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Joshua 2

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8/5/1998
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Joshua 2
Joshua 2
Skip Heitzig
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06 Joshua - 1998

Pastor Skip Heitzig expounds on the book of Joshua as a historical book, as the Israelites enter, conquer, and divide up the Promised Land, and also as a practical book on victorious living.

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All right, we're in Joshua, chapter 2, and we want to kind of recap a little bit. You know, I always said that I felt sorry for Moses because of the grumbling, the complaining that he had to put up with for those forty years. And as we read in Joshua, chapter 1, that the people of Israel told Joshua, "Even as we listened to Moses, Joshua, we're going to listen to you." And I don't know about you, but if I was Joshua, I'd say, "Hey, rephrase that, please, because you didn't listen very well to Moses. How about 'better than we listened to Moses,' we're going to listen to you. We make a recommitment. That "old generation" thing is past. We get a brand-new start." God promises them a land. He promised it to Abraham, he promised it to Isaac, Jacob---all of the descendants.

Reiterated the promise to Moses, then again to Joshua. Remember there was a stipulation, though, that "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread I have given to you." So they had to walk through the land that God gave them. It wasn't just automatic. Though God gave it to them as a gift, they had to view it, they had to walk through it, and whatever their foot landed upon was theirs. Now remember we said that God gave them about 300,000 square miles of land. And I hadn't realized, frankly, how large that was until one year I went to Baghdad and I crossed the Euphrates River. And I'd been to Israel many times, but I'd never gone so far into Iraq. Crossing the Euphrates it dawned on me, this is the eastern border of the Holy Land. It was promised to Israel. A

gain, the Iraqis, the Jordanians wouldn't like to hear of those borders, but those were the original borders. They never occupied that. They only occupied 30,000 square miles, a tenth of all that God promised them, they occupied. Even though it was theirs for the taking, they never made it to the next step. Tonight we're going to look at a preview of what's coming in the next few chapters as two spies go to Jericho. Now the strategy of the land is this: they're crossing the Jordan River; they're on the eastern side of the Jordan River around Mount Nebo where Moses died viewing the land. They will cross over the Jordan, and the first city they come to is the city of Jericho. It's sort of in the middle of the nation, and their strategy will be to divide and conquer.

They take, first of all, the city of Jericho which is the main citadel right at the base of the spine of the Jerusalem Mountains. And so it's a command post. If they can take Jericho, which they do, then they can sweep down south, which they do, after Jericho and after the city of Ai, A-I it is spelled. They will go down into the Valley of Aijalon. They will defeat five kings. They will take another sweep down south toward the Gaza. They will go back to Gilgal where they're stationed. They're not stationed in Jericho, they are stationed by the Jordan River at Gilgal. They'll go back to home base, then they'll go north up toward Hazor. And so they'll go to the middle section, southern, and then the northern route of the land. That will be---that will be the strategy as they get into the land.

Now, if you were to go to Jericho today, among other things you would see tourists, like my son and my wife here, riding camels in the parking lots of Jericho. And you see the mountain in the background is the Mount of Temptation where Jesus supposedly was tempted. So you can go on camel rides one after the other just all day long. [laughter] It is controlled by the Palestinians today, but from Jericho you can see, you can look east across the Dead Sea and the Jordan River and you can see the area of Moab where the children of Israel camped. Behind you, you can see the mountains, the Jerusalem wilderness, the Judean wilderness where Jesus was tempted forty days and forty nights. You can see the limestone cliffs with all of the caves just about a half a mile to the west of the city, about 1,500 feet high, just imposing themselves above the city.

Jericho was called "the oldest city in the world," and a lot of times people look to see the remains of the walls. And it's hard, because of the all the excavations in the past, to point out the walls. But there are certain walls of structures that are intact in the city of Jericho. And just panning an archaeological site here, you can see one of the old granaries from the city of Jericho. They have uncovered it. They haven't uncovered much. They've left a lot of it intact. And because it is so old, you have to look down into the pit just to get a view of what it was like. Now, the children of Israel are about to send spies into the land. Jericho is this walled city, as were most all cities at that time. And you're going to read about the king of Jericho. Later you'll read about the king of Hazor and the king of all of these cities.

