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You can turn with me to your 
Bibles to Joshua chapter 2, the book of Joshua chapter 2. I'll read beginning in verse 
1, Joshua chapter 2 at verse 1. 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 fainthearted 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. 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. And 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, get to 
the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days 
until the pursuers have returned. Afterwards, you may go your way. 
So the men said to her, we will be blameless of this oath of 
yours which you have 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Father, we thank you for your salvation. We thank 
you for the mercy that you demonstrate to Rahab the harlot. We know 
that the Lord Jesus Christ is powerful to save to the uttermost, 
all who draw nigh unto God through Him. Again, forgive us now for 
our sin, guide us by Your Holy Spirit, strengthen and encourage 
our hearts, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
Well, the book of Joshua is about conquest, and the background, 
at least in part, is Deuteronomy 7. You can turn there. God gives 
instruction to the children of Israel regarding holy war. They're 
going to enter into the land that God promised to give to 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that time is upon them. Deuteronomy 
chapter 7, notice in verse 1, when the Lord your God brings 
you into the land which you go to possess and cast out many 
nations before you, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the 
Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, 
and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you. 
And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer 
them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with 
them, nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages 
with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor 
take their daughter for your side. For they will turn your 
sons away from following me to serve other gods. So the anger 
of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. 
But thus you shall deal with them. You shall destroy their 
altars, break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden 
images, and burn their carved images with fire. So as they 
go into the land, they're not supposed to make peace with the 
Canaanites. They're supposed to destroy them, 
decimate them, bring God's judgment to bear upon them because these 
were wicked people. They're not supposed to have 
political, social, or religious alliances with the people of 
the land. Now when you turn to Joshua, 
we see that it's focused upon four things. First, they enter 
the land, chapters 1-4. Secondly, they take the land 
in chapters 5-12. Third, they divide the land in 
chapters 13-21. And then they have encouragement 
to retain the land in chapters 22-24. If you're interested, 
the summary of the book is found in chapter 21, at verses 43 to 
45. I'll just read that, just to 
set it in the context. So chapter 21, verses 43 to 45. So the Lord gave to Israel all 
the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and 
they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them 
rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their 
fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. 
The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not 
a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to 
the house of Israel. All came to pass. Now, when we 
go back to Joshua chapter 2, if you were to read chapter 1 
and then move right into chapter 3, you wouldn't miss anything. You would still get the emphasis 
on entering the land, conquering the land, dividing the land, 
and retaining the land. Chapter 2 is, as it were, a moment 
for us to marvel at the mercy of God Most High. to see His 
grace, to see His salvation applied to a heathen, a heathen woman, 
one that was outside the covenant community of Israel. So before 
they go into the land and kill people and break things, the 
author wants to remind us that God Most High is about salvation. He's about bringing people to 
himself through the blood and work of our blessed Lord Jesus 
Christ. It is a marvelous chapter of 
Holy Scripture. I want to look first at the contact 
with Rahab in verses 1 to 7. Secondly, the confession of Rahab 
in verses 8 to 14. And then thirdly, the contract 
with Rahab in verses 14 to 24. Now notice in the first place 
the contact in verses 1 to 7. The purpose is given in verse 
1. Now Joshua the son of Nun sent 
out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly saying, go view 
the land, especially Jericho. Now, Joshua was one of those 
men that was on the original reconnaissance mission of the 
land of Canaan back in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. Moses dispatched 
these spies to go into the land and survey it. And the spies 
came back. And to a man, they said, the 
land is good. It's filled with all kinds of benefit. But ten 
of them said, there are giants in the land. Joshua and Caleb, 
however, were not put off whatsoever by the giants in the land. Joshua 
and Caleb said, let us go at once and take the land because 
God has given it to us. He's already blessed us with 
it. It is our inheritance. Of course, the ten spies prevail, 
and the children of Israel whine, and they grumble, and God brings 
judgment to bear upon them. So this is the reason, a reconnaissance 
mission to survey the land of Jericho to see what strength 
they had, what abilities and capabilities they had. Now notice, 
secondly, their reception by Rahab. Notice her business. Verse 
1b, so they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab 
and lodged there. She's identified as a harlot. 
