Advent 2007 -2- God Makes a Way - Rahab: A Way Out of Certain Doom

Reading: Joshua 2:1-21
Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign Joshua 2:12 (NIV)

I.   Living in sin

     A.  Living as a Pagan

           1.  400 yrs after Abram honored Melchizedek

                 a.  Melchizedek: priest of God Most High

                 b.  Now, no worship of God

                 c.  They rejected God Most High

           2.  God is giving them Canaan because of paganism

                 a.  Their sin reached fullness (Gen 15:16)

                 b.  Worship of fertility/rain gods

                 c.  Ritual sex; injustice; child sacrifice

           3.  Rahab & family are idolaters too

                 a.  This is their home, their culture/religion

                 b.  As Abram & Terah: called out of idolatry

     B.  Living as a Prostitute

           1.  Not a one-time deception (Tamar)

                 a.  We can deal with that – in others/self

                 b.  Nobody’s perfect. Just a one-time deal

           2.  Not a one-time adulterer (Bathsheba)

                 a.  A slip-up with hubby away in battle

                 b.  We understand; it’s almost normal

           3.  A life of selling her body for money

                 a.  This was her profession.

                 b.  Good enough to be in the inn business!

                 c.  What were those guys doing there?!

     C.  An Amazing grace

           1.  That God would rescue these people!

                 a.  How many strikes against them!

                 b.  This shows the wideness of God’s love

           2.  That God does save people such as us!

                 a.  We who persist in our sins

                 b.  Who let true worship give way to fitting in with our neighbors

                 c.  Who in humility and faith beg for mercy

II.  Choosing a new Identity

     A.  Their reputation Precedes them (v.10)

           1.  God’s mighty deeds these last 40 years

                 a.  Crossing the Red Sea

                 b.  Had they heard of Sinai?

                 c.  Other miracles?

           2.  Their complete destruction of Sihon & Og

                 a.  Not anything left alive!

                 b.  Other military victories?

           3.  The response was melting in fear

                 a.  To truly understand God is to be afraid

                 b.  Unless truth combines with faith

                 c.  Were others cower, Rahab chooses

     B.  Choosing Sides

           1.  In a moment, she seizes her opportunity

                 a.  No turning back

                 b.  This takes great courage!

           2.  Her faith takes the form of action

                 a.  She hides the men on her roof

                 b.  She sends the king the wrong way

           3.  Makes a trade: kindness for kindness (12)

                 a.  She protected them: they protect her

                 b.  For her and her whole family

     C.  Choosing her God

           1.  She devoted herself to the Lord

                 a.  or be “devoted” to the Lord

                 b.  This is also a trade (more later)

           2.  Consider her statement of faith! (9-13)

                 a.  She knows God is giving them the land

                 b.  She acknowledges Yahweh is God (v.11)

           3.  She chooses for herself & her family

                 a.  Maybe they had already discussed this?

                 b.  We must each make our choice

                 c.  Choices: networked w/ family/friends

III. Rescued from Destruction

     A.  Another Passover

           1.  This city was doomed for total destruction

                 a.  Everything in Jericho: destroyed (6:17)

                 b.  Devoted: it all belonged to God

                 c.  Must be given in burn offering/treasury

           2.  As Passover marked escape from Egypt this marks entry into the promised land

                 a.  Jericho: a first-fruits of Israel’s conquest

           3.  Protection from the angel of death

                 a.  Comes thru faith seen in action

                 b.  Blood on a doorpost/cord in a window

     B.  A scarlet Cord

           1.  There is a mark for these people of faith

                 a.  It reminded them of Rahab’s kindness

                 b.  It required a visible display by Rahab

                 c.  Not understood in Jericho, but in Israel

           2.  It is the color of arterial blood

                 a.  Life blood – still alive with oxygen

                 b.  Reminiscent of the Passover lamb

                 c.  Anticipates the blood of Jesus

           3.  On it we hang, with it we are tied

                 a.  The same rope the spies used?

                 b.  Rahab ties herself to Israel w/ the cord

                 c.  The cord will hang her, or save her

     C.  A Part of God’s people

           1.  Rahab becomes fully a part of Israel

                 a.  She left her former life completely!

                 b.  She & family became Israelites (6:25)

           2.  She marries and has a child (Boaz)

                 a.  Who would marry a former prostitute?

                 b.  She marries Salmon (=garment) (Matt 1:5)

                 c.  She is David’s great-great grandmother

           3.  Not just tolerated but fully included!

                 a.  Salmon=garment; God’s mercy covers her sins like a garment

                 b.  Rahab=wide; shows how wide is God’s love and grace.

                 c.  1 more sinful gentile in Jesus’ family tree
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Co 6:9-11)

The Bottom Line:

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