WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.080 Now, I'd like us to turn back to the book of Joshua. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.679 We're going to look at this chapter this evening. 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:08.240 It's a great chapter. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:15.160 And Calum introduced the series last week by reminding us of what God was doing among 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:17.240 this people. 00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:25.600 And we're going to look at this individual account of the life of, or an event in the 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.640 life of Rahab. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:31.519 And it's an Old Testament story, isn't it? 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:35.439 And we see God at work in history. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:41.200 And that's part of the reason we have the Old Testament, because it's God's story, history 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:42.760 is His story. 00:00:42.760 --> 00:00:48.439 And He is revealing His character and His work. 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:53.640 And the people He was working through in history, right through until Jesus, and then we look 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:55.960 back at the work of Jesus. 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:03.280 So Genesis to Revelation is a progressive and unfolding revelation of the character 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:11.040 of God and of the need of humanity, and speaks to us about who we are in this world and who 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:12.760 we are in this universe. 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:18.280 And it speaks to us about His plans for us, His purposes, and His promises. 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:20.280 So the Old Testament's really good. 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.599 It's quite difficult sometimes, but it's really good. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:26.559 This is a great chapter, compared with the one that they gave me for this morning in 00:01:26.559 --> 00:01:30.959 Bellevue, which was Isaiah chapter 11, which was a belter. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:33.919 And I had to leave some of it out, because I didn't really know the answer to some of 00:01:33.919 --> 00:01:35.519 the things in it. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:41.479 But this is easier than some of the passages in the Old Testament. 00:01:41.479 --> 00:01:45.719 But we need to remember when we come to the Old Testament that it's real. 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:48.879 And what happened here happened in history. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:55.879 It was 1400 years ago, 1400 years before Jesus was born in the ancient Near East. 00:01:55.879 --> 00:02:01.159 And we need to remember when we look at these stories, that these were very different days 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:06.560 to the days in which we live, you know, culturally, morally, and spiritually. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.599 Well maybe not so much morally, but certainly culturally and spiritually. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:11.759 These were different days. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:20.239 It's easy for us to carelessly impose a 21st century mindset onto this account. 00:02:20.239 --> 00:02:22.799 But that really sometimes isn't very helpful. 00:02:22.799 --> 00:02:30.840 We need to remember that at this time of history, they had a limited revelation of who God was. 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:37.439 They didn't have Jesus, and they didn't have the full Bible that we have, and it helps 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:41.560 us to understand God and His work more clearly. 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:43.000 But it speaks in shadows. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:49.800 The Old Testament speaks in shadows primarily about rescue and about renewal of people. 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.640 It's about God and it's about faith. 00:02:52.640 --> 00:02:54.640 Now that's great tonight, isn't it? 00:02:54.640 --> 00:03:00.080 Because we can… we're all interested in God, and I hope we are as believers, and we're 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.400 all people. 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:06.120 So there's a link immediately for us to this Old Testament story, because God hasn't changed. 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:10.199 And actually people don't change very much either, even though culture and circumstances 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:12.079 do. 00:03:12.079 --> 00:03:16.959 And we can apply these shadows that we see here more clearly and more fully with the 00:03:16.959 --> 00:03:21.919 benefit of hindsight, as it were, with the benefit of knowing about Jesus and knowing 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:25.239 about faith from the New Testament. 00:03:25.239 --> 00:03:30.039 So what we'll do, we'll hope to let the Bible explain itself. 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:31.280 It's God's Word. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:37.239 God has placed this account here for us, and we look to hear what God sent us tonight. 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:41.640 So every time we look at the Bible, every time we read the Bible, what's very important 00:03:41.640 --> 00:03:45.280 for us as believers is to remember that this is God's living Word. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.080 As if God's speaking to us through it. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:53.120 That it's not just a history, it's not just a kind of Old Testament account that maybe 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:54.480 we don't understand. 00:03:54.480 --> 00:03:59.240 God has given us this, and He wants us to hear… it's much easier to read a passage like 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:02.680 this when we hear a living God speaking through it, isn't it? 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:03.680 Much easier. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.879 So let us… well, remember that as we're going through it. 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:10.280 And I'm going to ask the question in the first place, why is the story of Rahab included 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:11.639 here? 