The sermon focuses on Joshua chapter 2, where Joshua sends two spies to Jericho, and they are aided by Rahab, a harlot. Despite her profession, Rahab plays a crucial role by hiding the spies and lying to protect them, risking her life in the process. Her actions are driven by her faith in the God of Israel, whom she acknowledges as the true God of heaven and earth. The sermon highlights Rahab's confession of faith, where she expresses her belief in God's promises to the Israelites and the fear that has fallen upon Jericho. The chapter is not about Rahab's lies but her truths, as her faith is commended in the New Testament. The speaker emphasizes that God uses sinners like Rahab for His purposes, illustrating divine grace and salvation. The sermon concludes with a call to recognize the transformative power of faith and the importance of aligning oneself with God and His people.

Joshua chapter 2. Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly saying, Go view the land especially Jericho. So they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country. So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.

Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them." But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.

Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan to the fords, and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you will also show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have and deliver our lives from death." So the man answered her, our lives for yours if none of you tell this business of ours and it shall be when the Lord has given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with you.' Then she let them down by a rope through the window for her house was on the city wall. She dwelt on the wall And she said to them, go to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way. So the men said to her, we will be blameless of this oath of yours, which you've made us swear.

Unless when we come into the land you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath, which you made us swear.' Then she said, According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away and they departed and she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

They departed and went to the mountain and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over, and they came to Joshua, the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. And they said to Joshua, truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted because of us. Let's pray.

God we thank you that your word does not return void. God, we thank you that you are a God that is sovereign over all and that what you say will come to pass will come to pass for you will make it so Lord. Thank you for your faithfulness. God, we thank you for this time to turn to your word. We pray that you would bless it, that you would bless Jason as he comes to preach it.

God, that you would encourage your people, that you would shape us and mold us more into the image of Christ that you would convict us of sin and righteousness by your spirit and God that we would grow in you today and be encouraged in you and rejoice in you today for what you have done in Christ's name we pray Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is, A City Made Ready for Conquering. Really find that to be true in Joshua chapter 2. The modern phrase that I'll be using during the sermon will be ripe for the picking. Jericho is a mighty city and has a tremendously tall, strong wall.

But its inhabitants have lost all their courage because of really what God is doing in their hearts. And their wall will be no defense for them. So even though it is a mighty city of ancient history, they are ripe for the picking. And we find that out in this chapter. Last week in our text, Joshua took command and gave commands.

God had made him leader of the Lord's people, and he assumes that position. And then he begins to give orders to mobilize the people to obey the Lord and cross over the Jordan and in order to conquer the promised land. And the people's response was great. And one of the comments I made toward the end last week was just, Joshua's a really encouraging book. It's a book of obedience and victory where so many of the Old Testament history books are so disappointing how the Lord's people disobey and fail, but Joshua really is a victory march literally and figuratively.

So enjoy it while we're here for sure. This week we have a whole chapter in front of us and it is a it's a chapter full of action. Two spies are sent. They're identified and located by the enemy. They're really walled in, but they're saved by a very unlikely savior, Rahab the prostitute.

Two comments before I pray and we get started in earnest, two comments about the chapter one. This chapter is not linear. In other words, it's not rigidly chronological. If you try to make it rigidly chronological, you will go crazy. There are a few points in the chapter where a section will start with a summary and then it will go on to something else, and then it will come back to the details that have already been summarized.

And if you're rigidly chronological, If you insist that it be linear, it sort of falls apart and doesn't make sense. But there's no reason to be rigidly chronological about the chapter. Just be aware it's not linear. Sometimes it summarizes and then comes back to the details of the summary. That's all that's happening there.

Secondly, this chapter is about Rahab's truths, not Rahab's lies. A lot of the commentaries on the chapter bog down, and there's a place to talk about the ethics of certain things that we see in the chapter. Rahab is going to lie in the chapter, but the chapter is really about her truth. She actually makes a beautiful, wonderful, saving confession of faith, and that's really what the chapter is about, not her lying to the king's servants. So I will touch on the lies at some point, but you'll probably go away dissatisfied because I'm not going to turn Joshua chapter 2 into a lecture on Christian ethics online.

I'm going to touch on it, and you'll know exactly where I stand, and then I'm just going to leave you dissatisfied and move on to other things. So I don't think it's the thrust of the chapter. That's why I don't camp on it. So let's ask the Lord to help us. God, I thank you for chapters of Scripture that are so full of grace.