These are like mayors, really. They're kings of city-states. The city of Jericho was very, very small in comparison to a modern-day city. But it was a fortress, it was a command post, and everybody lived within the city. The agriculture was kept on the outskirts of the city. You might wonder what kind of agriculture can be in a place like this. You're looking at the outskirts of Jericho here. Well, Jericho, though it only gets about 6.4 inches of rainfall per year, there is this spring called "Elijah's spring" that feeds the city and will irrigate 2,500 acres around Jericho. It's a very verdant place. In fact, it's called a ground that is "well watered" as "the garden of the Lord" back in Genesis 13. And so Jericho, this outpost in the desert of Judea, is going to look very, very different after the children of Israel get into it.

Camels feasting---I just like this shot, basically. There's really no spiritual value to it. I just like it. [laughter] And, you know, the guy, "I'd walk a mile for a camel," I guess. [laughter] But looking at Jericho, now just kind of get this view in your mind, because you're looking toward the west. You see some of the banana fields in the foreground, and then desert in the background. And the spies will have to hide out in the caves nearby. And it's this area that they will be led to, the area of the Mount of Temptation right outside of Jericho. They were told to "Go, view the land," and so two spies are sent out. They leave the area of Gilgal, cross the Jordan River, go into Jericho in a very inconspicuous manner, though, the king knows that something is afoot, there's some kind of a plot, some kind of a plan the children of Israel are up to.

And so they go into the spy out the land. Now, since there really isn't a good view of what Jericho looked like back then, an idea of what Jericho would have looked like---this is Jerusalem, but a Middle Eastern town: covered walkways, very narrow streets, the meat market, the vegetable market. And so you just gotta picture these two spies walking down a narrow walkway from the area of Gilgal through Jericho to report what they had seen. With that in mind, let's jump into the first few verses. "Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from the 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. And 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 laid in order on the roof.)" I love this chapter because of the woman involved. It is really a chapter of grace and mercy. She is a harlot, a woman of ill repute. Her name, by the way, means "fierceness"; that's the translation of it.

"What's your name, dear?" "Fierceness." [laughter] Now, do you remember back in your high school annual? If your annual was like mine, in the back of the annual they had several pictures of certain students. I never made any of those sections, but they had sections like "Best Dressed," "Most Athletic," "Most Spirited," "Most Academic," "Best All-Around," and then there was "Most Likely to Succeed." You know, this is the best of the best of your class. This is what the class esteemed those certain students would become one day. When I read the Bible, and I look at God's "annual," it seems that God has a special section, or at least would take a special section that the world would deem "Most Unlikely to Succeed" and says, "I want to work with that section. I want that bunch of people.

"I'd like that group. I want the worst of the worst, the one's that people think are irredeemable, the ones that will never succeed. Give them to me. I'll put them in my annual and I'll transform them." Very, very unlike the world. When I look at those that God has chosen throughout the Scripture, I often wonder at the choice of God. Jacob, for example, Mr. Manipulator himself, God chose him to represent him. I look at Jacob as the Eddie Haskell of the Old Testament. [laughter] Suave with his tongue, but really a hypocrite at heart in so many ways until God took him out of the camp of "Most Unlikely to Succeed," and said, "Let me work with him," and changed him drastically. What about a guy like Jonah? What did God have in mind when he picked Jonah, knowing his temperament, Mr. "Going the other direction" prophet?

"Jonah, go this way." "H'm, I think I'll go that way." [laughter] Peter, Mr. "Foot in the Mouth," saying dumb things a lot of the time. Very, very rough material, God says, "Let me have at them. I can change them and I can use them." And this seems to be the pattern of God, isn't it? "God has chosen the foolish things of this world, the weak things, to confound those things that are mighty," and Rahab is a great example of that. What is amazing about Rahab is where she ends up. You read about her here, first off, but where does she end up? In the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Not only that, but in Hebrews, chapter 11, you know the chapter that's the "Hall of Fame of Faith," this is, like, the best of the best, God's annual, "People of Faith." Again, God takes these in the camp of "Most Unlikely to Succeed," and puts them in his "Hall of Fame of Faith."

