In this lesson of the Answers Bible Curriculum, David Capoccia looks at how God used the Canaanite harlot Rahab to provide protection for Israelite spies and encouragement to all Israel. David Capoccia also investigates whether lying is ever permitted by God and what believers should make of Rahab’s commended faith.
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well happy new year good morning and thank you for being here we’re going to start Sunday School we’re continuing in our study of Israel’s history and our answers Bible curriculum theme of obedience and disobedience today we’re talking about how God used Rahab how God uses Rahab last time we were in the answers Bible curriculum there’s a special Sunday School last Sunday while I was away the last time we were in the ABC we talked about God’s call to Joshua let’s review that a little bit what was God’s main command to Joshua and Joshua one commanded him three times to be strong and courageous be strong and courageous how would Josh would prove he was strong and courageous there was an action not was going to show that’s what he felt what was Josh were going to do he was going to obey the Lord by going into Canaan by attacking Canaan by leading Israel into Canaan and obeying the Lord in general what was to motivate Joshua to be strong and courageous yeah you mentioned the words the Lord this book the law ought not to the part from your mouth should not depart from your mouth basically the Word of God was to motivate him and he had specific promises from God spoken to him about how the Lord is going to be with him how the Lord is going to deliver his enemy his enemies into his hand Israel’s enemies into his hand so he was to trust that word trust the whole word that was given to Moses and to keep it so ultimately the motivation for Joshua was to come from god’s word itself God’s promises and Joshua was to read and think about that word all of the time day and night and Joshua did do these things wasn’t part of our passage but I mention it to you we see in the book of Joshua that Joshua is a faithful servant of the lord and he serves us and disturbed is raya at that time as an example of what righteous living by faith looks like he shows what the Christian life looks like like Joshua a Christian meditates on the Word of God all the time a Christian puts his trust in God’s words and demonstrates that through obedience and a Christian receives there for God’s promised provision and blessing because of that Joshua exemplified faith and his life as did our Lord Jesus we talked about that a little bit last we are last time as well our Lord Jesus exemplified faith and trust in the Lord and in the Lord’s word when he lived on the earth so we ought to do the same this is our calling if we’ve become followers and believers of Christ if such actions do not tip if I our lives that we are not marked by faith and trust in God’s Word and obedience now we must repent we must change because if we’re not if we’re not willing to make this the pattern of our lives then we do not truly believe God’s Word do not truly believe in Christ questions about what we talked about last time okay well we’re going to hear about another righteous example today this one very surprising Rahab of Jericho a liar a Gentile and a prostitute Rahab seems like an unlikely agent of god on Israel’s behalf but not only did God use Rahab in an important way she becomes for us an example of life-changing faith here’s our outline for today’s class well first look at the danger to Israelites found themselves in and what Rahab did for them well then discuss whether rehabs methods of protection were righteous or not and finally we’ll examine rehabs testimony that she gives a God pray with me Father I pray that you had helped me to be able to explain your word oh that you would open our understanding open our eyes to understand your word and load that you would change us by your word as your spirit works in us in Jesus name Amen please open your Bibles to Joshua chapter 2 this is going to be where we find our text today Joshua chapter 2 we’re first going to read verses 1 to 7 at this point Mose this is dead Joshua now leads Israel as we saw in last chapter God has charged and encouraged Joshua to lead Israel into Canaan and what we didn’t read but what comes afterwards the people of Israel also proclaimed their support for Joshua and like God they charged Joshua to be strong and courageous they say Joshua will follow you and will be everything the Lord says but you need to be strong and courageous now we have chapter 2 verse 1 then Joshua the son of nun sent two men as spies secretly from shittim saying go view the land especially Jericho so they went and came to the house of a harlot whose name was rahab and lodged there it was told the king of Jericho saying behold men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land and the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab saying bring out the men who have come to you who have entered your house where they have come to search out all the land but the woman had taken the two men and hidden them and she said yes the men came to me but i did not know where they were from it came about that when it was time to shut the gate at dark that the men went out I do not know where the men went pursue them quickly for you will overtake them but she had brought them up there up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which he had laid in order on the roof so the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the Fords and as soon as