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:14.439 This is an account, Josh's account. 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:17.279 There's a lot of difficult things in the Book of Josh, but it's an account of them 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.399 entering the Promised Land. 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:21.240 It's a Book of Judgment and Salvation. 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:25.719 It's a Book of promises being fulfilled that the people… God's people who'd been 00:04:25.719 --> 00:04:30.600 rescued from Egypt and who'd be wandering in the desert for 40 years now had come to 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.600 that place where they were going to inherit the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:40.680 and honey, and the Book of Joshua is about His leadership as they entered and took over 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.160 various cities and areas in the Promised Land. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:46.480 Why is this story of Rahab included? 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:54.879 Well, I think because God's big picture, which is in Joshua, is about real people. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:02.160 And it's about real people who are redeemed from judgment, from the justice of God and 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.600 God's hand of judgment against them. 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:12.320 So the big picture is about judgment from salvation, or salvation through judgment, 00:05:12.320 --> 00:05:16.000 but also the individual pictures say the same thing. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.879 She is integrally woven into God's story. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:26.960 You know, this isn't a history of the world part one kind of book. 00:05:26.960 --> 00:05:28.680 This isn't telling us just the history of the world. 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:33.040 This is telling us God's story, and God's story is the greatest story. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.360 It's the greatest story. 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:40.600 And it's the greatest story because He involves individual people in it. 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.600 And that's great for us, and it's great for us to remember that as Christians tonight, 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:45.199 we are in God's story. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:49.439 We are actually in Christ… we are united to Christ. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:57.240 So all that we attribute to Christ, we can recognize that we are part of, if we are believers 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.960 and have put our faith in Him, we are integrally woven into God's story. 00:06:00.960 --> 00:06:02.639 You may feel insignificant. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:08.120 You may feel your life is not particularly significant at a wider level, but it's great 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:14.079 to remember that as Christians from before the beginning of the world, His plan involves 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.960 your name and my name and Rahab's name. 00:06:16.960 --> 00:06:19.319 It's not great. 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:25.120 When things seem to be maybe just getting away from us in our lives, we are involved 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.000 in God's story. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:31.959 And He includes Rachel because it helps us connect truth to real life. 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:33.959 You may think, why are the conquest of Canaan? 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:36.040 I'm not really terribly interested in that. 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:41.959 It doesn't have any real powerful impact on my day-to-day living, but reading about Rachel 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:48.480 helps us to see God, not just with a great God with great purposes, but a God who is 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:54.480 working very closely in real lives. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:58.439 And we will go from this place needing to know that comfort and strength of God at work 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:00.439 in our lives. 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:03.920 And it's included because, well, God put it there. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:04.920 He chose it there. 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:11.040 It's important simply because He chose to put this story of Rachel in the Old Testament. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.920 So when I just go through the story of Rachel, let me just look at the story of Rachel this 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:21.080 evening for a few minutes as well and then apply it, some of the principles within to 00:07:21.080 --> 00:07:22.080 our own lives. 00:07:22.080 --> 00:07:23.400 It's a great story, isn't it? 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:27.560 So the spies were sent out. 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:34.599 Joshua sent out the spies to check out Jericho and the land and come back. 00:07:34.599 --> 00:07:38.399 Just to give reassurance, God had promised they would take the land, but nonetheless, 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.079 He sent out the spies and it was fine for Him to do that. 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:47.479 And they arrived in Jericho and they went, we presume, pretty immediately to Rahab's 00:07:47.479 --> 00:07:49.359 house, the prostitute's house. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:55.040 Now there's no suggestion whatsoever that they went to get some sexual favours there. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:57.960 Rather it would seem to be a good place for them to go. 00:07:57.960 --> 00:08:02.680 A lot of people coming in and out of the prostitute's house and a lot of men coming in and out 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:03.680 of the prostitute's house. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:10.040 And it would be common for travellers to go and make use of the hospitality in that 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:13.560 home, in that house. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:15.520 They may have thought they would be less noticed. