Good evening. If you would, open
your Bibles back to the book of Joshua. And let's look at
Joshua chapter 1. Joshua chapter 1. As Dwight read to us in Joshua
6, the ending of the story we're going to be looking at today,
he talks of how Joshua, or the Lord through Joshua, delivered
the city of Jericho to the people of Israel. This is a story that
started way back, and this is the conclusion of it, that God
showed them how to defeat the people of Jericho and to deliver
the city. And it was a profound victory. In verse 20 it says, so that
you guys are in chapter 1 and in chapter 6 I'll read it. So
the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets and it came
to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpet and
the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down
flat so that the people went up into the city every man straight
before him and they took the city. Now if we look over in
Joshua 1, verse 1, it says, Now after the death of Moses, the
servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto
Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant,
is dead. Now therefore arise, go over
this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I
do give to them, even to the children of Israel, every place
that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given
unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this
Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all
the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the
going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not
any man be able to stand before Thee all the days of Thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will
be with Thee. I will not fail Thee, nor forsake
Thee. Be strong and of a good courage,
for unto this people shalt Thou divide for an inheritance the
land, which I swear unto the fathers to give them. Only be
thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right
hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper, whithersoever
thou goest." This is the beginning of this story. The beginning
that we just read in the ending that was read for us in Joshua
chapter 6. This is an example of every story
in the Bible. They all start with God declaring
what is going to happen. And they all end with God accomplishing
what He had declared was going to happen. Not only is that a
description of every story in this book. It's a description
of every story and every event that has ever taken place. Knowing
that should be enough for us. Knowing that God declared what
would happen and what He declared will happen should be of comfort
to us and that should be enough. But, It's not, because we're
sinners. We read in this book that all
things are for His glory. And we read in this book that
all things are to the good of them that love God, to them who
are called according to His purpose. That's talking about us. So if
it's for our good and His glory, why isn't that enough for us?
Well, to start, when we think of good, when we read that verse
and we hear someone that it's for our good, I almost always
think of something good that's earthly. I almost always think
when it says things will work out for my good, I think that
it's going to end with me being happy. It's going to end with
me getting what I want. Something like that. when actually
the best thing that can happen for us, that good, is that we
actually see the glory of God. So when it says all things work
for His glory and our good, what it's telling us is His glory
is the best thing for us. This book gives us glimpses of
what we will see in glory, what His people will see. One thing
that is for sure, the most important thing for every child of God
in heaven will be that the Lord Jesus Christ gets all the glory. That's what we'll be doing. Now,
thankfully, our God is merciful, gracious, and understands us.
So he doesn't give us these first few verses and then the ending. He gives us the part in the middle.
So turn over to Joshua chapter 2 and let's see the providence
and the way that the Lord gets from His commandment to the resolution
of Jericho. In chapter 2 verse 1 it says,
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy
secretly, saying, Go, view the land, even Jericho. When I read this, my first thought
was, why is he sending spies? The Lord told him, you're gonna
have the city, you're gonna have the land, it is given to you.