You might be able to find a few chapters in scripture that are full of more grace than this one, but not many. Thank you for bringing us to refreshing wells like this one, Where we can come and drink the cool, refreshing waters of grace, God's grace, and be encouraged. I pray that would be the result of this time. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's subdivide.

Let's start by rereading verses one through seven and then looking at the details of that. Follow along as I reread Joshua chapter two verses one through seven. Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly saying, Go view the land, especially Jericho. So they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho saying, Behold men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.

So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying, Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country." And the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.

But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof. Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan to the Fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. In this section we have the life-saving, life-risking help from a very unusual source. So if you're taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks, saving and risking, fill in the two blanks.

Life-saving, life-risking help from a very unusual source. Joshua is going to obey. That's what we'll see as the chapters play out. The people are going to obey. And Joshua wants intel.

He wants information about the first place where they'll come into conflict with Canaanites on the other side of the Jordan. He wants to, I'm sure, know how Jericho is situated, the geological features which will be in their favor or which could hinder them where they might find water, how Jericho is defended, and so Joshua is looking for military intel, especially about this fortified city, which is just across the Jordan. And so he sends two spies to go and bring back information. The Spies actually go into Jericho. They take the risk of actually bringing themselves inside the fortifications, inside the walls of Jericho.

And they lodge at the house of a harlot. What is a harlot or what is a prostitute. So children, a harlot or a prostitute is a woman who will for money come into closeness of relationship that is to be saved for the marriage relationship. But instead of it being within God's design, within God's context of the marriage relationship, They'll sell this closeness for money. Act as if they're married.

Come close as if they're married. But they're not married. It's for the money. And it is A great sin, but not an unusual sin, especially in pagan nations. Nations that worship false gods.

So let me say three things about them lodging at the house of a prostitute or a harlot. Number one, this is about secrecy. Why do they go to the house of a prostitute? For secrecy, it says in verse one that Joshua sent the spies to spy secretly. And secrecy is the standard mode of operation for a harlot's house.

What happens at Rahab's stays at Rahab's. And so they've gone where their presence is unlikely to be detected. So number two, think more in and less brothel. This isn't just a house of prostitution. During that time of history in a pagan land, a harlot's house would be many things rolled into one.

It would be a place for strangers who are passing through where they could find lodging. And during this period in history, especially in pagan nations, this was not unusual at all. Prostitution is a terrible sin, but terrible sins are terribly commonplace in Canaan. It's really the whole point of God giving this land. Their sins had come up to the full, and God is judging the sinfulness of this land.

So we shouldn't find this as surprising at all that just a normal part of life in Jericho are houses of prostitution. It would be so commonplace that this could even be an inn, like an Airbnb, but also joined with prostitution. This is why the land is vomiting them out. As the chapter will work its way out, we'll find that This occupation of Rahab, her being a harlot or her being a prostitute, hasn't broken her relationships with her family at all. She's going to actually be the mechanism for the saving of this family when God gives Jericho into their hands.

It's just like another profession in Jericho. That is the climate in Canaan. Terribly sinful things are terribly commonplace in Canaan. Number three, Jericho is a city on highest alert, like red, red, red on the alert scale. There may be something like two million people, the Israelites, about 14 miles away.

So the MacArthur study notes say that Jericho is about seven miles to the west of the Jordan River, and that Acacia Grove, where they think it was, was about seven miles to the east of the Jordan River. So there's two million enemies, homeless enemies, enemies who are coming to take your home about 14 miles away, and they have a 600, 000-man army. I quoted that from the book of numbers last week. We know exactly how big the army was. It was 601, 000 some odd warriors in this army.

They've just completely destroyed and annihilated two Amorite kings and all of their people on the far side of the Jordan from Jericho. And they know it. We learned in the chapter that they know it. And so they are on the highest of alerts. And because of this fact, no strangers enter Jericho undetected.

Nobody's coming. Nobody who's unknown is coming into Jericho undetected and these spies are no exception. Consider this note from the ESV. I think it helps us understand some things about the chapter the ESV study Bible has this note. Canaan at that time consisted of various city-states, each with a central, often walled city surrounded by villages and farmland, and each with its own king.

