Hebrews 11

Welcome all of those of you that are visiting with us today! We hope you have a great experience here. I want to begin by congratulating… Many of you probably didn’t get to meet our Children’s Director. That’s because he was in the hospital with his wife who just had a baby last night! So we give her a round of applause in case they’re watching. This is Hadley, Hadley Fisher, born to Caleb and Bethany Fisher and and their son, Ford. We congratulate them… Beautiful baby girl there!

So anyway, if you’ve got a copy of scripture, Hebrews chapter 11. That’s where we’re going, and we’re really rounding the corner to ending a series titled God’s Hall of Faith. And we have had a great time throughout the summer in this series! And this particular character here is near and very dear to my heart this morning.

I think of, in 1990 there was a romantic comedy movie that came out, Pretty Woman. Remember that? Basically, launched Julia Roberts into stardom where this wealthy businessman, played by Richard Gere, falls in love with… a prostitute! But that movie’s got nothing on the love story that resulted from the faith of our very unlikely hero in the text today, where you make your way to verse 30.

But I like to imagine a first century Jew reading this text, reading Hebrews chapter 11 and just sort of amen-ing as they go, ‘Oh, Abel… Yes!’ ‘You know, Enoch… he walked with God, Yes!’ ‘Noah… you know, the flood, the ark…’ ‘Abraham, the father of our faith,’  ‘Sarah, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses… Yes! Yes! ‘Amen! Amen!’ — and then suddenly, ‘Rahab?‘ And she’s not just called “Rahab.” She’s called “Rahab, the prostitute!” And the reason I bring this up is because with one exception, she’s always called Rahab, identified as the prostitute. I say this because a well-known woman teacher, who I have great respect for otherwise, took a shot at male Bible teachers in general for the way they treat women in the Bible, and particularly Rahab. In fact, she was implying that Rahab’s profession was forced upon her. Now, it might be. We don’t know. But as I listened to her, it almost seemed like she was unwittingly downplaying the grace of God in her life. So to be clear, Rahab was a prostitute. In fact, the references in the New Testament, the Greek word is the word we get our English word, “pornography” from that word. So my point is the Bible doesn’t water down Rahab’s life. It exalts the grace of God in her life! Rahab might be the greatest example of the grace of God found anywhere in the Old Testament! She is a mark… listen to this… she is a marquee of hope for everyone who has lived and some of you that are currently living in a sin-filled life. She is your hope, this character.

So without further ado, all the way down to Hebrews 11 and verse 30, as we pick it up in its context,

Hebrews 11:30-31

30 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, (Remember that word disobedient) because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

Now we don’t want to assume everybody knows all the stories of the Old Testament, but Hebrews was written to Hebrews to tell the Hebrews to quit being Hebrews. These Hebrews knew the stories and they’d been moved by the stories as have many of you. They knew the story of Rahab and so they’re sort of shocked that she makes it in. But if you don’t know the story, in summary, Moses, the great father of the Israelites… so Abraham‘s the father of their faith, but he’s on the Mount Rushmore, so to speak. He leads the children of Israel after a 400 year enslavement in Egypt out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, into the wilderness (where they disobey) and they wander for 40 years until he, himself, dies. God raises up a new deliver, and that is Joshua. The narrative of this story is found in Joshua 2 through 6. We’re gonna allude to it. You can mark it, read it on your own later, but we’re actually in Hebrews 11. So, Joshua leads the children of Israel to the Jordan River. They go through it on dry ground much like they did 40 years earlier through the Red Sea, and they come upon this impenetrable fortress of Jericho. Jericho was filled with Canaanites. The Canaanites were a diabolically sinful people… Diabolically! So in fact, archaeologists tell us, and historians tell us that they would take live babies, just born, put them into jars and embed them into the wall And as a foundation sacrifices, then just cover it up, talk about what Paul Harvey used to call ‘abortion after the fact.’ In fact, one writer says, “They were begging for judgment!” That’s how wicked these people were! But Joshua then sends out two spies to penetrate this impenetrable fortress. Actually go in there, just incognito, although they get discovered. And they go to, they go at night. Joshua 2:2-7 says they went at night. And of course that would have been the right time to do it because that’s the reason why they go to a prostitute’s house. They go to Rahab’s house and prostitutes would have been open for business at night. And so they go there and then they’re open for business. Rahab hides them up on the top of her home which is actually right there in the wall of Jericho. And so she does so and amongst the flax that is up there. Somehow or another, the king finds out about it and he confronts Rahab in the story, but he accepts her explanation, because, after all, it’s the house of a prostitute. Rahab says ‘They came. They were here, but they’ve already left, and they’ve gone that-a way.’ — And he accepts it, because you didn’t go to a prostitute’s house to spend the night like you’re in a hotel. And so it makes sense to him. And so with that, Rahab goes back up and dialogues with these two spies! And we pick it up there. We’ll see it here. Here it is in Joshua chapter two.