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:19.639 They may have also thought it was a good place to find all the gossip that was happening 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:24.639 in Jericho. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:30.279 They don't seem to have been very good spies though, because pretty soon everyone knows 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:34.679 that they're there and goes right up to the king and he finds out. 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:39.960 So whatever they tried to do by subterfuse didn't really seem to work terribly well. 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:46.800 So nonetheless, they were there and Rahab took them in and she was aware of the danger 00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:51.519 of kind of collaborating with them in any way. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:59.240 There was great suspicion and fear in the city and she knew that if they were caught 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:01.960 in her place that that would be the end of the story for her. 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:06.120 I'm sure there's many unrecorded conversations from this. 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:10.679 It would be great to know a little bit more, very sketchy details that we have. 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:15.000 But what we do know is that in the midst of all the conversations, she records an amazing 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.360 testimony from verse 8 through to verse 13. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:22.720 She explains exactly what she thinks. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:27.919 She says, look, I want to be on the side of your God. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.600 We have heard what's happened. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:30.600 We know what's happening. 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:35.360 We know that God has given this city into His hands, to your hands. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:41.879 And she said, your God is the God of heaven above and on the earth beneath. 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:47.279 And it's a tremendously powerful testimony of faith that she gives here. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:52.960 She confesses the God of Israel as the living and the only true God. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:59.000 And she pleaded for, she asks that they deal kindly with her. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:00.519 That's a great, that's a great Old Testament. 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:02.560 It was one of the great Old Testament words. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:07.879 It's the last word that the translators of the authorised version translated because 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:09.959 it was so difficult to translate into English. 00:10:09.959 --> 00:10:11.639 It's called Heised. 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:16.439 And the authorised version translated it as loving kindness, a very powerful, deep word. 00:10:16.439 --> 00:10:19.000 And it speaks about mercy, God's mercy. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:22.879 She's pleading for mercy to be shown to her. 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:29.839 And she pleads for a sure word, swear to me by the Lord that you would deal kindly and 00:10:29.839 --> 00:10:31.199 give me a sure sign. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:35.840 And that's another great, it's actually a great covenant Old Testament word. 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:39.240 And it's a word for faithfulness and for truth. 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:42.879 And she's really, she's actually using covenantal language here. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:45.320 The Old Testament people of God's kind of language. 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:51.000 She's saying, you know, show me your faithfulness and show me loving kindness from your God 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:56.480 by protecting me and saving me and taking me from this destruction. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:02.639 And as she gives this testimony, can you imagine being the two spies hearing that? 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:10.000 It must have been remarkable for them hearing such faith coming from the home and the mouth 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.680 of a prostitute that they'd gone to hide with. 00:11:13.680 --> 00:11:18.820 Not only her faith, but also as she reveals the fear and dread of the people. 00:11:18.820 --> 00:11:24.320 It must have been given them a great encouragement that God indeed was going to give that city 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:25.320 to them. 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:33.240 And those purposes are unfolding as to why He let the spies, or why He asked, Joshua 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:38.680 asked the spies to go there to give them assurance and to connect them with rehab in whose heart 00:11:38.680 --> 00:11:39.879 God was working. 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:42.640 That's great. 00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:44.040 God was working in rehab's heart. 00:11:44.040 --> 00:11:49.520 He had a purpose for her and the spies were sent and we see God's plan unfolding in her 00:11:49.520 --> 00:11:52.320 personal life here. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:57.640 And she was making a very real choice against all the odds basically here. 00:11:57.640 --> 00:12:02.320 It was, I'm going to put my lot in with God's people and with God and with God's people 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:06.280 or, and I'm turning my back on the city of Jericho. 00:12:06.280 --> 00:12:14.160 A city she'd been integrally part of, she knew a lot of the people in that city because 00:12:14.160 --> 00:12:15.840 she was a prostitute. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.920 She would have been poor. 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:23.399 She would have had a sense, I think, of worthlessness in that city. 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:31.120 It wasn't a glamorous career that she was involved in, the immorality of that city was 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.360 very, very powerful. 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.519 She was a sex object to be used and abused. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:38.519 Those that lived on the city wall, as she did, were the poorest. 