October 7th of last year for Israel will be in its history a day as FDR said after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. It is Described by Israelis as “our 9/11”.
There is a repeated theme in Scripture: The call to Remember. This is one of the reasons why God gave to His people the Sabbath and 7 annual feasts outlined in Leviticus 23.
In the New Testament the key focus is to remember the Cross and Resurrection. They were the fulfillment of the Sabbath and the appointed feasts of the Lord. For in Jesus we find rest for Christ is our Passover and our “First Fruits”.
God gave appointed times so that we would look back and never forget what God has done for us – that He will never leave or forsake us.
Today I want us to look back at the events chronicled in Joshua 2. This will help us have a better understanding today as Israel fights for their right to exist in the land that God has entrusted to them.
Their battle then and today is against flesh and blood but though they do not realize it is also against principalities of deep darkness.
The battle there today at its root is a fight against God and His sovereignty over His creation and choices. God’s Word tells us that the Land of Israel does not belong to the Jews but to the Lord.
He gives the Nations their territories as Deut. 32:8-9 tells us:
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel. “For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
The account of Rahab helping the spies in Jericho, reflect several themes happening in Israel today, particularly in terms of security, faith, and the nations in the region.
In Josh 2 Israel is beginning their advance to take the Land God has given them, but they must deal with hostile forces and fortified cities, such as Jericho.
This is not unlike the modern State of Israel today. God is still the God of Israel, He has not changed. In fact the enemies of Israel have been given a key to how to get rid of the Jews in Jeremiah 31:35-36:
Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.
In Deut. 9 Moses told Israel it was not because you were good or righteous that He was giving Israel the Land, but because of the sin of the Canaanites.
Today Israel faces all kinds of security threats and there is a great need for the necessity of intelligence gathering, strategic planning, and defense. It was true then and throughout Israel’s history.
In Josh. 2 The spies were sent to Jericho to assess the situation and gather intelligence. Here we learn of Rahab, a Canaanite, who aligns herself with God and the destiny of Israel.
Rahab’s faith in the God of Israel plays a central role in her decision to help the spies. Her story highlights for us how faith can change the course of our lives, even in the most difficult and dangerous of situations we face.
When modern Israel was re-established in 1948, it was seen by many Christians as fulfillment of biblical prophecy and the ongoing unfolding of God’s plan for the world.
For both Christians and Jews, Israel’s existence today has profound spiritual significance when we understand how the modern state of Israel fulfills the biblical promises God made to the Jewish people. His faithfulness to Israel is a reminder of His faithfulness to us.
Rahab’s acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty and her place in God’s plan should remind us of the blessings that come through faith and action in response to that faith.
God used her to prove a continual promise made to Abraham; I will bless those that bless thee and curse those that curse thee.
In v 2 we learn that Rahab was a harlot. The Hebrew word means an immoral woman usually for hire. Some feel the need to save Rahab’s reputation since she’s a member of the “Faith Hall of Fame” (Heb 11).
But that is exactly what faith in the God of Israel does – it transforms lives and families – wrecked because of sin.
The spies went to this house of prostitution because it was an ideal place to gain information about the city and its security.
Rahab’s story is a demonstration of God’s heart for all and His desire to redeem anyone who will come and abide in Him. Today all who come to the God of Israel through Yeshua will find deliverance and salvation.
Look in Joshua 2:8: Rahab says “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.
Despite being a Canaanite living in a city destined for destruction, she professes her faith that the God of Israel is truly God. She tells the spies in v 11 …for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath”.
The Canaanites were under God’s judgment because of their persistent and extreme evil. This included idolatry, child sacrifice, and more unspeakable sins.
Was Israel more righteous than the Canaanites? God’s Word tells us that there is none righteous, not one. God is holy and must judge sin. The entire generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt came under God’s judgment for their sin which included idolatry, unbelief, and rebellion so that only Joshua and Caleb of that generation survived.
Sadly, much of the church does not recognize that God’s promises to Israel even in her unbelief will never nullify His promises to Israel and the Jewish people. As Paul writes in great detail in Romans 9-11.
I believe that those who come to faith in Yeshua and are baptized by His Spirit will never lose their salvation. Like Israel they will experience discipline, but nothing will separate us from the Love of God in Messiah Yeshua.
400 years earlier God told Abraham in Genesis 15 “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, … As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
God gave the Canaanites centuries to turn from their evil ways, but they continued in their practices that were repulsive to God and devastating to the people of the land.
If you ask people who live under the governments of Hamas, Hizbollah, Iran and the Houthis, if they could talk freely, they will tell you that they long to be free of the tyranny and ungodly behavior they live under.
Nations that use children and civilians as human shields to hide behind and from where they launch their rockets of destruction.
God’s judgment on the Canaanites was not arbitrary but necessary to uphold His justice and holiness. That judgment served to protect Israel from being influenced by their practices.
