Faith’s Hall of Fame: Season 2 Episode 8

Message Date: February 26, 2023

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
Hebrews 11:1-2 NKJV

Review:

We’ve seen a lot more about faith than just planes trains and automobiles.
Wilderness and the promised land.
The wilderness wasn’t just to get the Israelites out of Egypt, they needed the wilderness to get Egypt out of them and prepare them for the promised land.

Lessons from the Wilderness

Sometimes people stay in bondage because it’s familiar
You have to leave Egypt behind
It’s unfortunately common to take what God has provided and turn that provision into an idol, which leads to forgetting about God
Caleb and Joshua had a different spirit from the other spies. You have to be of a different spirit.

Rahab

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
Hebrews 11:30-31 NKJV

Joshua son of Nun secretly sent out from Shittim two men as spies: “Go. Look over the land. Check out Jericho.” They left and arrived at the house of a harlot named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “We’ve just learned that men arrived tonight to spy out the land. They’re from the People of Israel.” The king of Jericho sent word to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you to stay the night in your house. They’re spies; they’ve come to spy out the whole country.”
Joshua 2:1-3 MSG

There’s a God side and a man side
It takes both faith and careful planning
The house of Rahab was a perfect place because it was common for people to come and go in secrecy
God had sovereignly led them to the one person who believed in Him.
No matter what’s in the past it can’t hinder your future if you have faith in God. You can play a vital role in Gods plan not just for you and your family but for history.
The alarms tablets tell us that Canaan consisted of city states that corresponded with Egyptian pharaohs.

The woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, two men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they’d come from. At dark, when the gate was about to be shut, the men left. But I have no idea where they went. Hurry up! Chase them—you can still catch them!” (She had actually taken them up on the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax that were spread out for her on the roof.) So the men gave chase down the Jordan road toward the fords. As soon as they were gone, the gate was shut.

Joshua 2:4-7 MSG

Rahab rightly saw the conflict between her people and Israel’s God.
When she acknowledged Israel’s right to this land, she sided with Yahweh and the truth of God in the world.
In keeping with the war about to break out in her land, she did not release the position of Jericho’s enemy—i.e., her newfound compatriots. In this way, she did not divulge information demanded of her in a hostile situation.
The king’s demand for information was not that of a simple peace-time request (Romans 13-style). This was more like enemy operatives demanding information from a hostage.
Are we to believe that it is immoral for soldiers to give false information in times of war? The answer to that question goes beyond the scope of this blogpost, but that is the context here—not the simple dialogue between friendly neighbors.
Spirit of the law vs. letter of the law

Before the spies were down for the night, the woman came up to them on the roof and said, “I know that God has given you the land. We’re all afraid. Everyone in the country feels hopeless. We heard how God dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt, and what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you put under a holy curse and destroyed. We heard it and our hearts sank. We all had the wind knocked out of us. And all because of you, you and God, your God, God of the heavens above and God of the earth beneath”
Joshua 2:8-11 MSG

“There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 13:33 NKJV

“Now promise me by God. I showed you mercy; now show my family mercy. And give me some tangible proof, a guarantee of life for my father and mother, my brothers and sisters—everyone connected with my family. Save our souls from death!” “Our lives for yours!” said the men. “But don’t tell anyone our business. When God turns this land over to us, we’ll do right by you in loyal mercy.” She lowered them down out a window with a rope because her house was on the city wall to the outside. She told them, “Run for the hills so your pursuers won’t find you. Hide out for three days and give your pursuers time to return. Then get on your way.” The men told her, “In order to keep this oath you made us swear, here is what you must do: Hang this red rope out the window through which you let us down and gather your entire family with you in your house—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Anyone who goes out the doors of your house into the street and is killed, it’s his own fault—we aren’t responsible. But for everyone within the house we take full responsibility. If anyone lays a hand on one of them, it’s our fault. But if you tell anyone of our business here, the oath you made us swear is canceled—we’re no longer responsible.” She said, “If that’s what you say, that’s the way it is,” and sent them off. They left and she hung the red rope out the window.
Joshua 2:12-21 MSG

Scarlet chord of redemption

They headed for the hills and stayed there for three days until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had looked high and low but found nothing. The men headed back. They came down out of the hills, crossed the river, and returned to Joshua son of Nun and reported all their experiences. They told Joshua, “Yes! God has given the whole country to us. Everybody there is in a state of panic because of us.”
Joshua 2:22-24 MSG