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:45.439 They were the ones that were most likely to be killed in any attack on the city. 00:12:45.439 --> 00:12:48.159 But she recognized there was no future for her here. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.279 It was a waste of time. 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:51.600 Nobody cared for her. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:53.120 And her life was just going nowhere. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:56.000 And it was unsatisfying and unfulfilling. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:05.319 And she heard about this great God, this great God of the people of Israel. 00:13:05.319 --> 00:13:07.879 And she put in her lot with them. 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:13.919 Now that choice for her involved great risk and also positive action. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:18.559 You know, if she was found out, because she had to remain in the city, remember, when 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.759 the spies left, she had to remain there. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:26.159 If she found out, she would undoubtedly have been killed. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:31.279 She was putting all her eggs into one amazing basket. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:34.559 And in doing so, that even involved lying. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:39.079 So she lied to the guys that came round from the king and told them that the spies weren't 00:13:39.079 --> 00:13:40.079 there. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:45.520 That lying is not right, but the Bible doesn't say anything. 00:13:45.520 --> 00:13:48.160 It doesn't make any condemnation about her. 00:13:48.160 --> 00:13:50.360 It doesn't judge one way or another. 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:52.280 It just records that that's what she did. 00:13:52.280 --> 00:13:56.960 Now, lots of debate and lots of words have been written about what she did, was she 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:01.120 right, was it wrong, how can God condone lying and all these things. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.280 The Bible says nothing about it. 00:14:03.280 --> 00:14:05.759 Not here and not in the New Testament. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:07.280 No word does it mention anything. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:12.039 Now that is not to condone what she did, but it's to recognize the reality of the situation 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:15.959 and who she was and where she was coming from. 00:14:15.959 --> 00:14:18.759 She put her trust in the spies. 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:24.600 She was given faith to know that the God of the spies was faithful. 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:29.839 She had to put a scarlet cord out the window and she had to bring all her family into the 00:14:29.839 --> 00:14:30.839 house. 00:14:30.839 --> 00:14:32.439 These are interesting things. 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:38.280 Before that, I will mention a little bit more about that in a while. 00:14:38.280 --> 00:14:41.600 So that's the story that we have in this chapter. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.400 I want to do two more things. 00:14:43.400 --> 00:14:52.080 One, I want to take a slightly wider look in the Bible at this and also at similar stories, 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:57.120 very briefly, and then apply it to our lives. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:58.120 This is similar to the other. 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:06.120 Remember previously, twelve spies were sent out and ten of the twelve spies said, oh no, 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:07.560 there are giants in that country. 00:15:07.560 --> 00:15:08.560 We can't take it. 00:15:08.560 --> 00:15:15.720 The only two spies who were faithful to God in His promises were Caleb and Joshua. 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:22.080 And this time the spies recognized that God had given the land to them and they put their 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:25.519 faith in God, not their circumstances. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:27.279 Now that's an interesting one for us. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:32.000 Are we like the ten spies or are we like the two spies here? 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.039 Do we just look at all our circumstances and think, oh, it's terrible. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:36.039 We can't go forward. 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:37.839 God isn't on our side. 00:15:37.839 --> 00:15:45.079 Or do we look at the character and nature of God and trust in Him? 00:15:45.079 --> 00:15:51.639 Then we have the story of the Passover in Exodus where the blood had to be put on the 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.480 lentils, remember, so the angel of death would pass over. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:00.279 Now there is a similarity between that and between the scarlet cord. 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:03.480 Speaking of mercy in the place of judgment now, I'm not saying that the scarlet cord 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:11.240 necessarily represents blood or the word scarlet is never used in that context in the Bible. 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:20.080 But nonetheless, it clearly speaks of a sign and a symbol and a focus which meant that 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:23.800 judgment wouldn't happen in that instance. 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:32.399 And it does therefore at that level at least point forward to Jesus and to the reality of 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:36.240 Jesus covering us and protecting us. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:42.839 But what's also interesting is her character because there's another instance when judgment 00:16:42.839 --> 00:16:45.719 is coming to a city, isn't there, in the Old Testament? 00:16:45.719 --> 00:16:50.240 And there's another instance when there's two people of faith within that city. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:54.399 Do you remember that? 00:16:54.399 --> 00:17:00.519 There's Rahab here with Jericho and there's also Lot, the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:08.680 Now the same thing happens is that Lot's concerned for his family and friends as is Rahab. 