So, the Promised Land isn't a single nation, it's a group of city-states, all like Jericho, all that would have this central fortified city, but with surrounding farmlands that supported it, and each of them have their own king. That's what we find in this chapter. So the city's on the heist of alerts. These strangers come in. They are not undetected.

They are identified and located and word comes to the king. He immediately dispatches servants to Rahab's house and says, bring them out, they're here to spy out our country. Here's what Rahab says, look again in the second half of verse 4 and verse 5. Rahab says, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark, that the men went out.

Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them." So the king dispatches servants to her home to say, bring them out, and that's what the servants hear her say. Verse 6 tells us that she had already hidden them on her roof. Three things to say about this again. Number one, the king's servants now have a split second decision to make.

So they come, their mission is to apprehend these two strangers who they actually know where they're from and what they're there for. The report is right. And Now they have a split decision to make. If they think she's lying, they can search her house at their leisure. Rahab, we don't believe you.

Now we have all the time in the world to search their house. She's just a local proprietor of a business. They're the king's servants. If they want to take the time and serve and search her house, then every nook and cranny of her house they can. But if they think she's telling the truth, there's not one second to lose, Then it's a race to the crossing point to get to these spies before they get back to Israel with the information that they've gathered from being inside Jericho.

So Here they are, split second decision required. They can't do both. They can stay and search their house at their leisure, or they can engage in a race to the crossing point of the Jordan River. The afford is a shallower place where you can actually get across. Usually you can wade across at a ford.

And so there's not many places to cross the Jordan, so they know exactly where they'll be going and it's a race to that spot. Well they think that she's telling the truth, so they engage in what they think will be a race to this crossing point of the Fords. Number two, We have just been eyewitnesses to high treason. High treason against Jericho has just been committed by Rahab. She has just betrayed her people.

That's what we witnessed in the text. If she's discovered, if what she's doing is discovered, she will be put to death for it. It would be that way in any nation during that time and in most nations today. If what she did was done, the penalty for it would be the death penalty. Number three, in order to save the life of the spies, she risks her own life.

That's really a summary of where we are in the text. She can only save their lives by risking her own life and she does it. She puts her life on the line. If they decide she's not telling the truth and they search the nooks and crannies of her house, they will find those spies and she will forfeit her life and they will lose their lives too. Alright let's move on to the next section.

Follow along as I reread Joshua chapter 2, 8-13. Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to them in, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you.

For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have and deliver our lives from death." In this section we have the life risking help explained. In other words, aren't you wondering why are you risking your life? Why are you risking your life for these two men that you hardly know. Why would you put your life on the line and risk dying the death of a traitor?

The explanation is given here. We're given insight into a conversation between Rahab and the spies. Surely it's far from all that was said, either before, or during, or after. But it's what God wanted us to know of the conversations that were had between Rahab and the spies. And it is a marvelous confession.

She essentially confesses four things. Let me give them to you. First, she confesses that The Lord has given the Israelites the land of Canaan. The land where she's living and far, far beyond the borders of Jericho have been promised to the Israelites according to Rahab, according to words out of this harlot's mouth, she uses the term Lord, L-O-R-D in all capital letters. This is the personal name for the God of Scripture.

So God is a generic term for deity. And the Canaanites have many gods, deities, We would say they're false gods, but they had objects of worship. You're familiar with Baal. Baal would be the personal name of a Canaanite god. Well, Jehovah or Yahweh is the personal name of the God of Scripture.

It is the name by which He calls Himself. She uses that name, not just a generic name for a deity that can be worshipped as a God, but the personal name of the God of the Bible, the name that God uses of himself for himself. It has been told to Rahab by someone at some time, we don't know who or when, that God is giving the land of Canaan to his people. Brethren, think of this. She believes the promises of God.

This Canaanite prostitute believes that there is a real God who has made promises to this people and he will keep them. He will keep them. So that was the first thing that she confesses. The Lord has given the Israelites the land of Canaan. Second, she confesses that the inhabitants are universally afraid of the Israelites.

The inhabitants of Jericho and of the land under this king are universally afraid. All of them are afraid of the Israelites. They are faint-hearted, their hearts have melted, no more courage remains in them." These are all phrases used in the text. And understand this, though I'm sure Rahab did not understand this, we should understand this, prophecy was being fulfilled. The terror experienced by the people of Jericho, all the faint-heartedness, all the courage leaving them was actually in fulfillment of prophecy.