those who are pursuing them had gone out they shut the gate all right let’s make some observations on this section of text before crossing the Jordan and entering Canaan Joshua sends out two spies what was the spies mission exactly view the land is specially Jericho so not not too soon not too different from what the spies it previously but focusing on Jericho this time the spies find a place to stay in Jericho the house of a harlot named Rahab now word reaches the king that to Israelite spies are at rehabs house and he orders Rahab to deliver the men to him how does Rahab respond she tells the tale she admits that the men came to her she asserts that she did not know they were Israelites she says the men left of the city gate at dark she says she does not know where they went and she encourages the King to send pursuit meanwhile ray habit actually brought the spies to a roof and hidden them in stalks of flax according to a study note or into a note in the John MacArthur Study Bible flax was used for linen back then and it was first soaked in water and then dried in the Sun so she probably hid the spies in or underneath these drying flax talks as someone mentioned rehabs report to the king was a lie though perhaps it was partly true but it was not all true so it was a lie as a result of Rahab story which direction did the king’s men go to find the spies said it again they go out of the city can you tell me which direction on the compass they went they went towards the Jordan which would be which way here’s Jericho it’s part of the valley of the Jordan the spice had to cross the Jordan River to get to Jericho so if they’re going towards the Jordan River they are going east they’re going to the forward to the Jordan River which is the logical place you would go if you’re looking for as your light spiced so they East now that we’ve take a note of some of the text details let’s interpret you might find it odd that the Israelites took lodging in a harlots house but they surely did not do so for an impure purpose why lodge with a harlot yes d that’s right she probably has a lot of visitors so why would that be good for the spies that’s right keep a low profile no one’s going to be asking a lot of questions about who goes to the harlots house or hopefully not so in order to avoid attention or suspicion it’d be useful to lodge at a harlots house also as we learn later her house was near the wall or it was part of the wall so they could have a easier time escaping if they needed to though this was a wise stratagem God made it so that the spies were discovered Rahab lies about the Israelites pies being in her house and this lie was very significant because everyone knew that the spies were there in the city because what was coming later the Israelite army the Israelite people they were coming to invade as I say they’ve come out to spy out the land why would they do that because the rest of the Army’s coming therefore to protect the city from the Israelites it was vital it was vital for the spies to be discovered apprehended and probably executed and this would all be in the name of saving the city by protecting the spies therefore what had a Rahab decided about her city it was doomed and she basically said I’m not going to stand with the city I’m going to join the Israelites she concluded nothing would save the city from Israel or Israel’s God and therefore it was better to take sides with Israel than to be destroyed so Rahab was not just lying but in modern terms she was committing treason she was turning her back back on her government on her people on their way of life in order to stand with the Hebrews just remind you of anybody else someone who turned his back on his on his society exactly Moses Moses chose to stand with the Hebrews rather than to continue to be a son of Pharaoh and he turned his back on his Egyptian lifestyle so by doing what she did Rahab essentially joins the people of Israel and she saved the lives of the spies who came to her but Rahab lied isn’t lying wrong or was her lie righteous was it excusable or was it simply sin we broach this topic a little bit when discussing the Hebrew midwives but we’re going to look into it a little more deeply with an activity that comes from the workbook if you have your workbooks definitely use them now look at pages 18 and 19 where we have a number of questions as part of an activity if you don’t have a workbook please just take out a piece of paper and pay attention to the questions on this slide no one should do right now is take about seven minutes and answer the following questions looking at the various passages listed first two questions in the book are for you to answer on your own I haven’t listed them on the slide basically asking was rahab right to do what she did and is it ever excusable to lie but then there are these questions what you to answer these questions look up these passages because we want to get to the bottom what the Bible says about lying we want to know also what the results of Rahab sly were and whether lying is ever acceptable seven minutes we’ll talk about the answers once you’re finished questions about what you’re going to do okay go ahead and take seven minutes look up when you’re finished please okay we’re going to go over the answers now didn’t finish that’s okay we’ll help you fill in the rest by the way if you haven’t if you saw up for a workbook and haven’t picked it up yet please see Danny he has that list there and also if you have obtained your workbook please put your name in it in case it’s lost well know who it belongs