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:12.120 But do you notice the difference between the two? 00:17:12.120 --> 00:17:14.599 Lot's family laughed at him. 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.599 Don't be ridiculous. 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:21.199 We're going to celebrate, we're fine, couple angels have come, that's no problem. 00:17:21.199 --> 00:17:22.759 They're going to go in the morning. 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:24.599 Nothing will happen to a city. 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:26.519 And they laughed at him. 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:31.199 They didn't respect him. 00:17:31.199 --> 00:17:41.559 His life wasn't weighty enough for them to move and act in safety towards what was being 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:43.059 said. 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:44.559 But Rahab was very different. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:51.519 To me that suggests that she had been a believer for maybe some time, at least whatever it 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:58.359 was and you would think Lot's supposed to be an upstanding man and Rahab a prostitute. 00:17:58.359 --> 00:17:59.879 You'd think it'd be the other way around, wouldn't you? 00:17:59.879 --> 00:18:03.240 By our standards, sometimes, or the way we judge. 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:09.240 But Rahab's family and all the people, you know, she's almost acting like a covenant 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:16.759 head for them and all of them respond because there was something courageous and weighty 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:18.039 about her life. 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:21.720 She influenced other people positively who knew her. 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:26.279 That's a great witness and it's a great testimony to us. 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:29.680 Do you think people think that about our lives? 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:35.240 If we were to tell them about Jesus and the gospel, do they just laugh at us? 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:39.319 Now, sometimes they'll laugh at us and it's got nothing to do with our character, but 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:46.160 sometimes they might laugh at us because just we don't live the way that reflects that it's 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:51.319 real and honest and important. 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:58.200 So we see these links and there's also the link really just generally in Rahab's place 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:05.319 in the Bible because she's an example basically of what faith is. 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:10.200 It's not the righteous that Jesus has come to save but sinners and that's who he rescues. 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:11.960 And that's what God's saying here. 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:15.559 She is the last person in the world you would think would be saved here. 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:19.680 She's an amirite and God says the sin of the amirites was full, they were going to be destroyed. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:25.640 She's a prostitute, she's a Gentile, she's not part of God's family and she's living 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:28.240 in a city of unimaginable evil and brutality. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.320 She's a sex object within that city. 00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:36.880 She had no security yet her faith and her name is recorded for posterity forever. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.520 And she has a new history as she puts her lot in with God and follows God. 00:19:41.520 --> 00:19:47.440 She becomes the mother-in-law of Ruth, the great, great granny of David and she marries 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:53.640 a prince in Judah and she's among the five names, five women recorded in the genealogy 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:54.640 of Jesus. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:04.480 That's not a great story that is for a prostitute from Jericho, 1500 years before Jesus. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:10.320 And there's something really powerful in the names that are recorded in the genealogy of 00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:14.759 Jesus in Matthew of the women that are named. 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:19.880 There's Tamar, there's Rahab, there's Ruth, there's Bathsheba and there's Mary. 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:27.320 All regarded as outsiders, some with a dubious history morally and ethically, but all of 00:20:27.320 --> 00:20:34.880 them who we can say are poor in spirit but are rich in faith. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:41.120 And it's just such a brilliant inversion of what we think sometimes that God should 00:20:41.120 --> 00:20:42.120 accept. 00:20:42.120 --> 00:20:43.120 Wonderful. 00:20:43.120 --> 00:20:47.760 And these are woven into His blood. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.000 They're part of His genealogy. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:56.759 Isn't that great that He has brought these people and sealed them and bonded them in 00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:01.839 His genealogy because He says, these are, this is the kind of people I've come to save, those 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:09.640 who, whatever background, rich or poor, upright, according to the world or not, but who recognize 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:12.640 their poor in spirit and who need Jesus Christ. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:17.880 And that is a great example of faith for you and me this evening because her faith, as 00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:23.200 we take the broader picture, her faith is held up as an example in the New Testament. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:30.000 Two places in Hebrews 1 and 31 and also in James 2 and verse 25. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:36.600 And James particularly, the emphasis on her works that justified her faith. 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:44.639 And she is remembered in the great hall of fame of faith in Hebrews 11 as one who revealed 00:21:44.639 --> 00:21:48.000 and showed great faith. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.839 And so, you know, doesn't mention anything but a lie. