Have you ever had someone discover something about you that you’d rather them not know? Ben Affleck has.
Evidently, Ben was excited about participating in the PBS show called “Finding Your Roots” until he discovered that his ancestors were slave owners and asked that he be removed from the show schedule.
This was successful until someone hacked into a Sony email sight, obtained the family info. and then put it out to the public. It was reported that he had three ancestors that were slave owners:
a) Nathaniel Stanley from Goshen, Connecticut who left behind a bill of sale for a slave named
Tobe.
b) Benjamin Cole who was from Savannah who owned 25 slaves.
c) And His great grandfather from New Jersey who owned 8 slaves.
Affleck was embarrassed and angered by the leak because He obviously wanted to distance himself from this fact about his family ancestors.
Transition:
If PBS were to do a documentary about the ancestors of Jesus Christ, it would not take long to find a few interesting characters as well.
In your Bible, the first page of the New Testament; Matthew chapter 1, contains the name of someone in Jewish history who some might wish to pass on by as well: Her name was Rahab; one of the “bad girls” of the Bible.
Yet, in Matthew 1:5 God boldly includes her name in the birth announcement of Jesus; as well as, brings her name up again in the “faith chapter” known as Hebrews chapter 11.
A quick glance back in scripture leads us to the Book of Joshua where we meet Rahab and hear her story. Through her story we learn a lot of the God we place our faith in. What does God teach us about Himself through including Rahab and her faith story in the Bible?
Transition: Through Rahab we learn several things about the God we trust to lead our life and what we can expect from Him when we trust Him and walk by faith.
Transitional Sentence: When we trust God and walk with Him by faith we learn that:
I. God Can Do Anything Anywhere
Vs. 30- “ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled seven days.”
Explanation:
Before we are introduced to Rabab, we are introduced to her hometown. In verse 30 we read: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down....”
Rahab was from a town in southern Israel named, “Jericho.” It was a town located in the Jordan Valley with the Jordan river to the east and Jerusalem to the west. Even today it is a fertile area and is known in the Bible as “the city of palm trees.” Its name comes from a Canaanite word that means: “fragrant” and was originally a place dedicated to the lunar deity; a place where the moon was worshipped.
Yet, Jericho was the Achilles heel for the Israelite. It was the blockade that stood between them and the land God promised to them.
Remember, Jericho was the city that the spies scoped out and returned with a difficult report. They said in Deuteronomy 1:28: “...the people are bigger and taller than us and their city walls reach up into the heavens.”
When the spies saw it, it was like nothing they had ever seen. They were overwhelmed. They exaggerated in their minds what the city was like.
I have visited the ruins and remains of ancient Jericho and there you can still see that there were two sets of walls; the lower walls and the foundation walls. It has been said that it was the first walled city in history.
Artist depiction of Jericho from examination of the ruins
The foundation walls (clay walls) according to archeologists stood 15 feet high and were 6 feet thick. Above these walls were the secondary or “upper walls” (Red brick) that were 20 feet high and was so thinks that houses were built on them. (Joshua 2:15)
The city was so well built that it has been called “the Citadel of the Neolithic age.”
The town was heavily fortified and considered the front door into Canaan. Ownership of a home there was considered to be a true treasure.
Archeologists have discovered that buried in the floors of those homes were human remains. The reason why was because if your ancestor was buried in the home it was like a deed to the home, proof of ownership was because grandma was buried in the floor of the living room.
This is how important it was for people to have a home in Jericho. Jericho was one of most secure places in the world; therefore, people valued owning homes in Jericho.
Yet, let me remind you of my point: God can do anything anywhere.
To prove it God gave Joshua one of the strangest military strategies. Imagine the military commander telling you; “We are going to march around the city 12 times and on the thirteenth time we are going to shout in triumph and the walls are going to come tumbling down.”
In faith, that’s exactly what God’s people did.
If you visit Jericho today you will see evidence that this event took place just as the Bible says. The Bible tells us several things:
a) It tells us that the walls “fell flat.” (Joshua 6:5) In verse 30 we read: “the walls fells down or
beneath themselves.” Archeology proves this is precisely what happened. If you look at the
walls today you will notice that the lower foundation walls fell first (clay bricks) and the upper
walls tumbled over the top of them.
b) It tells us that the solders went “straight up” (Joshua 6:5, 20) To strike the city, the way the
bricks fell outward created a type of siege ramp for the soldiers to run up and into the city.
c) It tells us that they burned the city with fire and all that was in it. (Joshua 6:24) Historians
following Biblical time lines have discovered that this event took place in the spring time of
1406 BC. This was right after harvest time and archeologist have discovered pots of grain that
was left behind and guess what? It was burned. Guess what else has been discovered? A burn
layer 3 feet thick!
