Grace at Jericho Joshua 2

Introduction

The LORD has redeemed the children of Israel from the land of Egypt by his servant Moses. The Israelites have been wandering through the wilderness for 40 years. Now they have come to the edge of the land of Canaan. Moses has just died and Joshua has been appointed to replace him and lead the Israelites in their conquest of the land given them by the LORD.

The book of Joshua begins with a promise. Yahweh promises to give the promised land to the Israelites Under the leadership of Joshua. If they remain faithful to him and keep his law.

In Chapter 1:3 God promises his people “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.”

This is an echo of the promise God made to Abraham, Isaac and then Jacob. It is the promise that the LORD gave the Israelites under Moses and now he renews his promise just before they enter the land.

But, what happens when it seems God’s promise is about to fail. It is easy to believe God’s promises when everything is going according to plan. But how should God’s people respond when it seems God’s promises are failing? Can God’s promises fail? Can God’s people trust him to keep all his promises even when it seems he is not?

These are the issues that we are faced with as we look at this passage this morning. In the ups and downs of our lives as Christians these issues are very important. God has made many promises in his word. Sometimes we can see God clearly keeping his promises, other times we may be tempted to feel his promises aren’t being kept. Or some how his plan is failing.

What is the truth that we must hold to in times like that?

Left us look at this passage together and find out.

I. God seems to have failed

The story begins with Joshua the son of Nun camped with the armies of Israel in Shittim. They are about to cross the river Jordan in order to begin the conquest of the land. Their first obstacle however was the city of Jericho.

Joshua sends out two spies who were given the task of searching out the land. Particularly the land of Jericho. They were to find out valuable information about Jericho so that Joshua could lead an effective attack against it.

But the moment the plan is announced in v.1 things seems to go wrong. Firstly, the two spies entered the house of a prostitute. Now this would probably have been a good place to find out information as she would have had a lot of contact with different people. Also she would have regularly had men coming to her home so the spies would not have looked suspicious going to stay there.

However, for the reader who is aware of God’s law given in Exodus this seems to be a bad start to their mission.

Not only were they lodging with a prostitute, but some how their cover had been blown. Someone realised who they were and why they came and the king of Jericho was told about their presence.

The king then sends soldiers to Rahab’s house to arrest the spies in v.3. We then read that the spies are hidden on the roof under the stalks of flax which would have been left out to dry. Not only that but we read in v.7 that the gate to the city was shut so that if the spies were still in the city they could not escape.

Before the conquest of the land could begin. It seemed to already be failing. The first mission which should have been simple seems to have fallen to pieces. Now the spies may not make it back, the Israelites will be discouraged and the first hurdle they faced would have stopped them.

Perhaps the spies are thinking to themselves where is Yahweh’s promise in all of this?

If God is with us how can this be happening?

We are hiding under stalks of flax on the roof of a prostitutes house and the soldiers of Jericho are searching for us, the gate is also shut so we have no way of escape.

Application-

Sometimes we can feel like this ourselves. When things don’t seem to be going as they should. When God’s purposes do not seem to be coming to pass. We can look at the church in our nation and feel a little like these two spies hiding on Rahab’s roof. They started out to in obedience to God, to spy out the land they would inherit and already it seems to have failed. Perhaps we share the Gospel with someone and it turns in to a miserable failure. Perhaps you have been praying for someones salvation and you seem to be getting no where.

Just as the spies probably thought Yahweh was failing to keep his promise, so we can be tempted to think that Christ is failing when he said he will build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Or perhaps you may feel like this in your personal life. Maybe the Lord has lead you in a certain direction. You were sure you were doing his will and as it stands it seems to be a complete failure. Has God failed to keep his promise?

Sometimes we can feel like that, I’m sure that’s how the spies were probably feeling.

But, the story continues. What we learn next is that God is faithful and he has already gone before his people.

II. God has already gone before

a) Grace for Rahab

When Rahab saw the soldiers coming to her house she hid the two spies and then in v.4 after the soldiers told her to hand over the spies Rahab said “There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them”

The mission seemed to have gone wrong. But yet this pagan prostitute for some reason decided to protect the spies. Why did she do that?

As we keep reading the passage It is clear that God had done a work of grace in Rahab’s heart long before the spies went to Jericho. The mission seemed to have failed but actually God had gone before his people, he had been faithful to his promise.

In v.9-10 we see Rahab had heard about what the LORD had done for the Israelites 40 years ago when the redeemed them from Egypt and parted the red sea. She also heard about how the Israelites had defeated the Sihon and Og who were the two kings of the Amorites.

Not only had Rahab heard about what the LORD had done for his people but she believed. At the beginning of v.9 Rahab says “I know that the LORD hath given you the land,” Then at the end of v.11 she says “for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”

Rahab is acknowledging that Yahweh is the true God. He is the God of heaven above and the earth beneath. What does this mean? It means that God has worked in Rahab’s heart, she has been converted. She has come to believe that Yahweh is the true God.

Let us put this into perspective. Here is a pagan prostitute, an immoral women, whom God has brought to himself. Before the spies ever got to Jericho the Lord was working in her heart and bringing her to himself.

Rahab had heard about the LORD, she believed in him. She also trusted in him. In v:12-21 Rahab makes the spies swear to her that they will protect her and her family when they conquer Jericho.

