Faithful & Favored

Joshua 2:8–14 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. 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.”

Introduction

Faithfulness is the conduit God uses to channel his favor. Being faithful is a bit more involved than simply having faith. Granted, you have to first have faith in order to be faithful. However, faithfulness is not just the inward belief it is an outward expression of those beliefs. It is a demonstration of loyalty that communicates what you believe. Loyalty is a concept that we understand. We know what it means to be loyal. We understand what it feels like for people to be disloyal. They smile in your face, but then talk about you behind your back. We also understand the extremes we have gone to because of our loyalty. You give people your very last so they won’t have to struggle, while you struggle in silence. We understand loyalty on the horizontal plane, and that is significant because it should help us understand loyalty on the vertical plane.

We can understand faithfulness as our loyalty to God based on what we believe about him. This is where we find Rahab. Rahab is making a confession to Israel’s spies concerning what she believes about their God. The New Testament commends Rahab’s treatment of the spies and we learned that Rahab’s treatment of the spies was her faith at work. (James 2:25)

James 2:25 ESV

25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

In this particular pericope we see her confession of faith but you have to rewind a bit to understand what makes this profession an effective channel for God’s favor over her and her family. In this passage Rahab is revealing truth, but in the seven verses before this one we see Rahab interacting with the King’s men and she is concealing truth. When the king of Jericho heard that Joshua had sent spies to survey they city, he sent a few of his men to Rahab’s house and asked her where the spies were. Let’s just say Rahab left out a few details in her answers to the Kings men. Rahab told them that yea they came but they went out and I do not know where they went. Meanwhile, Rahab had hidden the spies on the roof with stalks of flax. Now some accuse Rahab of lying here, and that could be argued. But there are ethical and moral arguments on both sides because then we could get into a debate about whether or not it is permissible to lie in order to preserve human life. However, that’s a topic for philosophers and scholars to debate. The point here is this contrast between her lack of revelation to the King’s men and her clear confession to God’s men shows us where Rahab’s loyalty resided. She knew something about the Lord so she attempted to demonstrate her loyalty to Israel’s God by hiding Joshua’s spies and defying the King of Jericho. She does this while understanding that not complying with the king’s request could lead to her death. Yet, she chooses God as her King.

Conflict presents us with an opportunity to experience God’s faithfulness. The problem is that we believe in having faith without faithfulness. This is an important distinction because we assume we can channel God’s favor without being faithful. Pressure is a difficult opponent and sometimes we succumb to its vices, instead of sticking it out with God. If you believe God, faithfulness is about making intentional choices that express what you believe about him. It’s about making commitments, sacrifices, and investments that demonstrate what you believe. Rahab was in the midst of a kind of tension that made the choice obvious. It was either heed the king’s wishes, or honor God’s plans. It’s not always that obvious for us. Sometimes we have no clue what our decision or actions could communicate about our faith and therefore we don’t really know if we are being faithful or not.

So how can we know whether or not our lives accurately represent our loyalties?

Nobody can rightly judge your loyalties but God, and that is an issue that will be between you and him. However, what Rahab reveals to Joshua’s spies gives us an explanation for her previous behavior that helps us to understand how our beliefs may or may not influence our own behaviors.

Respect

Joshua 2:8–10 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.

Rahab had a level or respect for God that superseded the fear she had of the king. Her faith was founded in a view of God that respected who had revealed himself through his faithfulness toward Israel and his wrath toward their enemies. In essence, Rahab knew the consequences of being at odds with God. This isn’t about just having reverence, it is about having a kind of reverence that supersedes our reverence for anything or anybody else.

This view of God challenges us to think about how we demonstrate that respect. When confronted by the king’s men Rahab was presented with a choice. She could either conform to the king’s pressure, or she could concede to the will of God. Perhaps we are sometimes placed in situations where we are pressured to perform in a way that will put us at odds with God’s will, and the question is what or who do we revere more? The consequences for rebellion against the king were pretty clear in their culture as disloyalty to the king often led to death. But Rahab understood something the Psalmist wrote about:

Psalm 118:6 ESV

6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

There is a popular story or rumor about Nick Saban and his coaching staff. Rumor has it that at one time he and his staff would often go to the gym and play pick up basketball just as a way to stay in shape and get some cardio in. Rumor also has it that everybody on the staff was afraid to guard Nick Saban. At 5’6” he had his way on the court with his assistants despite having a staff full of former collegiate and professional athletes. They didn’t want to guard him or block his shot, because they understood that crossing him would have some consequences. We must understand every decision as being consequential.

Lordship

Joshua 2:11 ESV

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.

God sits on the throne alone. This statement of faith

Favor

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.”

God channels his faith through his chosen people.

Israel was to never enter into covenant with Cannanites. But her inclusion here is important especially considering her past.

God channeled his favor through Jesus.

Conclusion

God favored Rahab because of her faithfulness to him. Lest I leave you with the wrong idea of favor let me qualify what it means to be favored by God. Favor is God channeling his faithfulness in order to providentially care for you unto redemption.