She's identified as a prostitute, a woman who has relations with 
men for money. Now the alternative translation, 
innkeeper, is not without warrant, though whenever the New Testament 
refers to her, the New Testament authors refer to her as a porne 
or as a prostitute or as a harlot. You see that in Hebrews chapter 
11 at verse 31 and then in James chapter 2 at verse 25. So she was a sinner. She was 
far from the kingdom of God at one point. By grace she has been 
brought nigh. By grace she has confessed the 
supremacy of Yahweh. By grace she has understood the 
power of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the threat 
to her person in verses 2 and 3. It says, 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. So the king of Jericho is alerted 
to this. This is an act of treason. This 
is an act of war. If in fact spies have come from 
Israel to survey the land, to reconnaissance the land, in order 
to bring judgment upon the land, then this is a threat to the 
civil order. Now, when we look at this particular 
passage, we oftentimes stumble on Rahab's lie. We never think 
about Rahab's treason. She engaged in a capital offense 
in terms of the city-state of Jericho. She betrayed her country. She gave them over into a foreign 
enemy. Hes makes this observation. It 
was treason against Jericho and its king to aid these men. Rahab's 
helpful deeds indicate her renunciation of allegiance to the Canaanites 
of Jericho and her acceptance of the rulership of Joshua and 
his agents. Now, as far as the lie is concerned, 
you see that in verses four to seven. Notice, 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 forts. And as 
soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 
So her report to the king's men was simple. Yeah, they came here. 
I didn't know their origin. I didn't know their purpose. 
I didn't know their plan. But they managed to get out of 
the city before the gates were closed. In reality, she had hidden 
the spies on the top of a roof among the stalks of flax. And 
she had lied to the king's men. Again, a lot of Christians trip 
up in this particular instance. But we need to remember that 
the Bible oftentimes reports things without necessarily condoning 
or encouraging us to go thou and do likewise. David in 2 Samuel 
commits murder and adultery. Certainly that's not written 
for our admonition so that we'll go out likewise and do murder 
and adultery. As well, the obsession with the 
lie, but again, not the treason. And the treason, as Hess says, 
actually shows and demonstrates that she was now relinquishing 
that right and citizenship to Jericho and wants to identify 
with Israel and the covenant people of Yahweh. But as well, 
this was a time of war. Brethren, camouflage in a time 
of war is an act of deception, but we don't lose our minds over 
that. But with reference to this lie, the New Testament authors 
never comment on it. She makes her way into the Hall 
of Faith in Hebrews 11, verse 31. The author there, I take 
as the Apostle Paul, tells us it's by faith she does what she 
does. And of course, in James 2 at 
verse 25, as James is demonstrating that those who have a justifying 
faith will inevitably have good works as lively evidences. as 
fruits of that saving faith. James appeals to Abraham, a patriarch, 
and to Rahab, a prostitute, to indicate that faith without works 
is dead. He's not a papist. He's saying 
exactly what the Apostle Paul says. We're saved by grace, through 
faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. But then 
Paul goes on to say, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ 
Jesus for good works. So a similar emphasis in both 
Paul and James. But James appeals to Rahab's 
faith, appeals to this particular activity as the demonstration 
of her justification by faith alone. So when it comes to this 
particular instance, we're not to get caught up on this particular 
thorn. Rather, we're to extol the grace 
of God and see in this the courage of Rahab. The courage and the 
willingness for her to provide safe haven for the spies that 
are gonna bring the judgment of Yahweh upon these godless 
people. This is a commendable act. I 
mentioned Hebrews 11 and James 2. The other place that we find 
this woman is in the genealogy of our blessed Savior in Matthew 
1 at verse 5. Hess again, the commentator, 
says the ethical issue is not the concern of the narrative. 
