Sermon

December 10, 2003
Midweek Advent #2
Joshua 2:
Pastor Robert Raasch

Rahab Waited for the One to Come

1. Consider Her Faith
2. Consider Her Fate

Would you say that your parents are pretty respectable people? Are they admired by others? How about your grandparents, or your great grandparents? Do you know anything about them? Were they people of character? People you could be proud of? When my father passed away a few months ago, my brothers and I had a chance to think about our ancestors a bit, to talk about the men who had gone before us-including our father. Even though my Dad died in a farming accident, he really wasn't a farmer by trade. He was an executive. He worked in the corporate world. He retired as the senior vice-president of a large company. His father served as a senator in the Nebraska state legislature. His father's father was a hero in the civil war. On the other side of Dad's family tree was a Christian day school teacher and a Lutheran pastor who planted congregations around the Midwest. I guess that's one of the benefits of a funeral visitation. You get to learn a little more about the generations that have gone before you. I expect that as you think about your family tree, you can come up with some of these same kinds of people. People you admire, people with good reputations, people whom you are proud to call your ancestors.

But now imagine how you would feel if, as you researched your family tree, you discovered that your great, great grandmother was not such an upstanding citizen. In fact, how would you feel if you discovered that your great, great grandmother was a tramp, a floozy, someone who slept with any guy willing to pay her for her services? How would you feel if your ancestor was a prostitute? Is that something you would trumpet? You know, tell everyone, "I come from a long line of bar flies and saloon rats." I don't think so. Chances are, that would be a family secret that you would just as soon sweep under the carpet. You know, keep that skeleton in the closet. In fact, if you or I had the ability to pick our ancestors, I don't think any of us would choose to include a prostitute in our family line.

And yet, isn't it amazing that even though we wouldn't choose to have a prostitute as one of our ancestors, still the one person who truly could choose whom his ancestors would be, included just such a woman in his family tree? In Matthew chapter one, the inspired evangelist records the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And in verse 5 there is listed for all to see these words: "Salmon, the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab." Rahab, the woman we just read about in our Old Testament lesson. Rahab, the woman who is described not once but twice in the New Testament as "Rahab, the prostitute."

In our midweek Advent services this year, we are studying three women who are included in the family line of the Savior. Last week we looked at Sarah, next week we'll consider Ruth. Tonight we turn our attention to Rahab. But our focus is not just on the fact that Rahab was a direct ancestor of the Savior, but rather that she was a believer. Like all the other OT believers, she was patiently waiting for God to fulfill his promise of a Messiah. Or you might say that:

Rahab Waited for the One to Come

As we study this account:

First, we'll:
1. Consider Her Faith

Then we'll:
2. Consider Her Fate

If you think about it, there are few narratives in Scripture that contain the kind of suspense and intrigue that this one contains. I mean, think about it. You've got two spies from an enemy nation trying to infiltrate the land of Canaan. They sneak into the highly fortified city of Jericho. But rather than renting a room at the public inn, they slip into the local brothel. We might ask, "Why did they go there? Weren't these two men supposed to be men of God, representatives of the nation of Israel? Hadn't they been chosen and sent by God's prophet Joshua? Yes, they had; and therefore it would be wrong to assume that they visited Rahab to engage in some kind of immoral behavior. Rather, chances are much better that they saw this house as the perfect hide-out. Rahab, by the very nature of her business, would be forced to be discreet about her overnight guests. They could scope out the city from this location. And it's proximity to the city walls would make it easy for them to make a quick get-away.

Unfortunately, their plans didn't go quite the way they expected. Apparently, someone let the cat out of the bag. And the next thing you know, the king of Jericho has his henchmen pounding on Rahab's door. They say, "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house because they have come to spy out the whole land." Yikes! Suddenly this woman is thrust into a situation where she has to make a life or death decision. Does she hand over these two spies to face certain death at the hands of the king? Or does she do everything to protect their lives, even if it means endangering her own? Well, you heard the choice she made. She basically sends the king's men on a wild goose chase. She says, "the spies were here, but they're gone now. They headed out the gate at nightfall. If you hurry, you can still catch them." Meanwhile the spies are up on the flat roof of the house, hiding under some stalks of flax-and probably praying that neither of them coughs or sneezes.

Now I should probably say that there has been a lot of debate on whether Rahab was right in doing what she did for these two men. I mean, she basically lies to the king's officials. She tells them, "I don't know which way the two men went." Well, without going into great detail, let's keep in mind a number of things: First, remember that according to the 5th commandment, God requires that we do everything we can to help our neighbor protect his body and life. Secondly, the Bible tells us that when the government commands us to do something that is in conflict with a command of God, then as the Apostle Peter put it in Acts 5:29, "We must obey God rather than men!"