Rahab's in there. "By faith," it says, "Rahab . . . ," and it's astonishing to read it. In fact, what's astonishing is how it appears. Would you just turn to Hebrews 11 for a moment. Keep your finger marked back in Joshua, and look at Hebrews 11. Look at the lineup. I'll give you the gist of what's going on: the writer of the book of Hebrews is telling the group of young Christians---they were Hebrew Christians. They were converts to Jesus Christ. They received Jesus as their Messiah, but they were still Jews. They were Hebrews. And many of them were facing the temptation to turn away from Christianity, to go back into the laws and the rituals of Judaism. And the writer is saying, "Don't go back, hold on. In fact, follow the great examples and the heroes, the champions of faith."

And the champions are people like Abraham, verse 17. We'd look at that and go, "Great, 'By faith Abraham . . . ,' I understand Abraham. He's a man of great faith. Left his home, went to the Promised Land." Verse 20, "By faith Isaac . . . ." "Okay, I can accept Isaac." You have a little more problem with verse 21, Jacob, but he did come around eventually. "By faith," verse 22, "Joseph . . . ," and 21 Joseph is mentioned. We understand Joseph---godly, devoted man, went from rags to riches and stayed godly. Verse 23, "By faith Moses . . . ," the lawgiver. We can track so far. We go down and verse 30, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down." Well, that's Joshua and the children of Israel. They got faith once again. But then you get to verse 31, "By faith the harlot Rahab . . . ."

Now just that phrase is odd. You don't usually think of faith and a harlot in the same context, and it's in the same verse. "By faith Rahab . . . ," the harlot. And it says, "By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace." I was looking at that verse today and I thought, "You know, that's an oxymoron: 'By faith the harlot Rahab . . . .' " You know what an oxymoron is? Words that---concepts that shouldn't be together. "Airplane food" is an oxymoron. [laughter] "Hospital food" is another oxymoron. They call it "food," but it's really---well, it's an oxymoron. Just like, "By faith Rahab the harlot . . . ." But what's beautiful about this, again, this is God's style. It's consistent through the Scripture.

God doesn't survey the landscape of human beings and look for the people with the greatest ability. I hope that excites you, especially if you feel like, "Could I ever do anything for God?" God looks for people with the greatest availability. Again, he looks at the heart of faith. Rather than looking for the qualified and calling those who are qualified, he qualifies those that he calls. He makes a choice, a sovereign choice in advance. And then having called the person, as rough, as "unlikely to succeed" as they are, he's goes, "I'm going to do something with them. I will qualify them." And I think Rahab is one of the greatest examples of somebody that God qualifies. I think the bottom-line lesson with Rahab the harlot is nobody is too bad to be saved, no matter what background you may have.

You may say, "Oh, but I'm an alcoholic," "Oh, but I'm a drug addict," "Oh, but I've been a prostitute." This gal can relate to you, and she's the product of God's mercy in the Old Testament. You remember in the New Testament the evening that Jesus was at the house of Matthew the tax collector? And the Pharisees who didn't like the tax collectors thought that Jesus was selling out spiritually and complained to the disciples, "How come your Master runs around with tax collectors and sinners?" Now, they said that only to the disciples. Jesus evidently was on the other side of the room, but he heard it and walked up to them and said, "You know what? Those who are well don't need a doctor, but those who are sick need a doctor. I haven't come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Now we see evidence of that, not only in the New Testament, but all the way back in the Old Testament. So, we will read in the gospel of Matthew, Rahab included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. We come to Hebrews 11, we find Rahab mentioned once again. There's hope. There's hope for anybody. No one is too bad to be saved. You know what I find, though? Sometimes people are too good to be saved. They think they're too good. If you ask people, they say, "Yeah, well, you know, there's a lot of sinners out there in the world. Boy, they need to be saved." Ask them to define a "sinner." They'll usually say, "Well, a sinner is somebody worse than I am." The Bible says, "All have sinned." This gal knows who she is. She knows what she's been doing. Show knows also that she is condemned without the mercy of God.