to please do that now let’s look at these questions however question 3 we’ll start with question 3 since question 1 and 2 are more personal what do we learn about Rahab from Joshua 617 and 625 what do we learn khalif she was saved and not just her or her whole household her family her possessions were spared and Jericho’s destruction because of what she did for the spies and she continued to live in Israel afterwards says that she continued to live up to the day that the book was written next question what do we learn about Rahab from Matthew 15 yeah Eric that’s right she’s in the genealogy of Christ Rahab becomes part of the line of Israel’s Kings culminating in the Messiah which means that she married a Jew and is and also gives us the detail there she was the mother of Boaz and the mother-in-law of Ruth and what kind of man was Boaz righteous man especially kind of foreigners I don’t think that’s accidental how about her you can say something Danny and she’s one of them yeah yeah that’s a good point there only three women only a couple women to mention in the genealogy but she’s one of them the Lord wanted us to take notice what do we learn from Hebrews 11 31 yeah Rob exactly she’s praised for her faith and how she welcomed in Israel spies now notice the text does not say anything about her lying he was 11 31 doesn’t say anything about our lying or even hiding the spies her faith was shown but he’s in that passage and her welcoming the spies in peace now what about James 225 or just Danny hmm yeah that’s a good point you see there in the beginning of verse 31 Hebrews 11 31 or maybe you did see it says that she did not a parish she did not perish along with those who were disobedient just says Danny was saying so they all had the obligation to be obedient they all had the obligation to turn to the Lord but she was the only one who did and it was by faith and she proved that and what she did now James 225 what does that tell us about rehab yes Wayne very good once again rahab is held up as a model of faith but James focuses on how her faith was proven by what she did justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way notice again that which part of her action is praised she received Israel’s messengers and sent them out so they wouldn’t get caught nothing mentioned about her lying now question for question 4 has us looking up a number of passages related to lying let’s summarize what we learn from each what do we learn from exodus 2016 Rob exactly one of the Ten Commandments is to not bear false witness that principle of not lying it’s central to God’s law proverbs 1222 what does that tell us about lying Julie that’s right it says lying lips are an abomination God strongly condemns the habit lying revelation 20 18 what does it tell us Eric exactly liars are our lying is a characteristic of those who burn forever in the lake of fire it’s serious to God Colossians 39 what does it tell us yeah sherry n that’s right part of being a believer is as it says laying aside the old self including lying do not lie to one another a righteous mouth putting off the old single way includes not lying to one another Titus 12 what does that say it reminds us that God cannot lie now that’s part of it confirming a promise in that passage buddy says God cannot lie this is why we believe God it’s impossible for God to lie God’s nature requires him to speak truth all the time now I added one more passage if you’re following the workbook you didn’t see this one but it was up here on the slide first John 221 John writes I have not written to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie is of the truth so what do we learn about lying from that verse right there’s never a lie that is of the truth and that seems kind of obvious right I mean isn’t that the definition of a lie no lie comes from or has anything to do with truth so question 5 is Rahab ever praised for telling a lie she’s not I’ve listed another question here not in a workbook do any of the verses we looked up lists exceptions for innocent permitted or righteous lies they do not rather they place all lies in the same category liars are considered to be an abomination by the Lord they will be punished for their lives but this shouldn’t be too surprising to us because of what Titus 12 says God cannot lie is not the basis of all righteousness to be like God is there anything that we are commanded or permitted to do that God himself does not or did not do God permits us to take times of rest from work just as God also took time to rest from work God permits us to kill in certain circumstances just as God also takes life as a righteous judge God even permits divorce in certain circumstances just as God also symbolically gave a certificate of divorce to unfaithful Israel in Isaiah 50 verse 1 which says thus says the Lord where is the certificate of divorce by which i have sent your mother away or to whom of my creditors did I sell you behold you were sold for your iniquities and for your transgressions your mother was sent away sign out though God does promise to restore wayward Israel to himself you will bring back is unfaithful wife and betrothed her to himself once again and God makes it very clear that he hates divorce so though it’s permitted it’s it’s not commanded only certain circumstances so we see that God permits those thing but God never lies he never has and he never will therefore to lie even for them most lofty of purposes is to be unlike God and to be on my god by definition is to be unrighteous because all goodness is in God and anything outside