Burned Jericho grain
In this city, God proved He can do anything. He can take a rag tag invading army and conquer one of the strongest most fortified cities in the world. If he can do that, what can He do in your life?
Application:
Sometime we get discouraged and feel that God is “done” in our life. We feel He is absent or unable to renew, restore, and bring victory in life. Yet let me remind you, God often shows up in surprising places.
It’s easy to say things like:
a) There are seasons in marriages where couples think- it’s over. Yet let me remind you: God
shows up in surprising places.
b) There are challenges and projects God gives us in life where we wonder, is this going to work
out? Is God going to accomplish what He put in my heart? God shows up in surprising places.
c) There are tests that often come our way and we wonder? Can I pass the test? God shows up in
surprising places.
Nathaniel thought Nazareth was a dead end town. He said: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” It was a small and insignificant town. He thought everyone from there was a zero; not a hero. He thought it was a God forsaken place. Yet, Jesus came from there.
Bethlehem was known as “the least” of all Judea; yet God showed up there; born and placed in a feeding trough. Do you know why? God shows up in surprising places.
Where do you least expect God to show up in your life? Let me encourage you to keep walking by faith. Walk forward and trust God. Believe God and instead of giving up; step up and look up to the God who can do anything anywhere.
He shows up in surprising places.
Transitional Sentence: When we trust God and walk with Him by faith we learn that:
II. God Can Do Anything With Anyone
vs. 31- “By faith Rahab the harlot...”
Explanation:
One of the things I love about God is that He often surprises us with the people He chooses to use in our lives.
This was never more true than when we discover who God used in Jericho to welcome and assist the Jewish spies who came to scout out Jericho.
In verse 31 we discover that God used a woman named Rahab. There are a couple of things about her that surprises us:
a) Her name- Rahab- In Hebrew means “pride and arrogance. Strangely enough it was a poetic
name for Egypt. The Jewish spies just escaped a place that carried the meaning of her name.
Egypt was seen as an evil place; why would they trust a woman by such a name?
b) Her profession- Verse 31 tells us that she was a harlot.
Some have tried to soften the edges of this story by saying that the Hebrew word that is used for “harlot” in verse 31 means: “innkeeper.”
The trouble is that this name in reality, whether in Hebrew or Greek from the Septuagint means “prostitute.”
As a matter of fact, in the Book of James she is mentioned and her profession. The word to describe her profession is the word “poerne” from which we get our word “pornography” which is also translated “fornicator.”
Listen: She was not running a bed and breakfast; she was running a brothel.
She was an unlikely candidate for the anyone but users to engage in kindness toward her; yet, God shows His love and grace to her, and uses her as an example of the length and depth of His mercy and kindness as he proves that God can do anything with anyone!
The Bible tells us that God was working in Rahab’s life revealing Himself to her through His activity among His people.
Her comments in Joshua tell us what she knew.
1. In Joshua 2:10 she said: “We have heard about how the Lord died up the water of the Red
Sea.”
2. In Joshua 2:11 she said: “When we heard that, I knew that the Lord had given you the land and
your God is the God of heaven and earth.”
What is interesting is that word traveled all the way to Jericho from the outskirts of the Red Sea and when she heard about the “living God” she wondered and desired Him to live in her life.
In reality, she made a profession of her faith in God and stepped out on faith to acknowledge Him, His person, and His majesty.
Understand, this decision was no easy decision. According to Joshua 2, when the King of Jericho learned that the spies had visited her home, he demanded that they be brought out. Yet, she had hid them under some flax grain on her roof and down the city walls with a scarlet rope.
According to tradition, the punishment for this type of action in those days was four-fold:
a) She would have had her eyes plucked
b) She would have had her tongue and hands cut off
c) She would have dragged through the street
d) She would have been stoned as a traitor
Yet, because of her faith; she chose sides and she chose the Lord’s side!
Illustration: My Jimmy is on the Lord’s side
I was in college God called me into the ministry, and shortly afterward I was invited to preach in a small church in southern Arkansas.
