Joshua 2 - “From Jericho With Love”

Intro: Good morning church family, I am truly grateful for this last week’s Southern Baptist Convention. We were able to send out, because of those giving to the cooperative program 83 new missionaries to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to people around the world. It is a joy to partner together with so many to pursue the lost so that they may one day join in that day we are all heading toward in the great multitude.

This morning, I also want to thank the Lord for the wonderful opportunity to be a Father. It is a tremendous opportunity to shepherd the hearts and minds of our children for the glory of God. And I am thankful to have a father who loves the Lord and encourage fathers in our congregation to be strong and courageous, to not be terrified, to not be discouraged, but to know that the Lord is with you and has given you a great stewardship. This life is filled with many dangers, toils, and snares, but God has called us to advance by the power of His Spirit with joy for the glory of His name and the good of others.

Intro:

God is on a mission to save people from every tribe, tongue, and nation and uses you and I to join in that work. Last time we were in Joshua, we were reminded that God was in the process of bringing His people into the land that He had promised them.

The people are finally ready and appear to be willing to follow the Lord and their appointed leader Joshua into their inheritance. They echoed the words of Moses and the words of God that Joshua was to be strong and courageous despite the difficulties they would have to face.

So now, the time has come for that courage to be demonstrated. I don’t think that this decision to send spies is any kind of lack of trust on the part of Joshua, rather it is the pattern that was already established. In a similar fashion to Numbers 13, Joshua sends spies into the land of Promise, just as Moses had done. Except this time, the results are vastly different. What we ultimately find in this passage is that God rescues the lost to accomplish His purposes.

First, we come to:

1. The Feat of the Spies.

a. Act of cowardice or courage? Some have argued that the very presence of the spies demonstrates that Joshua lacked the necessary faith and courage that God had called him to in the previous chapter, because instead of taking God at his word, he needed to see for himself. I find this to be highly unlikely. Because, this was already the pattern set by his predecessor, Moses, via a word from the Lord. And nothing in this text indicates that Joshua didn’t believe the Lord, rather he is acting in faith and wisdom to take the next right steps of obedience to lay claim to their inheritance.

b. We should be reminded by this: that when God speaks, we are commanded to obey. And we should act out that obedience in wisdom. For example, you know that God has called you to share the gospel with others. Have you taken the first step of praying for the lost you already know? Have you taken the next step of talking with them of your own love for Christ? Have you had the opportunity to call them to faith in Jesus? Wisdom is not inactivity, (just doing nothing), rather it is taking the next step of faith in obedience to God’s word.

c. Why did they go to a prostitute’s house? Here is where we should remember their mission. These men were sent on a mission of espionage, and they already chose to accept it, now they had to get the findings back to Joshua. There is also added tension in the fact that one of the last times a sneak of spies (collective noun name??) came back from Jericho, the majority chose fear over faith. These men desire to be faithful and successful, so they go to the house of this woman of ill repute. They come to this house known for being a place where strangers would come and go in the night, a place where spies could easily sneak in and out without being seen. It was quite a tactical play, but little did they realize that this was exactly where God wanted them.

d. Incredibly, the spies were not sent to figure out how they might bring God’s plan to bring Israel into Jericho to pass, rather, they were sent to be instruments of rescue for Rahab. God was sending them to rescue the lost.

e. Application: Be faithful to act in wisdom and obedience and trust that God has already prepared your steps ahead of you.

As the spies have made their way into Jericho, they were not as successful as they had hoped, for someone in the city had spied out the spies! This counter-espionage is heightening the drama of the story and the King and his messengers are now involved. Now, Rahab is given a direct order from the King to bring out the men who have lodged with her at this Questionable Inn. Instead of surrendering them, we see:

2. The Faith of Rahab:

It is here that I would like to spend the majority of our time. Because we have been introduced to a significant figure of Scripture in one of the most unexpected ways imaginable. And we must remember that Scripture recalls the activity of Rahab on multiple occasions: (Hebrews 11, James 2) And each time she is mentioned, it is because she is being commended; what was so commendable about the faith of a harlot? This woman is an outsider, someone we would be tempted to ask, why should the God of Israel care about this sinful pagan? What was so remarkable about her faith?

a. First, we see Rahab’s personal faith:

i. Rahab didn’t come from an Israelite home, she wasn’t raised going to the tent of meeting, she wasn’t brought up hearing the Word of Yahweh, she had no claim, so her faith was wrought by God and she responded in faith and obedience.

ii. We cannot ride to heaven on the coattails of someone else’s faith.

iii. When I stand before the Lord, I will have to answer for what I did with the truth of God’s Word and his gospel.

b. Second, we see Rahab’s active faith:

i. Rahab has hidden away spies searching out the land from the officials and King of her land.

ii. It is easy to claim to know Jesus. In fact, we know that faith, being defined as “Belief” is not saving because even the demons believe, and tremble.

iii. Rahab has a living faith. It is possible to make a profession of faith without having a possession of faith. (James 2)

(Brief excursus on “the lie”) Good and faithful Christians have disagreed for centuries over Rahab’s lie. Sam Storms helpfully provides the three typical perspectives:‌

(1) Conflicting absolutism or “the lesser of two evils” approach – According to this view, sometimes two or more absolute principles will conflict and there is simply no way to avoid sinning.