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.399 Either of these particular instances in the New Testament. 00:21:55.399 --> 00:21:56.839 Trust and obey. 00:21:56.839 --> 00:22:00.919 Faith changed her and it changed her life. 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:07.800 And that example of faith is still holds true for us, that faith changes us and is evidenced 00:22:07.800 --> 00:22:08.800 by our obedience. 00:22:08.800 --> 00:22:13.840 If you love me, Jesus, if you love me, He says, you will obey my commands. 00:22:13.840 --> 00:22:20.759 You will obey what He asks us to do, which helps us to love Him and love our neighbor, 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:21.759 vertical and horizontal. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:24.560 That's a great outworking of the law. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:33.039 And Rahab is a great example of that in all the shadows of the Old Testament for us, applied 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:36.279 by God Himself in the New Testament. 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:41.599 So can I finish just with applying this, trying to apply it a little bit more to our own lives? 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:46.000 Because there are principles here and the shadows of the Old Testament are brought under New 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:47.000 Testament light. 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:51.759 And I just want to say two things because it speaks about our God and it also speaks about 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.759 our faith. 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:58.599 There is a passage about the importance of faith in Jesus Christ, trusting in our Redeemer 00:22:58.599 --> 00:22:59.680 and our Savior. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:04.440 First thing about God is He matters, okay? 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:11.359 God matters because His Word that's revealed here and throughout Scripture, in judgment 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:14.279 and mercy is true. 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:23.200 You know, Calvary, Calvary is the visual representation of the truth of God's Word in judgment and 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:25.559 in mercy. 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:30.079 And that never changes and He doesn't lie. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:36.000 He is a just God and we are unjust sinners. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:43.079 And the only place that we can get forgiveness is when He Himself in all His mercy takes 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:46.599 our sin on Himself. 00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:52.000 We are all accountable to God and we want to be accountable to Him covered in the righteousness 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:53.399 of Jesus. 00:23:53.399 --> 00:23:57.519 Our only hope is trusting in what Jesus has done for us. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:03.119 So your life, your choices tomorrow all will have consequences. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:09.439 What you choose to do, how you choose to live, the path you take as a Christian tomorrow or 00:24:09.439 --> 00:24:12.559 tonight or today or what you did last week. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:19.079 Because of consequences, because we have to live and recognize that we are responsible 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:20.279 as Christians. 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:25.960 We've been given the Holy Spirit and there's a prayer ceiling a deal there. 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:32.639 And sometimes it always matters how we live. 00:24:32.639 --> 00:24:37.000 It always matters how we live. 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:42.519 And God matters and His incredible love for us should drive us towards it. 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:44.599 What are you doing with His love? 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:45.960 What are we doing with His love? 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:47.400 Are we walking away from it? 00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:54.240 Are we treating it casually or do we recognize if we love Him, if we have come to Him in 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:58.200 faith we will obey what He says. 00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:03.519 So God matters and He uses shock tactics to expose our hearts. 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:09.079 I've kind of touched on this already. 00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:14.119 Quite a long time ago I had the graveyard slot at a church planting conference in Edinburgh, 00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:16.119 probably about 10 or 12 years ago. 00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:18.440 I'm not sure, it was quite a long time ago. 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:22.839 And it was a kind of pastoral slot after lunch when everyone was digesting their lunch and 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:23.839 they were all falling asleep. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:28.359 And I was to speak on, I was asked to speak on Legion. 00:25:28.359 --> 00:25:36.959 And someone 10 years later said to me, I remember that because you said we are Legion. 00:25:36.959 --> 00:25:41.879 And so tonight I'm saying again, but what I'm saying is we are Rahab. 00:25:41.879 --> 00:25:47.919 And He uses shock tactics to remind us of that, that we are all Rahab. 00:25:47.919 --> 00:25:54.399 Because our moral compass often judges others and protects ourselves. 00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:05.880 But very often we are the ones who have prostituted ourselves and abused God and His love by metaphorically 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:14.080 sleeping with idols, with metaphorically putting others in the place of God and not recognizing 00:26:14.080 --> 00:26:16.920 faithfulness and loyalty to Him. 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:20.519 And He's saying, and He's reminding us here that faith helps us to see that it's not how 00:26:20.519 --> 00:26:26.559 others view you either positively or negatively, or even how you view yourself and how I view 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:27.559 myself. 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:31.000 God says, it's how I view you that really matters. