INTRODUCTION

1.    We are going to look at two totally different people

a.    Joshua

                                          i.    Was raised in a very religious Jewish home

                                        ii.    He saw the plagues in Egypt

                                       iii.    He watch God divide the Red Sea

                                       iv.    He ate manna that fell from heaven

                                        v.    He listened to Moses deliver the Ten Commandments

                                       vi.    His mentor – Moses

b.    Then there is the other person – Rahab

                                          i.    Her claim to fame – she was a harlot

2.    But her conversion is a story of faith

a.    She was a living example of the fact that God can make a success out of any of us

b.    Regardless of our past

THE REVELATION OF RAHAB’S FAITH

Joshua 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

1.    In preparation for the invasion Joshua sent two spies to Jericho

a.    Why the spies?

b.    He needed information about Jericho

                                          i.    He was planning to take the city

                                        ii.    He was a military man

                                       iii.    But God has greater plans

c.    God was about to give Rahab and her family the opportunity to be saved when Jericho would be taken

2.    Think of the time as recorded in the Gospel of John where Jesus went to Samaria

a.    Jews normally would never go through Samaria

b.    But there was one person living in Samaria that was ready to be saved

c.    Jesus had to go to Samaria to save that woman

                                          i.    The woman believed in Christ

d.    And many of the Samaritans believed.

e.    Just as Jesus had to go through Samaria, God was using Joshua to send the two spies to Jericho so that Rahab might be saved

3.    God tells us of the story of Rahab because He wants us to know He cares about people - all people

a.    Even those in the pits of sin

b.    God wants us to know that no person is outside the reach of God’s love and grace

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

4.    The spies went to Rahab’s house

a.    Some commentators say it was the local inn

b.    The spies thought they would not be noticed there blending in with the other travelers

c.    If her house was an inn it apparently had a dual purpose

James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

d.    They thought they would not be noticed

e.    But they were noticed

Joshua 2:2-3 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.

f.     King must have had good lookouts

                                          i.    They were expecting something to happen

                                        ii.    The Israelites had been camping across the Jordan for quit a while -Num. 22

                                       iii.    Their every move was being watched

g.    The King sent his soldiers to the house

                                          i.    There with a command from the King to Rahab

                                        ii.    ‘Give us these men’

h.    These spies were in for a surprise

i.      They certainly did not expect to find anyone of faith in Jericho

                                          i.    Certainly not in a harlot,

j.      But her salvation has an loud and clear message

                                          i.    No matter how bad your sin

                                        ii.    Or how long you have been guilty

1.    God will forgive you

5.    Rahab hid the spies

Joshua 2:4-6 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were 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. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

THE DECLARATION OF RAHAB’S FAITH

Joshua 2:8-11 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; And she said unto the men, 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. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 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: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

1.    When the king’s men left, Rahab went up on the roof and spoke to the spies

a.    Not only was Rahab a gentile and a prostitute

b.    She was also an Amorite

                                          i.    They were well known for being very evil people

2.    How did she know of these events?

a.    Probably from the merchants that passed through relayed what they had heard

                                          i.    Of how the God of Israel, whose name is Jehovah, protected His people

                                        ii.    Of the accounts of the Exodus

                                       iii.    Of the Wilderness experience

b.    She not only heard, but she believed

3.    Rahab asks the spies to show kindness to her family

Joshua 2:12-13 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

a.    She was concerned not only for their physical welfare, but also for their spiritual welfare

Joshua 2:14-16 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

4.    The spies assured her of God’s care

a.    Then they were let down by a rope through the window

b.    This window on the city wall was probably used often to exit the city after the gates were closed

c.    Then to hide in the hills for 3 days

THE DEMONSTRATION OF RAHAB’S FAITH

Joshua 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.

1.    The spies did not know God’s plan for taking the city

a.    They must have anticipated a house to house battle

b.    So Rahab’s house was marked to be spared

2.    When we look at this event Rahab teaches us that believing is not enough

a.    We must do something about what we know and believe

                                          i.    She appealed for mercy

                                        ii.    The spies gave her detailed instructions on how to be saved for the coming judgment of Jericho

1.    3 things that must be done

a.    First, a scarlet cord had to be in place

b.    Second, Rahab’s whole family had to stay in her house

Joshua 2:18-19 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

c.    Third, The covenant had to be kept secret

Joshua 2:20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

2.    Rahab agreed

a.    Faith is more than believing, it is doing

b.    Saving faith always reveals itself

b.    The point is that only through works can saving faith be revealed

                                          i.    The presence of good works verifies our salvation

                                        ii.    That is what Jesus said

Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

c.    Making a public confession of our faith

                                          i.    Then following Jesus in baptism

                                        ii.    This would be our equivalent of Rahab’s scarlet thread

                                       iii.    Now the world knows whose side we are on

3.    The spies hid in the hills for three days

Joshua 2:21-22 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

a.    Then the spies crossed the Jordan and came to Joshua

THE COMPENSATION OF RAHAB’S FAITH

Joshua 2:23-24 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them: And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

1.    Rahab’s reward for her faith had to have been beyond her wildest dreams

a.    First, as asked she and her family were spared

Joshua 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

                                   i.    But it did not stop there

                                  ii.    She married a believer

1.    His name Salmon

a.    Believed to be one of the two spies whose life she saved

2.    They had a son

a.    His name – Boaz

                                                                                   i.    He would be the grandfather of Jesse

1.    Jesse had a son

2.    His name –David

                                iii.    Rahab then was the great great grandmother of King David

1.    The greatest king that ever lived

b.    But the reward does not stop there either

                                   i.    Read Matt 1:1-5

                                  ii.    The ancestors of Jesus

2.    Isaiah records what the Lord said:

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

a.    As far as God is concerned

                                   i.    No trace of a believers sin will be left

                                  ii.    That is why Rahab is listed in the honor roll of heaven

1.    She believed

2.    God forgave

3.    God forgot her past

b.    Interest too

                                   i.    Rahab had never heard a sermon preached

                                  ii.    She had never seen a Bible

1.    Or even read one verse of scripture

                                iii.    Yet with what little she heard from the travelers she believed

                                iv.    What a rebuke to those who refuse to believe today

3.    Rahab is listed along side Sarah, wife of Abraham in the ‘Faith’s Hall of Fame’

a.    Heb. 11

4.    As God saved Rahab