Joshua 2:12-14....What she will do for her family....

Psalm 16:8 NKJV

I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

I know this is Mother’s Day but I wanted to acknowledge all of the ladies today. Because it’s some aunties in here that will go to war for those nieces and nephews faster than mama will sometimes. There are some sisters in here that will hurt you about their family. I don’t see my sister as often as I would like and we may talk on the phone that often but if I called her…TALK... You all need to be recognized and told Happy Mothers day.

And I am so glad the Lord led to this passage of text for today. But before we get into the text, I have to get my introduction in. I use to watch the Discovery Channel or the National Geographic channel and would love when they would be at Yellowstone. They have signs posted about leaving the animals alone but you always guarantee someone will get brave and run up on one. I remember seeing a guy trying to help some bear cubs across the highway. He got out of his car. Out of no where that mama bear comes running from the opposite direction to take care of her cubs. She left the cubs that were safely across to go save that one. She put herself in danger to go save her family. To make sure they were all safe.

All of you ladies have an instinct to nurture and to protect the ones you love. Yes, men we are supposed to be the protectors and we are but you better never get in the middle of a mama bear and family.

Joshua, the new leader of the Israelites. Moses had died and Joshua was appointed leader of the people. He is preparing to take the city of Jericho, so he sends spies over first. V1.....

They come to the house of Rahab, a harlot…She allows them in. Next we see that word had gotten to the king about the Israelite men being in the land and where they were. The king calls Rahab and questions her. And she lies to protect them. V3-V4....Now we do not condon lying but Tony Evans says in his commentary, Rahab was confronted with two sinful options, lying or abetting the execution of God’s representatives, and she chose the option that would bring the most glory to God—protecting his people. Oh to be used by God…come here Noah, a drunk....TALK, PREACH....Sarah, laughed....Judas , counted the money....

But we see from this first part, is that she is willing to put herself in danger for her family… (repeat) She put her own life on the line for these men. She turned her back on her own people for these men. For the people that were trying to come and destroy her people. To take the land from them. She turned her back on her own. And lying to the king, and being a harlot, in those days if she would have been caught, she could have been executed, kicked out…her and her entire family but she still protected them…she lied so hard she had the kings men going on wild hunt when the men were right there at here place hiding V5-7.....why? look at v9 -11, read....Rahab’s declaration was proof of her faith. It was not strong faith and it was not perfect faith, but her faith was commendable nonetheless...We may be appalled at the fact that Rahab was a prostitute, or that she was a liar. Despite those facts, she was not saved by her works, but by her faith. She knew who God was, she knew who she was, and she trusted God for her very life. and because of that she was willing to put herself in danger for her family.....

Let’s make this fit for today. It’s 3 a.m. and someone in the house is sick. running fever and everything that goes with it. That woman will go in there and put herself at risk of getting sick to help take care whoever it is. TALK, PREACH…when I had covid.....talk.....

(Back to the story)....recap.....spies, she lies to protect, she hides them, she declares what she knows about the God of their people…we are here at v12 now.....here she is making sure her family is protected....v12-13, read.....She was convinced of the supremacy of Jehovah, and her earnest stipulations for the preservation of her relatives amid the perils of the approaching invasion, attest the sincerity and strength of her faith....here we see, she is willing to make sure her family is protected.....Rahab’s desire to see her family saved, and the length she went to save their lives, shows that her love should be noticed, as well as her faith. She had betrayed her own people, and now she was putting her faith and trust in a God she had only heard about, no personal relationship and depending on these strangers to help her with protecting her family…theologically this shows us, that calling upon the Lord to save us, we must believe in Him, we must trust Him and once we call and believe, He has declared that He would save us..Romans 10:12-13 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”” .....Rahab was not selfish, she cared about her family and wanted them protected....

I know I have some women in here that have gone without so their child or someone in the family needed something…TALK, PREACH...

I know i have someone in here that has put their trust in the Lord and sometimes you have to turn those kids and family members over to him to help protect them....TALK, PREACH…can’t alway be with them..

I pray I have someone in here that has introduced their people to that man named Jesus.....TALK, PREACH....

Rahab is willing to put herself in danger, she is willing to make sure they are protected.

As we get back to the story, v14, the men do promise her to protect her family when they take the land, she lets them out of a window by a rope and even gives them directions on where to go, v16…the men then tell her how to be saved v18.....then here in v21 she does as the instructed her and she ties the scarlet rope to the window.....here we see that she had covered her family.....she was covering them with love and with the scarlet rope… what’s so special about this scarlet rope…first we notice the color, scarlet, a shade of red, then you should have noticed that she put it on the frame of the window.....what does that mean...As early as the first century, commentators such as Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Ireneaus, Origen and more saw this scarlet cord as a symbol of the blood of Jesus. Its red color made it conspicuous, and it was thus a sign and pledge of safety to Rahab’s house, as the bloody mark on the lintels of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt to that people. I know you remember the passover....talk preach.....now Rahab family was being covered.....they were protected....don’t tell what SHE won’t for her family.....

she is willing to put herself in danger, she is willing to protect , and she wants them covered to the end....

Is there anybody here that want there loved ones to be covered.....covered by the blood.....TALK, PREACH, CLOSE..

When I think about the women in my life, I am like the songwriter, I had a praying Grandmother......i understand that old 100 better now, You walked with my mother, please walk with me....PREACH.....

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 144.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 144.

Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible, 2019), 243.