Joshua 2:8-11

8 “Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof

9 and said to the men,” (and notice what I’ve emphasized here) “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you is falling upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land” (what’s the next word?) “melt“ (remember that) “away before you.

10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.

11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts” (there it is again) “melted. And there was no spirit left in any man because of you.”

So, I mean, there’s no internet back in that day, but notice that we know, we’ve heard news. In the Eastern world of that day traveled very, very fast. And Rahab was not the only one who had heard. Notice she’s mentioning everybody’s heart has been, they’ve been literally gutted, dispirited by what they’ve heard… God, the God of the Israelites, had done for them from the time they’d left Egypt. So then at this point, Rahab stuns these two spies with an incredible declaration of faith! Here it is in the next line.

Joshua 2:11b, “… for the LORD your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.“

And so with that, the spies strike a deal with her. She says, “… you will save,” (Joshua 2:13a) she’s so confident, this impenetrable fortress is coming down, she believes it! And so she says, ‘Will you save me?’ — And notice, she’s not just concerned about herself. She’s concerned for her family. ‘Will you save me? Will you save my family?’ — And so they strike a deal, and they say, ‘Yes, we’ll do it. If they’re all here on the day we come and this place comes down. And so here’s how we’re gonna know. You’re going to be given a scarlet cord. It’s a rope of some kind, out the window (because her home was embedded, right into the wall) ‘It’ll be right out the window,’ and a scarlet red cord, or rope, or ribbon, or whatever it was, would have been strikingly obvious as this Jewish army encircled again and again, and again and again, the city of Jericho… 13 times! And so that’s what happened! On the… they encircled the city once for six consecutive days. They’d walked by that window. They had seen that cord. And on the seventh day, they went around that city seven times. And on the seventh time, the horns blew, the people shouted! The walls collapsed, the city was destroyed, burnt. It was a miracle!

In fact, it’s one of the most archeologically documented events in all of the Bible, this event. And so apparently when the walls collapsed, It created a natural ramp so that the army of Israel could just go right in. In fact, in the narrative in Joshua 6:20, here’s what it says. Notice how they got into it. It says this:

Joshua 6:20, “So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down” (what?) “flat” (archaeology confirms that it fell down flat!) “so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.”

So the wall fell and fell outwardly, not inwardly, so that these armies could get right in. But this is really not so much a story about the collapse of the wall as it is about the character of Rahab. So how does this explain the rescue of Rahab and her family? And if you’re like me, many of you have probably envisioned something like this. The walls came down, everything except that one section, you know? And with the scarlet cord, you know, and we’re all, ‘Yeah, that’s the one!’ But there’s no evidence in the Bible that that’s what took place. In fact, if we take the Bible literally, and we do, the whole thing came down… everything! — including her house! So how did this happen? How did the rescue take place? And now it takes a little, you know, sanctified imagination here. But I think that Rahab and her family were rescued before the whole thing was collapsed, possibly on the last day. And just imagine if you will the last day, they’re circling it… they’re circling it… they’re circling it… they’re circling it… they’re circling it… and maybe even on the seventh time around, then those spies go up to it, go up to it, and they bring Rahab and her family down in the exact way they got down days earlier… by the window, and then… Kaboom! The walls came a tumbling down!

Now, it’s hard to separate our character, Rahab, from the event, but we have to do that a little bit here. So we’re talking about Rahab and her faith. So, Rahab is a story of faith, and not just faith, but faith that works. Remember, Rahab was not an atheist. Nobody… atheists did not exist in Bible times. They believed in gods, and most of them were polytheists. The Canaanites believed in gods. The only question was, ‘Who was The God? Who was the greatest of all the gods? Who was the top of the heap?’ — so to speak. And Rahab, by faith, declared her faith in the living God when she said, — Look at it again:

Joshua 2:11b, “… for the LORD your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.“

And then, because the Bible never talks about just praying prayers and things like that. I mean, we do pray to receive Christ as our Savior, but if it’s real our lives are changed… as was Rahab’s. So we’re told that she risked her own life by hiding those spies and then sending them off in a different direction.