It stresses the deception, not in order to condemn Rahab, but 
to magnify her personal risk in hiding the spies. Have you 
ever done something like that and you're hopeful that somebody 
up on the roof isn't going to sneeze? They're not going to 
cough? You're trying to get rid of the king's men? If one of 
these men blow it up on the top of the roof, the king's men are 
going to figure out that you've been lying, that you've engaged 
in treason, and that you should lose your head, as it were. Ralph Davis says, it is tragic 
when people snag their pants on the nail of Rahab's lie, quibble 
endlessly about the matter, and never get around to hearing Rahab's 
truth, which the writer has conspired to make the center of the whole 
narrative. What is her truth? Her truth 
is in verse 11. 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. Brethren, that's 
what we're supposed to focus on. That's what we're supposed 
to appreciate. That's what we're supposed to 
delight in. Now the king's men believe her and off they go according 
to verse 7. Now that brings us secondly to 
the confession of Rahab in verses 8 to 14. Notice in the first 
place the fear of God. Solomon says the fear of God 
is the beginning of life. It is a most blessed and wonderful 
thing. And with reference to the fear 
of God, we know that is conferred by grace. "'Twas grace that taught 
my heart to fear. John Newton didn't make that 
up. Rather, it reflects Jeremiah 32. In a promise of the new covenant, 
Yahweh says, I will put my fear or put the fear of me in their 
hearts. So she, by grace, exhibited the 
fear of God that is most blessed and wonderful. Notice what she 
says. Verse eight. 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. This is something that not every 
Israelite even confessed. All throughout the Pentateuch, 
God had emphasized this promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
I am giving you the land of Canaan. In fact, look at chapter 1 in 
Joshua, verses 2 and 4. The emphasis is upon the land 
that God is giving. Notice in verse 6, the land which 
I swore to their fathers to give them. Verse 11. Possess the land 
which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. And then again 
in verses 13 and 14 and 15. She understood. Israel didn't 
deserve the land. They hadn't earned the land. 
It wasn't their righteousness that got for them the land. Brother, 
can you turn the fans on please? Thank you. It wasn't anything 
in them. In fact, God points that out 
in the book of Deuteronomy. I'm not blessing you because 
you're more numerous. I'm not blessing you because you're more 
righteous. I'm blessing you because I love 
you. God set His heart upon these people. And as a result, he promises 
to give them the land. So she understands that. She 
knows the grace of God. I know that the Lord has given 
you the land. Now notice verse 9. 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. The fear of the Lord is a blessed 
thing. Again, it comes by grace. And oftentimes I explain the 
fear of the Lord as not the running under the piano and hiding from 
God sort of a fear, but it's that reverent awe. John Murray 
defines it as the soul of godliness to fear the Lord. But there is 
mingled with it a running and hiding under the piano. For God 
Most High is indeed a consuming fire. He is most glorious, most 
wondrous, most righteous, and most just. And so with reference 
to Rahab, she says that we have heard of this, and our hearts 
are faint-hearted because of you. Now notice she highlights 
the power of God in verse 10. She says, 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. That victory in Egypt, she refers 
to the Exodus. And here she sounds very much 
like what the Song of Moses prophesied or predicted concerning the heathens 
surrounding the nation. of Israel. Exodus 15, 14, and 
16. The people will hear and be afraid. 
Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. Then 
the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed. The mighty men of Moab trembling 
will take hold of them. All the inhabitants of Canaan 
will melt away. Fear and dread will fall on them. 
By the greatness of your arm, they will be as still as a stone 
till your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over whom 
you have purchased. You see what Rahab does? She 
is fainthearted. She is fearful. She understands 
the great power of God, but instead of running from Him, she runs 
toward Him. See, that's faith, brethren. 
When Adam and Eve fell into sin, they run from God. It's God who 
comes a-seeking. It's God who comes after them. 
