O Come, All Ye Unfaithful: Rahab
O Come, All Ye Unfaithful • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 39:55
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· 10 viewsGod Sovereignly brings the Savior of the world through sinful people whose faith takes refuge in His promises.
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Call to Worship
Call to Worship
Adoration
Adoration
Confession
Confession
Thanksgiving
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8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof
9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.
11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign
13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”
14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
The women of Jesus’ genealogy act as seams to the story of how the seed of promise is sustained.
5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
Rahab protected the spies of Israel and by faith inherited the promise of salvation from Joshua when Jericho fell.
God Sovereignly brings the Savior of the world through sinful people whose faith takes refuge in His promises.
God Sovereignly brings the Savior of the world through sinful people whose faith takes refuge in His promises.
After the first five books of Moses, also called the Pentateuch, God refused to allow Moses into the land of promise.
We’re told of the transition from Moses to Joshua at the river Jordan.
9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Coming out of Deuteronomy, there is an fever pitch expectation for Israel to enter the land of promise.
Joshua’s name literally means “Yahweh is Salvation”
Joshua will be the one who leads the people of Israel into the promised land.
1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
Spying Out the Land of Promise
Spying Out the Land of Promise
Flashback to Numbers 13
Earlier in the wilderness wanderings, Israel spied out the land which ended in failure.
Their sin and unbelief kept them wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.
Only two spies (Caleb & Joshua) gave a good report.
Joshua and Caleb trusted that Yahweh would give them the land.
The last expedition had twelves spies from every tribe.
Don’t miss the seriousness of what they’re doing here:
They’re spying out the promised land for a second time so that they would enter it by faith.
They’ve already been snubbed once.
The second time looms heavy over them.
Joshua is now in his 80’s.
He knows what’s at stake because he watched the former generation not enter the promised land.
And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.
Keep in mind, many shady characters would frequent Rahab’s house.
A prostitutes house would serve as excellent cover for spies because it would be frequented by many people.
As spies in a foreign land, it would give great cover to gain intel unsuspected.
We’re told later that Rahab lodged in the wall of Jericho (Joshua 2:15).
She was an outcast from the city.
To live in the wall was the most socially unacceptable
The most vulnerable to attacks from outsiders.
Walls are means of protection from invaders and attackers.
Rahab lives in the walls, so it makes her susceptible to attacks from foreigners.
It makes her an easy target.
2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.”
The word of the spies reaches the king.
Like any reasonable king, he sent men to search out the accusation (Joshua 2:3).
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”
Rahab is commended for receiving the spies.
Rahab doesn’t give an evasive answer, she gives a flat contradiction.
The men were hiding upstairs when she told them that they had fled the city.
It seems like the Bible commends lying?
She’s commended in Hebrews 11:30-31
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
Does the Bible commend lying?
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
But God on the other hand is the Truth.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
God is the Standard.
He is the standard and the baseline for which all truth is to be known.
Lies are characteristic of all ungodliness, whereas truth is characteristic of godliness.
Rahab’s lie is not commended, her faith is commended.
Yet in God’s Sovereignty, He uses her untruth to protect the spies.
Even through man’s sin and folly, God’s purposes come to pass.
Rahab’s lie does not reveal moral perfection.
It reveals a shift in her allegiance!
What we see here from Rahab is a commitment to the God of Israel.
Her loyalty to Yahweh is greater than her loyalty to her people.
This loyalty and allegiance to Yahweh goes far beyond her loyalty to evil doers.
Application for Believers
We should not be shocked by the story we have here with Rahab.
In the winter of 2015, myself and several friends took a trip to take Bibles into China.
The reason we were taking Bibles into China is it is illegal for Bibles to be distributed there.
There were questions when we daily crossed the border about,
“Are you bringing anything illegal into this country?”
Were we going to tell them “yes” and have all our Bibles taken?
Or were we going to lie?
You had better reckon with something, Christian, trusting Christ by faith will put you in challenging ethical places.
The world will demand you to bow the knee to their wicked systems and when it does, we must unflinchingly be prepared to suffer for Jesus’ sake.
Yet at the same time, to unflinchingly trust Yahweh will at times demand allegiances which will put you at odds with other allegiances.
The men followed the advice from Rahab.
The spies were protected in her home (Joshua 2:7).
Allegiance to Yahweh: Our Lives for Yours
Allegiance to Yahweh: Our Lives for Yours
8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
Rehab often hears from foreigners about many stories.
Remember her house would be often visited from men because she was a prostitute.
Not because of some Billy Graham Crusade, but from shady characters. (BibleTalk)
And it’s from these unbelieving shady characters that Rahab hears of the promises of God coming through Israel.