God was doing that. Listen to these three places where it said, the first is Exodus 15 verses 15 and 16. Exodus 15 verses 15 and 16. This is a song, this is from a song that's sung right after they pass through the Red Sea on dry land. So I mean this is wonderfully relevant because they're about to cross the Jordan on dry land.

But the song that the Israelites sang 40 years earlier right after they crossed through the Red Sea on dry land they said this All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away Fear and dread will fall on them. By the greatness of your arm, your arm God, they will be as still as a stone till your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over whom you have purchased." In this song that they sing, they're singing a prophecy of exactly what is going to happen in Jericho, and it will actually keep happening throughout Joshua. But it's not because people are just afraid of circumstances, it's because God instilled fear in their hearts in order to deliver the land to his people. This is God working in the hearts of these people to make them afraid. Exodus 23 verse 27, listen to this, Exodus 23 verse 27, I will send my fear before you I Will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you." Or Deuteronomy 2, 25.

Listen to Deuteronomy 2, 25. This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole of heaven, Who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you?" God had said this was going to happen and now it is happening in fulfillment of what God had said. Third, Rahab confesses the cause of the terror is the knowledge of God's mighty acts on behalf of the Israelites. So she actually says why they're afraid, why they are feeling this faint-heartedness. And it's because they've heard of God's mighty acts on behalf of His people.

Rahab names a mighty act at the beginning and at the end of the 40 years. So she starts by saying, we heard about God drying up the Red Sea so that the Israelites could, so that you could cross on dry land. This is 40 years earlier. We don't even know if she was alive. We don't even know if Rahab was alive when God did this for them.

But the report of it is still in the memory of the people of Jericho. And then she mentions the defeat of Sihon and Og, these two Amorite kings, and the utter destruction of their people, which has just happened. So it's sort of the book ends of the wilderness wandering. The drying up of the Red Sea that is still in their memory from 40 years back and the defeat of Sihon and Og in the destruction of their kingdoms. Fourth, Rahab confesses that the God of Israel is the God of heaven and earth.

This is a very Jewish confession. In other words, we can find language like that in a lot of places in the Old Testament. But what it doesn't blend well with is polytheism. God of heaven and earth is the God of all. She's confessing that the God of Israel is the God of all, the God of heaven and earth, the things in heaven and the things on earth are at his command.

I've preached on Rahab a number of times and I've described her faith as primitive faith, meaning she's no seminary student, at least not yet. She doesn't know a lot. The things that she believes are very basic. It is a very primitive faith. It's a simple faith.

It's enough for her to know that the God of heaven and earth has made promises to a people, has claimed to people and made promises to them, and has already kept some of them and will keep the ones that are still outstanding. So it's a simple faith. She doesn't need a seminary degree. She's satisfied in these basic truths about God and Him having a people and Him making promises to them and keeping those promises. And it's a saving faith.

We know that because we have the commentary of the New Testament on her so we don't need to guess whether Rahab's faith was a saving faith. It might be a primitive faith, okay, So she doesn't have a seminary degree. But it's a simple faith in the good way, not in a bad way at all. She's taking God at His word. She believes in God and she's taking Him at His word.

And it's a saving faith. It reminds me of Ezra chapter 6 verse 21. So the beginning of the book of Ezra, the Jews are in captivity in Babylon, and The king of Babylon, Cyrus, allows 50, 000 of them to come back to Jerusalem. And over a long period of time, they build back the temple, and then they're ready to celebrate the Passover in the temple for the first time since they built back the temple. And we read this.

So the people, the Jews that had come back, what did they find when they got back? Well, the land didn't stay empty. The Jews were taken into captivity, but meanwhile, kings brought other conquered people into their land and resettled those conquered people into Israel, just like they took Israelites captive and resettled them in Babylon. So the people that these returning from the captivity found in the land in Jerusalem, in Israel when they got back was some Jews that had intermarried with other nations, and some people from other nations, this mixture of people. Here's what we read about that celebration of the Passover in Ezra 6, verse 21.

Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together. So this is the celebrating of the Passover. They ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel. So they didn't find purebred Jews there. They found people from other nations and people from other nations that had intermarried with Jews.