James, on the flip side of your Bible, focuses on Rahab because her faith had works embedded within it. Here’s what James says. James says this:

James 2:25-26

25 “And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute (notice how she’s described) justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

The Apostle Paul said to the Philippians, he said:

[Philippians 2:12b] “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…“

Have you ever read that? So, the idea here is that God worked faith into Rahab, and Rahab worked it out with her actions, hiding the spies.

So here’s the question for you this morning. How is faith working itself out in your life right now? Where is the evidence that you have gone beyond the profession of your faith? Where is the change in your life? The Bible says,

[2 Corinthians 5:17] “If anyone is in Christ they are a” (what? They are) “a new creation.”

That has to be there. How is your story working out? And how does it work out when you’re going through a trial, and some of you are doing that right now. It’s the trials that we go through, big, small, and everything in between, where our faith is verified, where we know for sure that it’s real!

Just the other day, my wife and I got a text from a dear friend in California. We’ve mentored her and her pastor husband for about a decade, and they’ve become very dear to us. And recently she was diagnosed with a virulent, really, really awful form of cancer. And so her life is hanging in the balance. But here’s what she wrote to my wife and I just the other day:

“I was reading in Psalm 121[1b]. “From where does my help come?” The Lord who made heaven and earth, seeing the ocean and how vast and far and wide and deep it is. God made that! It declares His beauty, creativity, power and authority. He tells the ocean to go no further and it obeys! I am in awe of who God is! He has authority over my body… not cancer! Cancer submits to Him. He tells it, it can go no further and it obeys! How awesome to rest in who our God is! The battle belongs to the Lord. I belong to Him. Hallelujah!”

a text from a dear friend in California

That is the faith of Rahab! That is the faith that you need when you’re going through whatever you’re going through!

So Rahab is a story of faith, but she’s also a story of readiness. If you read the narrative back in Joshua chapter two, and she strikes this deal with the spies, they don’t tell her when they’re coming! Rahab had no idea when they would return. Would they come back in a week? Would they come back in a month? Would it be a year from now? Did they have to do some strategic planning? — But from that moment on, we know from the text, she was ready! Here’s what it says, ‘When the spies departed, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.’

[Joshua 2:21, “And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.“]

When did she do it? When they left.

You know, when I became a Christian over 40 years ago, I was so jacked up about Jesus coming back! I was so ready, I had my bags packed! Wait a minute… You can’t bring anything with you. But I was ready! And I wonder sometimes, how ready am I now? How ready are you?

John writes in first John 2, he says,

1 John 2:28, “And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame” (that’s literally what the Greek says, “…not be ashamed“) “at His coming.“

Would you be ashamed? Would you be ready? Are you ready? Rahab’s faith was a story of readiness. Are you ready?

Her faith is a story, it’s a love story. We gotta go there, don’t we? It’s a love story, and it’s a really cool one! In fact, she is just sort of sprinkled throughout the scripture, and not the least of which, and by the way, the only time she’s not referred to as a prostitute is in the genealogy of Jesus! As you go through Matthew chapter one, the very first book in the New Testament, you see the genealogy of Jesus. I mean, you come to verse five, it says:

Matthew 1:5, “…and Salmon the father of Boaz” (watch this) “by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse…”

Rahab became Boaz’s mother! If you know the story of Ruth, that’s a love story, isn’t it? Sure it is!

By the way, Jewish tradition tells us that Salmon mentioned here, that’s why I underlined it, was… one of those two spies! That’s a pretty cool story, isn’t it? We don’t know that for a fact, but I’m just going to pretend it’s true, because it makes it a great love story!

And speaking of love stories, here’s the best one of all! Going back to that genealogy and the line and all the people, if you look at Matthew chapter one, there are five women, which women were almost never included in genealogies in those days… — A couple of adulterers, two prostitutes, a bunch of bad guys, and One great Savior over ’em all! — Over us all… over you!

And here’s the deal. Jesus Christ wants to write you into His love story! And some of you are here right now and you feel like Rahab, you feel so unworthy because you’ve been so dirty, sin-filled.

I was just thinking while we sang the last song in the last service, I was thinking about how I preached right here a number of years ago and there was a guy in the back just shuddering, literally, physically shuddering! His life, he was so “Rahab!” He was filled with immorality and drugs and fever! — One of the worst sin-filled lives I’ve ever personally dealt with, and right there, he repented of his sin! And today, he is in the ministry in one of our Engage Network churches, serving Jesus Christ! (I thought somebody would start clapping or something! — congregation applauding) This is what God does! This is the love story of God! — And He wants to write you into His story! It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or where you’re at right now, you have to believe this love story is for you!

