Rahab - Joshua 2

Big Idea:

God can use anyone—no matter their past—to accomplish His purposes when they respond in faith.

Intro

Over the past several weeks we have been in a series called Ordinary People, Extraordinary God where we have been looking at the stories of various people in the Old Testament. People who were used by God in extraordinary ways, despite their maybe seemingly insignificance.

I want to start off this morning by asking you this question, have you ever been given a label before? Maybe you were given a label from a parent, a sibling, friends, co workers, maybe a teacher or a coach. Maybe you gained a reputation for something you do or say. Sometimes labels we are given can pump us up, make us feel good about ourselves. They are positive. Maybe you have been labeled as kind, friendly, a hard worker, funny, a great singer, disciplined, athletic, loving, caring, an amazing mom or dad, a great brother or sister. When someone we know and care about gives us labels like those, it can feel good! When that is our reputation it can give us confidence. We feel important, valued, loved. Like we are worth something. Those words of encouragement and labels spoken into our life have extreme power in how we view ourselves.

I had a youth pastor growing up who would always encourage me with incredible labels, whether I felt like I deserved them or not. He would tell me things like you are an encourager, you bring people together, you have qualities that will make you a great pastor. And I clung tightly to those labels and words of encouragement. I go back to them frequently and they have helped me be the person I am today. And those words help me in those moments where I don’t feel like I’m living up to that reputation.

Labels have power.

But here’s the thing. The labels people give to us, or maybe even the labels we give ourselves, aren’t always very encouraging. They aren’t always uplifting. They can be hurtful, damaging. Sometimes they are embarrassing. And the power that they have on our life can become overwhelming in a negative way.

In fact, I was a little reluctant to tell you this story this morning because it means you will learn about a label that was given to me when I was younger that was pretty embarrassing to me.

You see when I was 13 maybe just barely 14. I had never driven a car before, but I know it was getting to that point in my life when I was going to start learning. I was outside one day and my dad was working on something but my brothers car was in the driveway. My brother was inside, so my dad asked me if I would pull my brothers car into the garage. A couple feelings sort of overwhelmed me in that moment. First, excitement. My dad is trusting me to drive a car! I’m only going like 10 feet and don’t even have to hit the gas pedal, but this is super cool! The other feeling was pure fear and anxiety. I have never done this before, I don’t know what I’m doing, what if I mess up, this is my brother’s car!

So, I hop in the car, I turn it on. Listen, I don’t even have to turn the wheel. It’s already lined up. This should be super easy. I put the car in the drive and slowly let off the brakes. The car starts to pull forward and as it inches closer to the tool bench that my dad had custom built into the wall of the garage I start to hit the brakes to stop. At least I thought I did. Somewhere in my fear and anxiety I must have lost track of which pedal I was actually pressing on. I hit the gas pedal, the car lunged forward, right into the tool bench in the garage! My mom doing laundry on the other side of the wall runs out the door in utter shock!

Thankfully the only damage was a broken cabinet door. But from that day on my family gave me the label, the nickname, crash. There was a reputation that was built on one mistake. They were just having fun, and it was funny. But deep down, anytime anyone called me that, I was reminded of failure and pretty embarrassed.

Many of you in this room today have been given a negative label. Or you feel like you have a reputation that does not paint you in a very good light. Whether true or not. Or maybe, many of you have even given yourself a negative label because of a mistake you have made or a way you have lived your life in the past. And it’s a label that sticks with you, it’s how you define yourself, and it impacts how you live your life. It impacts how you see yourself and it impacts how you believe that God sees you.

Maybe that label is something like failure, sinner, not good enough, lonely, broken, impure, unworthy, hated, unloved.

We cling to these negative labels or negative reputation that we might have built. It’s all we can see. And questions fill our minds like how could God ever use me how could he even love me.

Labels are powerful and they have power in our life, positive and negative.

Big Idea

This morning we are going to be looking at the story of Rahab. Somebody whose past mistakes, whose lifestyle, maybe not even her own mistakes but maybe the actions of other people against her, had given her some not so great labels. She had a reputation with the people around her that wasn’t so great. She was labeled as a prostitute. She would have been seen as undesirable, unwelcome, unworthy, more like property.

But these labels, while they might tell a story about who Rahab is up to this point in her life, these labels don’t define who God has created her to become.

