CHILDREN’S STORY - The story of Rahab protecting the Spies.
SCRIPTURE and PRAYER
SERMON: Years ago, when Logansport was a major railroad hub, the trains would stop at what we now call “Little Turtle Waterway.” And if you’ve ever noticed, there’s still a depot down by the tracks. That’s where people would get off the trains. When passenger trains would stop at that depot, some of the people got off on the NORTH side of train, and some of the people got off on the SOUTH side of train. Those who got off on the SOUTH side wandered on down to some houses by the river and spent time in the “red light” district.
Nice folks didn’t talk about it much… but everybody knew it was there. That’s where the prostitutes lived. That’s where the men would go to spend their time and money. And whoever was in charge of that “enterprise” would bring NEW girls down from Chicago once in while, to swap out with the girls that where there (Just to keep things interesting, I guess).
Now, there were businesses in town who appreciated having those girls there. The girls paid their bills, they were respectful, they didn’t cause too much trouble, and they stayed on “their side of the tracks.”
(PAUSE) When I first moved to Logansport I was told this was a city of churches.
But you have to wonder - how did those churches respond to having prostitutes just a few blocks from their houses of worship?
Now, YOU may wonder why I’d start sermon talking about prostitutes? Well I’m talking about prostitutes because Rahab was one (a Prostitute.) Joshua 2:1 tells us “(the spies) came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.” James 2:25 says “in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” And Hebrews 11:31 declared “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”
So… Rahab was a prostitute.
Now, just so we’re clear here… prostitution is sinful lifestyle. In Deuteronomy 23:17 God declared: “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.” And Leviticus 19:29 says “Do not prostitute your daughter to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.”
And in the New Testament I Corinthians 6:16-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” I Corinthians 6:16-20
My point is - prostitution is NOT an “acceptable” lifestyle to God. Anyone who lived like that (and the men who frequented them) I’m pretty sure they’re all going to hell!
(PAUSE) All except Rahab and a few others we’re going to talk about later. Rahab WAS a prostitute, but God forgave her of that sin.
In fact, once Joshua rescued her & her family out of Jericho, Rahab lived outside the camp and she ultimately married a man from tribe of Judah named Salmon. They were the great-great-grandparents of King David. That resulted in her being one of ONLY 5 women included in Jesus’ genealogy. She is named by God as an ancestor of Jesus. Then, of course, Hebrews and James tell us God praised by for her faith.
SO, SHE’S NOT GOING TO HELL!!!
But that does raise a question: Almost every time her name’s mentioned in Scripture she’s called Rahab the harlot! It’s almost like it’s her last name. If God forgave her her sin why did He keep calling her THAT? Why repeatedly refer to her as “The Prostitute?”
Well, actually, God has actually done that with others. Matthew, for example is called “Matthew the tax collector” (Matthew 10:3) Tax collectors were not upstanding citizens in Israel. The Pharisees once asked why Jesus was eating with the “tax collectors” and sinners. It’s like there were sinners, and then there was a special class of sinners – called tax collectors.
And one of the other disciples is called “Simon the Zealot” (Mark 3:18) Zealots were a fanatical sect of Jews who were known for their tendency to assassinate people for political or religious reasons. These were not nice people!!!
It’s like - this was their identity. Matthew the Tax Collector and Simon the Zealot. That’s what they were known for.
But that still doesn’t answer the question - why would God repeatedly refer to Rahab as a Harlot/Prostitute. I mean it doesn’t seem very nice to do that.
Except that this was God’s way of saying He can forgive anybody
That’s what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15-16 “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”
Paul was declaring I AM THE WORST of all sinners! Of all sinners, I am chief! That’s MY testimony. And if God can forgive me, he can forgive you!
And that is essentially what’s happening with Rahab. God forgave her, and then He used her former life as a billboard telling the world that He can and will save ANYONE who comes to Him.
ILLUS: I once read the story of a preacher named Carl Ketcherside who began working with kids in St. Louis who had a history of drug addiction. But he loved them, listened to them, and one by one baptized them into Christ. A wealthy member of the congregation wasn't pleased with the preacher's ministry with them and asked, “How are you making out with those long haired, sad looking specimens you have been meeting with?” Ketcherside responded, “Those are not specimens, they are children of God. You are talking about my brethren in the Lord.” The other man frowned and said, “They look to me like something the cat dragged in.” And Ketcherside replied, “They look to me like someone the shepherd brought home.”