Faith goes after the Most High, and that is precisely what Rahab 
does. She has faith in the living and 
true God. She acknowledges the power of 
Yahweh in the Exodus, and she acknowledges the power of Yahweh 
in the destruction of Sihon and Og. You can read about the wanderings 
of the people of Israel and how these kings molested them, how 
they tried to stop them, how they tried to curtail their movement 
in the land. And so God brings judgment and 
decimation upon them. And she sees that and she confesses 
that. So she has this fear of God, 
verses eight and nine. She acknowledges the power of 
God, verse 10, but as well, she dwells now on the majesty of 
God in verse 11. Notice the effect on Rahab. And 
as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Again, for 
most of the Canaanites, their hearts melted in terror and in 
horror. Her heart melted and it drew 
her to the Lord God Most High. It drew her to the covenant God 
of Israel. Notice her glorious confession 
of faith. She sounds just like a covenant 
member in Israel. She says, 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. Deuteronomy 
4.39, therefore know this day and consider it in your heart 
that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth 
beneath. There is no other. You see what 
she's doing? You see what's happened to her? 
The great exchange. The blessedness of salvation 
has been wrought in the heart of Rahab, the prostitute in the 
city-state of Jericho. She demonstrates that justification 
by faith alone, by hiding the spies, by committing this act 
of treason. by handing over the city-state 
to the power of Israel's army. And when she does this, she is 
exhibiting that she had come to know Yahweh as the God of 
heaven and the God of earth. Now, this is contrary to the 
heathen conception of God. They had gods for all kinds of 
things. They had gods for a whole host 
of things. They had Baal, they had Asherah, 
they had Molech, they had a whole host of deities. Turn over to 
1 Kings chapter 20 for just one illustration of this reality. 
And when we consider this, it is an amazing thing that this 
Rahab the harlot had the faith of Israel. The scene is Ahab and Ben-Hadad. So the Northern kingdom ruled 
by Ahab is going to war with Syria. They actually have two 
battles and Israel wins both battles. But after the first 
battle, Syrian theology comes to its apex, comes to its pinnacle. Well, we see why they're messed 
up even before that. They never blamed the fact that 
32 of their kings were getting drunk and hammered while the 
Israels were engaged in an incursion in this particular land. No, 
they described it as sort of parochial gods. Notice in 1 Kings 
20 at verse 23. This is after the first battle. Then the servants of the king 
of Syria said to him, their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore, 
they were stronger than we. But if we fight against them 
in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. So do 
this thing, dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put 
captains in their places. And you shall muster an army 
like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for 
chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain. Surely we 
will be stronger than they. See that defective theology? 
See how Rahab the harlot has come out from under that theology? She no longer thinks there's 
the God of the hills, the God of the plains, the God of the 
valleys, the God of the seas. She knows that Yahweh is the 
God of heaven and earth. Notice. Ben-Hadad listened to 
their voice and did so. Verse 26, So it was in the spring 
of the year that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek 
to fight against Israel. And the children of Israel were 
mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now 
the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks 
of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside. Then a man of 
God came and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus says 
the Lord, Now notice, this isn't because Ahab was a great guy. 
It's not because the Northern Kingdom was great guys and girls. 