And as we will find out in this story, God can use anyone—despite their mistakes, despite their labels, despite their reputations—to accomplish his purpose when we respond in faith.

Recap to this point of the story

So, this morning, we are going to be in Joshua chapter 2. As you turn there in your bibles I’ll give a quick recap to what has led up to this point.

- Moses had freed the Israelites from slavery and God had made a promise that they would eventually make their way into the promised land.

- But as we know they wandered the dessert for 40 years and Moses ends up dying before they enter the promised land.

- Joshua takes over as the new leader and Israel is finally ready to enter the land that God had promised to them, but they would have to conquer the Canaanites first.

- And so Joshua, like any good military leader, decides to send in a couple spies to see what it is that they are up against, and that is where we pick up in Joshua chapter 2.

Joshua 2:1

“ Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, ‘Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.’ So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.”

So here we are first introduced to Rahab. And right away we see exactly what her reputation in the city of Jericho is. She is a prostitute.

You know, no little girl grows up in life hoping that this is the label and reputation that they will be known for! Especially back in this time period. Prostitution came with this deep social stigma. She would have been seen as immoral, or dishonorable, an outsider to the rest of society. A lot of times they were marginalized and isolated. She would have likely felt used and dismissed by others. More labels.

You see somewhere in the history of her life either the choices that she had made or the choices that others maybe made for her, led to this reputation that she had now been given.

Yet here she is, right in the middle of God’s story.

So back to the spies, these are men sent by God, why are they staying at a prostitutes house. Well, a few reasons could make sense. 1) back in this time frame a lot of times, Inns would also serve as brothels and so Inn keepers were sometimes also prostitutes. We don’t know for sure this is the case with Rahab, but could be an explanation. 2) If this were an Inn and/or a brothel, the people of Jericho would be used to seeing strange men or foreigners hanging out around there. 3) but even more than all of that, I believe they ended up here because God had a plan for Rahab to be used in his story despite her past.

You see…

1) Rahab’s Past Didn’t Disqualify Her From Being Used By God

At this point in time Rahab is not even a follower of God. From the outside looking in she has no value. No reason for God to use someone like her. But God has a different story that he is writing in Rahab’s life. You see Rahab’s value isn’t found in her reputation, but it comes from the one who is writing her story.  It’s the same for you and me. We try to determine our own value, or we let others dictate what we think our value is, but God sees more in us than we ever could ourselves.

Your past may explain things about you, but it doesn’t define who you are.

Let’s keep reading verses 2-5

“But someone told the king of Jericho, ‘Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.’ (So someone found them out and told the king) So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: ‘Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.’ Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, ‘Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. (this is a big deal because the gates wouldn’t open again until sunrise, so she is saying they are gone and aren’t coming back tonight) I don’t know where they went. If you hurry you can probably catch up with them.’

This was all of course a lie.

Verses 6-7 say

“(Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out). So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.”

Rahab’s response and actions of hiding the spies is a an extremely huge deal to her and her city. Obviously, Rahab is a citizen of Jericho, she lives there. Not only by herself, but we will find out her family lives there too. And these spies are here to learn about how they can conquer Jericho. So why would she risk her life with this bold response. Why would she risk the lives of her family and her city.

This was a moment of change in Rahab’s life. This was the moment in Rahab’s life where she made the decision that the way she was living her life is going to be different from this point on. God had been working in Rahab’s heart, leading up to this point. He had been revealing himself to her through the stories that she had heard about him. And this was the point that she said I believe in the God of Israel! So much so, that I’m willing to put my own life at risk to follow him.

Joshua 2:8-11

“Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. ‘I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. ‘We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.”

You see Rahab had a reputation. But God had a reputation too. At this point in her life Rahab had not seen the miracles of God with her own eyes. She had never experienced life with him, but she had heard about. She had heard a lot about him. She heard the stories of how he had helped the Israelites conquer armies. And through the stories that she had been told she chose to believe in God.

2) Rahab’s Faith Changed Everything – Hebrews 11:31

You may have heard this story about the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin. Charles was a famous French tightrope walker who had famously walked a tightrope across Niagra falls pushing a wheelbarrow. Charles would ask the crowd if they believed he could push the wheelbarrow across and they all cheered, they believed! Then he would ask for a volunteer to get in the wheelbarrow. Crickets. People said they believed but their actions didn’t back it up.

