2-15-26 Standing on His Promises

Good Morning, thank you for the opportunity to share this morning.

A few weeks ago during our Sunday evening service I got to introduce those here to Joshua and we here on Sunday morning began with the first 4 verses of Joshua and receiving their inheritance.

One of my big points with Joshua in the evening service was the Fall of Jericho.

In Joshua chapter 6 Joshua and the nation of Israel begin marching around Jericho once a day every day for 6 days and 7 times on the 7th. And when all was said and done, Jericho fell. Joshua believed God would do what he said and followed in faith. But he wasn’t the only one. I’ve got someone else who had a tremendous amount of faith and she is directly related to another person who makes an appearance just a few chapters later. Confused yet? Don’t worry, the best way to interpret scripture is with scripture and that’s exactly what we are going to do.

Let’s first look at the woman and make some observations along the way.

Joshua 2:1 ESV

1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.

Couple of observations.

Spies 12/2

How many people did Joshua send to spy out the land?

2

How many did Moses send 40 years earlier?

12

Of those whom Moses sent, how many came back with the faith that God would carry them through?

2

I don’t know if this was divine knowledge or Joshua’s just thinking that less is more.

Thinking strategically, 2 are a lot easier to hide than 12. I don’t know which one to go with, but I do find it an interesting thing to ponder why Joshua sent 2 when Moses sent 12.

Rahab home

The other interesting thing here is the introduction of a neat woman named Rahab.

What did Rahab do for a living?

Prostitute. Right

Does anyone else have a translation that says something other than prostitute?

Harlot is common, means the same thing. Some have argued that the word used for harlot and prostitute could also be used for innkeeper. And, maybe, but I don’t think any of us would want to stay at a Harlot’s Inn. Now the men did seem to lodge at her house. I don’t know if she ran a brothel and the men thought that a good place to hide out, or if they were less than wholesome spies, I don’t know exactly. But what of Rahab?

The word prostitute broken down also means, unfaithful one. That means, by her own title, she is not one to be trusted. One should take anything she says with a grain of salt.

And we know people like this, some are close in our lives. The person who says one thing and does another. Some of us are guilty of that at times in our lives.

There are times in our lives when we are unfaithful. That doesn’t always mean in a sexual sense. I can be unfaithful to a friend by not keeping a promise. I can be unfaithful to a neighbor by treating them like garbage. I can be unfaithful to a fellow Christian by ignoring them when they want to talk.

There are a lot of ways to be unfaithful, but look at what Rahab does.

Joshua 2:2–6 ESV

2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 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.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.

So, Rahab is a prostitute. WHich means unfaithful one. She seems to be acting unfaithful, but who does it seem like she is being unfaithful to?

One who is unfaithful is a prostitute.

The king of Jericho.

Jew in wall

Back in World War 2 people would hide Jews in their homes and when the Nazi’s knocked and asked. Many of them took Rahab as an example. “Of course there are no Jews here.” They lied. ANd this is a tough thing to observe, since one of the commandments is “Do not bear false witness” or Don’t lie. I can’t say if she did the exact right thing or not. There are instances from World War 2 where people were asked if there were Jews and the people said, yep, in the walls, under the floor. And the Nazi’s didn’t even believe them enough to check.

But here we have a woman, whose only profession has been to be unfaithful, and God used her lie to keep the spies safe.

And after the spies are safe, what does she do?

Joshua 2:8–11 ESV

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.

What might we call her words today?

A profession of faith (EXPAND she stops being unfaithful)

Josh 2:12-14,17-19

Joshua 2:12–14 ESV

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.”

Joshua 2:17–19 ESV

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. 19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.

And a promise is made. Rahab is not an Israelite. She is not a trustworthy individual. The spies cover their bases with her, but there was really no need. She had the faith that God is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do.

She follows the commands of the spies and when Jericho falls, her home is the only one left standings.

And the town that is cursed forever has one person who is much more than just a survivor. There are 4 women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. Rahab is Boaz’s mom, Boaz marries Ruth, they have Obed, who has Jesse, who has David. So the harlot of Jericho is David’s Great Great Grandmother. And several more greats to get to Jesus.

An unfaithful one Rahab joins a bunch of other unfaithful ones, in the line of the most faithful one ever known and that is Jesus.

The line of the Messiah is filled with unfaithful.

Another neat person in that line is Tamar, the first woman mentioned in the geneology, we’ll talk about her faith and bravery tonight.

I look forward to sharing a bit about Tamar tonight, but there is one more person to look at in Joshua and that is this guy

Joshua 5:13–15 ESV

13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Jesus and Josh

This is the introduction to the Commander of the Army of the Lord. We’ve actually met him before. Back in Genesis 18, when a man comes and eats with Abraham and receives Worship and in Numbers 22 when this man blocks Balaam and his donkey.