of God cannot be good now God sometimes with holds information from people or he allows people to believe things that are false but God never lies therefore we should conclude lying in any life situation is sent lying is always sin but you may ask wait but that’s true then why did things turn out so well for a hat if she was being unfaithful she was being sinful by lying why do things turn out so well and she spared her family spared she lives in Israel well the answer God chose to be merciful there are times when people sit in the Bible by lying or doing something else and God does not bring calamity on them for it Abraham’s a good example sometimes in the Bible we see wicked people prosper because of their sin and sometimes we see righteous people seemingly punished for doing what is right the god-ordained results of an action do not tell us whether that action itself was righteous or not only God’s commands an example can show us what is righteous we do know that at the Last Judgment every act will receive exactly what it deserves even if we do not see the proper consequences of those actions in this life you may also ask okay but if her lie was sinful then how can she be held up as an example of faith and righteousness doesn’t the fact that she lied show she lacked faith and God’s provision it is true that righteous acts are no longer righteous went by sin however it is also true that a person can do something truly righteous while at the same time or shortly thereafter do actions that are not righteous think of the New Testament women who had the bleeding issue she had faith in Jesus and in his healing power and that was righteous this caused her to seek out Jesus for healing Jesus even commends her faith real faith Matthew 922 says but Jesus turning and seeing her said daughter take courage your faith has made you well at once the woman was made well however the woman’s specific method of healing the way sheath the specific way she sought healing was actually sinful how so she was unclean and she touched somebody else knowing that that would make him unclean this was not a kind thing to do at all this violated the law of love given in the Old Testament she might have even defiled the perfect lamb of god this was a serious thing of course Jesus’s holiness and power overcame her unclean touch so rather than Jesus being made on clean a woman was made clean she could not ruin God’s plan but notice while the woman demonstrated true faith and righteousness by coming to Jesus for healing her method of carrying out her righteous intention contained a sinful part we saw the same thing with Moses you remember the New Testament also commends Moses’s faith demonstrated by his choosing to identify with Israel scene and his defending an oppressed Israelite but how did Moses’s righteous Act also include a sinful part he murdered an Egyptian we can’t justify that we can’t excuse him from that you did not have the we need to take that man’s life so though he did something righteous his righteous act which was commended in the New Testament contained a sinful part so too with Rahab we we observed it was righteous for her to fear the God of Israel to welcome the spies into her house to conceal them even though her method of concealment contained a sinful part her lying now you may still say but if she didn’t lie how on earth were she in the spies going to get out of that jam she saved their lives after all by lying if she didn’t lie how would any of them survive well this isn’t really a fair question to ask because there no there’s no way to know what else she could have done or what else God could have done to accomplish deliverance here maybe there was another way of concealment or escape that did not involve lying maybe God could have done something miraculous or maybe the trio would have been taken prisoner and later rescued or perhaps exes executed all dying is holy martyrs certainly honoring God is more important than life itself and will be rewarded with eternal life but God allowed these events to happen just as he desired he did not force Rahab to sin but it was part of what he ordained God sovereignly arranged the spies be delivered by faith filled yet failing prostitute he determined that that would give him the greatest glory so in one sense it could not have happened any other way or else God would have done it that way yes Paul a good question I’ll repeat it wasn’t this in the context of war where deception would be allowed or might be allowed when we talked about the Hebrew midwives i mentioned that same kind of idea where aren’t there certain context where there’s no longer an obligation of truth maybe in a war in a competition of some kind of where lying is permitted at that time I was maybe a little bit more sympathetic to to that argument but even though in a war situation you are trying to deceive your enemy and the principle of not lying or of a lie being unrighteous I think still reigns because you’re still being unlike gone in that situation you are allowed to cause your enemy to believe something that is untrue but if you lie to your enemy if you directly say I’m telling you a truth and and you’re actually not telling him the truth then you do become unlike God and I would argue that that’s sin yes mm-hmm that is certainly also true I’ll fill your comment bill in Ward deception is not the only option or a necessary option though I would we don’t have time necessary to fully discuss it i would say that certain means of deception or subterfuge are allowable and war or in a sporting competition but lying