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.119 And He's saying we are all Rahabs by nature. 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:36.279 We're all alienated from God. 00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:37.799 Our identity is torn to bits. 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:39.240 We're broken and dying. 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:44.759 And we have only one hope, the same hope that was Rahabs trusting in the living God and 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:50.759 knowing and coming to know His shalom, His peace. 00:26:50.759 --> 00:27:01.079 The truth needs to bring that light into our hearts that we are all Rahab. 00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:06.000 You need that if you're not a believer this evening, to know that you need redemption. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:11.839 And as new Christians and as old, mature Christians, we never get beyond that. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:21.199 The daily need to repent, to see as God sees, and to trust in Him for a hope and a future. 00:27:21.199 --> 00:27:23.119 So God, He matters. 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:27.439 He uses shock tactics and He reminds us that people matter. 00:27:27.439 --> 00:27:33.279 I love the story of Rahab because it reminds us that no one's beyond redemption, humanly 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:36.759 speaking, as we look at maybe her life. 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:42.119 And we need to recapture that for the people we know and love who don't know Jesus, and 00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:46.480 we make the judgment on them that they will never come to Christ. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:53.519 We need to remember Rahab and start praying again, big prayers for people, for people that 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:59.839 maybe are far, far away from the kingdom, and recognize that God is well able. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:04.879 And He gives us stories like Rahab and also the genealogy of Jesus to remind us that He 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:13.400 fills His genealogy with women that were barren, that were old, and men that were useless because 00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:20.080 He reminds us that it's a miracle of grace and a work of God in people's hearts. 00:28:20.080 --> 00:28:24.040 So remember that about God, but also about our faith. 00:28:24.040 --> 00:28:26.360 It speaks about our faith. 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:31.680 Our faith is always based on God's Word and God's work. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:35.080 That's very important. 00:28:35.080 --> 00:28:38.640 Joshua went to conquest the land because of what God had promised, and he looked back 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:41.680 at the five books of Moses to hear God's Word. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:42.680 That's in itself amazing. 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:45.680 That was the only Bible he had. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.680 Rahab heard what God was doing, and she put her trust in Him. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:56.279 So God's Word and God's work, even in the Old Testament shadows, how much more do we 00:28:56.279 --> 00:29:05.000 have privilege of God's Word and generations of God at work changing people's lives. 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:06.359 His promises never fail me. 00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:11.559 Our faith be based on the character and the Word and the work of God. 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:18.839 Don't let circumstances or feelings dictate your obedience and service to Jesus. 00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:20.359 Base everything. 00:29:20.359 --> 00:29:22.480 Found your life. 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:25.039 Send your roots to the living water all the time. 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:26.920 Keep remembering that picture. 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:29.519 Send your roots from Jeremiah 17. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:33.960 And in terms of our faith, what story does our life of faith tell? 00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:38.399 Because here we have Joshua, and he's dependable and courageous in faith. 00:29:38.399 --> 00:29:41.559 They've never made a film about Joshua because he's probably too good. 00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:47.799 There's not a lot of wildness about him, but he's a great faithful character and new blessing 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:49.119 because of that. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:53.000 And here's Rahab, hugely influential on her family. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.279 So different from Lot. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:01.880 She had this great risk and courage of obedience because she saw he was worth it. 00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:06.759 And we need to ask what story, what kind of story our life is tell? 00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:09.240 What story of faith is our life telling? 00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:16.279 You know, faith, God tells us it comes from hearing and our feet are beautiful if we are 00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:22.880 walking and telling and bringing the good news. 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:29.440 Because it's easy to hide just behind being nice or even just being genuine. 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:35.720 But is our life a life of courage and obedience? 00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:38.600 To whom are our loyalties given? 00:30:38.600 --> 00:30:44.040 You know, a great gemelli at that great missionary that, you know, maybe some of the older ones 00:30:44.040 --> 00:30:46.840 know more about than the younger ones. 00:30:46.840 --> 00:30:51.880 But he said he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain, what he cannot lose. 00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:56.760 Courage and the risk of obedience. 00:30:56.760 --> 00:31:00.080 And we remember it in terms of the character of faith. 00:31:00.080 --> 00:31:02.200 We believe against all the odds. 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:04.240 Remember that, all the odds of human reasoning. 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:09.480 People looked at Jericho with all its fantastic ramparts and army and everything. 