It's for the glory and the honor and the majesty of God Almighty 
that he brings this particular victory. So the man of God comes 
and speaks to the king of Israel and said, thus says the Lord, 
because the Syrians have said, the Lord is God of the hills, 
but he is not God of the valleys. Therefore, I will deliver all 
this great multitude in your hand. Notice, and you shall know 
that I am the Lord. It was a demonstration and a 
display of the supreme majesty of God most high. Similar to 
1 Samuel chapter 17, when David goes out to the Valley of Elah 
to defeat Goliath, It's not there to moralistically show us how 
we're supposed to deal with our giants. That's not the gist of 
the story. When David slays Goliath, it's 
so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 
as well so that the Israelites themselves would understand that 
blessed reality when David, the shepherd boy, brings judgment 
to bear upon that Philistine giant. So God vindicates His 
glory. God manifests His power. Verse 
29, they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was 
that on the seventh day, the battle was joined and the children 
of Israel killed 100,000 foot soldiers of the Syrians in one 
day, but the rest fled to Aphek into the city. Then a wall fell 
on 27,000 of the men who were left and Ben-Hadad fled and went 
into the city into an inner chamber. What about that theology that 
He's the God of the hills, but not the God of the plains? That 
was defective. There is but one only, the true 
and living God. And this one blessed God exists 
eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father unbegotten, 
the Son begotten by the Father, the Spirit proceeding from the 
Father and the Son. And so Rahab makes that confession. This is a most lofty confession, 
on par with John 20, 28. Remember, post-resurrection, 
Jesus comes to the disciples, Thomas is absent. And then the 
disciples find Thomas and they say, we have seen the Lord. Thomas 
lays down the gauntlet, unless my eyes see, unless my hands 
touch, then I will certainly not believe. Christ comes to 
Thomas and says, reach your hand here and put it into my side. 
What does Thomas confess in that grand hour? He says, my Lord 
and my God. This is on par with that, brethren. This isn't the ordo salutis that 
you find in Romans chapter eight per se. This isn't what the reformers 
would wax eloquent on in terms of justification and sanctification 
and glorification, but it's the same exact thing. She has been 
justified freely by God's grace through the mediation of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. We saw that in the morning reading 
this morning. Hebrews 9.15, the cross of Christ 
has a retrospective benefit. So when Christ dies on the cross, 
everyone prior to him who was looking in faith toward him received 
that justification. not at the time that he died, 
but by virtue of the fact that he would die and be raised again. 
So back to Rahab, she makes a very lofty confession, ascribing the 
reality that your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth 
beneath. John Calvin said, here the image 
of Rahab's faith appears as if reflected in a mirror. When casting 
down all idols, she ascribes the government of heaven and 
earth to the God of Israel alone. For it is perfectly clear that 
when heaven and earth are declared subject to the God of Israel, 
there is a repudiation of all the pagan fictions by which the 
majesty and power and glory of God are portioned out among different 
deities. So what she does in this confession 
is simultaneously renounce those deities. He says, and hence we 
see that it is not without cause that two apostles have honored 
Rahab's conduct with the title of faith. And then notice finally 
under this head that she acknowledges the mercy of God. See, to just 
cognitively understand that God is, is good, but he who comes to God must believe 
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek 
him. Hebrews 11.6. And so we see that Rahab not 
only understands this at the cognitive level, but she receives 
it for herself. She casts herself upon the mercy 
of Yahweh. Notice in verse 12, she says, 
now therefore I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have, 
notice, swear to me by Yahweh. Now, there are persons that say, 
we can never take oaths, we can never swear. Absolutely, positively, 
we can, in issues of monument, in issues that are big, not your 
normal, everyday, ordinary conversation. But she swears, or wants them 
to swear, 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 brother, my brothers, 
my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from 
death. So she sees there's mercy to 
be had in Yahweh, and she casts herself upon that mercy. Davis 
makes the observation, genuine faith never rests content with 
being convinced of the reality of God, but presses on to take 
refuge in God. You hear a gospel sermon, you 
hear about the Lord Christ who lived, who died and was raised 
again. You're convinced that based on 
the scripture, that is true data. Take it, believe on it, go to 
Him, because those who come to Him, He will certainly not cast 
out. So Rahab acknowledges, Rahab 
casts herself upon God, but as well, she shows concern for her 
family. And we see that with reference 
to the converted soul. They have concern for other people. They actually care for somebody 
outside of themselves. They actually understand something 
of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, that Christ died for all, 
so that those who live for themselves will no longer live for themselves, 
but for him who lived and died for them. The idea being is that 
it weans us from that narcissistic introspective attitude where 
we think that we're the only ones that ever matter. Now, brethren, 
I have to make an admission here. When I'm out driving about in 
my car, I've often said that it's a test of my faith. Especially 
when I'm around other drivers Chilliwack seems peculiarly bad. 
