I thought it would be good for us tonight to stand amazed at God's grace. It's always good for us to consider these snapshots in the Bible of God's sovereign dealings with His people and the grace that He displays in the salvation of sinners. Begin reading in Joshua 2, beginning 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.
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 stocks 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. 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 also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token and spare my father, my mother, my brother, my sisters, and all that they have. and deliver our lives from death. 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. 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, get 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 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.
Opening Prayer
Father, thank You for this account. Thank You for the display of Your grace and the glory of Your name as evidenced in Joshua chapter 2. We just pray that our hearts would be stirred and encouraged, that we would stand amazed at Your mercy towards sinners. And our Father, how we thank You that You've dealt mercifully with us as well.
How we thank You that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. We ask now that You would guide us in our study and we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, Joshua was the one who succeeded Moses. After the death of Moses, Joshua was raised up, General Joshua. He was tasked with taking the children of Israel into the Promised Land. In fact, the book of Joshua outlines very easily.
It is concerned first with entering the land, chapters 1-4, taking the land, chapters 5-12, possessing the land, chapters 13-21, and retaining the land, chapters 22-24. The key verse in the book that sums up the entirety of the particular book is in chapter 21. Chapter 21, verses 43 to 45 says, 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. And I suggest that that is a great place to start in your study of the book of Joshua.
Do you see that? That's exactly how the book breaks down. Entering, taking, possessing, and retaining. Back in Genesis chapter 12, and especially in Genesis chapter 17, God had promised Abraham an inheritance.
God had told him that he would indeed receive the land. And we see that promise reiterated throughout the Pentateuch. And one man, Dale Davis, or Ralph Davis, comments on the entrance of Israel into the Promised Land. Sometimes people say that was a barbaric act, it was a horribly vicious thing, that Israel went in and committed genocide.
Davis says this, the conquest is not a bunch of land-hungry marauders wiping out, at the behest of their vicious God, hundreds of innocent God-fearing folks. In the biblical view, the God of the Bible uses none-too-righteous Israel as the instrument of His just judgment on a people who had persistently reveled in their iniquity. In fact, in Leviticus, God says He is casting the people out of Canaan because of their repeated iniquity, because of their ungodliness. So, He uses none-too-righteous Israel as a scourge and a chastisement upon those who had delighted in ungodliness.
So as we come to Joshua 2, we're going to look specifically at Rahab the harlot, her conduct, her confession, and her blessings. But before we look at that, we need to deal with her lie. When we read this chapter, we see that Rahab lied. You cannot squirm out of it.
It is a reality. Now, the Bible often reports things without necessarily condoning them. King David of Israel, he committed adultery and he committed murder. We are not to take that as our cue to go thou and do likewise.
Just because something is reported doesn't necessarily mean that it is condoned. Also, we need to understand when Rahab lied, what she was in fact doing was committing an act of treason. The king heard about this. The king sent people, representatives, to go and determine the truth of this activity.
Her lie to the king of Jericho represented a treasonous act, which is a capital offense. But when we leave Joshua chapter 2 and we go throughout the rest of the Bible, she is only ever treated positively. In Matthew 1, verse 5, it's very interesting that she appears in the very genealogy of Jesus, the son of David. In Hebrews 11, that we read at the outset of worship, she's spoken of very favorably there, and she is applauded for her faith.
And then in James 2, along with Abraham, she is a model of faith, then work. Remember, Abraham was a patriarch. Rahab was a prostitute. The idea that James presents is that whether you are a patriarch or a prostitute, genuine faith will always be displayed in biblical works.
Again, quoting Dale Ralph Davis, he 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. And I realize that won't satisfy every curiosity concerning this particular lie, but suffice it to say we're going to focus on her truth this evening.
Rahab's Conduct
So notice first her conduct. Joshua 2, verse 1, Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, especially Jericho. Joshua had been one of the original twelve spies. Remember, Moses sent Joshua and Caleb and ten other spies into the land of Canaan on an initial reconnaissance mission.
He had been the only one, along with Caleb, who said, The Lord has promised this. Let's go take the land. In fact, the text is very conspicuous. that Caleb says, let us go at once and take the land. But the ten spies were grumblers and whiners and complainers.
They said it's a good land to be sure, but there's big nasty people there, and we certainly can't defeat those big nasty people, so let's go on in slavery, because that's where we're comfortable. But Joshua and Caleb said, no, let's go and take this land. And so Joshua is taking a similar approach to recon the land of Jericho prior to engaging in this military campaign. Notice that Rahab receives the spies.
