The Breaking Of Day
The bible reads in verse 1 That Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went , and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. The bible says that Rahab was a harlot. That means that she was a hooker, a prostitute, a woman who sold her physicall body to be used, abused, and misused, all for the price of money. Not only was Rahab a prostitute, but she was a Cannanite dwelling in the land of Jericho. The Canannites were considered the enemy because they did all types of abominations according to God’s word. They sacrificed there own children as a part of their own religios idolatry, they worshipped false God’s and committed all types of heinous sexual acts. Rahab was part of that society.. According to God’s plan in Deuteronmy 17: everyone in the land was to be destroyed and Israel was to show no mercy upon them, but here in the first verse of Joshua chapter 2, two spies were sunt to Jericho and the place where they lodged was at Rahab’s house. We must first understand that when we are trying to find the breaking of day, that God will send someone our way, and he can change each and every situation that we are presently in. It does not matter how addicted or afflicted you are, God gives all of us a chance to reverse our circumstances. The bible says that the spies lodged at her house. First- I have come to believe that because this woman was a prostitute, it would not be unusual for her to see two strange men, there would be nothing unusual for her to accept these men into her house, she would have been the best person to stay with in an unfamiliar town. Number 2- there was nothing different about Rahab, but her occupation. Rahab, just like most of us, was an ordinary person with life full of sin. Just like the spies were ordinary people that God used, the bible doesn’t quote who they are, all we know is they were men used by God. But why would God use a prostitute. Doesn’t it make you wonder about God’s judgement. Out of all people why would he choose Rahab. i believe as the bible states that many are called but few are chosen. I know with a certainty that all of us no matter how deeply rooted in sin we were, God sunt someone our way but he left it up to us to respond. Some of us were drug addicts who never thought we would overcome our addictions, some of us were very permiscuous and was hooked on pornography, some of us let the stronghold of gambling tie up our finances and it seemed as if we’re paying tithes to the New York Lotto, whether it was drugs, whether it was gambling, whether it was sex, God always send someone by to give you the opportunity to feel the breaking of day. Its even quoted in Jeremiah 29;11 part a of that verse reads, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, nothing with God can be accidental, because in other words, he knows the plans he has for our lives, but we must first know that he can change our situation. If we don’t know that he can change our situation than nothing can be done. God had some plans for rahab and God has some plans for all of us. God’s got a knack for showing up in people’s lives and showing out, puttin on display of what he can do with ordinary men. he took Samson after he allowed himself to be ruined by his own indulgences, and got himself locked up by the Philistine soldiers, they burned out his eyes and he asked for strength just one more time and the Lord met him there and he killed more people in his death than in his life, he understood God can take an ordinary man and change his circumstances. He took 300 Israelites and they defeated 135,000 midianites, becasue they understood that God takes ordinary men an change their circumstances. We know the story of King David when he stood before Saul as a small ruddy child, the bible tells us that he took an ordinary person in the likes of David and took down Goliath with one smooth stone. The Lord uses people like you, the Lord uses people like me, the Lord uses all of us no matter what society has said about you, no matter what they think, no matter how they feel, if you having an issue, look at Rahab and tell your neighbor if the Lord can use a prostitute, than I know that he can use me. He takes ordinary people and give them the chance to feel the breaking of day. Rahab the prostitute was in the process of having a brighter day.
