Please open your Bibles to The Book of Joshua…..
We noted from Chapter 1, God called the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, to cross the Jordan River and claim the land of Canaan.
Show map…
Read along with me now Joshua Chapter 2….
v1: Joshua secretly sent 2 spies to check the land of Canaan!
Where they told to go to a certain house in Jericho??
The spies were just to look over the land.
They were godly men called by Joshua; they likely had no idea whose house it was they ended up in! Coincidence? There is no such thing as coincidences with God! God sees everything!
Look again at v2-3… the spies were to go in secret, but they were found out! Were they bad spies? How did they get found out?
The spies went to a house well known by everyone in Jericho; likely there were people always spying on who goes in the house of Rahab. Do you think if the spies knew what type of house Rahab’s was, that they would had gone into it? The spies did not know the type of house they went into! Why did they go inside a prostitute’s house? We don’t read anyone telling them to go there! I think, but I could be wrong, but certainly we can note….
The spies did their job as best they could and without a word from God, God led them to Rahab!!
And so, v4-7: Rahab hid the spies and lied to the King’s messengers!
Now look again at v8-11; Why did Rahab hide the Israelite spies from the King of Jericho??
v8-11: Rahab feared for her life, so she sided with the Israelites! Was this the only reason why Rahab hid the spies??
Look again at the end of v11….
v11b: Rahab believed in the God of Israel because of God’s revelation of power!
This reminds me of Psalm 111:10, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom!
Fear here in this passage is about being awestruck, amazed, which causes reverence to.
v12-13: Rahab asked to be saved from death along with her entire family.
v14-20: The Israelites promised to save Rahab and her family, who were non-Israelites, by following their instructions!
v21: Rahab followed the instructions.
Now look again at v24; How did they get that information and what does it do to Joshua and the Israelites??
v22-24: Because of Rahab, Joshua and the Israelites were encouraged to take Canaan!
Now before we look at what God tells us about Rahab in the New Testament, after Jesus Christ came to save people from their sin, let us remind ourselves who Rahab was! Who was Rahab??
Rahab was Canaanite! What kind of people were the Canaanites? When the Israelites left Egypt, this is what God told them in Leviticus 18:3…..
Canaanites like Rahab were ungodly!
And what kind of woman was Rahab?
Rahab was a defiled woman!
What can God do with this type of woman, an extreme sinner?
Look now with me at James 2:25…..
And Hebrews 11:31……
And finally look with me at the very beginning of the New Testament bible, to Matthew 1…..
What would you say are Biblical principles we can apply to our lives from this story; I note at least 2??
Like the 2 spies for Israel, we are to do our jobs to the best of our ability in God’s eyes, and God will direct our paths!!
Like with Rahab, God will use, even the worst of sinners, in a mighty way as they trust God completely!