And finally, and maybe most importantly, let's not forget the commentary which Scripture itself makes on Rahab's actions. In the book of James, the inspired writer uses Rahab as an example of someone who put her faith into action. James asks the rhetorical question, "Was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?" You see, Scripture regards Rahab's actions regarding these spies as fruits of her faith.

But now, someone might ask, "Did this prostitute really have saving faith? Could she have put her faith in the one True God, even though she was living in the heathen land of Canaan? Well, judge for yourself. Listen to what Rahab says to the spies after getting rid of the soldiers at her door. She tells them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us….We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt…. When we heard of it, our hearts sank and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and earth below. Now please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family…." I find a number of things striking about her words. First, notice that Rahab knows all about the miracles God had performed for the Children of Israel. You might say that God's reputation preceded these men.

But more important than the fact that Rahab knew about God's power is the fact that she apparently also knew about God's grace. Notice that she doesn't refer to their god as some kind of nameless superpower. Four times she calls him the LORD. LORD in capital letters is God's covenant name. It's the name that God applies to himself when he wants to emphasize that he is a God of free and faithful grace, a God who keeps his promises, a God who has promised to send a Savior to rescue all mankind from the consequences of sin forever.

Now, the question is, how did this Canaanite woman come to believe in that God? Well, could it be that these two spies might have mentioned something to Rahab about who they were, who their God is and what he had promised to do for them? Is it unthinkable to believe that these men shared the hope that God had planted in their hearts? Couldn't God the Holy Spirit have worked saving faith in the heart of this sinful woman just as he had done for so many sinners before her-and after her? Sure he could have. In fact, when the New Testament writer to the Hebrews makes a whole list of people who had lived their lives by faith, whom does he include? That's right, Rahab. Heb 11: 31: "By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient."

By the call of the Holy Spirit, Rahab was led to put her trust in the true God. She trusted that God would bless her for doing what was right with these spies. She trusted that God would protect her during the invasion of her city. And most importantly, she trusted that that same God would ultimately make good on his promise to send a Savior for her soul. The question is, "Was Rahab's faith justified? Did things turn out all right for this woman with the questionable past? Now that we've considered Rahab's Faith, let's also II. Consider Rahab's Fate.

You heard what happened, didn't you? The men swore to her that if she hung a scarlet rope from her window, then the Israelite army would spare her and everyone else in her house. And when the day came for the Israelites to invade the city of Jericho, Joshua gave his men specific orders to rescue Rahab and her family. "Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, 'Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.' So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel…--and she lives among the Israelites to this day."

What a dramatic scene that must have been! While the walls of Jericho are tumbling down, and the city is in total chaos, these two men go in and rescue this woman and her family. Man, that's the stuff that movies are made of. Long before the Jessica Lynch Story or the movie "Saving Private Ryan," there as "the Rescue of Rahab the Prostitute."

And yet, I have to say that even more important than the fact that God rescued Rahab from physical harm is the fact that he rescued her from spiritual and eternal harm. Here is a woman who was caught in the sin of adultery-adultery by prostitution, no less. And yet, in his unfathomable mercy, God chose this woman as an instrument in his plan to give his people the land of Canaan. But even more importantly, God used this woman as an instrument in his plan to give all mankind a Savior from sin. I mean, to think that out of all the people who have ever lived in the world, God chose to put this woman into the line of the Messiah. A line that is still recorded for our eyes to see today.

My friends, is there a lesson here for you and me gathering together on this 2nd week of Advent. I believe so. The account of Rahab is not just a story about how a woman made a difficult decision to do the right thing for a pair of strangers. Or how God protects those who trust in him. Ultimately it is a dramatic reminder that Jesus Christ did not come to save perfect people. He came to save prostitutes and drunks, liars and thieves, gluttons and slackers. In other words, he came to save people just like you and me.

If Jesus was not ashamed to call a prostitute one of his ancestors, then you can be sure that God will not be ashamed to call you and me his children. But let's remember, you and I became God's children not on the basis of our good behavior, any more than Rahab became an ancestor of Jesus on the basis of her previous occupation. No Rahab and you and Il are where we are purely by God's unfathomable grace.

You may not have an impeccable reputation. There may be a lot of dirt in your past. And you may have a family tree filled with bad apples. But in God's eyes, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you have someone who sacrificed his life to make you right in the eyes of God. 3400 years ago God dressed a prostitute in a robe of Christ's righteousness. Today, God has dressed you in that same robe of righteousness. Believe it. And then live like you treasure it, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

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