Rahab didn’t just hear the stories about God and cheer him on and believe that he was real. No she got in the wheelbarrow. Her faith in who God was changed everything about her life. She was willing to put her life at risk for God. Her actions backed up her faith.

Her faith would be a lasting example for years and years to come. In Hebrews 11, Dr. Delort, last week, talked about the Hall of Faith. Paul writes about stories of people who had great examples of faith. People like Abraham, Joseph, Moses. These are men who God used to perform miracles and lead nations. But you know who is also included in that chapter. Rahab.

Hebrews 11:31, “It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute (there’s that label again) was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

Jumping back to our story in Joshua, Rahab ends up making a deal with the spies.

Joshua 2:12-14 – “Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families.” “We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.”

Rahab would go ahead and let the men down the wall and help them escape. And they told her that when they come back with God’s army she will leave the scarlet rope hanging from her window and everyone in her house will be saved.

3) Rahab’s Faith Made a Way For Others

Rahab’s actions, that were dictated by her faith and belief in God, didn’t only affect her. But by acting on her faith in God she would not only save herself, but her entire family.

When we respond to God with faith in him, he can and will use us, despite our past and despite our reputation to make a way for others. To impact the lives of those around us.

Your choice today to act on your faith could change someone else’s eternity. Who are the people in your life, that are around you, that your choices and actions impact or have an influence on? Maybe it’s a child you are raising, a spouse, a brother, sister, parent, co worker, teacher, student, maybe it’s that person in your bowling league. Maybe it’s the person sitting next to you right now that you haven’t met yet. It’s the person you see walking into church alone. It’s your small group. It’s the other parents from your kids soccer team.

When we show others the love of Christ through our actions, because we truly believe in who God is. It can make an eternal difference.

What does this look like for you?

James 2:25-26 – “Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.”

Her faith in who God is was followed up by her actions and it impacted those around her.

Last thing I want to point out about Rahab’s life is this…

4) Rahab’s Legacy Was Greater Than Her Labels

In Matthew chapter 1 we see a list of all of these names. And it was the family tree of Jesus. It was the names of everyone in the genealogy of Jesus leading up to his birth, starting all the way back with Abraham. There are only 5 women listed in the entire genealogy and one of them was Rahab.

I find it interesting as well, that this is the one time in scripture that Rahab is mentioned by name without her label of prostitute.

Rahab’s name went from being associated with sin to being found in the family tree of the Savior.

God doesn’t erase your story completely. Our stories are an important piece of who we are. But God does redeem our story. He takes the broken, painful, and seemingly wasted parts of our lives, and uses them for good, when we put our faith and trust fully in him.

This redemption means we are no longer identified by our reputation and our past. Not by what others might say about us, but God gives us a new purpose and a new future.

God wants to include you in his bigger story, just like Rahab, no matter what your past looks like today. He just asks that you say yes to him and believe in who he is.

Conclusion

- So what about you. Are you letting your past, labels, or reputation keep you from God’s plan? Are you letting your addiction, your sexual sins, your anger, whatever it is you are struggling with. Are you letting those things keep you from God’s plan for your life.

- Here’s the deal…People matter to God

o God doesn’t see people for who they are but who he created them to be.

o He doesn’t see them for where they are at but where they can be when they trust and believe in him.

- We are not defined by our past but made righteous by our God who lives in us.

- Will you trust that God’s grace is bigger than your shame? Your pride? Your doubts? Your fears? Your reputations? Your thoughts about yourself?

- Like Rahab, will you take a step of faith, even if it’s messy or countercultural.

There was a moment in Rahab’s life where she was faced with a decision. Would she continue to live the life that she had been living that would eventually lead to death and separation from God. Or would she lean into her beliefs about who God is and say today is the time for a change.

Today is the day that I back up what I believe in God with my actions.

Today is the day that I get in the wheelbarrow, and I say, God my life is in your hands!

Today is the day that I stop letting my past define who I will become but I lean into who you created me to be.

If you have been sitting in your shame and past and letting that define you, today is your day for change. God wants to redeem your story and see your life changed forever.

Because God can use anyone—no matter their past—to accomplish his purpose when they respond to him in faith.