Sermon Title: A Prostitute Shows the way to be Saved

Sermon Series: Joshua: Finding Courage through the Challenges of Life

Sermon Text: Joshua 2:1-24

March 2, 2008

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Introduction

Last week we began a new series of messages from the book of Joshua. I’m calling this series: Finding courage through the challenges of life.

Review from last week

Last week in Chapter 1, we looked at God’s call on Joshua and the people and his repeated command for them to be strong and courageous. As we unpacked that, we learned that when God calls you to challenges or opportunities you can be courageous and strong, knowing you will navigate that challenge with all the resources of God behind you as long as you remain reliant on Him. As you remain reliant on him he promises to be with you. It’s that important courage producing truth I call the “with” factor.

One person came up to me afterwards and she said it hit her as I was talking about the “WITH” factor that for her “with” is like an acronym that stands for WILL I TRUST HIM? God commands us to be strong and courageous as we follow him in our lives because he promise to be with us...but, we have to trust him, don’t we? So, next time you are feeling the fear or anxiety rise to try and overwhelm you, remember the WITH factor...and say to yourself, He is WITH me...Will I Trust Him?

Today we turn our attention to Chapter 2 of Joshua and I want to forewarn you, today’s story is filled with intrigue and innuendo in the Hebrew and is actually a little risqué. In fact, I’m surprised someone hasn’t made a movie of this whole deal. The story is part racy, part high drama. All the stuff movie makers love.

The central character of the story is a prostitute named Rahab. And the twist in the whole plot is that the key take-away from the story comes from the lips of this unlikely woman. The name Rahab itself has its roots in arousing words that graphically describe her loose, flirtatious style and posture. Her name essentially characterizes her the way nick-naming an undertaker “digger” characterizes what he does. The Babylonian Talmud says that the very mention of Rahab’s name could cause the speaker to blush with embarrassment due to the innuendo involved. (tractate Megillah 15a, as quoted in Creach, Interpretation A Biblical Commentary for Preaching and Teaching, Joshua, p. 32)

But let me tell you this; don’t think for a moment that Rahab is some sort of brainless bimbo. Ironically she turns out to be the most savvy character in the story. Through word of mouth, she hears stories about who God is and how he fights for Israel, his chosen people. And she puts two and two together and recognizes that despite being far from God and disconnected from his people, salvation has actually come knocking on her door. And being the shrewd person that she is, she takes full advantage of her opportunity. Pay attention to how shrewd she is as she recognizes that her salvation was knocking on her door despite how far from God she was. Look at verses 1-7.

Salvation comes knocking no matter how far from God you are.

Former head of the CIA in his book “The Craft of Intelligence” speaks about the account of Moses sending spies into Canaan back in Numbers as some of the earliest record of espionage. And in regards to Joshua’s choice to send these two spies to Jericho, he writes, “This is, I believe, the first instance on record of what is now called in the intelligence trade a “safe house.” Rahab concealed the spies and got them safely out of the city with their intelligence. The Israelites conquered Jericho “and utterly destroyed it and its people except that Rahab and her family were saved.” Thus established the tradition that those who help the intelligence process should be recompensed

These Israeli spies are dispatched to Jericho and they find an inroad into Jericho by hooking up with a prostitute named Rahab. Now, why her? Was it because strange men were probably coming and going from her home all the time so no would think anything was out of the norm for them to do so? Or was it God’s sovereign direction knowing Rahab would be willing to help them because of the conclusions of her heart about God? I’m guessing both. But, here’s what we know for sure about Rahab.

Rahab was a foreigner. She was most likely a Canaanite, a stubborn people who worshiped many gods with all sorts of bizarre and twisted worship practices. Their religious habits were so evil and so heinous to God that he repeatedly warned Israel to not have any contact with them. Their stubborn refusal to surrender to God would completely poison Israel’s allegiance to God and their practices would bring destruction on them.

But, one of the amazing lessons we learn from this story is that no matter how far from God you or your family or your culture has been, you are never too foreign to God. And no matter how foreign or strange God feels to you, you are never too foreign for God. This story shows us that salvation is available to you and in fact is knocking on your door no matter far from God you might be. God wants to find you, he wants to enter your life and he wants to save you from the destructive impact of sin in your life. As disconnected as Rahab was, God knew her heart and how she was making sense of all that she had been hearing about God and he came right to her house and he found her. Isn’t that amazing?

Not only was Rahab a foreigner, she was a prostitute. Remember I said this story was a bit risqué? From the beginning of the story, there is no attempt to sterilize the clear allusions to sexual activity that drive the narrative. In the Hebrew language, the phrase “entered her house” and “spent the night” are a kind of sexual innuendo. And Rahab leads the king’s men to believe that the spies were just her customers so she didn’t bother getting the details of their lives. Shrewdly, she uses her role as prostitute to cover the fact that she is harboring spies. Most historians believe that Rahab was most likely a common prostitute forced into the trade to provide for herself and perhaps extended family.

Despite being a foreigner and a prostitute, Rahab was a woman who knew how to survive. Scholars and historians suggest that the presence of the scarlet cording or strands of thread that are present in her home and piles of flax on her roof big enough to hid two grown men is the author’s way of suggesting that Rahab is a smart, resourceful business entrepreneur who did what she had to do to take care of her family.

