the two of them and Joshua: "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
a. Her faith and they way that God had used her to help them, gave them courage and confidence.
b. They were not like the spies that came back under Moses and gave a pessimistic report, but they came back convinced that the Lord had given them the land.
c. God used Rahab’s faith to encourage the faith of others.
B. Our Faith Affects Others
1. Illustration: We should seize every opportunity to give encouragement. Encouragement is oxygen to the soul.
2. What we all too often fail to realize is the power our faith has on someone else.
3. If we would merely step out in faith, it would then encourage others to step out.
4. If we would believe God to use us, we would then be an encouragement for someone else to be used by God.
5. We need to realize the affect that our faith has on others.
Transition: Faith is contagious. Let yours infect someone!
Conclusion
1. The story of Rahab tells us about:
a. Faith in action
b. Faith in Words
c. Faith’s Reward
d. Faith’s Affect
1. It also tells us that God can use anybody who believes and is willing to be used.
2. Do you have the faith to believe?
3. Are you willing to be used by God?
