Lessons From the Life of Rahab Rick Railston Recorded December 24, 2016 Let’s turn over to Hebrews 11:6. Most of the scriptures I’ll read today are out of the New King James. It just makes it a little clearer, because we have quite a few passages to cover. If I switch to the King James, I’ll do my best to let you know. Here is a principle. Hebrews 11:6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (NKJV) We know that faith comes from God to us as a gift. That faith is the same faith that Jesus Christ had when he walked this earth. Yet, at the same time, you see, there are things that we can do to strengthen whatever faith God has given us and it’s up to us to do that. One of the ways we can strengthen our faith is to study the lives of the people mentioned here in Hebrews 11. There are sixteen people mentioned by name; Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel. Of those that I have just named, there is one that is unique; one that is different from everyone else; one that is unusual. That is Rahab, because she is the only foreigner mentioned among those that were named. Obviously, this woman stands out when you read it. Look at verses 30-31. 30) By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31) By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. (NKJV) Obviously, since she is listed in this chapter, she must have had great faith. With that in mind let’s go to James 2:14, because here we have another principle about faith. James asks the question: James 2:14. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? (NKJV) Obviously, we know faith and works go hand in hand, because the works are the evidence of our faith. Then James goes on. He proceeds to give two examples of Biblical characters who exhibited both faith and works. In verse 21 he mentions Abraham, but notice verse 25. 25) Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? (NKJV) We see with these two passages that Rahab, despite being a foreigner, despite being a prostitute, was a very, very special woman. Maybe there are some things we can learn that will benefit us today from the example of Rahab all those years ago. The title of the sermon is Lessons From the Life of Rahab Let’s be turning over to the book of Joshua to recount Rahab’s story. The context here is that Moses has just died. You can read that at the end of Deuteronomy. He tells Joshua to take Israel across the Jordan River to finally take the land of Canaan, which God was giving them. It was a gift from God. Now God is speaking to Joshua in chapter 1:3-5. Notice what God promises. Joshua 1:3. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4) From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. (NKJV) Of course, the United States has forgotten that in this recent vote in the United Nations and we did not back up Israel, to whom God gave this land. Yes, they don’t understand God right now, but that will change. In verse 5 the promise is: 5) No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life [Joshua]; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. (NKJV) These are promises from God to Joshua and the nation of Israel. Go to Joshua 2:1-24. Joshua 2:1. Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." … (NKJV) Spying secretly implied that the greater part of Israel didn’t know that they were going out to do this spying. My guess is Joshua didn’t want a repeat of what happened forty years earlier. When Moses sent spies, they came back with a bad report and Israel revolted and they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years. He sent to two spies secretly to spy out Jericho. It’s also interesting that Joshua sent spies in the first place. You see, why do you need spies if God just told you I’m giving you all of this? There is a spiritual analogy for us. You see, Joshua’s goal was to take the physical Promised Land. Even though God gave it to him and to Israel as a gift, he was gathering all of the information that he possibly could. He was being wise. He wanted to understand what he was getting into. The same holds true for us. We want to take possession of a spiritual promised land, the Kingdom of God. Even though it is a gift, we need all of the information we can possibly get. God has indeed left us all of the information we need and it’s sitting there right in front of us in our Bible. We, as Joshua, need to investigate and look at and study it and that’s exactly what Joshua was doing, even though God promised that He would take care of Joshua all of the days of his life. 1b) …So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. (NKJV) Let’s just stop there, because some in the past have argued that Rahab was an innkeeper and not a harlot. That’s what Josephus says. That’s what was taught in the early Worldwide Church of God and other people have said the same thing. They get that from the fact that two Hebrew words, one translated “innkeeper” and the other translated “harlot” are very, very close. So, they figured she could be an innkeeper out of maybe politeness or something like that. We just read that she was called a harlot very clearly in the Greek in James 2:25. The Greek word for “harlot” in the New Testament is “porn,” where we get our English word pornography. So, it is very clear without doubt she was a harlot. 2) 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." (NKJV) Obviously, Jericho was on high alert, defcon 4, and we would be on high alert if you had three to five million Israelites ten miles away, which they were. 3) 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." (NKJV) Now, people have wondered: Why go to Rahab? The fact is, with the city being on high alert, the king had spies everywhere. He sought those spies and they wound up in Rahab’s house. 4) 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. 5) 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." 6) (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.) (NKJV) I think most of us understand that the roofs in Middle Eastern homes are flat, because there is hardly any rainfall. In those days they would use the roofs to dry things like flax or wheat, because they could toss it up in the breeze or the breeze coming through on the roof would dry out the flax or the grain. 7) Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. … (NKJV) The Hebrew word for “ford” means just a crossing place. So, they pursued them all of the way to the Jordan River knowing Israel was on the other side, on the east side, and they stopped there, but they couldn’t find them. 7b) … And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 8) Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, (NKJV) Notice what she says, this harlot who grew up in paganism. 9) and said to the men: "I know that the Lord [YHWH] has given you the land, … (NKJV) Notice, she identifies herself as knowing God and secondly, she didn’t say might give you the land or could give you the land or there’s a possibility of you having the land. She said “has given you the land.” 9b) … that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you.