I guess everybody thinks they're okay drivers. Nobody ever admits 
Yeah, I'm a pretty terrible driver, but whenever anybody cuts me 
off I typically have this moment of reflection and I say something 
to the effect Oh, of course you're far more important than me you 
deserve that parking spot way more than I do it's a bit of 
a reflection on the whole narcissistic scheme and Now, not to say that 
I haven't ever cut anybody off or narcissistically tried to 
vie my or wiggle my way in front of others. We are narcissists. We are like that man, Narcissus, 
that looked in the reflection and couldn't look away because 
he was so enamored with himself. Not Rahab the harlot. I want 
you to spare my father. I want you to spare my mother. 
I want you to spare my brothers and my sisters. We have heard 
of the Lord God most high. We understand what he did to 
the Egyptians. We understood that those Egyptian 
corpses littered the seashore. We know that and it's terrifying 
to me. So I make this deal with you 
as it were, that when you come into this city state to desecrate 
it, please spare my family. And that brings us finally to 
the contract with Rahab in verses 14 to 24. Notice the spies promise 
in verse 14 and verses 17 to 20. So verse 14, 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. She had done 
them a solid. She hid them. She kept them safe. Her justification by faith alone, 
in Christ alone, was demonstrated in the works that she did. A 
perfect reflection of what our Confession says. Faith thus receiving 
and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument 
of justification. Yet it is not alone in the person 
justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, 
and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. They acknowledge that, 
they see that, and they enter into this particular deal. Notice 
they lay down some requirements. We won't go over this in great 
detail, but she must hang a scarlet cord in the window, according 
to verse 18a. She must gather the entire family 
into her house, 18b and 19. And there must be a commitment 
to absolute secrecy, according to verse 20. The spies essentially 
say, loose lips sink ships, you need to keep your mouth shut 
because we don't want the king of Jericho to be tipped off. 
When we come, we want to decimate, we want to devastate, we want 
to destroy as Yahweh our God has commanded. Notice her response, 
verses 15 and 16. She lets them down by a rope 
through the window, for her house was on the city wall. She dwelt 
on the wall. She said to them, get to the 
mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days until 
the pursuers have returned. Afterwards, you may go your way. 
She sends them out. She gives them the instruction. 
She gives them the guidelines on how they're going to get out 
of the city of Jericho. And then she agrees to their 
requirements in verses 21 to 23. It is a most blessed and 
excellent transaction. And then that brings us to this 
statement by the two men. In verse 24, they testify concerning 
God's faithfulness. Notice, verse 22, 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, crossed over. They came to Joshua, 
the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. And 
they said to Joshua, listen to this, truly the Lord has delivered 
all the land into our hands. It's a done deal. The promise 
to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, that reiterated to General Joshua 
in Joshua chapter one is true. God is faithful. He is not going 
to let us lose in this transaction. And then he says, or they say, 
for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted 
because of us. And then turn over to chapter 
6 just to see the fulfillment. I mentioned that you could read 
chapters 1 to 3 and not really miss anything in terms of the 
lay of the land, in terms of the trajectory of the narrative. 
The chapter 2 not only describes the great mercy of God, but it 
does fill in a bit of information for 6.17 and 6.23-25. There we see that Rahab and her 
family are spared by the mercy, the power, and the grace of God, 
the God that she had confessed, the God that she had owned, the 
God that she now knew, and the God that she would serve. In 
conclusion, with reference to her conversion, in the first 
place, Rahab heard of God. Romans 10, 17, faith comes by 
hearing and hearing by the word of God. Sometimes people come 
to me and they say, you know, I've got this guy at work and 
trying to witness to him and evangelize him and talk to him 
about the Bible. I've got this friend or I've 
got this family member. One of the best things, the best 
thing you can do is get a Bible in their hands or better sit 
down with them and read scripture together. Go to the passages, 
go to the texts. Faith comes by hearing and hearing 
by the word of God. Your testimony is encouraging. 
