MARCH 27, 2016
RAHAB AND THE SPIES
INTRODUCTION:
1. Moses, God’s honorable servant, and faithful leader of the people of Israel was now dead. This means that the time was come for God’s chosen successor to the great mediator to arise and take command, and conduct the people over Jordan into the land of promise.
2. Joshua, the son of Nun, was the man that God had chosen, sanctified, and prepared for this great responsibility, and the enormous challenges that it would entail. Joshua had already distinguished himself as a man of unwavering faith and courage. He had repeatedly proven himself to be a worthy choice for captain of the Lord’s host. The Lord had groomed the man who was to be successor to Moses under Moses’ own hand. Who better to take up the mantle of God’s servant than Joshua, whose years of apprenticeship were marked by loyalty and faithfulness to Moses and to God in matters of both religion and government?
3. Among the many characteristics that served to highly recommend Joshua as a suitable leader for the people of God was his willingness to wait upon the Lord. He certainly knew that he had been selected and ordained to be the new leader, yet after Moses’ death, he waited. Then, after the thirty day period of mourning was completed, he waited upon the Lord. Not until after the Lord had given him his charge and encouragement, did Joshua take command. (Verse 10)
4. Joshua commanded the officers (leaders of the individual tribes) to notify their people that in three days they would pass over this Jordan. Therefore, they must make the necessary preparations for the journey. Joshua’s command, being his first as Israel’s new leader, was well received. The people took the occasion to express their faith in Joshua, and to promise him their allegiance.
5. In three days Joshua would conduct the people over Jordan. The people would use these three days to prepare for the passage, and Joshua would, like a good general, use it to gain intelligence for warfare. This he did by sending spies, particularly to check out the city of Jericho. As a result of this mission we have the amazing story of Rehab and the spies.
I. THE MISSION OF THE SPIES. (VERSES 1-7)
A. THE SENDING OF SPIES WAS AN ACT OF WISDOM ON JOSHUA’S PART. (VERSE 1a)
1. Jericho would be their first military encounter once they were on the other side of the Jordan, therefore Joshua said, “Go view the land even Jericho.” He thought it best to know the situation before going over.
2. There is no conflict between faith in God’s promise, and careful preparation and planning. (Ch. 1:3-6; Luke 14:28)
a) Joshua did not doubt that God was with him, nor did he doubt the promise made to him in Ch. 1:5, nevertheless he saw the need to act wisely as a responsible captain, and send men before him.
b) Not only does faith in God not discourage the proper use of means, it rather encourages it.
c) To use faith as an excuse for slackness in our endeavors is not to trust God, but to tempt Him.
d) That Joshua acted with God’s approval in this matter is made clear by the providential care that these two men enjoyed in carrying out their mission.
e) The fact that the intelligence gained from the spies had little or nothing to do with the strategy that defeated Jericho does not mean that the mission was not of God, or unnecessary.
(1) We must always act wisely and do our duty, even though the battle is the Lord’s. He always works beyond our efforts, and sometimes apart from them, nevertheless we must do our duty and act in wisdom.
(2) The divine purpose in the mission of the spies had to do with saving Rehab and her house more than it did with making battle plans, as would later become apparent.
B. THE READINESS OF THE TWO MEN TO BE SENT ON AN ADVENTURE SO HAZARDOUS IS TO BE ADMIRED. “AND THEY WENT.”
1. In Verse 16 of the previous chapter, the people said to Joshua, “All that thou commandest us we will do.” For those two men (young men, LXX) that was not just idle talk.
2. By their unquestioning obedience to their captain, and their zeal in the service to their camp and cause, they sent a message to Joshua and the people that was most encouraging.
3. Joshua had himself demonstrated such faithfulness and courage as a spy at Kadesh Barnea, but the unfaithfulness and cowardice of ten other spies greatly disheartened the people. (Num. 13) such would not be the case here. No doubt, Joshua’s former faithfulness was here rewarded.
4. There is no avoiding that we must sometimes see through the eyes of others. The captain was, to be sure, most careful in choosing these two good young men to be his eyes.
C. THE PROVIDENCE THAT DIRECTED THE SPIES TO EXACTLY THE RIGHT LOCATION IS MOST REMARKABLE. “…AND CAME INTO AN HARLOT’S HOUSE.”
