Your Faith Has Saved You

Joshua 2 - Episode 117

God revealed Himself to the world through His people, Israel, and He does that today with Christians. Many resisted Him still, and instead of desiring to join God’s people, they fought against them and were defeated. But those who recognized Him as the Almighty, One and only, true God were saved through their faith in Him. We all need saving and we all receive salvation in the same way - by God’s grace through faith.

Rahab’s Faith in God – Joshua 2:1-11

Joshua had been waiting decades to take possession of the land that God had promised to His people. When Moses sent him to spy out the land forty years before, he came back as only a messenger to the people. This time, he was their leader, and he had every intention of entering the land as the Lord commanded. But being a military man, he wanted to know what to expect. So, he sent two men to check out the land and report back to him.

Rahab was a prostitute whose house was inside the city wall. Scholars say the wall of Jericho consisted of an inner and an outer barrier with houses built in between. This was a perfect location for a prostitute because she would be easily accessible to people going in and out of the gates, as well as those who lived within the city. Her house also seemed to be a perfect location for the spies to enter without suspicion. But apparently their ethnicity made them easily distinguishable, and they were quickly reported to the king as Israeli spies. Rahab hid the men under the stalks of flax that had been drying on her roof. (Dried stalks of flax were used to make linens.) Then she told the men who came searching for the spies that they had been there, but she did not realize they were from Israel, and they had already left. They knew the shallow areas of the Jordan River where the spies would need to cross, so they left the city and searched for them in that direction.

As soon as they were gone, Rahab retrieved the men from the roof, and professed her faith in their God. She even called Him by the personal name of Yahweh. She had hidden them because she feared their God much more than she feared the king of Jericho. Everyone had heard everything God had done for the Israelites since they left Egypt. They knew He had parted the Red Sea for them to cross, and then drowned the Egyptian army by covering them with the water once the Israelites were safely across. They also heard how the Israelites had defeated Sihon and Og, and everyone was afraid of them. They all saw what God had done. Although, everyone but Rahab, wanted to hunt the men down instead of confessing their fear and acknowledging that Israel’s God was too powerful to beat.

Rahab’s Promised Salvation – Joshua 2:12-24

Everyone was afraid of the Israelites. They may have even been afraid of their God. But Rahab put her faith in their God, while everyone else resisted. Then, after acknowledging that He was the God of heaven and earth, she asked for the salvation of her whole family. She had proven her faith by saving their lives from the king and she asked that they save her life in return. They swore to save everyone who was in her house at the time of their attack, as long as she did not tell anyone of their plans. She promised not to give them away, then snuck them out of the window with a long rope.

Since the men pursuing them had headed east towards the Jordan, Rahab sent the spies in the opposite direction towards the hills. She told them to hide there for three days to give the men plenty of time to return to the city before they went back to the Israelite’s camp. After they left, she hung a scarlet cord in her window so her house would be identifiable to the Israelites when they came to invade Jericho. The spies followed her instructions, then reported back to Joshua all she had told them. Just as God had promised, He had put the dread and fear of them on all the people. They had all heard about the Israelites and they were trembling in fear and anguish because of them. (see Deuteronomy 2:25, 11:25)

A Justifiable Lie?