Joshua 2:1-24

The children of Israel were about to go into the land and begin the conquest that the Lord had called them to.  This is a key time in the history of Israel forty years ago they had been here but refused to trust and obey God, now they are here again as a new nation who must decide if they will place their faith in the work of God.  Joshua sends two spies into the land, presumably to help in the planning of the battle, but God uses the spy’s trip to give encouraging news to the children of Israel as well as to save the life of Rahab and her family.

RAHAB PROTECTS THE SPIES: Rahab is a prostitute who lived in the city of Jericho.  Her house is on the wall, and the spied come into her house in order to seek protection from the soldiers of the city that discover that they have come into the land as spies.  Rahab hides the two men and sends the soldiers on their way in the wrong direction. She may have been the last person in Jericho that we would have thought would cooperate, but God has a plan for Rahab and He begins to use her life in a special way in this passage.  She was willing to put her own life at risk for the lives of these spies that she had never met.  This is a demonstration of her faith as well as her willingness to trust and obey the Lord.  Obedience almost always involves some sort of personal risk on our part; at least from a human perspective.  We must constantly remind ourselves that the risk of obeying God is always worth it.

RAHAB PRAISES THE LORD: Rahab encourages the spies by praising the works that the Lord has already done.  She tells them that the fame of the works of God has been spread throughout the land and that the people are trembling in fear because of what the Lord had done.  The liberation from Egypt, the opening of the Red Sea, the defeat of the other kings and nations are all works of the Lord that have been publicized in the land.  Rahab confesses that the God of Israel is the only God and she is ready to know, submit to and worship Him.  We must always take time to remember the works of God that have been evidenced in our lives.  We must use our experiences with Him as motivation to praise Him and an encouragement to trust Him in our present circumstances.  Unfortunately, there are many times that we use past victories as a motivation for personal pride instead of praise to the Lord.

RAHAB IS PROMISED SALATION: Rahab asks for the spies to remember her kindness and spare her life.  She knows that their mercy is her only hope of survival for her and her family.  She is told to leave the cord with which she lowered the spies to safety outside her window.  She is promised that if the cord was in place and her family is with her in the house that they will all be spared when the city fell.  She simply had to trust their word and do as she was told.  By faith she helped the spies and hung the cord and God saved her.  A prostitute may have been the last person in all of Jericho that we would have expected God to save, but she is the person God chose to illustrate His mercy and grace.  God ends up sending Christ into the world through the descendants of Rahab.  We must always remember that God saves us, not because we are deserving people, but because He is merciful and gracious and desires to demonstrate His greatness through the weakest of this world.  May we never diminish the greatness of God by thinking that we are, in anyway, deserving of His grace.