That's evident as we read this. But a beautiful chapter of the love and mercy of God, like the great song that speaks about the love of God: "The love of God is greater far than ink or pen could ever tell; it stretches to the farthest star, and reaches to the lowest hell." And I think Rahab is down there somewhere, and God's love reached out to her through these two spies that come to the city of Jericho. Well, let's go back now and look at our chapter in Joshua 2 once again. We have mentioned in verse 1 a couple of spies that go to the land. Now, when I was a kid, I always wanted to be a spy. That was something is that I thought I would be when I grew up, because I saw the movies like I Spy and The Avengers and Mission Impossible. And I thought, "That's a good job, I'd like that."

And so I'd practice on my brothers and my parents and my neighbors---spying, that is. [laughter] And I found out that I wasn't called to that. [laughter] But spies are very important for military purposes. And Joshua knows that and sends them out, not like the twelve that Moses sent out back in Numbers 32 to spy out the whole land, these are two on a selective mission to spy out only a section, the city. It's one city at a time. God is going to give it to them little by little, not all at once. We talked about that last week. Why did he send out the spies? I think the answer is found in chapter 1, verse 8. God tells Joshua, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, then you will have good success."

The Book of the Law was the first five books written by Moses. And in reading the Book of the Law, and also being a part of the episode itself, Moses sent spies out into the land, and so Joshua, in obedience and an example that Moses left in the Word, sends spies out into the land. Now you might have a question, say, "Yeah, but didn't Moses send twelve spies out into the land? Why did Joshua send only two spies out into the land?" I think the answer is obvious, don't you? Ten of them were worthless. Only two were worth their salt. Only two had a report of faith. And one happened to be Joshua, the other happened to be Caleb, and they're still alive. I think that is enough evidence that Joshua thought, "You know what? He sent out twelve, ten were flakes, I'm going to end out two."

That's all you need: "By the mouth of two witnesses every word should be established." So as not to complicate it and let the children of Israel fall by unbelief, two were sent out. "So they went," again, verse 1, "and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. It was told the king of Jericho, saying, 'Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.' " You may ask an obvious question: "Why would they go to a prostitute's home? I mean, of all the homes you could go to in Jericho, why a prostitute's?" Here's my take on it: going to a prostitute's home would not invite as much suspicion. Now they're suspicious already, but, you know, lots of guys go to prostitute's homes.

In the city of Jericho, I'm sure that people saw all sorts of guys going down the hallways to that door in the evenings. And they had their eye on those spies. However, the suspicion would be lessened, so they go to her house. It is this chapter beginning in this verse that makes this woman very, very famous. Here's something else, what I love about God, because a lot of people have a mistaken notion of the Bible. I've heard this, I've heard people say: "Well, you know, the Old Testament, it's so demeaning when it comes to women. There's only men of God and men of faith. And God moves through men, and women are seen as an object." Now in certain cultures women were seen as an object, but not in God's view. God used many godly women.

And though we sing a hymn, not around here as much, but it's a famous hymn, "Faith of Our Fathers," I think we could write one that would say "Faith of Our Mothers." There are many godly women that God used. I think of Deborah. You'll read about her in the book of Judges beginning in chapter 4 and chapter 5. Deborah was a mother in Israel, a hero because she became a judge in Israel. She becomes a military leader. In fact, she has enough guts to go to Barak, commander of the forces of Israel, and say, "Listen, Jabin and Sisera the commanders of Hazor, the Canaanites, they're attacking us. Why don't you believe God and get an army and go fight them?" And Barak this "brave" general in the arm army is a little chicken.