is not allowed because lying violates it does not reflect the nature of God I’ll say more about that in just a second I wanted to say something else about Rahab though it we should take a step back for a moment and just be amazed that Rahab did anything righteous at all considering that the amount of Revelation she had of God was very small compared to the amount of revelation that Israel had or that we have today God Himself performed this work inside her and it was pretty amazing he caused her to believe God and stand with Israel to me we should cut her a little bit of slack she was operating on very little revelation though it was sufficient one other a couple other thoughts you certainly know that in the vast majority or the vast majority of lies today are excused by men as being necessary but we as believers have come to know that nothing is necessary except God and his way if we can escape danger in a situation today righteously without sinning we do so but if danger of punishment cannot be escaped without sin then we accept the danger or we accept the punishment trusting God to provide and deliver in this life and in the next so question 7 in your workbook despite some practical questions we may still have I’m presenting to you we should conclude from the scriptures and specifically God’s own character that there is no such thing as a righteous lie not in war not in sport not in day-to-day situations lying is always not of the truth and not reflective of God’s character of course there are times when we say things that are technically untrue that are not lying like when we tell jokes use sarcasm act on stage use figures of speech certain kinds of paraphrases etc in those instances we make clear to our audience that we are speaking in a special mode however outside of those instances when we say something or write something untrue we lie and become unlike God and here I think as the clincher our words even demonstrating that God’s quality of total truthfulness is not glorious and is even a flaw because that’s what we say right when we lie you’re saying it’s not not good to be true all the time and therefore God has something that’s a flaw so dear brothers and sisters let us always speak the truth whenever we speak don’t even lie in order to arrange or conceal a surprise party for another person no lie is of the truth let us worship God with our words let us show that his quality of total truthfulness is glorious other questions yeah Danny a good question let me repeat it am I saying that when we perform a good deed and that deed is tainted by something like pride is it righteous or is it has it become unrighteous we have to make a distinction we know that God is able to say to all men your righteous deeds are like filthy rags speaking to men who are not redeemed by Christ and why is that they’re doing something good this is helping out somebody well it’s because of their motivation right in many situations they’re doing it for the praise of others they’re doing it to earn righteousness before God and so God says that’s not righteous in fact that’s offensive to me now you may say what weren’t you just saying the opposite about Rahab why would say that she’s committing multiple deeds there some of them were righteous and some of them were not her decision to conceal the Israelites pies contain multiple choices her decision to stand with Israel and welcome to spies that was righteous that was an act of faith untainted by sin but when this new development came about which is the King found out and you need to deliver the spies to him she chose to lie and that was unrighteous and the Bible doesn’t praise her for that so that’s why I’m trying to make a distinction when a righteous act itself contains impure parts it’s no longer righteous and then we can we can talk about that with motivations and things like that but it’s possible to do something righteous and then shortly thereafter make another choice that’s unrighteous other question yeah bill yes ok that’s right this is just a really good comments bill I’ll try and summarize them briefly but it is notable that in Islam it’s actually permitted even commanded as part of jihad to lie to infidels in order to promote jihad in order to spread Islamic rule and things like that kind of I guess one of the unknown or lesser known facts about Islam and that says something about the Islamic God so it builds right to point out what we think about lying whether it’s submitted in our own lives it it has an apologetic component it says something about what we think about God and to repeat your other comment and this is this is a weighty issue in our own lives because yes we think about hiding the Jews and what if the Gestapo come and what will we say we cannot simply say well NAT certain circumstances God is going to you know waive his nature or something like that it is going to be one that we have to approach carefully and maybe if it’s something or you say oh I don’t want to be put in that situation well maybe you don’t put yourself in that situation maybe you don’t hide the Jews in your house and maybe you do something to help them that doesn’t require you putting yourself in a situation where you might lie but I believe that because of the nature of God and because of what the scripture commands there’s no circumstance in which lying is permitted or holy and so when push comes to shove and our lives are in danger or others lives are in danger we choose to honor god it’s the same question with this came up in sunday school a little little while ago where someone says