Verse 1 still, it says, So they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there. She is identified as a harlot. That is an accurate translation. She received money for sexual favors.
Some do not like that, some do not want to approve of that, so they translate it as an innkeeper. She was an innkeeper. Now I ask you, would spies check in to a motel? Would spies check in to a hotel?
Would spies look for a place that offered a continental breakfast? Would spies want to lay low and keep under the radar? Who are they far more prone to visit? A harlot or an innkeeper?
She was a harlot. She is a bad woman. She is, as Davis calls her, the shady lady of Jericho. The king hears about this.
The king dispatches men. And then what she does is she lies. She says, yes, they came, but they quickly left. Notice the text.
It says in verse 4, 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 through the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.
She confirmed that the men had come to her house. She lied to the king's men. She said the spies had already left her house. The king's men believed her, departed from the house in search of the spies."
Rahab's Confession
And then that brings us secondly to consider her confession. This is what the author wants us to understand. It's very interesting. If you read Joshua 1 and 3, Joshua 2 really isn't necessary.
I'm not saying that to impugn the glory of God, but it's not information that is essential. It does answer a question that may come up later in Joshua 6.25, which we'll refer to, but it's not intrinsic to the story or narrative in terms of the military aspect. Joshua 2 is deposited here for us so that we'll stand and marvel at the grace of God. so that we'll understand his heart and his disposition and his attitude to the shady lady of Jericho, to this woman who was a harlot, to this woman who was in the act of treason, to this woman who had heard of Yahweh of Israel and so wanted to identify with Him that she enters into an agreement with the spies that Joshua had sent. Joshua chapter 2 is a place designed by God for you to stop and marvel at God.
For you to consider the fact that He saves, that He's not only sovereign over the heavens and the earth, but over prostitutes. That He saves not only Joshua, the son of Nun, the military commander of Israel, but He saves this woman in Jericho. He is a gracious and a merciful God, and she admits as much. So in her confession, we notice first,
Fear of Yahweh
she confesses the fear of God. The fear of Jehovah. Notice in verse 8, 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. She knows something of the fear of God.
I believe Rahab could teach our generation something. We like to treat God as an equal. We like to treat God as an inferior at times. We don't want to fear Him.
He's just our big buddy. Not so with Rahab. She says we have heard of this God. And what we've heard promotes fear in our hearts.
It causes us to be faint-hearted. May the God that we preach be such that promotes fear in the hearts of people. That is a good thing. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is that which leads to life. Brethren, she understood something. Hearing those miraculous deeds, hearing those marvelous words, caused her to fear before this God.
Might of Yahweh
She confesses, secondly, the might of Yahweh, or the might of Jehovah. Notice in verse 10. 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." I bet if you've ever read through the Pentateuch, you see those guys come up a lot. Sihon and Og.
I wonder, what's the emphasis on Sihon and Og? Why does God continually tell us about His parting of the Red Sea and His leading the people out of Egypt? Why is this continually brought before the minds of Israel? So that they would understand His majesty.
It worked in the case of this pagan, this profligate, this harlot, this woman who lay with men for money. She had heard of this and it made an impression upon her heart. She took this God seriously. She understood something of His majesty.
He is the one that defeated Sihon and Og. It wasn't the military superiority of Israel. It was God who opened up the River Jordan so that His people could walk through with dry feet, brethren. It was God who opened up the Red Sea.
And then when Pharaoh and his army stepped in, their chariot wheels fell off, and then He causes the water to crash down upon them and destroy each and every one. So you see, that story was retold over and over again in Israel to produce something in their hearts concerning the majesty of God. And it did that for this woman, Rahab the harlot. And then she confesses not only the might of Jehovah, but also His majesty.
Notice 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. That's a glorious confession for a pagan harlot to make.
That's a confession born of genuine faith in her heart. I believe she is acting in terms of her deeds based on her prior faith commitment to the God of Israel. Turn back for just a moment to Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4, specifically verse 39.
Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 39. This would be Israel's confession. This would be Israel's hope. This would be what Israel would be known for in terms of the nations around them.
Verse 39 of Deuteronomy 4, Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. There is no other. For her to imitate that statement, for her to express the same thing, was to renounce paganism. was to own and confess faith in the true and the living God. Remember, the pagans had a pantheon.
They had a God of heaven. They had a God of earth. They had a God of the sun. They had a God of the river.