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:15.320 And this ragtag of guys and girls who had been wandering the desert for 40 years. 00:31:15.320 --> 00:31:21.120 It was only God who put that fear in them and Rahab could see that it was the living 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:23.439 God that was behind this people. 00:31:23.439 --> 00:31:27.199 And we need to remember that in our own lives that we have the living God and we have His 00:31:27.199 --> 00:31:34.239 mercy in our lives, whatever is happening in this crazy mental world in which we're 00:31:34.239 --> 00:31:35.239 living. 00:31:35.239 --> 00:31:38.119 Who are we listening to? 00:31:38.119 --> 00:31:41.559 And lastly, faith. 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:44.479 The character of faith reminds us that it becomes a new creation. 00:31:44.479 --> 00:31:48.759 She became a new creation as she trusted and her whole life changed. 00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:58.680 She left a life of prostitution and became a significant mother in Israel as it were. 00:31:58.680 --> 00:32:02.359 And I can imagine her saying, as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. 00:32:02.359 --> 00:32:08.920 But she and Joshua had that same kind of newness within their lives. 00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:14.440 And we are to always seek and remember, not to be in a rut, we are to seek that newness 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:22.200 and that ongoing newness and freshness and vibrancy and growth and development in our 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:25.240 faith because that's the great thing about faith. 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:29.000 It doesn't leave us in a rut. 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:33.960 And it doesn't say, oh, I've been a Christian 25 years ago and yeah, and that happened a 00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:36.000 long time ago and I'm just getting on my life now. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:42.680 There's this brilliant developmental aspect of faith that means sometimes we take one 00:32:42.680 --> 00:32:47.120 step back, two steps back and sometimes even three steps back, but then maybe four steps 00:32:47.120 --> 00:32:48.120 forward at some point. 00:32:48.120 --> 00:32:52.840 And we're growing and we're progressing in grace as we repent and believe and trust 00:32:52.840 --> 00:33:00.120 in the great Jesus who loves us and who from before the beginning of the world has vowed 00:33:00.120 --> 00:33:05.080 that he will not lose one of those for whom he died. 00:33:05.080 --> 00:33:09.519 Remember that and grow in grace and be inspired by rehab. 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:18.119 And if you're not a Christian, please consider this one story that permeates the whole of 00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:24.359 Scripture of which rehab is just a type and example of trust in the living God, the only 00:33:24.359 --> 00:33:26.839 hope of life and of a future. 00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:33.920 And really, you will know transformation and you will know hope unbridled. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:39.720 Keep your roots, keep sending them out and no fruitfulness even in times of drought. 00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:40.720 Amen. 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:41.720 Let's pray. 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:46.960 Father God, we ask and pray that you would help us to know you better. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:51.000 We thank you for this brilliant story. 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:55.759 We thank you that it still resonates with life because it's the living Word of God and 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:03.080 it's the story of a living, a person who did live and who died and but who is alive as 00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:07.919 as alive today as they ever were in Christ, rehab. 00:34:07.919 --> 00:34:12.519 And we thank you for that great hope that even though we die yet we will live in Christ. 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:15.400 What parallels that? 00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:17.639 What comes near that Lord? 00:34:17.639 --> 00:34:18.639 Nothing. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:25.920 Forgive us for the idols that we just ram into our hearts and lives as if anything else 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:34.760 can give what Jesus offers and help us, we pray to come to you with a freshness, a recognition 00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:35.760 of your grace. 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:40.680 However far we might have fallen this week, however difficult our lives have been, however 00:34:40.680 --> 00:34:46.000 blasphemous we have been, our prostitutes, how we prostitute our relationship with you. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:50.480 Lord, we thank you that you simply ask us to return and you give us back the years the 00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:51.480 locusts have eaten. 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:52.920 We rejoice in that. 00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:56.039 We rejoice that you're not like us in these things. 00:34:56.039 --> 00:35:04.800 You don't bear grudges, you don't give us a period of cooling down or warming up or 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:09.519 a testing period before you accept us back. 00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:16.400 We just ask that we would come with open hearts and open lives to you. 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:18.159 Bless this week too us. 00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:23.119 Bless everyone who's here and may you speak and be with them and encourage them and give 00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:28.079 them courage and hope, give us all courage and hope to share our faith this week. 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:34.559 And remind us just as you brought the spies to Raham's house, maybe completely unwittingly, 00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:36.359 but you are working in our heart. 00:35:36.359 --> 00:35:41.759 May you bring us to people this week in whom you're already working and may we be faithful 00:35:41.759 --> 00:35:45.000 to share the news of Jesus Christ with them. 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:47.920 Who knows what will happen. 00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:48.760 Amen.