The way that God has dealt with you is certainly a blessing, 
but it's the word of the living and true God that God uses to 
bring sinners to himself. James 1.18, of his own will, 
by the word of truth, he brought us forth. It is most wonderful. Secondly, Rahab confessed the 
majesty of Yahweh. So not only does she hear, but 
she's convinced by the power of the Holy Spirit, as the rest 
of the Bible declares to us, that what God is, or who God 
is, is true. He is trustworthy. His word is 
truth. Thirdly, she casts herself on 
the mercy of God. She doesn't just cognitively 
say, yeah, there is a living and true God. Yes, he is the 
God over heaven and earth. She says, I want this God, I 
have this God, and I want to be spared by this God when he 
comes to destroy my city. And then Rahab demonstrated her 
faith by her works. Again, James chapter two, the 
emphasis of our brother there, is whether you're a patriarch 
or a prostitute, if you have justifying faith in the living 
Savior, then there will be works that function, not as the means 
or cause or reason why you're justified, but as the lively 
evidence, the fruit, the demonstration that what you have is, in fact, 
the real deal. Secondly, in terms of the mercy 
of God, the flow of the narrative. Again, we're in a book that's 
all about conquest. I use the language of Rush Limbaugh. He used to describe war as killing 
people and breaking things. That in essence is what the book 
of Joshua is about. Deuteronomy chapter seven is 
no joke. Holy war. You go in and you utterly 
dispossess the land of the Canaanites. You don't do that through inviting 
them to leave. You don't do that by buying another 
country and sending them there. You do that by destroying them, 
by having no political, no social, and no religious alliances with 
them. Now Joshua portrays the conquest very favorably. We get 
to the book of Judges, it's not so favorable. We see that in 
the book of Judges, the Israelites are increasingly becoming like 
the Canaanites, and that will ultimately set them up to be 
dispossessed from that same land. They will be vomited out the 
way that the Canaanites were. But with reference to the mercy 
of God, before we get into the conquest, the author says, I 
want you to focus for just a moment on God's mercy. There's a purpose 
behind the conquest. It's not just the behest of some, 
you know, bloodthirsty God that just likes to revel in the destruction 
of these Canaanite people. Why does God give them the land? God gives them the land to preserve 
them, to keep them together, such that Messiah will come from 
their line. If they are dispersed throughout 
the world, if they have compromised by marrying pagans, if they have 
defiled themselves in that regard, there will be no Messiah. The 
conquest is absolutely crucial in the redemptive plan of God 
Most High. You've heard the old adage, sometimes 
you've got to break a few eggs in order to make an omelet. Well, 
sometimes you've got to crush a few Canaanites in order to 
make sure that Messiah comes and does precisely what Yahweh 
has given Him for. And so the mercy of God in chapter 
two is for us to stand amazed at. It is the emphasis of this 
particular narrative. The Geneva Bible says, herein 
appeareth the great mercy of God, that in his common destruction 
he would draw a most miserable sinner to repent and confess 
his name, Rahab the harlot. Hess, again, says in one of the 
most nationalistic books in the Hebrew Bible, does it not serve 
the purposes of the promises to Abraham, that all people on 
earth will be blessed through you, Genesis 12, 3. To play side 
by side with the choice of a military leader and his initial preparations 
for battle, the story of a foreign woman who believed and was saved 
without arms or bloodshed, it is glorious to see what's happening 
in Joshua chapter 2. And as well, Joshua chapter 2 
connects us very specifically and directly to the Messiah. 