And the last time this happened, 40 plus years ago, Moses sent
out spies who Joshua was one of. And when those spies came
back, they told the people it was a great land, but we can't
take it. Those people are too mighty and
too great. So the Lord, for their rebellion, made them wait 40
years, and until the death of all those people and Moses, until
they could go. So I thought if I were Joshua,
the one thing I probably wouldn't do was send in spies. But the
Lord didn't tell Joshua how they were gonna take that land. Now
why did he not tell him that? And why did Joshua send spies? Look in verse 1, And Joshua the
son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying,
Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into
a harlot's house named Rahab, and lodged there. All of this
was because the Lord had a woman in Jericho that He was going
to see. All of this Can you imagine how
just how random it was that those two spies ended up at Rahab's
house? We'll see here in a minute that
they could have gone to any other house in the whole city and they
would have been killed immediately. But they just luckily went to
Rahab's house. Now I just had a conversation
the other day about using the word lucky. Lucky's not a bad
word. There's nothing wrong when people
say it, but implying it means that things are decided by a
roll of a dice or a spin of a wheel or it's not quite sure what's
going to happen and you pick door A or door B. We don't use
the word lucky because we know that the Lord has determined
what's gonna happen. It's not just that those two
men happened upon Rahab's house or that they were meant to go
to Rahab's house. The Spirit of God made them go to Rahab's
house. That's where they went, both
for their good and for Rahab's. Look at verse two. And it was
told the king of Jericho saying, Behold, there came men in hither
to-night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And
the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the
men that are come to thee, which are entered into thy house, for
they be come to search out all the country." The king of Jericho
sent men to Rahab's house, and he said, Give us those men who
came. He's telling them, These are
our enemies. They've come to kill us. What does Rahab do? In verse 4, And the woman took
the two men and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto
me, but I wist not whence they were. And it came to pass about
the time of shutting the gate, and this is what she's telling
those messengers, when it was dark that the men went out. Those
messengers, they left. Whither the men went, I would
not. Pursue after them quickly, for
ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to
the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax,
which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued
after them the way to Jordan unto the fords. And as soon as
they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the
gate." Rahab lied to the messengers of the king. That of itself is
punishable by death. She lied well enough, she gave
them a whole story. She told them where to go, what
happened, she made up everything. She did all of this and she chose
the men of God over her own life. She knew that lying and hiding
them was enough to have her killed. Look in verse 8. And before they
were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof, and she said
unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land,
and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. How did Rahab know all these
things? Look at verse 10. For we have
heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you.
When you came out of Egypt, and what ye did unto the two kings
of the Amorites, that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon
and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these
things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any
more courage in any man because of you. Everyone in that city
had heard these stories. Everyone. You know that these
people of Israel were on the other side of the River Jordan,
which was not that far away, seven or eight miles. These people
in Jericho had heard about the Red Sea being parted. They had
heard about these kings of the Amorites who they had utterly
destroyed. They knew how strong they were.
They knew how powerful. And they thought, if they can
do that to them, what are they going to do to us? They were
scared. Everyone knew these stories.
Yet there's a difference to what Rahab said and the fear that
the rest had. In verse 9 she says, and she
said unto the man, I know that the Lord hath given you the land. And in verse 11 and halfway through
it says, For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and
in earth beneath. Rahab didn't believe this on
her own. Rahab didn't just happen to be
the one person in this enormous city that was smart enough to
put all the dots together. She got all the information and
she thought, you know, you know, I think, what? No, that's not
what happened. We've seen a description of Rahab
the harlot, the sinner, the liar. Rahab had her eyes opened by
the Lord. She had been taught these things.
And why? Did the Lord do this? Why did
He do this? It's because our God is merciful. He was going to destroy this
city. We know that. He already said He was going
to destroy the city and give them, but He had mercy on this
woman. Look at verse 12. This is Rahab
after she said this to the messengers about the Lord your God, He is
God, in heaven above and in earth beneath. Verse 12, Now therefore,
I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed
you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my Father's
house and give me a true token. and that ye will save alive my
father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and
all that they have, and deliver our lives from death." Rahab
sought the mercy of the Lord upon her house and her household.