This is what he says to the woman: "I'll go if you go." [laughter] "What? 'I'll go if you go'? Listen, I'm a mom. I've got kids at home. I'm a mother in Israel." "I'll go if you go." So she says, "Okay, I'll go. And then everyone in Israel will know that God gave victory to a woman." And that story's in the Bible, so don't think, "Well, God's a male chauvinists and he just exalts men and puts down women." No. Esther, a Jewess who becomes a queen over Persia. Ruth, the Moabitess who becomes the grandmother of King David, also listed in the genealogy of Christ. I think of the ministry of Jesus Christ himself, how many women ministered to him and with him. In fact, Vance Havner the chaplain to United States Senate at one time, said, "There is no record in the Gospels of any woman opposing Jesus Christ."

The Bible speaks favorably of them. Then I think of Timothy. Remember Paul writes to Timothy? And he says, "When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and then also in your mother Eunice, and now dwells in you." So, Paul mentions, not Timothy's dad, not Timothy's grandpa, but grandma and mom, and that they passed down the faith. So, think of all of those examples, women, women of God. You might be like a Deborah. You say, "Well, gosh, you know, I'm a little forceful. I'm kind of a "take charge" type of women and I'm not well liked. I don't think God could ever use me in the church." He used Deborah. He used Esther as a queen to effect great work for the people of Israel. You might have a background of ill repute, then let Rahab comfort you.

God took this woman who was a prostitute and changed her life, and she goes to the genealogy of Christ. Or you might be a mom. You may not be a missionary like Cara is, going out the different parts of the world, but you might just be a mother. You think, "Well, I can't go to the mission field, I'm raising kids." You have a mission field in your home. That is your mission field. You can be like Eunice and like Lois the mom and grandmother of Timothy. Raise up those kids. Raise up future leaders. That's your mission. That's a work of God. I love what one woman put up in her kitchen. She had a little plaque over her kitchen sink that said: "Divine service is rendered here three times daily." She cooked meals for her family as an act of worship to God. So all of these women the Bible speaks about that God has used, Rahab is among them.

"The king of Jericho," verse 3, "sent to Rahab, saying, 'Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered the house, for they have come to search out all the country.' Then the woman took the two men and hid them. And she said, 'Yes, the men came to me, but I don't know where they're from.' " Is she telling the truth? She's lying, and a lot of people have had a problem with this. I don't. I'll tell you why in a minute. " 'And it happened,' " she goes on with her story, " 'as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I don't know.' " Now, they're still there---another lie. " 'Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.' (She brought them up to the roof and hidden them with 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." People have had quite a problem with this woman lying. And so they said, "Well, is it okay then to lie? Are there occasions when God sanctions lying?" And I think they get the whole point of this messed up. First of all, she had been a prostitute all of her life, all right? Now, she's going to have a conversation with these guys where she puts her faith in the living God, but at this point either (a) she's a nonbeliever, or at best becoming a believer, a seeker, maybe a brand-new believer. But let me ask you: A week before you were saved or the week you were saved, how perfect were you? And before you judge her, do you still lie today? "Well, they're only white lies."

When the Bible extols her as a woman of faith in Hebrews 11, and in James, chapter 2, she's also mentioned, it extols her for her works, not her words, her works. And it's works of faith that she's extolled for. She takes action to what she says she believes. Verse 8, "So before they lay down, she came to them on the roof. She said to them: 'I know that the Lord' "---that is, Yahweh, your God, the Lord. Remember, she's an idol---she's a Canaanite. She's a pagan worshiper. Maybe not even a worshiper at all, with her occupation. " 'The Lord has given you the land, and 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 before we get to her confession of faith, did you hear what she said? Did you hear what the people of Canaan had been thinking all of this time about the children of Israel? The people in Canaan were utterly afraid of the children of Israel. "Oh no! They're going to come and get us." Their "hearts melted" within. That's strong metaphor. The reason I'm drawing your attention to that, that should alert you. That should bring your---that should take your mind way back, about forty-five years back, to a conversation that twelve spies had with Moses and the rest of people of Israel.

In fact, it's so significant to compare these two sections. I want you to keep your finger here again, and go backwards this time, this time to the book of Numbers, chapter 13. Verse 26, "So they departed, came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said: 'We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell if the land are strong; the cities are fortified, very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south; the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites' "---and the termites.