The interesting thing to notice here is that when God enters into creation, he comes personally and with purpose.

He came to fellowship with Moses on the mountain in all his glory. He came in judgement to Balaam. He comes to Joshua as exactly what he needs.

Joshua has been commanded to take Jericho. Not as a commander himself, at least not yet. Right here and now he is just the man who believed God would carry them through 40 years earlier. He didn’t know how, he just had the faith that God would do

He’s in humble prayer waiting for the God of Moses to tell him what to do.

But God doesn’t show up in all his glory like with Moses. He shows up as a man, with sword drawn and ready for battle. But the commander didn’t come to fight himself as Joshua may have expected. He came to command and then let Joshua do the work.

That’s the end of chapter 5 and chapter 6 gives the instructions. If you are reading a novel and reach the end of a chapter and begin a new one, you expect a change of theme and setting, or a transition of some sort.

While chapters and verses are a great help to us today, we must remember that it was all thanks to a guy named Steve.

For those not familiar with Steve its really Stephen Langton, an Archbishop in the early 1200’s who put the chapters and verses in. Great guy, but this split from chapter 5 to 6 is mid conversation.

So Joshua meets the Lord, identified as the commander of the Lord’s Army and appearing as a man in chapter 5 and the discourse continues in chapter 6. And it’s a conversation I would love to have witnessed.

Joshua 6:2 ESV

2 And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.

walking Jericho

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who just seemed too confident?

Like those guys who jump into freezing water for a polar bear plunge. Completely insane, but they do it and the people I’ve known to have done it are all still alive.

That’s what I imagine as the Lord is talking to Joshua.

Ok Josh, here’s the deal. You’ve been wandering around the wilderness for 40 years. You got a few weapons, an army of mostly kids, no one other than you or Caleb is over 60 and I want you to gather everybody, walk up to that heavily fortified city and walk around it for 7 days. And get this, you won’t need swords to get past the wall, you just need trumpets.

When was the last time anyone destroyed a city with music? I have heard that someone once built a city on rock and roll, but never destroyed one with a trumpet.

Until Jericho.

If you’ve taken on the task this year of reading through the Bible then I have a small added task for you.

Look for every time God asks someone to do something completely crazy and then watch God follow through.

Like telling a man that he’s going to spend a 120 years building a boat to hold a sample of every lifeform on the planet.

Tell a 90 year old woman she’s going to have a baby. She laughed so hard at that she named her son laughter.

Or telling a man to hold up his arms at a mighty sea and watch it part.

Alyce is a reader. And sometimes when she’s reading she just belts out laughing for one reason or another.

And often she’s willing to share.

Imagine sitting at a park and reading God’s word and you’re reading Joshua 6. Walk around Jericho once a day every day and 7 times on the seventh day.

You laugh, because that’s a funny way to conquer a city, someone asks what’s so funny, you tell them. And then you get to tell them that God followed through.

The people did that crazy thing God commanded and then the walls fell.

This isn’t a comedy text by any means, but when you read God’s word, you should notice that he commands the impossible and then makes it happen.

And as I believe that Jesus is just as present in the Old Testament as in the New, you’d understand that Jesus asks those in the New Testament to do the impossible all the time.

Jesus’ kingdom is upside down.

Luke 6:27–28 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Society says to protect your tribe and crush your threats. Jesus says to eliminate the category of "enemy" through proactive kindness.

Imagine if you came across that person you didn’t like or got along with and made them your best friend? How crazy is that?

Uncomfortable, absolutely, but when did Jesus ever say loving people was comfortable.

Luke 14:12–14 ESV

12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.

Luke 14:12–14 ESV

13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Spend your resources on those who offer zero social or financial ROI (Return on Investment).

This is a discernment issue, but give without expecting in return, but also know when to stop so as to not be taken advantage. There’s love and then there’s enabling, be discerning.

Luke 6:29 ESV

29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.

In a "shame and honor" culture, failing to hit back was considered cowardly. Jesus frames it as a position of strength that robs the aggressor of their power.

When someone comes at you with anger and aggression, return love. That will throw them off and often stop their onslaught. Next time someone is picking on you. Go on up and hug them.

Luke 22:25–26 ESV

25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.

Authority is validated by the depth of one's dishwashing, not the height of one's throne.

Are you a type A that likes to be in charge? Take that back seat and serve. Not only will it benefit the one you serve, but it will give you an opportunity to love in a wonderful way.

Rahab, Joshua, you and I, I hope we all know Jesus. It is so hard to let go of ourselves and do the crazy things he asks of us.

We like to drive, we like to be in charge and make the decisions that make sense. But what if, even just today. We look at that person in our life that we struggle with and change the tide. Stop the waters, walk the walls, hug the enemy, love those that treat you poorly.

Stand on his promises and watch him tear down the walls.

Let’s Pray