Joshua 2: 1-4,8-13,17-18
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them…Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. “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 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” ..Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.
Hebrews 11:31
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
New Creation
How would you like to be known as ‘the harlot’? In Joshua 6, every time Rahab is mentioned, she is titled as Rahab the harlot. That title has stuck all these years because many of you know her as that. Yet she was a harlot until God did some work on her heart through some unusual ways. The two spies that were sent out went to lodge at her place because who would suspect two men staying at a harlot’s house, right? Also, her place was on the city wall which was of course easy access. These men went there strategically, but God’s providence sent them there for the salvation of a harlot. When God would be done, she would no longer be Rahab the harlot, but Rahab the saved, the redeemed, the child of God!
We don’t know what the spies told her when they got there, but I believe that God was already working and revealing things in her life and preparing her for this very moment. Just like Ruth and Esther, she was going to have to do things she didn’t think she was ready for. Sound familiar at all? You and I also have ‘moments’ that we may think we are not ready for, but when God is at work anything is possible, even if that anything is you and me. Rahab would have to take a step of faith to help these men. I’m sure their actions proved worthy of their character. They could have treated her like a harlot, but instead, they spoke to her as a person. The words that she spoke to them on the roof are evidence that God had been speaking to her through past events and was preparing her heart for something greater than she ever knew.
Her life and her job as she knew it was a prison. I’m certain her life felt insignificant and useless. Had she experienced real unconditional love yet, though I’m not sure, I do believe she saw God’s love through these men. She was living a lonely life that was man pleasing, but God was going to change that to an abundant life that was God pleasing! She asked to be spared from the attack, not only herself, but her whole family. She was fearful for her life and the life of those she loved, but what I love the most is that she had no clue what she was really going to be saved from. She saw only the immediate death from war, but God was going to deliver her soul from eternal death. Her name was going to be written not only in the Bible, but in the Book of Life! He used her broken heart and her fears to draw her close to Him.
The spies had left her and the next few days would have to be endured patiently. I can only imagine her anxiety, her fears, and her wondering whether these men would really keep their promise. Would this God that she was trusting really help her? What did she tell her family, how did she explain it all? Joshua 6 explains how the walls of Jericho fell. The Israelites marched around the wall for seven days. What was Rahab thinking and feeling as she saw these men circling around and around for a week? The anticipation must have been overwhelming. Right before anything could happen, the two men came to her as they promised. They took her and her entire family and they were spared from the coming slaughter. Just like that, after days of waiting and hoping, they were delivered from the attack from the attackers themselves. Her one decision to trust God, to trust these men from God, changed the course of her life forever. She was not just spared, but we know from Matthew1 that she is in the line of Christ. Her faith was going to define her in history.
Don’t you want to be used like Rahab was? If you’ve read my last two letters, you know I want to be used and I want to live the dream that God has planned for me. Yet in my life I am not going to be hiding spies or speaking before kings. I still want to be ready for my ‘moments’ that could make a difference in my life or better yet, in someone else’s life. I may not be like Rahab who was used in the nation of Israel, but I know that if I am ready and available, God will use me in His kingdom no matter how small the impact. I hope that this new year I can be ready and available. That I, like Rahab, can just do what I need to no matter how scared I may be. I just want to obey.
Her small leap of faith and trust in God transformed her into a new creation. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Her old life was gone and new things awaited for Rahab. She received blessings beyond her dreams. She was not merely delivered, but would have a new life. She would be a wife and mother. Only God can use sinners and transform them into saints. I can tell you that He has done that with me. He has taken this sinner, and given me a new title, saint! Only He can take something broken and make it new. When we hear the name Rahab, let us be encouraged of the new life she received from such a small amount of faith. May the new year be a renewing of our faith in God and trusting Him to turn what’s left of our old self to be transformed into something pleasing to Him. As children of God, we are new creations no matter our age or our past. Let’s prove our deliverance; let’s prove our faith; let’s prove what we believe by what we do-just like Rahab did.
