Rahab’s Rehab

Rahab’s Rehab

Jos 2:1-19

Zec 3:2b …Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?

Spying is a dangerous business. It’s a practice that’s probably been around as long as men and countries have gone to war against each other. Some countries may not admit to it, but I think it’s probably safe to say that all countries practice it to one extent or another.

Now, when I was growing up, I used to love to watch the James Bond movies with all the scary villains, twisted plots and double-crosses, and of course the “shaken, not stirred” classy style of Bond, James Bond, and all the beautiful women that gravitated to him for one reason or another. Of course, we know that real spies are usually much less obvious, and less sophisticated and not usually part of the “jet set” like Bond was.

Sometimes, people become spies out of chance. They just happen to be in the right place at the right time and decided that something they’ve witnessed needs to be told, like that guy who posted the videos of interviews with Planned Parenthood. At other times, it could be that a person might be recruited because their nationality and native tongue is particularly needed. But whatever reason a person uses to become a spy, they are recognized as providing a much-needed service to one side, while they’re looked upon as criminals of the state on the other side.

Warring enemies crave information that will give them a strategic advantage over their enemy. The more you know about troop strength, supply lines, and the enemy’s current plans, the more likely you’ll come out on top in the coming battle, or the war. Whether you’re gaining military intelligence, or spreading disinformation (or, false information), it can be considered “money well-spent.”

Years ago, I watched a movie that was a true account of military disinformation back in WWII. The movie was titled “The Man Who Never Was” and it told the story of how British intelligence created a fictitious intelligence agent, including an actual cadaver of a dead man, who was strategically released into the Mediterranean from a submarine for the Germans to recover.

The British produced an incredibly detailed scheme of fake identity cards and prior fictitious secret communications in order to convince Berlin that the dead spy carried real, Allied war plans. And, so when the Germans found the body and became convinced that the fake reports and ID were real, they redeployed their troops from Sicily just before the Allied invasion there—giving the Allies a much easier entrance into Italy than what their comrades faced on the beaches in Normandy.

In warfare, good inside information and good disinformation will greatly help the cause of the side that’s better at it. And this is the underlying theme of the 2nd chapter of Joshua. The whole chapter reads similar to a spy novel that holds your interest and has you sitting on the edge of your seat throughout the whole story.

It’s a well-known, and much-loved story of an insider, who gives information and protection to outsiders, and as a result gains important historical significance in the Lord’s plan for the redemption of mankind. Rahab’s story provides us with host of types and symbols that we shouldn’t ignore. Many people tend to get bogged down in the details, expounding on how inept the spies were, or entangled in arguments about the morality of her lying to her king.

But what I want to do today is to approach this story from a different perspective and illustrate how her life is a type and shadow of the movement of God in the lives of unbelievers, beginning with God’s…

1. Unexpected Grace

Jos 2:1 …So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

One definition of the word, grace is: simple elegance, or refinement of movement. Like a ballet dancer, or ballroom dancer. But as we use it in the biblical context, grace is the unmerited favor of God toward mankind. In other words, there is nothing in us as a race of beings that makes us inherently worthy of God’s favor. We have done nothing, nor can we do anything that would qualify us as deserving of God’s grace and mercy, but He gives it to us anyway.

In our story today, Joshua is getting ready to cross the Jordan river and start the conquest of the land. Every people group they encounter is to be considered “herem” or, “devoted to God.” What that means is that they belonged to God, and the Israelites were commanded to send them to Him. In essence—wipe them out.