This is the exact same reaction that every sinner has when the
Lord teaches them the truth. When the Lord shows us who we
are, and then shows us His glory, shows us who He is, we immediately
must ask for mercy. We realize that's the only hope
we have. And Rahab understood this. Look
at verse 14, And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye
utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord
hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly
with these. These men said, Our life for yours. You saved ours
and your life will be saved, but you can't tell anyone this
business. Matthew and Luke both wrote this, Ask and it shall
be given you. This woman, Rahab, was not trying
to bargain. She was not trying to get credit
for what she'd done. Rahab was asking for mercy. It didn't matter how she got
it, she just wanted mercy. Look at verse 15, Then she let
them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon
the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto
them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and
hide yourself there three days, until the pursuers be returned,
and afterward may you go your way. And the men said unto her,
We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made
us swear. Behold, when we come into the
land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread, of red thread,
in the window which thou didst let us down by. And thou shalt
bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy
father's household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever
shall go out of the doors of the house into the street, his
blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. And
whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall
be on our head, If any hand be upon him, and if thou utter this
our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou
hast made us to swear." These men told her that as long as
this cord, this red cord is in the window, you will be safe
and everyone in your house. And it's not a coincidence that
this cord was the color of blood. This cord is a wonderful example
of the blood of Christ. The same way in the Passover,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And these messengers,
their escape was of the Lord. That red cord was their way of
escape, the blood of the Lord. Rahab's identification, the only
way that the people in the battle would know who Rahab was and
where she lived, was the identification of that red cord, the blood of
Christ. No one would have recognized
Rahab had they seen her. No one would have recognized
Rahab's house. No one would have believed anyone
who said they were Rahab. No one would have believed somebody
claiming, but I'm the one who saved the messengers. None of
that mattered. The only thing that mattered
is being in the house with the blood. It's the only thing that
mattered. The blood was what saved her. It wasn't her house. It wasn't
her family that was in it. It wasn't her good deeds or what
she did for them. Notice that the men said to her,
anyone who leaves this house, their blood is not upon us. They
will not be saved. It wasn't her good deeds. Anyone
who left the house would have died. This is all the same with
us. If we are found in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we will be saved. If we are not found in the Lord
Jesus Christ, we will die. Look at verse 21. And Rahab said, According unto
your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they
departed. And she bound the scarlet line
in the window. And they went and came unto the
mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were
returned. And the pursuers sought them
throughout all the way, but found them not. So the two men returned
and descended from the mountain, and passed over and came to Joshua
the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them.
And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into
our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country
do faint because of us. These men were delivered safely
back to the people of Israel, back to Joshua. And they told
Joshua what had happened, And then they gave this one sentence
as a report. They gave one sentence that's
quoted here that says, Truly the Lord hath delivered into
our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country
do faint because of us. Look back to verse 9 in chapter
2. And Rahab said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given
you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all
the inhabitants of the land faint because of you." There was one
line that was declared to Joshua. It was Rahab's line. Rahab's
one line was what was told to Joshua that these men, that's
all they needed to hear, that this messenger had told the messengers
It's your city. The Lord's given you this city.
Okay, now turn over to chapter 6 again. In chapter 3, 4, and 5, the people
of Israel cross over the River Jordan. And then we get in chapter
6 to where they do what the Lord told them to do. They encompass
the city for 6 days and on the 7th day they go around 7 times
and on the 7th time they all shout and the city will be theirs.
So at the end of that, verse 16, it says, And it came to pass,
at the 7th time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua
said unto the people, Shout, for the Lord hath given you the
city. and the city shall be accursed,
even it and all that are therein to the Lord. Only Rahab the harlot
shall live. She and all that are with her
in the house, because she did the messengers, she hid the messengers
that we sent. Everything in this city was accursed. Everything in this city was going
to die. And the Lord gave them one piece
of information that they had to abide by. He said, Rahab,
the harlot, shall live. And how do we know that it's
Rahab? It's because the scarlet line
will be in the window. Everyone is fair game. Everyone
must die except those that are under the blood of Christ. Look
at verse 20. So the people shouted when the
priest blew with the trumpets and it came to pass, when the
people heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted
with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that
the people went up into the city, every man straight before him,
and they took the city. and they utterly destroyed all
that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox
and sheep, and ass with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had
said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into
the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all
that she hath, as ye swear unto her. And the young men that were
spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her
mother, and her brethren, and all that she had. And they brought
out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with
fire, and all that was therein, only the silver, and the gold,
and the vessels of brass and iron, they put into the treasury
of the house of the Lord. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive, and her father's household, and all that she had. And she
dwelleth in Israel even unto this day, because she hid the
messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho." The Lord was going to save Rahab. But when the battle began, He
sent those messengers back to protect her. He sent them to
hedge her about. to keep her, protect her, and
to deliver her out. Now this story of Rahab continues
with more details. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
1. Matthew chapter 1 and look in
verse 5. So what happened to Rahab after
she was delivered out at the Battle of Jericho? Matthew 1
verse 5 says, And Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab. That's Rahab. And Boaz begat
Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David
the king. Rahab, when she was taken out
of the city, She was married to the prince of the tribe of
Judah. And Rahab was the great-great
grandmother of David the king. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
11. Hebrews chapter 11. In this chapter, Some call it
the Faith's Hall of Fame, listed great acts of faith. Look in
Hebrews 11 verse 31. Notice that this is declaring
Rahab's great faith. Yet what continuously follows
Rahab every time she's mentioned? the harlot Rahab. In this life
we cannot escape the term sinner. That's who we are. And despite
us knowing that Rahab was delivered, until we shed this body and the
Lord gives us a new one, we'll always be notified as the sinner.