Joshua chapter 2 is foundational and fundamental. In Ruth, the 
book of Ruth, the very end of Ruth, which is the purpose of 
the book of Ruth, it says, now this is the genealogy of Perez. Perez begot Hetzron. Hetzron 
begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab. Amminadab 
begot Nashon. Nashon begot Salmon. Salmon was 
the husband of Rahab the harlot. Salmon begot Boaz, who was the 
husband of Ruth, and Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse 
begot David. So Rahab the harlot is in the 
lineage of the Messiah of Israel. Matthew 1 specifically tells 
us, verse 5, Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by 
Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. We have 
Rahab the harlot. a pagan, a non-Israelite, a woman 
mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, 
that is huge. Ralph Davis again makes this 
observation. He says, so Rahab is a harlot, 
a pagan and a disreputable one at that. Yet she is welcomed 
into the church, chapter 6, 22 to 25. But Rahab the harlot Joshua 
saved alive, and she dwelt in Israel to his day." 625. He goes 
on to say, now that can be offensive. We say, we can't have that. The 
church is only for respectable, clean, middle class folks. But 
that is like saying that hospitals are only for doctors, nurses, 
and x-ray machines instead of sick people. Or it is like saying 
that only morticians and coroners belong in morgues instead of 
dead people. Who then should be in the church 
but sinners? Brethren, we need to guard our 
hearts against a judgmentalism and a self-righteousness that 
looks down on sinners. This display of the mercy of 
God to a pagan woman who is a prostitute should forever disavow us of 
the notion that Christ only came to call the righteous. No, Christ 
came to call sinners to repentance. Davis goes on to say, who then 
should be in the church but sinners? The church is not a club, but 
a refuge for sinners who have been touched by the grace of 
God. Apparently, Rahab's past did not bother the writer of 
the first gospel, who, as we saw this morning, didn't have 
the best past either. He was a tax collector. He was 
a wretch. Christ says, follow me, and empowers 
and enables him to do so by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He 
goes on to say, rather, Matthew seemed to see in Rahab a trophy 
of divine grace. Astounding, isn't it? That the 
shady lady of Jericho should be the ancestress of Jesus the 
Messiah. Brethren, behold your God. There 
is mercy to be had in the Lord Christ. When we preach the gospel, 
we don't do so from the vantage point of, well, I kind of hope 
that he's able to save. I kind of think that he may be 
able to save. He saves to the uttermost all 
who draw nigh unto God through him. All that the Father gives 
me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly 
not cast out. We preach a Christ who is able 
to save. We preach a Christ who is able 
to deliver. We preach a Christ who brings 
grace and salvation to bear upon needy sinners. With reference 
to the gospel of our blessed Savior, we see the mercy of Christ 
toward Rahab. We see, in light of Ruth, 4.18-22, 
the mercy of Christ toward her great, great grandson, David. And we see, hopefully, the mercy 
of Christ in Matthew, as we considered this morning. We see the mercy 
of Christ in the apostle Paul. This is a faithful saying. It 
is worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the 
world, sinners to save. That was the emphasis of the 
apostle. He doesn't say, I was a righteous, 
holy, wonderful individual, and it was just natural that I should 
flow into this communion of Christ's people. No, the worst of sinners, 
the chief of sinners, and yet gospel grace was able to conquer 
that man and bring him to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, as we 
consider this, may it encourage our hearts as we enter into the 
sacrament and remember in particular our Lord's death and resurrection 
for us sinners. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your 
mercy displayed in Matthew 9 to that brother and in Joshua 2 
to this sister. As well in Psalm 32, David was 
no saint. David had a gross amount of sin. He was a saint by profession 
to be sure, but with reference to his conduct, it was grace 
alone that made the difference in his life. And God, we confess, 
and we know this to be the case in our own lives, we didn't seek 
you, you sought us. We didn't ask to be saved, you 
saved us. You did everything, the sending 
of your son, so that he might live, that he might die, that 
he might rise again for the salvation of his very needy people. We 
extol You, we bless You, and we praise You for Your excellent 
mercies to us in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray in His name. 
Amen. Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 26 as we read that particular 
section of Scripture.