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
James 2:24-26
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them…Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. “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 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” ..Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.
Hebrews 11:31
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
New Creation
How would you like to be known as ‘the harlot’? In Joshua 6, every time Rahab is mentioned, she is titled as Rahab the harlot. That title has stuck all these years because many of you know her as that. Yet she was a harlot until God did some work on her heart through some unusual ways. The two spies that were sent out went to lodge at her place because who would suspect two men staying at a harlot’s house, right? Also, her place was on the city wall which was of course easy access. These men went there strategically, but God’s providence sent them there for the salvation of a harlot. When God would be done, she would no longer be Rahab the harlot, but Rahab the saved, the redeemed, the child of God!
We don’t know what the spies told her when they got there, but I believe that God was already working and revealing things in her life and preparing her for this very moment. Just like Ruth and Esther, she was going to have to do things she didn’t think she was ready for. Sound familiar at all? You and I also have ‘moments’ that we may think we are not ready for, but when God is at work anything is possible, even if that anything is you and me. Rahab would have to take a step of faith to help these men. I’m sure their actions proved worthy of their character. They could have treated her like a harlot, but instead, they spoke to her as a person. The words that she spoke to them on the roof are evidence that God had been speaking to her through past events and was preparing her heart for something greater than she ever knew.
Her life and her job as she knew it was a prison. I’m certain her life felt insignificant and useless. Had she experienced real unconditional love yet, though I’m not sure, I do believe she saw God’s love through these men. She was living a lonely life that was man pleasing, but God was going to change that to an abundant life that was God pleasing! She asked to be spared from the attack, not only herself, but her whole family. She was fearful for her life and the life of those she loved, but what I love the most is that she had no clue what she was really going to be saved from. She saw only the immediate death from war, but God was going to deliver her soul from eternal death. Her name was going to be written not only in the Bible, but in the Book of Life! He used her broken heart and her fears to draw her close to Him.
The spies had left her and the next few days would have to be endured patiently. I can only imagine her anxiety, her fears, and her wondering whether these men would really keep their promise. Would this God that she was trusting really help her? What did she tell her family, how did she explain it all? Joshua 6 explains how the walls of Jericho fell. The Israelites marched around the wall for seven days. What was Rahab thinking and feeling as she saw these men circling around and around for a week? The anticipation must have been overwhelming. Right before anything could happen, the two men came to her as they promised. They took her and her entire family and they were spared from the coming slaughter. Just like that, after days of waiting and hoping, they were delivered from the attack from the attackers themselves. Her one decision to trust God, to trust these men from God, changed the course of her life forever. She was not just spared, but we know from Matthew1 that she is in the line of Christ. Her faith was going to define her in history.
Don’t you want to be used like Rahab was? If you’ve read my last two letters, you know I want to be used and I want to live the dream that God has planned for me. Yet in my life I am not going to be hiding spies or speaking before kings. I still want to be ready for my ‘moments’ that could make a difference in my life or better yet, in someone else’s life. I may not be like Rahab who was used in the nation of Israel, but I know that if I am ready and available, God will use me in His kingdom no matter how small the impact. I hope that this new year I can be ready and available. That I, like Rahab, can just do what I need to no matter how scared I may be. I just want to obey.
Her small leap of faith and trust in God transformed her into a new creation. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Her old life was gone and new things awaited for Rahab. She received blessings beyond her dreams. She was not merely delivered, but would have a new life. She would be a wife and mother. Only God can use sinners and transform them into saints. I can tell you that He has done that with me. He has taken this sinner, and given me a new title, saint! Only He can take something broken and make it new. When we hear the name Rahab, let us be encouraged of the new life she received from such a small amount of faith. May the new year be a renewing of our faith in God and trusting Him to turn what’s left of our old self to be transformed into something pleasing to Him. As children of God, we are new creations no matter our age or our past. Let’s prove our deliverance; let’s prove our faith; let’s prove what we believe by what we do-just like Rahab did.
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
James 2:24-26
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