So now you had this sort of mixed blood, but they didn't hold back from celebrating the Passover from all of them. You could celebrate the Passover with them if you would separate yourself from the filth of the nations in order to seek the Lord God of Israel. This is exactly what we have in Joshua chapter 2. A woman who is willing to separate herself from the filth of the nations which she has fully participated in. This is a prostitute.

So her life has been interwoven with the filth of the nations. But now she is separated herself from that filth in order to seek the God of Israel. It's repentance and faith. Separating yourself from the filth, turning away from the filth, the world, the nations. And then in order to seek the God of Israel, faith, repentance and faith, it's here.

Friends, this is a tremendous four-point confession of faith. And because Rahab believes these things deep in her bones, she's willing to put her life on the line and switch nations. That's what you're watching happening. God becomes her God, His people become her people. Now we'll finish this up actually weeks from now in Joshua chapter 6.

But that's what's happening here. God has become her God, and God's people have become her people. She has betrayed her own nation, and she has switched. Her allegiances have switched. Matthew Henry says this.

She exposed herself to the utmost peril, even of life, in obedience to her faith. Note, Those only are true believers that can find in their hearts to venture for God. And those that by faith take the Lord for their God, take his people for their people, and cast in their lot among them." Matthew Henry says, You're only a true believer if you can find it in your heart to venture something for God. If you can't find it in your heart to venture something for God, it's only talk for you. And Rahab passes this test with flying colors in Joshua chapter 2.

She ventures it all upon God. She bets it all. This brings us to two of the three occurrences in the New Testament of Rahab. We'll save the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1 for a few weeks when we get to Joshua chapter 6. But let's go to the other two places now.

The first is in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is the great, famous chapter of faith. It's known as the Hall of Faith. Just this recounting of people who had great faith from the Old Testament, throwing themselves upon God, trusting in Him. I want to start by reading what really frames the chapter in Hebrews 11 verse 6, what the author of Hebrews says about faith, and then we'll go to Rahab's appearance in this chapter.

Hebrews 11 verse 6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him. Without faith it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. If you come to God You must believe that he is and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.

And then you have this list of Old Testament characters who pass that test. They believe that God is And they believe that he rewards those who diligently seek him. And Rahab is in this list in verse 31. Hebrews 11, 31. By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she received the spies with peace.

The rest of the inhabitants of Jericho were afraid but didn't believe. She feared God. She was afraid. She heard what God did for them when he brought them out of Egypt, he dried up a sea for them. He heard what God did for them against these Amorite kings just across the Jordan.

They knew what happened there. The chapter says they knew what happened there. She was afraid too, but she believed that God is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. So she said, you are my God, your people are my people. Secondly, she appears in James 2.

It's amazing that in Hebrews 11 She finds her way onto this list. She only appears in two chapters of the Old Testament. She's a wonderful character of the Old Testament. She's not a major character of the Old Testament. There are major characters of the Old Testament that do not appear in Hebrews 11 at all, but Rahab does.

But at least Hebrews 11 is a long list. James chapter 2 is a short, short list. I think it's just two. I think it's just Abraham and Rahab. But in any event, whether I'm forgetting someone in James chapter 2, it's a short list and she's on that list.

James chapter 2, listen to verses 25 and 26. Likewise, so likewise to what? He's just finished talking about Abraham and how his faith was credited to him for righteousness, and how that was proven to be true in his willingness to offer up his son Isaac. So he had faith, but it wasn't an empty faith, It was a faith that was proven by action. So that's what the likewise is from.

Likewise was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Now, don't be disturbed that it says that Rahab the harlot was justified by works. Justified is used in two different ways in the New Testament. One is the way you're thinking, like a declaration of pardon for sins. That is not the use here.

And if you study the whole chapter, It's really clear the way in which it's used. You could substitute proven. Was not Rahab the harlot also proven by works? Her faith, in verse 26 really tells the tale, as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. That's all that's being said here.

She didn't have a dead faith that had no work. She had a real faith and a live faith that was proven by her willingness to lay her life on the line to join God's people. It was an active faith that had works. Now, Rahab did lie. There's no denying that.

And she told some whoppers. She tells some big lies in Joshua chapter 2. What are we to do with that? Especially knowing that she's commended in Hebrews chapter 11 and James chapter 2. First, I'd say that Hebrews 11 and James chapter 2 simply commend her faith.