Lets jump down to verse 9, 10 and see what was going through Rahabs mind before she hid these spies. It reads in verse 9-I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of egypt, and what he did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. The bible tells us that Rahab knew that there was something different about these two men. that means that these men at the essence of one glance, she recognized them as being Israelites and it was at that moment she knew God’s work, one way or the other will be completed. The bible states the word I know, she did not think, she was not guessing, but she knew that this land already was theirs because they had the Lord on their side. She had previously heard about the work of the Lord on the behalf of the Israelites and it was enough to confirm her with a sense of assurity. I’m not quite sure how she knew, it could have been with one of her customers, they could have made mention that a generation ago, these same people with their back against the wall with no where to go walked across the red sea. She could have heard that this invisible God that the Israelites serve brought them out of Egypt, she could have heard that this invisible god that she was not all that accustomed with kept the people for forty years in the wilderness and provided for there every need. she could have heard the story of how he sunt down manna from heaven, but wherever Rahab grabbed hold to this information, wherever she became informed of the almighty, all knowing, everywhere God, all I know is that rahab was seeing by faith. she did not see these events, it did not say that she had relatives who somehow was apart of Israel, but what she heard she knew was true and there is something about believing when you recognize the work of the Lord. thats what faith is all about. The bible says that faith is the evidence of things unseen and the substance of things hoped for. Rahab the prostitute had faith that God’s word was true and if the Lord sent spies down to the land of Jericho, it was already theirs. Brothers and Sisters I believe that a lot of us can’t feel the breaking of day because we cannot see by faith. We have to see it, we have to know the timing, we have to know all the possibilities, we have to be put in the right situation, if this is what it takes for you to trust God than you never will. It often grabs my attention, when i see people who can’t fathom the thought of serving a God they can’t see, and they would rather call themselves atheus or egnostic, but if you ever walk into a gas station on a busy day, these same people will be standing in line buying $20 and $30 worth of lotto tickets, taking a chance by faith to call out some numbers and maybe, just maybe one day it’ll pay off. We all have a limit of faith some way but how are we using it. Rahab heard the stories, she knew that there was something different about this God, he wasn’t a God of chances, but a God who gives us choices, He wasn’t a God based on luck, but he was a God of promises. He wasn’t a God full of wishes, but a God full of hope. The old folks used to see a song that said, Have a lillte talk with Jesus, tell him all about your trouble, he will here your faintest cry and he’ll answer by and by. Because just a little talk with Jesus makes it alright. You see the old folks used to see by faith, they knew having a little talk with Jesus would be alright, they didn’t have to be blessed with a new car, but they would talk to him for a new day, they didn’t ask him for a new home, but they asked him for a place to stay. They knew by faith that if they have a little talk with jesus, it will be alright. Rahab was tired of her condition, she was tired of her circumstance, she was tired of depending on a God that never paid off and she decided to believe by faith and walk with God. Anyone ever been tired of there circumstances? Can you feel the breaking of day.
The bible says in the fourth verse. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were. Rahab after knowing about this God, knowing that he could change her circumstance decided to seize the moment. The bible stated that when the King asked for these men, she hid them and explained that she did not know where they went. When you are searching for the breaking of day in your life, its imperative that we not only have faith by believing are Lord, but now we must seize the moment to make a difference. She put her own life on the line to fulfil God’s plan. She didn’t know what the outcome would sum up to, but all she knew was that faith without works is dead. You see brothers and sisters, most of us don’t have a problem believing, we don’t have a problem saying that God is the almighty, but when it comes time to put our action where our mouth is, we tend to freeze up. When you are tired of your condition, and you know that if it takes death to give yourself life, You can go ahead and seize the moment. You don’t have to be timid, you don’t have to be scared, because when your in search for the breaking of day, you don’t care what you have to do.
You see when your life is full of darkness and it seems as if the night will never end, when God send someone your way, you can jump up and say I can feel the breaking of day. A song writer said, I been down so long, could not hear a song and something came upon my head and it felt like I was dead, I’ve been stuck so long in sin, thought I never see light again , until Jesus passed my way and I can feel the breaking of day. When Rahab hid those spies, the light started to peek in, and when the light peek in, darkness becomes obsolete, and when darkness becomes obsolete, we like to call that time the breaking of day. Just like Rahab seen the breaking of day all of us have that same opportunity. It all started on one friday, he took the walk down the road to Calvary, they hung him on the cross, they crucified my Jesus, he stayed dead on saturday, and the bible said it was dark and all of a sudden, early on sunday morning someone said I can feel the breaking of day, and he rose up with all power in heaven in earth in his hands. If we take it to Jesus, it may look dark, but if we seize the moment we can feel the breaking of day. Look to your neighbor and tell your neighbor, I’m tired of my situation, I’m going to forget those things which are behind and reach for those thing which are before me, I can feel the breaking of day. Someone in here needs to find the breaking of day just like Rahab, you may not be a prostitute, you may not be all that bad, but all of us had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but when you get tired, call on Jesus and he’ll give you the breaking of day. Not only did Rahab feel the breaking of day, but she helped save her family. Does anyone have some family members who need to be saved. Let me go on to tell you that Rahab the prostitute went on to get married to a man named Salmon. They had a child named Boaz and Boaz went on to marry Ruth. Boaz is the great, great grandfather of Jesse, who was the father of King David. So a Canaanite woman, who was a prostitute is now in the same lineage as our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Now do you believe that God can change your circumstances. She’s also a prime example as quoted in the new testament of faith with works. God uses ordinary people with a life full of sin and if we seize the moment and allow him to, he’ll help us feel the breaking of day.