(2) Hierarchicalism or “graded absolutism” – On this view there is an ordered hierarchy of moral values in which some have priority over others.

(3) Non-conflicting absolutism – This is the view which says that it only seems or appears to be the case that two moral absolutes conflict. In reality, they don’t. In such situations, there will always be a third way or another option that does not entail committing a sin.

I suggest a kind of fourth perspective, I believe that that Rahab was courageous and righteous in her actions in the case of warfare to protect the godly from the unrighteous king of Jericho. The circumstances are those of warfare, not a kind request from a ruler (e.g. Rom. 13). If we consider things like camouflage, undercover police cars, the attack on Normandy in WWII, where deception is used to gain an upper hand on the enemy, is this condemnable? Is it the same sort of thing that the midwives did in hiding the Hebrew children in Exodus?

Ultimately, this is an extraordinary situation that you and I will likely never find ourselves in; when we think about the ethics of lying you and I are to remember that we are to be truth-tellers:

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exod. 20:16).

‌That “Satan is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

‌That we are not ‌to “lie to one another” (Col. 3:9).

‌We are to “put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:25). Among those consigned to the eternal lake of fire are “all liars” (Rev. 21:8) as well as “everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Rev. 22:15). However we grapple with Rahab’s lie, it is not the primary point of this text. As one commentator noted, Scripture does not spend time commenting on Rahab’s ethic, but on her faith. What kind of faith? A personal faith, an active faith, and

c. Third, we see Rahab’s saving faith:

i. Not only is she actually, physically, rescued in chapter 6, but she is shown to be an example of divine saving grace in the book of Hebrews.

ii. She trusts in Yahweh and holds on to the promise of bringing His people into the land they have been promised.

iii. It is also imperative that we see the fruit of Rahab’s faith. She cared about her family, she committed an act of faith and righteousness in rescuing the spies.

iv. We also see the sign of her faith in the scarlet cord. Many theologians throughout the history of the church have seen a clear cut path from the scarlet cord to the cross of Christ, and if it is intended, the Passover is the clearest connection. But even if this was not intended by the author, we see the clear picture of redemption in the person of Rahab. God coming to a sinner, and bringing hope of rescue and redemption. Saved out of judgment and brought into the covenant community of believers.

App: God will continue to rescue people like Rahab, but will not use you to do it if you’re unwilling to be salt and light to the sinners and around you.

A woman, from a sinful profession, in an enemy city, is not who you would expect God to send his people to be a rescue team for.

This is an incredible story of the grace of God, but I do want to suggest that there are two dangers in viewing this as more extraordinary than it is. We can be tempted to view it as extraordinary because we think that God doesn’t save people “like that”. Or worse, we think that we are not really that bad.

She was the lost, but God rescued her to accomplish His purposes.

3. The Fear of the People of Jericho

a. This fear is right. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All should fear the Lord.

b. But our response to that fear should not be like the people of Jericho, but like Rahab. We are not to run from God in our fear, but to turn to Him and seek His rescue.

c. God is fulfilling His promise and it fills the watching world with fear. The fact of the matter is,

d. Outside of Christ, the world is filled with terror at the thought of God ruling and reigning. But that fear need not turn in to eternal terror. The inhabitants of Jericho can turn, they can trust in the Lord, they can follow Yahweh and they and their families can be saved. Because God can save anyone.

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4. The Faithfulness of God

a. Finally, the main character in this story as with most of Scripture, is God himself.

b. Who is this God? He dried up the water of the Red Sea. He destroyed the kings of the Amorites. He is the Lord of the heavens and the earth.

c. The spies assure Rahab that they will mirror that faithfulness by meeting her in her need and bringing her out to deliverance. What was the request of Rahab? Salvation for her family. And the spies reply: “Our life for yours, even to death!”

i. App. May we have faithful Christians who step out boldly and say, that we are willing to lay down our lives to rescue those with a past of sin and guilt, who have faith in the Lord!

d. The faithfulness of God is also gloriously displayed in his salvation in the face of the coming judgement against the people of Jericho. As the scarlet cord hangs, marking the way of deliverance, so did the blood mark the salvation at the Passover, and so hung cross offering salvation through judgment. Standing as the only means of salvation from generation to generation.

i. As Rahab’s great grandson David would say, “My salvation comes from the Lord!” Rahab’s later descendent would call others to have faith in Him and his salvation would not simply deliver from a military siege, but deliver unto eternal salvation.

ii. A note of encouragement: If Jesus was not ashamed to have a former harlot as his ancestor, he is not ashamed of having sinners like you and I as his children.

iii. God is faithful to welcome the weary, the needy, the sinful, the broken, battered, and bruised as his children and give us a Kingdom and land that will have no end.

e. Notice the praise that ends this passage: And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.”

f. Because of God’s grace and mercy, he not only gave them His Word of command and encouragement, but also stoops down to provide them with this good report. They can be assured that God is with them.

‌ This passage highlights the reality that God rescues the lost to accomplish His purposes. Do you believe that?

May we remember our great need for so great a Savior, that we are no better than Rahab, that we are called to bring out those trapped in darkness, and that God is orchestrating everything for the purposes that you would have a living, active, rescuing faith.