November 17, 2024: Sunday School

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Joshua 2:1-24
• Sermon
• Prayer

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Sermon Title: Faith, Deception, and the Unlikely Heroine of Jericho

Scripture: Joshua 2:1-24

I. Context: Leadership in Action

A. Joshua 2 picks up the narrative of leadership established in Joshua 1, contrasting sharply with the failed spy mission 40 years earlier B. Joshua sends only two spies (not twelve), likely because of the earlier failure when ten of twelve returned with a faithless report C. A possible chronological note: the spies may have been sent concurrently with the events of Joshua 1, resolving the apparent tension with the "three days" timeline in Joshua 1:11

II. Rahab: The Central Figure

A. Only two characters are named in the chapter — Joshua and Rahab

1. Rahab is a Gentile, a prostitute, and a social nobody with no status in Jericho
2. She is nonetheless the central human figure in the story B. Rahab's knowledge of God is striking
3. She uses the covenant name Yahweh (the LORD) in Joshua 2:11, demonstrating genuine theological awareness
4. She recounts God's mighty acts: the parting of the sea, and the defeat of Sihon and Og the Amorites (Joshua 2:10)
5. News of Israel's God had spread; the people of Jericho had opportunity to repent and turn to God

III. Three Conversations Structuring the Chapter

A. Rahab and the king's messengers (Joshua 2:2-7)

1. The king quickly learns the spies' purpose, showing the mission's secrecy was short-lived
2. Rahab lies to the king, sending the pursuers east while hiding the spies on the roof
3. An irony: the spies are safely shut inside the city while the pursuers are shut outside B. Rahab's covenant with the spies (Joshua 2:8-21)
4. Rahab openly declares her faith: "The LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" (Joshua 2:11)
5. Her motive is self-preservation, but it is grounded in genuine faith in God's sovereign purposes
6. She requests that her entire family — father, mother, brothers, and all in her household — be spared, echoing Noah's family being saved (Genesis 7:1)
7. The scarlet cord in the window parallels the blood on the doorposts at Passover — a sign pointing to the blood of Christ C. The spies' departure instructions (Joshua 2:17-21)
8. The spies give specific, careful conditions for the oath, emphasizing their own guiltlessness if the terms are broken
9. Rahab immediately ties the scarlet cord in the window, demonstrating prompt, trusting obedience

IV. The Question of Rahab's Lie

A. Scripture commends Rahab in two New Testament passages

1. Hebrews 11:31 — Rahab is included in the Hall of Faith: she "did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies"
2. James 2:25 — Rahab illustrates that saving faith manifests in works; her faith expressed itself through receiving and protecting the spies B. Other biblical examples of commended deception include the Hebrew midwives (Exodus 1:17-21) C. A principle: where lies are commended in Scripture, they consistently align with God's purposes and the preservation of innocent life; they stand in contrast to self-serving deception like Abraham's lie about Sarah (Genesis 12:13)

V. The Spies' Report Compared to the Twelve

A. The original twelve spies focused on visible obstacles — walled cities, giants (Numbers 13:28-33) B. These two spies focus on the spiritual reality: God has given the land, and the inhabitants' hearts are melting with fear (Joshua 2:24, echoing Rahab's words in Joshua 2:11) C. Their report is confident and faith-filled: "Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands"

VI. Rahab's Place in Redemptive History

A. Rahab is one of three women named in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5)

1. She marries Salmon and becomes the mother of Boaz
2. Her husband may have been one of the two spies, though Scripture does not confirm this B. God takes an immoral Gentile woman with no social standing and grafts her into the people of God and into the Messianic line C. This reflects God's consistent pattern of inverting human expectations — the unlikely, the outcast, the undeserving are drawn into his purposes by grace D. Rahab's story points forward to Christ, who grafts undeserving Gentiles into the people of God