you need to deny God or else I’m going to kill your family we might say oh well it wouldn’t it be righteous to be merciful into and to just deny God for that short time so that more people could live but it’s actually unloving to do that I think how could that be loving because at that moment you are showing that other things even people are more important than God that is ok to dishonor God if if you can help other people but God is worthy of the utmost honor the utmost love and you give testimony to that when you say your decision is on your own head but I will never dishonor my god I love him too much he is too worthy of honor old sin and and kill but I will not dishonor God other question yes okay I appreciate that Steve I appreciate that that clarification Steve pointing out just repeat his comment that this concept of permissible lies in Islam guess takia would be the the term not necessarily in every sect of Islam and probably understood different ways by different muslims some would maybe see it as it you can do it whenever you want as long as it promotes jihad and others maybe being more strictness I know it’s only permitted in certain circumstances when your life is in danger or when there’s loss of property or something like that so that’s a useful clarification thanks for mentioning that Steve let’s move on maybe we have some more questions about that there are some practical issues that are made in there like what about being an undercover cop or what about being a spy and things like that but i believe the principle of scripture is actually quite clear the nature of god is total truth all the time even with those who dishonor God then it is to be the same with us we’ve looked at two sections of today’s lesson let’s now go to the third where we look at what kind of testimony does Rahab give about God and we’re going to come to the next section of chapter 2 let’s look at verses 8 to 24 follow along with me as I read 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 and that the terror of you has fallen on us and on all the inhabitants of the land and that all the inhabited the land have melted away before you for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings the amorite who were beyond the Jordan to Sion and OGG whom you utterly destroyed when we heard it our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you for the Lord your God He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath now therefore please swear to me by the Lord since I have dealt kindly with you that you will also deal kindly with my father’s household and give me a pledge of truth and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters with all who belonged to them and deliver our lives from death so the men said to her our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours and shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you then she let them down by a rope through the window for her house was on the city wall so that she was living on the wall she said to them go up to the hill country so that the pursuers will not happen upon you and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return then afterward you may go on your way the men said to her we shall be free from this oath to you and when we come into the land are we I’m sorry she’ll be free from this oath you which we have made a swear which you have made us wear unless when we come into the land you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you led us down and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household as you’ll come about did anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street his blood shall be on his own head and we shall be free but anyone who’s with you in the house his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him but if you tell this business of ours that we shall be free from the oath which you have made a swear she said according to your words so be it so she sent them away and they departed and she tied the scarlet cord in the window they departed and came to the hill country and remain there for three days until the pursuers returned now the pursuers had sought them all along the road but had not found them then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of nun and they were related to him all that happened to that they said to Joshua surely the Lord has given all the land into our hands moreover all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us alright let’s briefly analyze this section of text starting with observations what had Rahab heard about the Israelites and their God to momentous events yes I heard about she heard about God’s deliverance through the Red Sea and probably also the destruction of the Egyptian army what was the other event that’s right the two kings beyond the Jordan Sion and OGG were destroyed by the Israelites utterly and what had this news done to Rahab and her people they were filled with terror it was the opposite of what Joshua was to be right be strong and courageous everyone else be terrified what did rehab conclude would happen to Canaan what does she think would happen it would be it would be conquered by the Israelites God would give it to the Israelites the people would be destroyed what else does rehab proclaim about god eric and he is god he is the god of heaven and the god of Earth he is the Lord Rahab requested the Israelites swear that when they conquered Jericho they will spell spare her and her relatives the Israelites agree on certain conditions she can’t tell anyone about the business that transpired her