They had a God of war. They had a God of storms. In fact, John Calvin says, 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. And hence we see that it is not without cause that two apostles have honored Rahab's conduct with the title of faith. It's no accident that she appears in Hebrews 11. It's no accident that she appears in James 2.
In fact, in James 2, the function, the particular aspect of her being there is to evidence that genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ will always issue forth in works consistent with that faith. That is precisely how Rahab is operating in this particular context. So
Majesty and Mercy of Yahweh
she not only expresses the fear of God, the might of God, the majesty of God, but notice she casts herself upon the mercy of God. Genuine faith never rests content with being convinced of the reality of God, but presses on to take refuge in God. I can't take credit for that. That's Dale Ralph Davids.
Just a shameless plug, or not a shameless plug, Dale Ralph Davis on the Former Prophets is worth having and reading. Former Prophets being Joshua through 2 Kings. Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. Dale Ralph Davis on those books, read them and you will be greatly edified, greatly instructed in the message of these particular books.
But he says, genuine faith never rests content with being convinced of the reality of God, but presses on to take refuge in God. You see, we preach who He is. You ought to learn that. You ought to receive that.
You ought to understand God is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. In His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. But you ought to flee to take refuge in Him. And that's precisely what she does in verse 12.
Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by Jehovah, 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." She knows that God has sent His people to destroy their city. And she seeks refuge in God. She manifests concern for others. It's not just her that she's looking out for at this point, but her father, her mother, her brothers, her sisters, the entirety of her father's family.
She wants them safe and protected. She casts herself upon the God of mercy and the God of grace. What do the spies say? They say, okay.
We serve a God who will make that deal. We serve a God who will show that mercy. We serve a God who will cover you. We serve a God who, because you confess faith in Him, will preserve your lives.
He will keep you unharmed. He will provide not only for you, but your entire family. I would submit that this is not only a casting of herself upon the mercy of Jehovah, but it is great faith. Isn't that what Hebrews 11 is all about?
It's celebrating great faith. This isn't a measly, meager faith. This is the faith that not only wants protection for herself, but for all that she knows. She comes with a bold request.
She comes with large petitions. We sing that hymn. Large petitions bring our Lord and our God. He is good and merciful and kind.
Try Him. Prove Him. Show Him faithful in this area. of displaying mercy and displaying grace. She is convinced of His might, majesty, and absolute sovereignty, and she is convinced there is mercy to be had as well.
I believe Rahab could preach a great sermon to each of us in our own day. And then
Rahab's Blessings
notice thirdly and finally, her blessings. The spies make the promise. They enter into this. They say, okay, We're going to do this.
You let this start lying down. When we see that, it'll be spared. You renege on your commitment, if you tell about this, or you compromise the mission in any way, we're not obligated. But as far as you do what we have agreed to, we'll honor that covenant.
We will make good on it. We will not destroy you or your family. The Lord does indeed bless her. Turn over to Joshua 6.
Joshua chapter 6. At verse 22, this answers the whole affair. Again, we need Joshua 2 simply to tell us or answer this. But in terms of the military aspect, we could proceed from 1 to 3.
But Joshua 2 does demonstrate for us that mercy and grace of God. Notice in Joshua 6.22, but Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, go into the harlot's house and from there bring out the woman and all that she has as you swore to her. And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel.
But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho." Isn't that beautiful?
She's forever known as Rahab the harlot. Her middle name and her last name are always given. The harlot. Like Smokey the bear, she's Rahab the harlot.
She's identified by this. What does that tell us? God is gracious. God is good.
God is kind. He doesn't just save the upright woman. He doesn't just save the Proverbs 31 woman. He saves Rahab the harlot to become the Proverbs 31 woman.
He doesn't just save the upright. In fact, Jesus said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So the Lord blesses her. The spies make the promise.
The Lord responds in grace and in kindness, and she is spared, and she resides in Israel. What a great testimony to the grace and the mercy of God Most High, and what a great display of a living, vibrant, Christ-centered faith that Rahab expressed.
Application
So in summary, I want to look at a couple of things. First, her conversion. She had heard of Yahweh. Think when we look at this.
Rahab's Conversion
She had heard of Jehovah. That's what she reports to them. The Word was communicated to her. It should remind us of Romans 10, 17.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. If that Word would have never gotten to Rahab, she wouldn't have been saved. That Word is instrumental. James 1.18 says, of His own will, He brought us forth by the Word of truth.