1. How they crossed the river we are not told, nor are we told how they came to this particular house.
2. Though they would not have chosen the house of a harlot, nevertheless it was to the house of Rahab the harlot that they were guided by the hand of Providence.
a) Even as one who had lived so wickedly, she could serve the divine purpose, and who would be better informed than she?
b) Even though a harlot, she was one of God’s chosen, and clearly, the spies were sent to her more for her benefit that their own. Just think about that, if you will.
3. It soon becomes evident that God was already dealing with this woman; therefore she immediately knew her need of them. Thus, a dual purpose was served. Where else could they have found a safe haven in Jericho?
D. THE KIND RECEPTION THAT THE SPIES RECEIVED FROM RAHAB WAS A WELCOME RELIEF. (VERSES 2-7)
1. Though she had been accustomed to receiving men into her house, these men she received by faith. (Heb. 11:31)
2. Perceiving that they had been observed, she hid them, and when the authorities came for them, she covered for them.
3. She pretended that they had been customers who came and went. She averted any further search by sending the search party on a fruitless journey.
4. James refers to what Rahab did as proof of her genuine faith. (James 2:25) Even though Rahab, in protecting the spies had to betray her own country and king, she is justified in that she knew that God had given the land to His people (Verse 9); and even though in order to protect these men of God she resorted to telling an untruth, this too was recorded by the inspired apostle as a good work. Granted, this was an extraordinary situation, yet when a friend’s virtue is inquired after as a crime, no one would be required to betray that friend. Plus, Rahab’s acts of deception placed her own life in danger. Had not God protected her by causing the king’s men to believe her lie, she would most likely have been put to death.
II. THE CONFESSION OF RAHAB. (VERSES 8-11) She secured the spies on the condition that they would secure her. How amazed they must have been as they lay hidden under the stalks of flax, hearing this woman as she imperiled her own life to save theirs. This was, as James confirms, her justifying work, i.e. work that proved her faith to be real.
A. HER’S WAS AN AMAZING CONFESSION OF TRUE FAITH. (VERSES 8, 9)
1. She believed that Israel’s God was the only true God, and was determined to be numbered with His people.
2. Her’s was a know so faith. “I know.”
3. It was preceded by a sense of terror. “Your terror has fallen upon us.”
a) Terror alone is not enough. It appears that all of the inhabitants of Jericho were terrified. We know that Felix trembled when Paul spoke to him about temperance, righteousness, and judgment to come (Acts 24:25), yet he went on to perish in his sin.
b) Rahab, on the other hand, acted wisely and sought to be reconciled with God, rather than to remain an object of His wrath.
c) Knowing the terror of the Lord, let us persuade men. (II Cor. 5:11)
4. This faith came by hearing. “For we have heard.”
a) This is essential to true faith. (Rom. 10:17)
b) How wonderful! God blessed the hearing that had so terrified her soul, and brought faith to the saving of it.
c) The reports that she heard came not from those who were sympathetic with the cause of God and His people. It’s not the preacher, but the Word that has such power over souls.
B. SHE CONFESSED ISRAEL’S GOD AS THE ONLY TRUE AND ALMIGHTY GOD. (VERSES 10, 11)
1. In true faith all rival gods are removed.
2. Who but the Almighty God, the unrivaled Sovereign, could have delivered this people out of Egypt in the astounding manner that He did? “We heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea.” If this knowledge was still so terrifying after forty years, what must it have been like at the time? This magnifies the horrible sin of unbelief in that generation of Israelites which failed to possess the land.
3. Then more recently, how could this people have utterly destroyed the Amorites and their two kings, if God had not empowered them? “And what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites.”
C. RAHAB’S WAS A SINGULAR FAITH.
1. These reports melted the hearts of all of Rahab’s people so as to dispirit them. But Rahab’s heart was melted in a different way, taking away her will to resist. (Psa. 110:3)
2. All heard the same reports, yet without the same result. The only possible explanation for the difference lies in the fact that God made the word effectual in Rahab, for she was His. (John 6:45)
3. What a trophy of grace is this converted heathen prostitute. She is spoken of ever after as “the harlot Rahab” (Heb. 11:31), not to suggest that she remained a harlot, for she did not, but to emphasize the fact that the amazing grace of God can save the worst of sinners.
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