family has to stay inside the house during the attack and she must high a scarlet cord in her window so they can identify which how is hers this is perhaps the same rope or cord that she was using to help him escape Rahab also gave the spies advice about how to safely return to the camp of Israel she tells them to go to the hill country and stay there three days remember the geography here Jericho is here here’s the the Jordan River this is the valley of the Jordan so where would the hills be not yeast but West the total opposite way of where she knows the king’s men went to search for them she tells them to go west into the hills or northwest and the spies escape by climbing down the rope from way rehabs window since her house was in the wall and they do as she instructs and they make it back safely to the camp of Israel they tell Joshua what happened and what’s the result or at least we don’t know what how Joshua reacts but we can at least know how the spies feel based on what happened what do they feel yeah magnet yeah like we’re going to win they’re encouraged we got this the Lord has given the the land into our hand or rather the Lord’s got this he’s going to he’s going to do it for us let’s interpret a little think about the results of this spying mission why did God have the two spies go through what they did lodging with Rahab nearly being discovered and later returning to Joshua why did the Lord do that Danny that’s right part of it is God’s specific kindness to rehab and saving her he was I don’t know if necessarily she had faith before they came or maybe that faith happened when she met the spies but God was going to cost her to be saved spiritually and also be saved physically and she had to lodge the spies and she had to protect them so that she could secure from them an oath of protection for herself so there’s that why else think about oh yeah mango yeah exactly they got an inside view of what the people the land were thinking and that was encouraging and they encouraged all of Israel it was the exact opposite of what the spies in the first time right they say oh there’s no way we can defeat that land these supplies come back and be like look the Lord really has given us this land be encouraged god let all this happen well let the spies come back the way they did because he wanted to encourage all of Israel to be obedient so we see multiple purposes tying together their deliverance of Rahab deliverance of the spies she was the agent that actually protected them and saved their lives and also encouragement to them to Josh meant all of Israel another question and Joshua one Joshua provided his own life as an example to encourage Israel and to exhort Israel to obedience both in his generation and afterwards how does ray habs example or how his rehabs example also meant to encourage Israel and admonished them toward obedience Joshua wanted it recorded what happened with Rahab for Israel’s sake why why would this be helpful to them then right yeah they needed they had more to do they have more conquest to do they had more challenges to go through they needed examples of faithful obedience vindicated by the Lord and Rehab provides this and she’s unique because she’s such an unlikely object of God’s mercy despite her history of sin despite her ethnic background she’s not part of Abraham’s race or Abraham’s descendants and despite her situation in Jericho God was powerful on her behalf he was merciful to her anyone who seeks the Lord God will provide anyone who seeks shelter on the Lord’s wings whether they are jew or dent Gentile when they comes in by faith the Lord will provide for them this would be encouraging to the Israelites this would be encouraging to anyone who was a non-israelite and of course it’s to be encouraging to us we see in Rahab also something we see and the rest of the Bible I mean this is like a an early version of it the Lord cleansing and delivering the most sinful and despised when they cry out to the Lord for salvation of course this was a mark of Jesus’s ministry as well now Rahab didn’t stay sinful this was the beginning of a faith-filled life for her she assuredly grew in faith and became a righteous and wise woman rearing up a faithful son in boaz and God was even pleased to have her be part of the line of David and a line of Christ so we’ve come to the end of our time today but as we think about our own application let us also learn from the vindicated faith of Rahab no one is too unclean for Jesus he saves transforms and provides for his people both now and an eternity sometimes this provision is actually death in this life but he will provide also for a turn he will welcome those who trust in him to be with him he provided for the spies he provided for Rahab he provided for Israel can he provide for you certainly he can so be obedient let’s close in prayer father you are so glorious you are so true you are so kind you are so faithful you are faithful to judge Lord those who will not turn to you but you are also faithful to save and to provide we’re all those who do you are so great and loving kindness so great and holiness thank you for revealing yourself to us thank you for giving us this word about Rahab and about the spy so that we might be encouraged to be obedient so that we might receive the promise blessing and provision so we might enjoy you that we might worship you and what we do and say and think father I pray that you would bless the rest of the service today cause us to see you more clearly to enjoy you to give you the glory that you are due in Jesus name Amen