Let's say one word about the lies that she told. Her faith is commendable and it is commended. I would go even further than that to say that it appears to me in Hebrews 11 and James chapter 2 that the authors are very careful to just command her faith. This reminded me of something I did in Esther. You remember our study of Esther.

In Esther chapter 2, Esther is caught up in circumstances, but her circumstances has her engaged in questionable behavior. We have this hero of the Bible who's caught up in questionable behavior. And here's what I did with that in Esther chapter 2. So now I'm just going to sub out the word Esther and put in the word Rahab. So if you think, I heard this somewhere before you did, if you were here on April 9th, 2017, when we were in Esther chapter two.

I said this, Let's do some righteousness comparisons. Let's do some righteousness comparisons. We're talking about after saving faith. So we know what Rahab was before saving faith, but now she has trusted God and joined his people. Let's do some righteousness comparisons.

Adam, created first, walked with God in the cool of the day, enjoyed a face-to-face fellowship with God that none of us after him will ever experience. Adam and Eve did. Adam plunged our race into sin. Adam or Rahab? I'll take Rahab.

Aaron, Moses' brother, the first high priest, also the maker of the golden calf. Aaron or Rahab? I'll take Rahab. Father Abraham, the father of all who will be saved by faith. He left his home not even knowing where he was going, but just obeyed God.

And also took his wife's maidservant as a second wife because he didn't believe the promises of God. Had a child in that relationship, and that ended up being a disaster. Several times convinced his wife Sarah to tell people that she was just his sister so that he might not be harmed by them. Father Abraham or Rahab? I'll take Rahab.

David or Rahab? King David, the Psalmist, the warrior poet and king, who also took another man's wife and had him murdered to cover it up. I'll take Rahab. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived before Jesus. 1 Kings 11 verse 3 says he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

Solomon or Rahab? I'll take Rahab. Peter. Peter of the great confession. You are the son of God, the Messiah.

Jesus says, on this rock I will build my church. Also denied Jesus three times, Peter or Rahab, I'll take Rahab. The rest of the disciples who lived in Jesus' shadow, and were always arguing about who's the greatest. The rest of the disciples are Rahab. I'll take Rahab.

The point of Joshua 2 isn't that Sometimes it's okay to lie. That's not the point of Joshua 2. The point of Joshua 2 is that God saves sinners. The gospel is scandalous. Prostitutes come into the kingdom and become completely different, completely transformed.

They're welcome in the kingdom. They're jewels in the kingdom. God saves sinners, and then he works in their lives in spite of their wrong thinking and their weaknesses and yes even their sins. We should thank God for that. Jesus said this to the chief priests and the elders in his time, Assuredly I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.

There were chief priests and elders who will be in hell, and Rahab the harlot and tax collectors will be in heaven. How fair is that? Oh, you want fair? Fair is sinners get what they deserve. Are you sure you want fair?

I want mercy. I want grace for harlots and liars and proud people, and lazy people. You know this, you know heaven's going to be full of people who have no frame of reference for the homeschool movement at all. You know that. It's going to be filled with people who never met a homeschooler.

And they might have very primitive faith, but it's a simple faith that just trusts in the promises of God, and it's a saving faith, and they'll be there. And there will be some sour-faced homeschoolers in hell. There will be some that weren't sour faced and looked fine on the outside, but they never felt the weight of their sins and so they never rushed to Christ. They never fled the wrath that is to come. That's the preaching of John the Baptist.

Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? The wrath of God against sin is coming. It is unstoppable. Who warned you to flee? Rahab in Joshua chapter 2 is fleeing from the wrath of God.

It's coming. She believes God's promises and if God's promises are true then the inhabitants of Jericho are going to be destroyed. So she doesn't want to be an inhabitant of Jericho. She wants to be one of the people of God. Finally in this section Rahab asked the spies to swear, swear by the Lord to repay her kindness to them by sparing her and all of her family.

This is just more faith. This is just her saying, I know it's getting ready to happen. I mean, I see the high wall like you see the high wall. I know I'm an inhabitant of a mighty city like you do, but God's made the promise, and when he keeps the promise, that means we have to be destroyed. So repay my kindness by sparing me and my family, which brings us to the final section.

Oh, it's not actually. It's close. We're getting close. We're making progress. Follow along as I reread Joshua 2, verses 21.

So the men answered her, our lives for yours if none of you tell this business of ours And it shall be when the Lord has given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with you." And she let them down by a rope through the