It didn’t matter to God that she was immersed in a pagan culture. It didn’t matter to God that she was a morally wounded prostitute. It didn’t matter how far from God she had been or how long she had been disconnected from him. God came knocking on her door opening up the opportunity for her to escape the judgment and destruction he was about to bring on her people. And being a woman who knew how to survive, she knew what she needed to do.

Notice how she responds to what she has heard about God. Look at verses 8-11

Rahab recognizes God’s plan. And she recognizes God’s reputation. It had been over 40 years since God split the Red Sea for Israel and probably several years since Israel destroyed Sihon and Og as Numbers 21 reports it, yet the stories of God’s power and strength fighting for Israel had spread throughout the region and was still generating terror in those who did not know him or follow him. But, Rahab hears the stories and she puts two and two together. She makes sense of the stories and recognizes God’s power and plan and surrenders to them. As she speaks about God she uses the proper name for God, Jehovah and then in her declaration in verse 11 she says, Jehovah Elohim...The Lord is God of gods in heaven above and earth below.

I’m not sure you can find a more authentic, genuine statement of the supremacy of God. She had heard the stories about God, she had recognized that he was supreme and that no one could resist his will and his plans. And with that understanding and belief, she takes a giant step toward aligning with God....and finding her salvation in him.

Her story teaches us an important spiritual lesson: Salvation is possible when you believe God is supreme. She had heard the stories, she had heard the testimonies of God’s great power and relentless passion for his people and instead of refusing to believe it, instead of running in fear, instead of stubbornly refusing to recognize her salvation when it came knocking at her door the day the spies showed up, she puts two and two together and embraces reality. God is supreme!

Let me ask you a question. Have you heard the stories of God’s power and plan? Have you admitted and embraced the reality that God is supreme over all of life? Admitting and embracing the reality that God is supreme is a key step in finding salvation in him. In the next few verses Rahab demonstrates another vitally important truth if you want to find safety and salvation in God. I want you to see it...Look at verses 12-21.

Do you see what Rahab is doing in these verses? Having embraced the reality that God is supreme she now acts on her belief. She recognizes that her safety and salvation depends on her willingness to agree to the conditions of God’s protection.

Salvation is available to you when you are willing to agree to the conditions of God’s protection.

Having embraced the reality that God is supreme, Rahab asks for a promise of protection. But, know that she is asking for much more here than fire insurance...she’s asking for much more than one time protection. Rahab asks the spies for “kindness” to be shown to her for her “kindness” that she has shown to them.

The word “kindness” here is the Hebrew word that means committed love. It is the word used of God’s faithful – covenant love, the committed love God has for his people. It’s a highly significant word for a prostitute to use. It’s clear she’s not speaking of a one night stand of protection. She’s asking for God to save her and her family from death and destruction and to allow them to come under the promise of his protection from this day forward.

The spies agree and then clarify the conditions of the promise with Rahab. The sign of her commitment to the promise is a scarlet cord. It is to be tied in her window. And all her family who seek safety and protection must seek refuge inside her house. These conditions are strikingly similar to the conditions set forth by God back in Exodus when the plague of the death angel moves throughout Egypt taking the lives of all the firstborn. The Israelites were to gather their families’ together inside the house and they were to sacrifice a male lamb without blemish and smear the blood of that sacrificed lamb on the doorframes of their homes. And there under the blood they found safety and salvation from death in the same way Rahab and her family are to do under the scarlet cording. Safe under the scarlet promise of protection from death.

Verse 21 makes it clear that Rahab agrees with the conditions and then she puts her faith in action. She’s not just a hearer, she’s a doer! She’s not just a listener to God stories...she’s one who acts on her belief! The next time we hear about Rahab is in chapter 6:23. The two spies who had made the agreement with her go and honor their oath and bring Rahab and her family safely out of the city before totally destroying it, situating them just outside the camp of Israel where they find sanctuary and salvation under God’s care and leading.

After this, we don’t hear of Rahab again until the New Testament. In Matthew 1:5 she shows up in the Genealogy of Jesus. In Hebrews 11:31 she’s inducted into the Faith Hall of Fame. And in James 2 she is used to illustration that faith being expressed in action is saving faith (Hebrews 11: 31, James 2: 25).

Conclusion:

By all accounts, Rahab is a pretty peculiar teacher of such crucial spiritual lessons. Her story teaches us that no matter how removed from God you are, salvation is available to you if you believe that God is supreme and you are willing to agree to the conditions of God’s protection.

Maybe you are finding yourself identifying at some level with Rahab today. You’ve been living disconnected from God. God feels foreign to you and you feel far from him. But, like Rahab, you’ve been hearing the stories from a distance about his power, his faithfulness and his committed love. And today salvation has come right to the doorstep of your heart. And today, His supremacy over everything is clear to you and now you are ready to agree with his conditions for salvation.

Rahab had two things she had to do if she wanted to be saved...and those two things were two things the spies could not do for her... She had to believe that God was supreme and act on her belief. She had to hang the scarlet cord in her window and gather her family under its promise.

And today regardless of how far from God you have been...regardless of how you have lived your life to this point...if you want to be saved you basically have two things you must do as well. God has done everything else, but the two things you have to do, God can’t do for you. You have to believe that Jesus is Lord of all and you have to agree to follow him. To find God’s salvation, you have to believe Jesus is Lord...and follow him. Two things...Believe and follow.

Lead in prayer – get folks who want to be saved to catch my eyes.

Today communion is a perfect way for us to respond to this story. Jesus initiated communion as a perfect way for us to remember