No, I'm just kidding. I wanted to see if you're following. " 'Dwell by the sea, along the banks of the Jordan.' Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.' But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We're not able to go up against the people, for they're stronger than we.' And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devour its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak come from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, so we were in their sight.' " Now that's their report.

Their report is "We are so gripped with fear, because we are so small, not only in our sight, but that's how they see us, as very, very small. They know that they're stronger," when this truth what was going on in their minds is now revealed by Rahab the harlot forty-five years later. And she said to Joshua, "You know what? We heard all the great things God did at the Red Sea and killed those other guys on the other side of the Jordan. And ever since we heard that, our hearts were so afraid." You see, God had gone before them. They could have gone up the first time and taken the land. God had melted the hearts of enemy. But here's the problem: whenever you view obstacles without bringing into the equation God, you magnify the obstacle. It's bigger than it really is. You magnify it. You distort it. It's out of proportion.

Now listen, Joshua and Caleb, those two saw the same thing as the other ten did, didn't they? They saw the giants. They saw the people. They saw it all. They weren't inside drinking a Coke while the giants walked by. They saw everything that the ten saw. But two of them say, "Let's go take it, no problem." The other guys say, "Big problem, we're afraid!" because they viewed the obstacle without viewing God who can take away any obstacle. Difficulty must always be measured by the capacity of the agent doing the work. You look at a situation, you say, "Huh, I'm toast!" This is impossible." Okay, bring God into it. What does the Bible say? "With God nothing is impossible. Nothing is too hard for the Lord." So an object, an obstacle can seem much bigger when you don't picture God in the equation.

An example I often give is this little Bible. It's what, six by eight, at best? It's a very small object as objects go. The sun is a quite larger object, not only than this book, but than the entire earth. You could fit millions of earths in the sun and still have lots of room for them to bounce around. And, yet, the sun is 93 million miles away from the earth, and this book right now is about a foot away from my face. I can hold this book up to the sun, if I put it 93 million miles away, I couldn't see the book, the sun is so huge. But if I go like this, all I see is the book, if I stick it on my face, up to my nose. We often don't get the perspective. We look at the problem and we bring the obstacle in, and it's so much bigger than the power of God to deliver. So Joshua and Caleb, they had a big God.

And when they had a big God, they got little midget-giants. I know that's an oxymoron. [laughter] It's a contradiction. They were just overgrown midgets to them. "Come on, no problem!" But to the ten who saw big giants, they had a very small, little God: "God lives somewhere else now. He's taking a vacation," and it caused unbelief. Fear always brings unbelief. Fear and faith are mutually incompatible. They're mutually exclusive. And ten of them grabbed onto fear and brought in the rest of nation, and only two held on. Now, here the two, Joshua and Caleb, are there again, round two, going into Jericho. And Rahab tells these spies, "Listen, we've been scared all along at you guys." Of course, this is not news to Joshua and Caleb.

" '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 souls from death.' " Now she is mentioned in Hebrews, chapter 11, as being a champion of faith. The kind of faith that Rahab has I would call "saving faith," saving faith. She needs salvation in a very literal, physical sense, and it's a great model for faith that is saving faith today when we trust God. Saving faith is not to be confused with many other kinds of faith.

I speak to people all the time who swear up and down they are people of faith, but they don't trust in the living God. They don't trust in the Son Jesus Christ. It's very popular today to have faith in faith, faith in the power of faith. And they'll say, "If you just believe." And you say, "Believe in what?" "Oh, it doesn't matter, just as long as you have something to believe in, and you believe sincerely and very, very deeply." It's popular to have faith in a "higher power," popular to have faith in yourself. Saving faith has the right object, the right object. And the object of true saving faith, biblical faith, is God himself, and in particular, the Lord Jesus Christ. So you can say, "I have so much faith. I believe in the great banana." [laughter] You may be very sincere about your lovely banana, and believe a banana exists, a big, yellow banana floating out in space.