The spies agree but they say only if you do not tell anyone about our business. They also tell her to hang a scarlet cord from her window to mark out her house so that it will not be attacked.

Rahab and the spies both make a deal and in v.15-16 Rahab lets the spies down from her window because her house was built in the wall of the city and she told them to escape to the mountains.

Before the spies escape they tell her to keep her part of the deal and they will keep theirs. They reminded her to keep the scarlet thread in the window and all who are in the house will be safe.

Application-

Just when it seemed that Yahweh’s promise had started to fail, it became clear actually God had gone before the spies and prepared the way for Israel. The LORD had done a work of grace in Rahab’s heart. She heard about the LORD and all he had done for the Israelites, she believed in him, that he was the true and only God. She also trusted in him for salvation. She wanted the spies to protect her.

In this account of Rahab we have a wonderful picture of God’s grace. The Lord not only protected the spies he also brought this pagan prostitute to saving faith. The spies told her to put the scarlet cord in the window and everyone one inside her house which had the scarlet cord would be safe. Her home was a safe zone from the judgement of God upon Jericho.

In Rahab’s conversion we have a picture of what the LORD still does today for people who are sinful and unworthy like us. He works in the hearts of people, they hear about his great salvation, his saving work, by his grace they believe in him and they trust in his salvation.

Just as Rahab’s home became a place that provided protection from God’s judgement, all who were inside were safe. So today God has provided safety from his judgement for sin in Jesus Christ. All who place their trust in Jesus are saved from the coming wrath.

If you are not a Christian then in the account about Rahab you have hope. She trusted in the LORD and she was saved. The LORD did a work of grace in her heart even though she was a prostitute, he loved her and he saved her. Today if you trust in Jesus Christ look to him to save you from your sin. Look to his death on the cross for safety. Then you will be saved just like Rahab was.

For the Christian we have the encouragement of God’s saving grace, God saves sinners. We can be confident that when we tell others about Christ we are not working on our own but the Lord works in the hearts of people.

But another pointt we see here is the LORD goes before his people. He keeps his promises. God in his providence causes them to lodge with Rahab. He had already prepared her heart for their arrival. Instead of her turning the spies over to the soldiers she protected them, and helped them escape.

Just when the spies may have thought God had failed they realised that God is a faithful God, who keeps his promises and delights to show himself strong on behalf of his people.

We see this in the life of Rahab but we also see this in the way the people of Jericho were already afraid of the Israelites.

This is our final point.

b) Grace for Israel

Not only had the Lord worked in Rahabs heart. He had also caused the people of Jericho to fear the Israelites.

This is what the LORD promised in Exodus 23:27 when he said “ I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee”,

The LORD made a similar promise in Deut 2:25 “This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.”

This is exactly what the LORD had done in Jericho. Rahab told the spies in v.9 “I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.”

And again in v.11 “11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you:”

So as the spies were hiding on Rahab’s roof, afraid of being caught. Worried that the LORD had forgotten them. The reality was they did not have any reason to be afraid. The truth was it was the men of Jericho who were afraid of them. The LORD had caused fear to fall upon the people of that city.

The LORD had gone before his people. The spies after learning this returned to Joshua and said to him in the final verse of the chapter. “Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.” God had gone before his people, just like he had promised to. God is a faithful God and he keeps his promises.

Application-

As the spies were probably doubting God’s wisdom and goodness, they were wrong. God was working before they ever got to Jericho.

Sometimes as Christian’s we can think that God has forgotten us. Or we can feel he is not keeping his promises. What we learn about God in this portion of Scripture is that he always keeps his promises.

He is a faithful God. He is a God we can depend on, someone we can trust in. Even when it seems he is far away and not doing what he has promised to do the reality is he has gone before us and is preparing the way.

So what should our response be when like the spies we are hiding among the flax as it were, we should trust God knowing that he is faithful.

Conclusion

So the book of Joshua begins with a promise from the LORD for his people. Joshua and the people are camped in Shittim. They are about to enter the land but first they send two spies to search out the land before they begin their conquest.

They head to Jericho to find out about it and before they know if they are hiding behind stalks of flax, on a prostitues roof scared for their lives.

Had God’s promised failed so quickly?

If the spies began to doubt the goodness and wisdom of God were they right to do so?

From this passage we see the answers is God’s promises never fail. He is a faithful God. He is a God of grace, he goes before his people.

We see his grace his in the life of Rahab. A pagan Prostitute became a follower of Yahweh. She was an immoral woman, yet we see in the new testament she is described as an example of faith, in Hebrews 11 and James 2. We also see that she is mentioned another time in the New testament and that is in the first chapter of Matthews Gospel where she appears in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ. God didn’t just save her soul he chose that the Saviour of the world would be born from her offspring.

We also see God’s grace for his people by the fact that the people in the land of Jericho were already a defeated foe. The Lord had caused the fear of the Israelites to fall upon them, God was faithful to keep his promises.

What can we take away from this historical account?

For the person who does not believe the point for you is to see the love of God. Look at the faith of Rahab. She heard about God, she believed and she trusted in his salvation. Thats what you must do, put your trust in Jesus Christ. Make Rahabs God your God.

For the Christian we have a reminder of God’s faithfulness. Even when it might seem that God is far away, that he has forgotten us and is not keeping his promises. We can be sure that he is faithful. he will never leave us nor forsake us, but goes before us and leads the way. This means we can trust him in any circumstance of life.