Pentecost 12 The Key to Endurance
Heb. 11:17-40, 12:1-3
† In the name of the Lord, Jesus †
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
One story - Rahab
Look with me, for a moment, at verse 32 in our reading. “32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets! I understand the author’s dilemma, for in the first 31 verses, he barely covered the best of the highlights of 5 books, and four chapters of the 39 Old Testament books. Even breaking this passage into two parts, one last week, and one this, I find there is not enough time in our time allotted for church and Sunday School to remind you of these people’s lives. We know some of the stories, I highly recommend you take the time to learn them all.
The common thread, of those mentioned, and those barely hinted at, is found a few verses later, “39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”
All of these people trusted in God, and that trust was based in a relationship He had established with His people. So how do I explain how God again works, in those He has called to be His people, giving them faith? Of all the examples in this chapter, I chose one. The one who is not normally recognized as a hero of the faith, for it is hard, even in this day, for people to accept one with her background. Yet, here she is, a harlot, the operator of a house of ill repute, and one who realizes her only hope, is in the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. She can only hope, that as she trusts in Him for her own deliverance, that He will answer, and provide that answer through His people.
A little background is helpful, for those for whom, the story is not well known. As Moses dies, the people of Israel stand at the Jordan River. There, they must challenge a city known for it’s powerful walls. It sits there, across the river, impregnable and menacing. In Judges chapter 2, we find two spies of Israel, being hunted by the king and warriors of the city, who find peace, and refuge, in this prostitute’s home.
Faith is Trust in God –
Rahab’s words
The storm coming for those who don’t trust!
Why is Jericho about to be mowed under?
Other God’s
Unconvinced/unbelief/
As Rahab hides these men, here are her words,
8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.
11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death."
It struck me as I read the passage again, that she has placed her trust in God already. Though she is not yet, by Israel’s standard, part of the people of God, she realizes what God has done. He has rescued His people, He has provided victories for them, setting them to come into the promised land, and dwell there. She trusts in God’s care for His people, even as she realizes her people will not change their ways. Look again at verse 31 in Hebrews,
“By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”
Now, a little clarification is needed regarding the word, disobedient. It is the negative form of the word which means “convinced”, and usually is in reference to a refusal to take action, because of a lack of proof that action is needed. It is also translated as unbelief, or distrusts, for it is that is where it is determined. Example, Andrew may try to convince me that he is very soon old enough to drive, but if his parents don’t trust him, they won’t take action and hand to him the car keys, or pay for his lessons, or his insurance.
In the case of Jericho, though they fear God’s wrath, as evidenced by Rahab’s comment, they aren’t convinced to ask for mercy from the Israelites, or more importantly, to ask for mercy from Israel’s God, recognizing Him as God.
But you see, that is the nature of all sin, that we refuse to trust God at His word, we refuse to accept His love, and instead, we plan ways to withstand the very wrath He has provided Christ to bear for us.
First Commandment’s Large catechism opening
What is a God
It is all about the first commandment – I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, therefore, you shall have no other God’s before me. Listen carefully to how this is explained in our Large Catechism by Luther,
It is: Thou shalt have [and worship] Me alone as thy God. What is the force of this, and how is it to be understood? What does it mean to have a god? or, what is God?
Answer: (to have) A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the [whole] heart; as I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your faith and trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong together faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god.
The King and people of Jericho made their walls, and the false gods of the Canaanites their gods. Despite quaking in fear, and knowing how the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob provided for His people – they decided to stand, and defend god’s that they carved with their own hands, gods’ they themselves created.
Do we not do the same thing? We place our trust in our earning potential, or the stock market, or a retirement fund, or in the social security system. Our world creates wondrous gods, of fame and fortune and bank accounts. What good do these things do eternally? What comfort do they give, when our perfect world collapses, like the poles that hold up mineshafts? Do we choose to sin, and trust in other things, forgetting that all of the faithful, throughout history have learned, that we have one God – no others needed, or wanted.
Luther’s next comments on the 1st commandment boil it down so simple,
Therefore it is the intent of this commandment to require true faith and trust of the heart which settles upon the only true God and clings to Him alone. That is as much as to say: “See to it that you let Me alone be your God, and never seek another,” i.e.: Whatever you lack of good things, expect it of Me, and look to Me for it, and whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, creep and cling to Me. I, yes, I, will give you enough and help you out of every need; only let not your heart cleave to or rest in any other.
That is the faith, that sustained those in the past, whether through blessed times, or even the tortures and hardships our passage mentions.
Rahab Marked as one of His –
The promise to Rahab
Able to do exceeding more
Matt. 1:5
We are so to marked
As we look back to the destruction of those, who would not trust in God, nor heed His words for how they should live, we again see Rahab, rescued as she trusted God to accomplish, through His people. The people of the area, claim to have another set of gods, found out that their faith was in imposters, gods that would provide them only those things they desired, whether they needed them, or whether they were beneficial.
Rahab is no longer “of Jericho”. She is delivered from death, and numbered among the faithful people of Israel. Here is God’s testimony, from scripture,
“25 But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.” Josh. 6:25
Even more incredible, she, a former harlot, a prostitute, is proudly mentioned in the lineage of Jesus in Mathew 1:5.
Likewise, we too are delivered from death, as we do what our passage today ends with; looking to Jesus Christ – who is the author and finished of our faith. It is he who gives us a reason to trust in Him – the cross, and the power of forgiveness and the gift that of the Holy Spirit – poured out on us in our baptism.
Likewise we become part of a new people – marked as His, as He continues to work in us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. For even though death on the cross was painful and shameful, He went with joy, knowing it would result in God’s glory, and our adoption,
And know, that like all the people who trust in God, through the past, and far into the future, all will one day, receive the greatest promise of all – eternal fellowship with God, as we are all gathered around the throne.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, the same power that has always worked in those who trusted God to be God, and brought them peace, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen? AMEN!. Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