That week I got a friend of mine to go to lead worship in the church and off we went that Sunday. When I arrived it was snowing, the gas had been shut off and there was no heat, so we literally took down curtains from the Sunday School rooms to keep the ladies warm that showed up that day.
When service time came, I was told: “Mr. Jimmy will take up the offering this morning and his wife will lead in prayer.”
That’s what happened. Yet, at the end of the service I wanted to call on someone to pray so since Mr. Jimmy was present, I called on him to pray. When I did, everyone began to laugh and cackle. The guy that came to lead worship was literally on the floor laughing. This was my second sermon I had ever preached so I was mortified and froze.
Finally, someone prayed and the service ended. Immediately, my friend came and told me. “Mr. Jimmy is deaf and mute.” My thought was, “Why did he come to church? He can’t hear or speak?”
His wife came up and answered and said: “He can’t hear nor speak, but he comes to church because he has decided, He’s on the Lord’s side!”
Application:
That’s exactly what Rahab was doing. She was saying: “I know who God is, I’ve decided who I am following, I am on the Lord’s side!”
That night, the spies gave Rahab a scarlet rope.
This rope symbolized two great things in Hebrew history:
a) It symbolized the birth right- When twin Hebrew children were born, the first born would
have a scarlet thread tied to its wrist to declare that it was a child who owned the birthright
ad had the privileges of the first born. (Genesis 38:27-30)
b) It symbolized the blood- The scarlet yarn was found on the tabernacle curtains (Exodus 26:1) and the High Priests ephod. This scarlet thread foreshadowed Christ’s atoning work on the cross by shedding His blood.
As Rahab tied the scarlet thread on her window (Joshua 2:21) this thread reminds us of the thread-like stream of blood that flowed down Calvary for you and me declaring that God wants us and that God can redeem and do anything with anyone who will place their faith in Jesus Christ!
Transitional Sentence: When we trust God and walk with Him by faith we learn that:
III. God Can Do Redeem Anyone’s Past
Vs. 31- By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she welcomed the spies in peace.”
Explanation:
One of the biggest challenges in life relates to things in our past that we wish we could forget.
Do you have anything in your past that you wish you could push the delete button on? Rahab certainly did.
Understand this: God does not erase your past; He redeems it.
Rahab that day moved out that day and headed to the Promised land with God’s people. In other words, she joined God’s people as they walked by faith into all the promises and places God planned for them.
It was not long until one of the godly men she rescued named Salmon noticed her and her faith and realized that she was the woman she had been waiting for all of his life.
After making her his wife, they had a little boy named Boaz.
Later, Boaz married a woman named Ruth and a couple of generations later their great grandson was named “David” -- King David.
Ultimately, through her blood line, our redeemer, Jesus Christ was born. The Bible tells us that this happened, “in the fulness of time.”
Let me explain that when you live and walk by faith; God takes you places and does amazing things in and through your life. As a matter of fact; He not only gives life; He is life.
Conclusion: YHWH
When God revealed His name to us in Hebrew it is spelled like this: YHWH.
There are no vowels in that name, therefore, you really can not pronounce it. It is a name that cannot be pronounced.
Instead, the way you say it is with your breath. As you breath in there’s the sound of YH and when you release there is the sound of WH.
God’s name therefore is simply your breath.
Therefore, understand this. The moment you are born and take your first breath; you are calling on God. Likewise, as you die, the last thing you do is call on God and His personal name.
The Bible says: “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into His nostrils, and the man became a living soul.”
You soul is a gift and expression of who He is. He is life. His name is on your breath. He has but His name on your every breath.
Whether you choose to walk by faith or not; you can’t get away from God. He doesn’t even have to pursue you; He’s on every breath you take.
Every time you sigh- you say His name.
Every time you sing- you say His name.
Every time you say any word, His name is intermingled with your words.
Do you know why?
Because....
Psalm 24:1 says: “He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks on earth.”
Job 33:4 says, “ The Spirit if God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Even Jesus “Breathed on the disciples and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22
Why? Because God is the source of life. He is our breath and His signature is on every inhale and exale of our life.
It was on Rahab’s and its on yours. Rahab recognized it, and every step and breathe was changed to honor the one who breathed life into her lungs.
Today, that same God has put His breath in your lungs, and the Spirit that gives life, calls you to call on His name, to confess Jesus is Lord with the breath inside you.
He’s closer than you think. Right now, will you confess, call, and commit your steps of life to Him? That’s what it means to walk by faith.