Although you've never seen, you believe wholeheartedly. But you're wrong. It won't do you any good to believe in a great big banana. Even though you're very, very sincere, you're sincerely wrong. You have to have the right source, the right object. You say, "Well, what makes Christianity so different in the "right" object?" Simple, we have objective evidence. It's not just subjective belief, but an objective evidence, revelatory objective evidence in one true God. Well, let's look at our faith. Saving faith includes a few things: first of all, it involves the mind; secondly, it involves the emotions; third, it involves action. Notice back up in our verses, verse 9, she says, "I know." To know something you gotta use your noodle, right? You gotta think. It's not just, "You know, I really feel warm. Ever since you came to town, I got a fuzzy." [laughter]

She had an historical episode that she was aware of. She had heard, she says, what happened at the Red Sea. She had heard about Sihon and Og and the defeat of the children of Israel. And though she's not a philosopher nor a theologian, even this harlot knew a bunch of ragtag travelers through the desert could not do that on their own. Their God must be different than all the other gods of this place. She knew something. She heard something it says in verse 10, " 'For we have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea.' " Reminds me of Romans: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." She heard, she knew, and so it involves the mind. " 'And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted.' " I first came to consider Christianity when somebody told me the gospel.

I'd gone to church, but somebody sat down and told me what was different---the difference between just going to church and being a religious dude and the true gospel. And it engaged my mind. I asked questions. I posed many arguments. I wrestled with it. But I thought about it first. It involved my mind. Secondly, it involves your emotions. She talks about fear and the heart being melted away. And it says, " 'Neither did there remain courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.' " They were terrified. It involved their emotions. Now I know some of you might be thinking, "Well, is that the right motivation to come to God because you're fearful, because you're afraid of the consequence?" Maybe not the best motivation, but you know what? It's better than no motivation.

Coming to God because you're scared of hell is better than not coming Christ at all. "Knowing," said Paul, "the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." If you wouldn't be won by an objective talk, if you won't be won by the love of God, if you can be persuaded by "the terror of the Lord," and thus persuade others, hey, it's better than no motivation. It's better to just come by the love of God, but, hey, just come, is the point. Third, it involves the will. Look at verse 12. "Therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you will show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, all that they have, and deliver our souls from death." She's now asking for it: "I know. I've heard. I am really afraid. Now I'd like to be included with you guys."

It involves her will here. It involves her will. She now knew with her mind. She felt with her emotions. She asked with her mouth. "Confession is made unto salvation." "One believes in the heart to righteousness," it says, Romans 10, "and confession is made unto salvation." So she asked. It was a personal---that she personalized it. "So the men answered her, 'Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours.' " In other words, "Don't rat on us. We're spies, so don't tell people that we were here." " '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 a city wall; and she dwelt on a wall." Her faith not only involved the will, not only involved the emotions, not only involved the mind, it involved action.

It involved action. She took quite a risk, don't you think, hiding them on the top of the roof, letting them down through a rope? She could be caught. If she was caught, she would be killed, no doubt. So she risks her life, and then she keeps that scarlet cord, as you're going to see, outside of her window until the children of Israel come and surround the city. She asked for the salvation of her family, so she's bringing her family into it. She's going to spread the good news about these people coming in to her family. Faith involves action. That's very important. It's more than just: "I acknowledge, and when I come to church I cry, and I'll raise my hand as an act of will." There then comes a part where action must follow all that.

You know what James says. James speaks to someone who has an imaginary spiritual argument with him, and says, "Oh, you say you believe in God. You do well. Even the devil believes---and trembles!" And his concluding remark is, "Faith without works is dead," so that an act of faith must be accompanied by some kind of fruitful action. And James says, "Was not Rahab the harlot justified by her works when she received the messengers?" Not that she was justified apart from faith, the issue was it was a work of faith. Faith really worked. It engaged the mind. It touched the emotions. She asked for it personally as an act of her will, and then it showed itself in the fruit of her life. "A tree is known by its fruit," said Jesus. And so she took action, let them down, and they escaped. "And she said to them, 'Go to the mountain.' "

