Sermon Tone Analysis
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Trust is a fragile arrangement.
So often in our world, trust is something that must be earned over time with careful observance and consistency.
And so often in our world, trust is something that can be obliterated in a single instant with one act of infidelity or betrayal.
It only takes one time for a person to be hurt by betrayal, and then trust becomes hard to restore—if ever at all.
People who have been deceived by mistrust have learned their lesson and will not blindly trust anyone again.
I imagine most people would agree that blind trust is not very wise.
Just think of it.
If blind trust ruled my life, then every crook who calls on the phone pretending to be from the bank wanting my account information would have drained all my savings by now.
If blind trust ruled, then I would click on all those links that come in emails from people I don’t know, and my computer would be filled with viruses and spyware.
If blind trust ruled, then why not believe every story that scrolls across the internet even though they have no evidence or documentation to support their claims?
Blind trust can certainly get us into a world of hurt and trouble very quickly if we are not careful.
Yet, today’s story about the woman named Rahab challenges our systems of trust.
Look at the way it comes together in this prequel to the battle of Jericho.
A knock at the door
We only read a few verses from Joshua 2. Let me catch up on the scene from which this story is taken.
Moses has died and left Joshua in command of the Israelite people.
They have spent the past 40 years wandering in the wilderness south of Canaan.
With Joshua in charge, the people are now ready to go into the land which was once home to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The people have already come north and captured the Amorite land to the east of the Jordan River.
Joshua sends spies to cross the river and scout ahead.
The first fortified city on the western side of the river is Jericho.
This is where the spies go first.
Jericho is the home of Rahab.
first knock at the door - Israelite spies
There is no explanation given, but somehow the Israelite spies end up in the house of Rahab.
She is one of the town prostitutes.
Perhaps the spies think their visit will go unnoticed if they gravitate towards places where lots of men are coming and going.
So, maybe they think their quick trip through Jericho will blend right in with all the others who make short visits to the house of Rahab.
second knock at the door - king’s guard
But it does not work out that way.
While the spies are inside the house of Rahab there is a knock at the door.
It is messengers from the king of Jericho—we are never given his name.
The king has been tipped off that there are Israelite spies in the city and has heard that they have gone into Rahab’s house.
This knock at the door presents Rahab with a moment of choice.
She did not choose to be placed into this situation.
Suddenly she is caught in the middle of a tense encounter.
There are two paths in front of her.
moment of choice for Rahab - side with Israel or side with Jericho
One choice would be to expose the spies and turn them over to the guards of Jericho.
Even though Rahab does not have any kind of honorable reputation to protect, this would still be the expected course of action.
Jericho is her home.
We learn from the story that Rahab has family who live in the city.
Rahab chooses a different way.
She tells the guards she does not know where the men come from, and that they have already left her house and left the city.
The guards race off to pursue the spies on the road from Jericho that leads east to the Jordan River.
And the gate to the city is closed behind them as they leave.
The spies are now trapped inside the city.
And Rahab is now neck-deep in a plot of international espionage against her own people.
This is the point in the story where our reading today picks up the action.
Rahab goes to the spies hiding in her house and works an alliance.
Rahab’s explanation - “all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you”
It is Rahab’s explanation which drives the narrative forward.
Rahab speaks for everyone in Jericho.
It is by Rahab’s testimonial here that the spies gather vital intel on the enemy.
By Rahab’s words, they learn that even though Jericho is a well-fortified city, the people who live there are completely terrified of the oncoming Israelite invasion.
The news of Israel’s conquest to the east of Jordan is getting around.
Word has spread throughout the rest of Canaan of what Israel has already done to the east.
And the reaction is revealing.
The residents of Jericho are not defiant in their own overconfidence.
They are not thumbing their noses at the children of Israel.
They are cowering in dread.
They are quaking in fear.
Rahab is the one who gives this report to the spies.
And Rahab explains why they are so scared.
It has nothing to do with size of the armies, or tactical positions.
Rahab understands that it all has to do with the gods.
That’s right; gods – plural.
Rahab’s confession - the LORD of Israel is the God above all gods
You see, there is nothing in Rahab’s testimony to let us believe that Rahab rejects the existence of many gods.
The common belief in Canaan for the time is that there are many gods to be worshipped.
They worshipped Baal and Ashura the fertility gods of the harvest.
There was also Yam the god of the sea.
There was a god for the day.
There was a god for the night.
There was a god for the sky.
There was a god for the land.
There were gods for everything.
And within this pantheon of Canaanite gods, Rahab makes a startling announcement.
All of the Canaanite gods put together is still no match for the one God of the Israelites.
Rahab refers to the LORD of Israel as the God of both heaven and earth.
The coming battle of Jericho has nothing at all to do with armies or weapons or fortifications or strongholds.
There is only one thing that matters in the coming battle; that the LORD of Israel is the God above all gods.
Rahab sees this.
So she makes a choice when the opportunity arises to turn her back on her own people and on her own city, and to take a step of blind trust towards this unknown God who comes along with the Israelite people.
The outsider taken in, and the insider pushed out
Even though Rahab does her best to strike a deal with every assurance the spies are able to give, she really has no way of knowing if this unknown God of Israel would spare her life and the lives of her family.
Rahab places her life completely at the mercy of the LORD, without knowing at all if this LORD of Israel is a God of mercy and compassion.
Jericho: Rahab is not only spared, but taken in among the Israelites
We know how the story turns out.
We know that the LORD is a God of compassion and mercy.
We know that the LORD is a God of grace and forgiveness.
We know that when Jericho falls in the battle, Rahab and her family are spared from the destruction.
And the gospel writer Matthew reminds us today in the Advent season that Rahab is even exalted to a place of prominence within the lineage of the Messiah.
Do you catch that?
Not only is Rahab spared, she is taken in.
In Joshua 6 Rahab is not just left to survive on her own, she is taken to the Israelite camp and lives among them from that day forward.
Her life of prostitution is over.
Her life of being an outcast is over.
Her life of being an outsider is over.
Rahab—the outsider—has now found a place to be taken in.
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