Paul says in Romans 1.16, I'm not ashamed of what? The Gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. Brethren, we must communicate the mighty works of God.
We must communicate His might, His majesty, and His mercy. We must communicate the doing and dying of our Lord Jesus Christ. Should the Rahabs of our generation Come to know Him in faith." She hears of Yahweh. The Word was communicated.
She confessed the majesty of Yahweh. That means she was convicted. God does that. When we hear the Word, He sends the Spirit.
And what does He do? He doesn't promote in us great feelings of self-worth. He usually lays us low and shows us our sin. He brings conviction upon us so that we fear and tremble before Him.
In many ways, Rahab is a textbook example of what conversion looks like. There is communication. There is conviction. And then she fled to the mercy of Jehovah, thereby demonstrating commitment to Him.
Saving faith is a committed faith. Saving faith is looking and living. Saving faith is holding fast. to the mercy of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rahab in Hebrews 11
And then the amazing exploits of Rahab. Again, I'll just reread that section in Hebrews chapter 11. It's beautiful. One person we probably would have left out.
In fact, a few of these guys. I mean, look at this. In Hebrews 11.30, by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace." We might just want to sanitize that right out of the biblical record.
If we took pen to paper and started celebrating the heroes of the faith, we might begin to wonder, are there any genuine heroes who are upright and holy and good? Well, no, there wasn't. Remember several years ago, I worked at Northrop Grumman. I worked in such a situation where I always had people to talk to.
This one guy, we used to talk about religion, we talked about the Bible, we talked about various things. And he came to work one day, work swing shift, it was a Friday afternoon, I remember it vividly. And he comes to work and he says, you know, I was just watching something on TV, maybe A&E or one of these history channels or something, and it was on Samson. And he had the East Coast, he was from New York or something, had this rich East Coast accent.
He goes, that guy was horrible. You Christians think Samson was good? He was a horrible guy. That's what God's grace is all about.
It comes to horrible guys. Isn't that who He deals with? What does He say in verse 32? And what more shall I say?
For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon. Was he always upright, consistent, and holy? No. Barak and Samson.
I mean, brethren, if you've read the Samson narrative in Judges, at times you're scratching your head saying, what's with this guy? How does he make it into Hebrews 11? Because the glory of God is bigger than a Samson. In fact, the glory of God is displayed through a Samson.
I'm not being unkind to these men. These men were godly men in their own right, but they were not perfect. And then Jephthah makes it in here. Amazing.
Go back and read Judges sometime. If you're not real familiar with Judges, Hebrews 11.30 and following isn't going to make a lot of sense to you. He goes on to say, also of David and Samuel and the prophets. Isn't that interesting?
David and Samuel are almost incidental. Rahab gets more space in this celebration of God's glory in the faith of His people than King David of Israel. Isn't that a beautiful testimony of God's grace? He goes on to say, "...who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead raised to life again." Brethren, these are great models in terms of God's grace and God's mercy and faith displayed in the lives of His people. And then finally,
The Amazing Grace of God
the amazing grace of God. We've already hinted at this several times, but I just want to close by reading a quote again from Dale Ralph Davis. He says, So Rahab is a harlot. This is probably next to the Bible.
This is a great comment on this whole scenario. So Rahab is a harlot, a pagan and a disreputable one at that. Yet she is welcomed into the church, Joshua 6. What happens?
God preserves her and she lives in Israel. That's the church in the Old Testament. But Rahab the harlot, Joshua, saved a life and she dwelt in Israel to this day. 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? 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. 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. Matthew chapter 1, verse 5. Praise God that He is sovereign over the heaven, over the earth, and over prostitutes.
Praise God that He reaches down into the lives of sinners like you and me, and that He saves us, that He's merciful, that He cleanses us, that He washes us. Praise God for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who alone can provide salvation for sinners like Rahab and like us. Praise God that the Church is not for the upright, respectable, and the polished, but for the sinful, the broken, the hurting, the wounded, those who by God's grace have been brought nigh through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for the church. We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for your grace displayed in the life of Rahab the harlot. We thank you for your grace displayed in our lives, Lord God.
And we pray that that gospel would be proclaimed from sea to sea, from coast to coast, throughout this earth, Lord, that you would be well pleased to save a great multitude. We know that you are mighty, we know that you are majestic, and we know that you are merciful. And we pray that this word would be proclaimed, the salvation of a great multitude of sinners and for the glory of God Most High. We ask now that you would go with us, help us to enter into this week knowing the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.
And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.