You see, there’s a lot of people out there like Rahab that don’t look like they belong in church. That’s what the Chief Priests thought. So Jesus told those pious religious leaders “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the PROSTITUTES will go into the kingdom of God before you.” Matthew 21:31
That brings me back to the early days of Logansport and their red light district. How did churches - back then - deal with that reality? Well, I don’t know. I wasn’t there, and neither were you. But I can think of a few possibilities
1st – they might have just ignored it. It’s an uncomfortable reality, but if I don’t go there, it doesn’t exist. “Live and let live,” I say. Just so long as THEY live over there! Did they do that? I don’t know. But I can picture people doing that today.
Or, they might have protested. There’s an acronym NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). They might have made signs, and marched, or stood at the depot every week or so letting their anger be known. They might have even gotten in the faces of the prostitutes (or customers) and told them they were going to hell. Did they do that? I don’t know… but I can picture people doing that today.
OR maybe (just maybe) they might have reached out to these ladies. Maybe they’d have gone down to the red-light district and gotten to know these people. Invited them over to their homes to eat with them, and talked to them a little about Jesus. Hmmmm.
Seems like someone else did something like that. In Mark 2:15-16 we’re told “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?"
But, wait a minute Jeff - that doesn’t say anything about Jesus working with Prostitutes! It just says He spent His time with sinners… not prostitutes! In fact, I had a friend on FB that complained that I said Jesus had spent time working with the tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners. And he wrote “NO it DOESN’T SAY HE worked with prostitutes.” (And technically, he was right). But why would my FB friend say that? Well I think he said that because prostitutes were an entirely different breed of SINNER! “I can work with sinners (he might have thought) but not THOSE kinds of sinners.
Now, the Spies that Joshua sent into Jericho… where did they go? Well, Joshua 2:1 tells us “They went, and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.” Prostitutes of that day would often rent out rooms to travelers. It was another way to make money. So the spies went to find a place to stay and they ended up in the home of prostitute.
But now, WHY did they go to this woman’s home? Couldn’t they have stayed somewhere else? Well, of course they could have, but I think they went to Rahab’s home because that’s where God WANTED them to be.
Notice: SHE HIDES THEM… she didn’t have to do that. And SHE TALKS TO THEM about their God. In Joshua 2:9 we read that she says: “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.”
She knows there’s a DAY OF JUDGMENT coming. And she knows, unless she appeals to them to be saved… she’s going to die. So she says to them “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 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.” Joshua 2:12-13
ILLUS: I once read an article in Newsweek about religion and street gangs. They told of a street preacher who was struggling to reach the gangs of that city and he asked a drug dealer why that dealer was reaching the kids… but he wasn’t. The drug dealer told him this: “I’m there when Johnny goes out for a loaf of bread for Mama. I’m there, you’re not. I win, you lose. It’s all about being there.”
Do you realize, that if the spies hadn’t gone to her home… Rahab would have died? Neither she nor her family would have been saved when Jericho was destroyed. But the spies did go there - they were there in her house! It was all about “being there.” That’s why she and her family were saved.
I’m not sure they said anything to her about God while they were there, but she KNEW who they were, and she KNEW all about their God, and she was convicted BY THEIR PRESENCE about need her need be saved.
ILLUS: Years ago, my dad and mom went over to a friend’s house to eat and play cards. When they sat down to eat, their friend said “Lowell, I know you’re a church going man. Would say grace for the meal?” And so dad did. Dad said it wasn’t long after that their friends started going to church and were baptized into Christ. Apparently it was something about Mom and Dad’s behavior that reminded this other couple of their need for Jesus, and they felt convicted by the presence of my folks BEING THERE.
CLOSE: Now a couple of closing thoughts. First, Rahab asked the spies for help in how she could be saved. She knew they could help her. And the spies didn’t say: “Well we need to go ask Joshua.” No, they knew just what to say. They told her: “when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.” Joshua 2:18
They knew just what to tell her to be saved. The question for you this morning: do you know what to tell people to be saved? You’ve heard it often enough here: 1} Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16; John 11:27). 2} Repent of your sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19). 3} Confess Jesus as your Lord and Master (Romans 10:9). And 4} Allow yourself to be buried in the waters of baptism for forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, Romans 6:2-5)
Finally, there was one last thing that caught my attention in this story. The spies end their conversation with Rahab with these words: “you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.” Joshua 2:18-19
In other words… if you don’t do what we’ve asked, we can’t guarantee you’ll be saved. If somebody else tells you that there’s safety to be had some other way, you’re rolling the dice. You’ll be taking your chances on something that we didn’t tell you to do.
INVITATION
