Joshua 2 & 6 (Rahab)

Again this week, I'm using one of my old sermons for the message as it has been something I've been brought back to over the last week as I dwell on the idea of grace and adoption.

The audio file is available here: Download


The new testament comes after 400 years of silence from God. So the start of the new testament must be full of action and drama. Surely it must!

But no! Matthew starts with a list. A list! What kind of start is that after 400 years of silence. As if the old testament wasn’t full enough of lists as it is, now we start to new testament with a list. Seriously, It better be a good list.

Fortunately, this isn’t just any list. This is a list of Jesus ancestors. All the way from Abraham down to Joseph and Mary. Funnily enough, most of the names on the list are men. In fact, there are only 5 women listed and today’s woman of faith is one of them.

Rahab lived in the fortress city of Jericho, near the River Jordan. Despite living in a walled city, Rahab was an outsider in her community. Her profession, the oldest in the book, meant she didn’t have many friends. She met a lot of people, but not the sort she’d want to be friends with.
Whenever she went to the shops the looks she’d get would just reinforce how she felt inside. Alone and scared. What if she wanted help moving, or needed a cup of flour at short notice? Who could she turn to? Everywhere she looked the same faces stared back at her, pitying her for her place in life. No wonder she felt like a stranger in her home town.

But all of that is about to change.

One evening, Rahab opened the door to find two strangers on her front step. Now, two men entering Rahab’s house wasn’t something to raise eyebrows. But these two men were different. To start with, these men were from the tribes of Israel. As far as the rest of the city knew, the tribes of Israel were on the other side of the River Jordan, just down the road from the city.

Rahab quickly realised that these men would attract the attention of the king of Jericho and set about hiding them on her roof. Some carefully placed bundles of flax soon had them properly hidden away.

Someone had told the king about the spies in his city and that they were seen at Rahab’s. So, the king had sent his men to fetch them. What Rahab did next began her journey from being on the outside to being fully accepted.

She lied. And not just a small lie to protect someone’s feelings. No. She told a whopper. And to the king’s men! She basically lied to the king. That’s the kind of thing that has you end up dead!

On the outside Rahab was calm and composed, looking the head of the king’s guard in the eye. But on the inside she was a ball of nerves. Fear had her stomach wrapped in knots. The thought of what would happen if she was caught sent a chill down her spine. If only these men would leave she could go and talk to the men on her roof. The things she had to tell them were bursting to get out and she couldn’t wait for them to hear it.

The two men on the roof waited with baited breath to see if they’d be given over to the king. Would their host turn them over to save herself? Would they face death at the order of the king? If they never returned, would Joshua and the other Israelites come for them? So many unanswerable questioned flashed through their minds as the waited with baited breath.

Finally the men heard the sounds of the king’s guard moving off towards the city gates. Soon afterwards they heard the gates shut for the night.

Shortly after this, Rahab made her way up the stairs to the roof. The truth she had seen couldn’t wait to be shared. How often have you had some news that you can’t wait to share?

She told them about how all the people in the land were terrified of the Israelites because of the things God had done for them. Their escape from Egypt on dry land through the Red Sea. The destruction of the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og along with all their people. They even knew that Jericho, the walled, fortified city near the River Jordan, would fall at the hands of the Israelites.

Rahab told the spies these things as common knowledge among the peoples of the land (the land promised to the Israelites), but the next thing she said came from her own revelation. She told the men:

For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

This was a big statement from a member of a pagan society which worshipped countless gods and idols as a part of everyday life. To confess a faith in only one god, let alone the God of the Israelites was a very courageous thing for her to do.

The next thing she did was even more courageous. She asked to be saved from the destruction of the city. And not just her, but all of her family as well. The spies agreed with her request, with some provisos: Anyone who left the house would not be safe and, as a way to mark her house, she was to leave a scarlet rope hanging from her window from that night on. Rahab then let the spies down from the walls of the city with the same scarlet rope. It was very handy that her house was built into the wall. But it was also another sign that she was an outsider in her community.

The scarlet rope Rahab used to save the spies from death would soon be used to save her from death. The scarlet thread hanging from the walls of Jericho was a symbol that death was to pass that house by. The scarlet rope was a more modern representation of the lambs blood on the doorways at the first passover.

Rahab and her family were packed into her house. For a week they’d watched the Israelites march around the city in silence. But today had been different. The Israelites had marched around the city in silence 6 times so far. Could this be the day? Noone in the room could look at each other, each lost in their own thoughts.

All of a sudden a noise like none heard before erupted from the Israelites. Singing, drums, horns, every noise the Israelites could make, they made. Almost before the people in the room realised where the noise was coming from, the rumbling started. Rahab was suddenly gripped with fear. Would she and her family survive? Or would they perish with the city. Her eyes were fixed on the end of the scarlet rope, the sign that would save her.

As it became obvious that she and her family were safe Rahab was overcome with a mixture of sorrow and joy.

This mixture of sorrow and joy is familiar to me. A couple of years ago my granddad died. He was fortunate in that he got to meet my wife, but unlucky in that he never met our kids. For that next Christmas we were in Christchurch with and brother and sister, cousins, aunties and uncles. It was a time of joy, but the hole left by Granddad was full of sorrow. Happily, I know Nana got to meet the kids and this gives me a joy I can really get my teeth into.

In Rahab’s case, it was sorrow not just for one life, but for all the lives lost, the people who didn’t get the chance she had. And joy! Joy at being alive and knowing there was a God who loved her enough that He would save her from his judgement.

When the dust had settled, Rahab and her family made their way to the Israelite camp and Rahab completed her journey from outsider to fully accepted. The sorrow faded away as she saw the joy in the faces of the Israelites. The Joy welling up in her as she came to know what it was to be a part of something; Not to be on the outside looking in. She belonged!

Rahab and her family lived among the Israelites from that day forward. So accepted was Rahab that she is in the family tree of Jesus.

The same Jesus who is the ultimate path from the outside to full acceptance. The same Jesus that lead me to full acceptance.

When I moved to Australia I didn’t really know anyone. Being a foreigner in a foreign country, I always felt as if I didn’t belong. I had very few friends and very few places to go. My flatmate, and now very good mate, Gary was a Christian. He found it hard to live in Australia as well, but he still managed to keep a faith in God.

Through watching how he lived his life I soon found myself watching my language, what activities I took part in and, in general, living quite a Christian life. However, there was something missing.

Then, on Halloween 2002, I found myself in bed, unable to sleep. Something was telling me to look for what was missing. I picked up my bible (I had one with me despite having no real belief in it at the time) and read through Matthew. I suddenly knew what was missing and what I had to do.

At 10:58pm that night I prayed and asked Jesus to dwell in my heart. Everyone has a different experience but mine was one I will never forget. As soon as I said ‘Amen’ I felt an overwhelming sense that I belonged. That there was a community that I belonged to, even in a foreign land. That feeling of acceptance and belonging was what Rahab would have felt as she joined with the Israelites.

And so it is with us. At one time we were on the outside but now, through Jesus we are fully accepted into his kingdom with all the joy that brings.

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