Despite this judgment, Rahab demonstrated that any Canaanite who showed faith and reverence for the God of Israel could themselves find grace mercy and redemption, showing God’s willingness to save all who will come to Him.
Rahab and all in Jericho had heard how the God of Israel parted the Red Sea and defeated the Amorite kings. These accounts caused fear to fall on the people, but in Rahab, they stirred something deeper — faith.
Her words to the spies were a testimony of her transformation from fear to faith. She recognized that the God of Israel was the one true God.
Rahab’s faith foreshadowed the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s redemptive plan. Just as Rahab came to believe in the God of Israel, so today many from all nations can and do come to faith in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua.
Her faith shows that the God of Israel is not just for one nation but for all who will believe and turn to Him. In Joshua 2:12-14 We read Rahab’s words
“Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
Rahab’s plea for mercy is profound. She asks the spies to swear an oath to spare her and her family from the coming destruction of Jericho. They agree, saying, “Our lives for yours” (Joshua 2:14).
These spies were empowered to offer the protection of the God of Israel if she protected them on their mission. This exchange symbolizes the redemptive power of God’s grace.
Today we are similarly empowered as His ambassadors to grant all who will come to Him in faith, his deliverance from the immanent judgment that is coming to this world.
In v. 18 the Scarlet Cord is a Symbol of Redemption: Rahab is told to tie a scarlet cord in her window as a sign for her household to be spared (Joshua 2:18).
This scarlet cord is a picture of our redemption and salvation, like the blood of the Passover lamb placed on the doorposts, that protected Israel in Egypt from the plagues of God’s judgment.
So, looking back we see how these events point forward to events happening today. And how God can bring blessing to those who come in faith to God and who trust and obey His Word.
God’s judgment is on the world but faith in Him brings salvation from God’s immanent judgment both now and forever.
Rahab’s story teaches us that God’s grace is not limited by nationality, ethnicity, or past sins. Rahab, a Canaanite woman and harlot, finds a place in the family of God because of her faith and willingness to act on that faith.
This is the Gospel message: Yeshua came to bring redemption to all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike making them one people.
Further we see Rahab’s Role in God’s Sovereign Plan. When Joshua sent the spies into Jericho, they were led to Rahab’s house. While some may view this encounter as coincidence, we recognize it as God’s divine providence.
God had a plan for Rahab, before she was even born and through her, He demonstrated His sovereign election. Rahab’s story does not end with the fall of Jericho. She becomes part of the lineage of King David and, ultimately, the Messiah (Matthew 1:5).
In this way, Rahab, a Gentile woman with a troubled past, is woven into the very genealogy of Yeshua. This is a profound example of how God can use anyone, regardless of their background, to fulfill His redemptive purposes.
If you look at the genealogy of Jesus in Matt. 1, you will learn that Rahab was Boaz’s mother. Rahab probably didn’t live long enough to welcome her daughter-in-law Ruth into the family; but Boaz’s knowledge of his mother’s faith and her transformation from a Canaanite to an Israelite was nothing new to him.
He learned from his mother that God welcomes a people under God’s judgment. Ruth was a Moabite, a people whom God had placed under His judgment for their idolatry and treatment of Israel: Deut. 23:3-4
No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD, because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Boaz learned from his father Salmon that her faith and faithfulness made her a true daughter of Israel and part of God’s covenant people. He was able to overcome his instinctive nationalism, to bring Ruth, a “woman of excellence” (Ru 3:11) into his home.
Joshua 2 reminds us that God’s plans are often beyond our understanding. The sending of the spies, Rahab’s protection of them, and her subsequent inclusion in Israel demonstrate that God is at work in ways we may not immediately recognize.
In our own lives, God can use unexpected circumstances and unlikely individuals to bring about His plans for redemption.
Rahab’s story is a testament to the power of faith, the reach of God’s grace, and the unfolding of His sovereign plan. We see in Rahab a picture of God’s heart for all people, Jew and Gentile.
Her faith in the God of Israel, her redemption through a scarlet cord, and her inclusion in the Messianic lineage point us to the greater story of redemption through Yeshua the Messiah.
Kaddish is a prayer that Jews recite during days of mourning. It means “holy” and is an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over every aspect of our lives.
This paragraph usually follows the Mourners Kaddish in most Jewish prayer books. It helps allay our fears as we enter the unknown following the death of someone we love.
Be not afraid of sudden terror, nor of the storm that strikes the wicked. (Proverbs 3:25) Form your plot — it shall fail; lay your plan — it shall not prevail. For God is with us. Even to your old age I will be the same. When you are gray-haired, I will still sustain you. I have made you and I will bear you. I will sustain you and save you. (Isaiah 8:10, 46:4)
Prayer and Offering