And one more thing that we find about Rahab is in James, James
chapter 2. James here is giving two illustrations
of true faith evidenced by obedience. James 2 verse 20. He chooses
two different examples to explain this. Verse 20 says, But wilt
thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered
Isaac his son upon the altar? Seeest thou how faith brought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the
scripture was fulfilled which said Abraham believed God, and
it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend
of God. Ye see that how that by works a man is justified,
and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the
harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers,
and had sent them out another way? Rahab is spoken of many times
in the scriptures. She is listed among what we would
call the greatest examples of faith by anyone. And let me give
a couple things here real quick that are things we can learn
from this story. One is that Rahab is a wonderful
picture of God's mercy and grace to sinners like us. She was a
sinner by birth and by practice. All of the explaining by a moralist,
a legalist, or whoever will not make Rahab anything but what
she was, not just a sinner but a notorious sinner. But the Lord
Jesus came to save sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. But God
commended His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. His mercy is to the miserable,
and His grace is for the guilty. Secondly, Rahab is an example
of the electing, distinguishing, and efficacious grace of our
Lord. It was not by accident that the
spies stopped at her house. They were led there by the Spirit
of God, and her speech to those spies indicated a heart enlightened
and taught by God. No one says those things apart
from that. Faith is not the product of our
natural thought and of logic. It is the gift of God. The Word
says, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves, but it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. Rahab was one of the Lord's own,
and her testimony is proof of her knowledge of the true God,
her faith in Him, and it shows her to be a believer. In John
it says this, No man can come to me except the Father which
hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of
the Father cometh unto me. Thirdly, we see that the scarlet
cord that she put out the window is an emblem of the blood of
Christ, by which salvation is accomplished. The scarlet cord
which she, by faith, dropped from her window is as decisive
and clear a picture of Christ's blood as Abel's lamb sacrifice,
or the Passover blood on the door, or the sin offering in
the tabernacle. It is by His blood, the blood
of Christ, and faith in His blood, that sinners have redemption.
They have forgiveness, atonement, and safety, and protection from
the avenging justice and wrath that will come of God. When I
see the blood, I will pass over you." When they saw the scarlet
cord in the window of the harlot, they passed by her house and
destroyed all others. And then fourthly, Rahab and
her family were told to come into her house where that scarlet
cord was hung, and there only would they be safe. As the Israelites
were told to stay in the house when the Passover blood was sprinkled,
Rahab and her family were to remain under the protection and
the safety of the blood of Christ. to venture without was surely
to be destroyed. As the songwriter wrote, under
the blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's fold, under the blood
of Jesus, safe while the ages roll, safe though the worlds
may crumble, safe though the stars grow dim, under the blood
of Jesus, I am secure in Him. Now in closing, let me summarize
the things that happened in this story. The Lord determined, God
planned and told Joshua what was going to happen. He was going
to give them that city. And in the end we saw that God
delivered that city to them. So in between, here's what happened.
And I will just list a few things. And this is a wonderful example
of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. That we can identify
with each one of these things. This story starts with God determined
to destroy the sinful and to give all they have to His people. The Lord sent messengers to go
see about a particular sinner. The Lord showed that sinner who
He is and that the messengers were from Him. The Lord then
gave that sinner faith to believe, faith to defy her old king, identify
with the real king, and the strength to put her life on the line to
protect His Word. The Lord showed her the only
way to live is under the blood of Jesus Christ. When the time
of judgment came, the Lord hedged her about as all around was falling. The Lord sent someone to protect
her, and the Lord then brought her unto Him. Once the Lord had
saved her, she became the wife of a prince of the tribe of Judah,
and she would forever be identified with the one, the Lord, who saved
her.