This is about a half mile outside the city, there's---laden with caves outside the city of Jericho. " 'Let the pursuers---lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there for three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterwards you may go your way.' " Now, again, before we go any further, I just gotta say that Rahab would---her lifestyle, her decision of faith rebukes any unbeliever today. Because the unbelievers say, "Well, I can't make a commitment to Christ, I need to know more." And I respect a real, healthy inquisitiveness about the gospel. If you have genuine doubts, come and talk about them. But none of this nonsense: "No, not yet, not yet. No. I don't really know enough. I have to know so much more before I can make a commitment." What did she know?

She had a meager amount of information, but she took a long step of action, many steps. She knew that "These guys are different than us guys. They have a God they call on that does things that our gods don't. Couple kings are dead, a Red Sea got opened up, and they're at our doorstep. [laughter] I'm going to believe in that God. I'm going to believe in that God." Now, the rest of the city, it seems, does not believe in that God. They heard, their hearts melted, they heard the same report, they had the same emotional feeling, but they didn't take action. And, again, we pointed out, isn't it absolutely amazing how in one service like tonight you could have two people that could be sitting next to each other, they hear the same message, one is moved, the other goes, [yawning] "Yeah, next."

It depends on the condition of heart. Some hearts harden, others soften. The same sun that melts the wax can harden the clay. And you can harden your own heart. You can say no every time truth comes into your ears. Your heart has moved a little bit, and you go, "Quiet down there." And the Holy Spirit says, "I want you. Give me your life." "Quiet up there!" And you can harden your heart. She opened her heart and we'll see that she is the one out of the whole city, just her and her family is saved. So, will Rahab rise up in the judgment day against some of you? I mean, if she can make it, and she believed, and she's in the Hall of Fame of Faith, what about you, friend? Remember I started off the sermon by saying that nobody's too bad to be saved? It's true, nobody is too bad, but you can be too late.

You can put it off and put it off until time has run out. She acted, she acted immediately. "Today is the day of salvation," the Bible says. "Then the men said to her: 'We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us, 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 shall be free from your oath which you made us swear.'

"She said, 'According to your words, so be it.' She sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window." Beautiful picture. Imagine at night that scarlet cord. She lets them out, they escape, and she hangs that scarlet cord outside the window of her house. Now her house is probably on the edge of the city, on the wall itself. The wall goes around the city. At that time the city of Jericho, it is thought, had two walls fifteen feet apart. The gap was filled by planks of wood and homes were built on top of those beams. So the foundation was the wood in between the two walls. And so her window would have faced out of the wall, so you just let a cord out. Probably everybody said, "Rahab, how come you got that cord hanging out your window all day long?" [laughter]

And she could have said something: "Well, you know, I was reading Good Housekeeping and it's kind of "in" now. People are doing that in other cities." [laughter] And I don't know what she said as an excuse, but she kept it there as a sign. Notice the stipulations: the scarlet cord outside the window, everybody stays inside the house, otherwise you won't be saved. It takes us back to the first Passover, does it not? The blood, the scarlet color around the doorposts of the house, and everybody inside one of those homes was saved; everybody outside was killed.


Additional Messages in this Series

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7/29/1998
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Joshua 1
Joshua 1
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8/12/1998
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Joshua 3
Joshua 3
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8/19/1998
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Joshua 4-5
Joshua 4-5
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8/26/1998
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Joshua 6
Joshua 6
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9/2/1998
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Joshua 7
Joshua 7
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9/16/1998
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Joshua 8-9
Joshua 8-9
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10/21/1998
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Joshua 10-12
Joshua 10-12
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10/28/1998
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Joshua 13-15
Joshua 13-15
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11/4/1998
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Joshua 16-19
Joshua 16-19
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11/11/1998
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Joshua 20-21
Joshua 20-21
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11/18/1998
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Joshua 22
Joshua 22
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12/9/1998
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Joshua 23
Joshua 23
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12/16/1998
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Joshua 24
Joshua 24
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There are 13 additional messages in this series.
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