The knowledge of what Yahweh has done and is doing for the people of Israel is well known by everyone.
Rahab believed the promises of God and thus allied herself with Him and His purposes.
It would be to keep spies in a city like Jericho.
It was high treason to keep spies from a foreign land.
But here Rahab houses the spies of Israel because she believed the promises that God was going to give them the land.
She believed the promises that He was going to bless Israel.
“I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
Rahab admits that the fear of Yahweh has fallen upon her and her people.
They are petrified of Israel as a people because they can clearly see God’s Sovereign and Providential purposes.
Application for Unbelievers
There were others in this city that knew and understood what Rahab knew.
They knew Yahweh would eventually give this city to His people.
Yet this knowledge didn’t draw them any closer to God.
It led them away from Him.
It’s NOT enough for you to “know” that God is going to bring judgment upon all people.
There are plenty of people that know all sorts of true things about God’s eventual judgements.
They believe in hell.
They believe in judgment.
But it doesn’t draw them to any different lives.
Just a fearful trembling.
A sinful fear merely trembles at the thought of God.
But a right fear moves a person from trembling to Trusting.
Are you trusting Jesus today?
God’s past activity toward the people of Israel have prompted her and her people to fear and tremble at this tiny nation.
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.
God’s past activity are a means of reminding Rahab of His future activity toward them as a nation.
God’s not asking Rahab to have some sort of blind faith.
Yet His past activity will serve as a bases for all His future dealings with them as a people.
11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
Rahab’s confession here is filled with truth for she sees that Yahweh is truly the God of Heaven and Earth.
Her fear moves beyond a sinful fear that merely dreads Yahweh to a fear that trusts Him.
This kind of fear moves beyond trembling to trusting and seeking refuge.
Application for Believers
This is the kind of fear that all Christians know and understand.
It’s a kind of fear that sees the goodness of God and sees their own sin.
It’s a kind of fear that understands the gulf and chasm between us and God and instead of shrinking back, it runs toward to find refuge.
12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”
She pleas with the spies to deal kindly with her as she has dealt kindly with them.
Thus her fear moves her to ask for salvation from the hand of Yahweh.
14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
The spies promised to treat Rahab in like measure of her treatment of them.
Reception of the spies was more than merely receiving them on blind faith.
The NT actually refers to her activity as an action of faith.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
She received them as an act of faith.
She believed the promises of God.
She trusted that Yahweh was the true God, unlike all the false deities of her pagan land.
A Scarlet Cord for a Covering
A Scarlet Cord for a Covering
Much like Tamar sought a pledge from an unsuspecting Judah.
Here Rahab is given a pledge from the spies for her own salvation from the impending doom coming to her city.
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.
16 And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.”
She not only gives safety in her home, but she gives insight from living among the walls that would have been invaluable.
Since she lived among the walls she would have seen patterns and geographic knowledge that would have been necessary for safe passage.
She gives safe passage all the way through for these spies.
17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.
Much like the blood that covered the doorway in the homes of Israelites in Egypt to protect them from the judgment that passed over
13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
The scarlet cord will protect Rahab and all her household (Joshua 2:18-19).
The scarlet cord does not save because of the color.
The scarlet cord saves because of the promise associated with it.
Like a gentile passover, this crimson sign of promise will shield Rahab and her family from the coming judgment of Israel upon Jericho.
Rahab is an amazing woman of faith that hears the promises of God and walks in faith.
The Passover for All of Us
She is in the long line of the types and shadows of how all people will be saved.
There will be an Exodus like event for every individual.
An Exodus like event that will demand a passage through water, and a partaking of the sign of the promise.
All of this screams for us to look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
Earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul admonitions the church to cleanse out the “old leaven” in a case of church discipline.
Unleavened bread becomes the symbol for the people of Israel that is a reminder of their quick departure from Egypt.
Leaven takes time to rise and Israel would not have that kind of time because the LORD’s salvation was imminent.
Those who are found with leaven would be planning to remain in Egypt…
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Application for Believers
When we see the example of Rahab, we should see the constant drumbeat of Scripture to find refuge in Christ.
The Fulfillment of the Promise of Salvation
The Fulfillment of the Promise of Salvation
22 They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing.
23 Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them.
24 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.”
If the story ended here it would disappointing.
Rahab would have housed spies for nothing.
She would have been vulnerable to suspicion.
22 But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.”
23 So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel.
24 And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.
25 But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
God Sovereignly brings the Savior of the world through sinful people whose faith takes refuge in His promises.
God Sovereignly brings the Savior of the world through sinful people whose faith takes refuge in His promises.
Benediction
Benediction
