Sermon Tone Analysis

Have you ever looked into your family tree?

It can be a lot of fun if you look deep into your family history and origins.

Most likely you’ll discover there are some pretty strange and odd characters in your family’s background.

Maybe that explains why . . .

well never mind?

Have you taken a hard look at Jesus’ family tree?

When we look at His family tree, we see kings and heroes of the faith.

We see people of great faith and great accomplishments.

We also find there are a few on the list who we may think were unsavory characters and did not belong on the family tree of the Savior.

It’s very interesting to note that 3 women were specifically named -- all of whom were unlikely candidates for membership on Jesus’ family tree.

One was Ruth, who was from Moab, a non-Israelite idol worshiper; another was Tamar, who masqueraded as a prostitute, and tricked her former father-in-law into fathering her children; the third was Rahab, also a prostitute, a Canaanite resident of Jericho who didn’t know the God of Israel.

God chose those whom we may not refer to as the best people to be part of the Messianic line.

In fact, God has a habit of picking unlikely people, obviously flawed people, to further His kingdom.

It seems that God loves to turn things upside down as He chooses the unexpected to lead His people.

God did it with Jesus, and He continues to do it with you and I.

Since God used flawed people in the Messianic line, that means He can use us to do great things in His kingdom.

Like it or not, we are ALL flawed!

The good news - - is that who we are or what we have done should never prevent us from experiencing the presence of God and experiencing a great faith relationship with God so that we can demonstrate our relationship with God to others.

Every year at this time, in honor of Mother’s Day, I take a break from our regular study to look at a woman from the Bible and glean from her various characteristics that we may apply in our own life today.

In the past years we have looked at Bathsheba, Salome, Lois and Eunice.

This year I want to look at Rahab.

Let’s begin with a quick look at the setting.

We first meet Rahab as the people of Israel are about to cross the Jordan river and enter Canaan, or Israel.

The book of Joshua records the entrance into the promised land by the Israelites.

In a sense it’s D-DAY and, like any good commander, before the invasion begins Joshua wanted to gather information about the enemy.

So Joshua secretly sent two spies to look over the land of Jericho.

Jericho was the focus of this recon mission because it was a formidable fortress city guarding the pass leading west into the nation.

Jericho was one of the many “city-states” that made up the land of Canaan at that time, each with it’s own ruler or king.

It was a well fortified city.

Dr. Bryant Wood, who had done extensive archeological research at Jericho, writes,

The mound, or tell, of Jericho was surrounded by a great earthen rampart or embankment with a stone retaining wall at its base.

The retaining wall was approximately 12-15 feet high.

On top of it was a mud-brick wall six feet thick and about 20 to 26 feet high.

At the crest of the embankment was a similar mud-brick wall whose base was roughly 46 feet above ground level outside the retaining wall.

This wall loomed above the Israelites as they marched around the city each day for seven days.

Although it was not a very large fortress, only about 8 acres total, it housed an estimated 2000 people, with another 1000 or more living in the outlying areas.

Thus, it was a crowded city.

Joshua wanted the spies to bring him information about Jericho’s walls and gates, its population, the size of its army, and more.

It is into this setting that we meet Rahab.

And when we first meet Rahab we meet someone who is...

I. Lost in her Sin

There are a number of things we see about Rahab right away in our story.

1.

A Canaanite

The Canaanites were a people who were idol worshipers, they lived in wicked rebellion against the will and purposes of God.

The Lord had predicted that Abraham’s descendants would claim the land when “the sin of the Amorites” reached its “full measure” (Gen 15:16b).

This “full measure” of sin was attained by the Canaanites in the generation leading to the Jewish conquest.

Moses warned his people about these sins they would encounter upon entering the Promised Land:

The Canaanites who were conquered by Joshua and his armies were not innocent victims, but wicked sinners who received the judgment their transgressions had warranted.

But there is something else that we see in the opening passage about Rahab.

She was also a...

2. A Prostitute

We learn right here in the first verse that Rahab was a prostitute.

Right here at the beginning of our story we find ourselves needing to stop and ask the question why.

Why did these men go to a prostitutes house?

One preacher suggests that away from the constraints of army life, these soldiers were out “for a good time” and God allowed them to get caught.

Oh, please!

Everyone knows that when a soldier is on a reconnaissance mission where his life is constantly in peril, “having a good time” is the last thing on his mind!

You only have to go back and read from chapter 1: 16-18 to find out what their attitude was at this time.

Well, as another writer has suggested, perhaps Rahab’s house would lend itself to the “best pieces of inside information.”

Perhaps, but let me suggest a better reason.

These spies were walking in the Spirit.

They were following the Lord as God led them each step of the way.

And God led them to none other than the home of a woman on the edge of society, lost in sin.

Why?

Because this was a divine appointment.

As we continue to see her story we will see that God’s hand is all over this.

He is working in this sinner’s heart and he is going to make her a new creation.

He is saving her and is going to use her in a mighty way.

Let’s continue Rahab’s story...

How did they know?

Most likely their dialect gave them away.

The minute they opened their mouths, they revealed all.

Notice that even though Jericho was a wicked city according to Leviticus 18 and Deut.

18:9-14, it apparently hadn’t reduced itself to Gestapo house-storming techniques.

What is this?

Its’ what looks like a boldfaced lie! Rahab’s not only a prostitute, she is also:

3. A Liar

So now we ask ourselves, if God is using Rahab and is working and leading these spies to her, does that mean that he condones lying?

Not at all!

He could have easily protected the spies in another way.

And Rahab could have said something else.

But don’t miss the point here.

The point that Scripture is making here is that when God calls and saves sinners, he takes us just as we are, “warts and all.”

Rahab is a liar.

So were some of us.

But notice also that she is something even worse.

Sh is...

4. A Traitor

So how does Rahab’s life stack up in the eyes of the World?

She is a woman, which was next to the level of slaves and cattle back then (as it is today in some parts of the world).

She was a prostitute.

Not only was she a women, but she was the lowest of women.

She was on the edge of society.

She was a Canaanite, which at the meant all kids of a variety of perversions.

She was a liar.

She was a traitor.

So how did the World see her?

They saw her as TRASH!

But how did God see her God saw her as His TREASURE!

A New Creation