There’s one more thing about Rahab. It’s a story of rescue. That’s the thing that really comes to our mind when we see this story. Jericho, this impenetrable fortress we showed you, talked to you about, was a city of destruction! Think about this. It was, it was meted out for destruction. Except for Rahab and her family… no one survived! In first John 2,

[1John 2:17, “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”]

… we’re told that the world is passing away. We live, you live, I live, — We all live… in a city of destruction! Just let that sink in. And like the residents of Jericho, some of you and some of you watching online, you’ve heard… you’ve heard the story of Jesus. You’ve heard what Christ could do for you, and you have witnessed the power of God to transform lives around you. You’ve seen it all! And you’ve even been moved by the people that God has rescued from various lifestyles. And while we are all living in the city of destruction, some of us have accepted God’s scarlet thread of redemption that’ll rescue us in the coming doom, because this whole place is coming down… just like Jericho!

I know it’s an election year… and since the presidential campaign of 1980 and Ronald Reagan I have heard the same line every time. “This is the most important election of all time!” (audience laughing) When somebody says that to me, I say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so will the next one be and the one after that.” I’ll tell you this. No matter what election cycle it is, you will still be living in the city of destruction! The whole place is coming down!

And by the way, did you catch the Jerichoites, the Canaanites living in Jericho, that what their hearts were? I mentioned it a couple times before the wall came down. Let me show it to you again.

[Joshua 2:11] “And as soon as we heard it, our hearts (what?) melted,” (the Hebrew word means to be dissolved) And there was no spirit left in any man…”

In other words, the Canaanites that were living in Jericho were moved! They were convicted… just like some of you! You know the Gospel is true! You know that Christ died for you! You know that you need to repent of your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be transformed, you will be saved, you will be changed… all of it! You know it! — But you’ve never trusted Him! You’re like those Canaanites. Your heart’s melted and it’s even dissolved! Your spirit, you’ve been gutted… but it hasn’t changed you. You’re a little bit like earlier in Hebrews where it says in chapter four of these words:

Hebrews 4:2, “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them,” (Why?) “because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”

That’s where some of you are right now. You’ve heard this message. You’ve been moved by it… but you haven’t united the moving with faith.

The scarlet cord depicted in this story is a picture of salvation. It’s a lot like the Exodus. Remember, at the Passover with Moses years earlier, they took the lamb and they examined the lamb. It wasn’t enough that they examined the lamb. They had to kill the lamb, spill its blood. But it wasn’t enough that the lamb spilled its blood. They had to take the blood and they had to put it on their homes. And then God said,

[Exodus 12:13] “…when I see the blood, I will pass over…”

It’s the same story! It’s the same story. It’s the one repeated in Scripture. I just thought of this. Now, Jesus said in

John 5:24, “…whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.“

That can be you. That can be you. It pictures the blood of Jesus. And if you have God’s scarlet thread of redemption around your heart, you’ll be rescued… just before this whole place comes down! 13 times… 13 times! Talk about one chance after another chance, after another chance, after another chance! 13 times around that city in a week! Do you suppose they felt secure in their impenetrable fortress? —And then on the 13th time with a shout, their lives were changed… in an instant! In fact, with the exception of Rahab and her family, their lives ended… in an instant!

Listen folks, Rahab, the prostitute, is God’s megaphone calling you to Himself! One day, your life will end in an instant. Today, some of your lives can be changed in the same way… by placing your faith in Jesus! You live in the city of destruction, and only the faith of Rahab and the scarlet cord

Let’s pray. Our Father in Heaven, we are grateful today for the faith of Rahab, and God, we have been reminded that just as those Canaanites were living in a city of doom, so are we. And whatever we have been trusting, whatever we’re holding onto, whatever is our security, it’s all going to go in a day to come! And some here, Lord, they’re hanging on to the security of their family, the security of their marriage, the security of their finances, the security of the stuff that they own, and none of it is going to last! Oh God, I pray that you would cause a number of individuals that are in this room and some watch an online to acknowledge that they have trusted in other things other than You. And if that’s you, dear friend, if you have been moved by this message, you’ve been moved before by the message, but you never did anything about it, you never united your movement, the moving of your heart, the melting of your heart… with faith, would you believe today? Would you acknowledge your sin to God and believe that His Son, Jesus, died for you? Look what He did for you! He died and shed His blood for you! — and grab ahold of that scarlet thread by faith and believe on His death and resurrection. And then you’ll be ready when this city of destruction comes down. May those of us who are ready and are ready, Lord, hold out that scarlet thread for everyone to see, so that we might bring others to the safety that only comes in knowing Jesus. And we pray all these things in His name. Amen.