Three men were hiking and they came upon a large raging river. They needed to get to the other side, but they didn’t know how. The first man said, "God, give me the strength to cross this river."
Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he swam across the raging river. It took him two hours, but he made it.
Seeing this, the second man prayed, "God, give me the strength . . . and the tools . . . to cross this river."
Poof! God gave him a rowboat, and he rowed across the raging river. It took him 90 minutes, but he made it.
Seeing this, the third man said, "God, give me the strength and the tools and the intelligence . . to cross this river."
And poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, hiked upstream for 50 yards, and then walked across the bridge!
Last week we talked about trusting God in everything we do. We read the words of Isaiah, chapter 40, verses 28-31; “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, He gives strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
This week we are continuing the same theme, trusting God. Our scripture reference is a little longer, we will be discussing the 2nd chapter of Joshua found in the Old Testament. Although the author is not named, the most probable candidate, and most scholars agree, is Joshua himself. When Moses passed the baton of leadership onto Joshua before he died (Deuteronomy 34), Israel was at the end of its 40 year wandering period, approx 1400 years before the birth of Christ. Joshua was approaching 90 years of age when he became Israel’s leader. Joshua lived another 20 years after driving out most of the Canaanites from the Promised Land, and dividing the land among the twelve tribes. God gave Israel this land by conquest, primarily to fulfill the covenant He had pledged to Abraham and to his descendents.
So who was Joshua? How many of us remember our Old Testament Biblical history? To begin with, Joshua was the personal attendant of Moses from his youth. Moses changed his name from Hosea, which means ‘salvation’ to Joshua which means ‘the Lord saves.’ We often overlook the verses in Exodus where Joshua was present on Mount Sinai when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments inscribed on the tablets of stone .Joshua and Caleb spied out the land of Canaan with 10 others. Only Joshua and Caleb urged the nation to possess the land, and thus, only they of the 12 spies actually entered Canaan. We also read that Joshua was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and also filled with the spirit of wisdom.
So we read from the beginning of Joshua. God has commissioned him and Joshua has addressed the nation telling them they will soon cross over the river Jordan into the land God promised them. They cross the river just north of the Dead Sea and stop at a place known as Gilgal. And now the focus is on the city of Jericho, less than a mile from Gilgal. Jericho is nestled at the foot of a small mountain range. If you travel south, uphill seven miles, you’ll reach the city of Jerusalem at the top. When we were in Israel, we drove past the city of Jericho. As much as I wanted to walk the streets of this historic city, we were unable to even enter because of guards, roadblocks and unsafe surroundings. Jericho today is Palestinian controlled.
What comes to mind when we think of Jericho? Certainly the familiar Sunday school song, “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho. Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down.” This fascinating story of God’s miracles, His guidance, direction, is found a few chapters later, but first it was important to send spies into the city of Jericho to report back to Joshua various features of the topography, food, drinking water and the defenses to be overcome by the invasion.
And this is where we start. As we read, please take note of the absolute importance of trusting God in anything and everything we do, and how God can use anyone He chooses no matter what our background, or our current condition. In this case, God uses an ordinary harlot named Rahab.
Rahab not only believed, but she acted on this belief. Rahab’s name is listed in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11 that gives us a short list of the great men and women of faith throughout Biblical history. So Rehab not only believed in God, but she acted on this belief as well. It is important for us to believe in God, through the risen Jesus Christ who gave us the incomparable power of the Holy Spirit. But believing is really not enough. As we know, salvation and eternal life is not dictated by works, but by faith. But blessings during our short existence on earth are based on the fruits of the spirit, the outward display of our faith. In chapter 6 of Paul’s letter to the Galatians we read that these fruits include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. He goes on to say “If we live in the Spirit, then we best walk in the Spirit.” And by walking we are doing something, we are moving forward.
And then the words of James, Jesus’ half brother, chapter 2 verses 14 through 26:
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (Or can that kind of faith save?) Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, 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? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
And when we read about the fall of Jericho, Joshua tells us that the entire city was destroyed and burned to the ground. The walls did in fact come tumbling down. Archeology supports this with evidence uncovered in the 1930’s. So what about Rahab? In chapter 6 we read that just before the city was destroyed, Joshua sent the two spies back in to Jericho to save Rehab, her Mother and Father, her brothers, her relatives and all that she had. And Joshua spared their lives.
It is very interesting to note that the genealogy of Jesus Christ includes the name Rehab. You only have to read the first five verses of Matthew to find her name listed. She married a man named Salmon. Caleb had a son named Salmon and it very well could have been the same one. So Rahab and Salmon had a son named Boaz who married Ruth. Their son Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jessie gave birth to David the king. So Rahab was David’s great-great grandmother.
Rahab stepped out in complete faith, even in the most frightening of circumstances. Think about stepping out in complete faith in your own lives. Do you remember a time in your life when you stepped out in faith, or perhaps now is the time. Because we are walking, moving forward, God is constantly equipping us each day. Churches and ministries have been started because men and women stepped out in faith. Businesses have been started, countries have begun, leaders have been elected and appointed, families have come together because of faith. What does God have in store for us this upcoming week or even next year?
