A PROST
ITUTE CHANGES EVERYTHING FOR HER FAMILY
Pastor Tim P. Blaisure – 5/14/23 – Mother’s Day Message
Intro:
How many times have you or someone else looked at a woman and said; “They could never be a good mom, I don’t see how God could use that person, why are they here? Look at what they do, look like, act like, smell like, how could they change?
Isn’t it wonderful that God doesn’t judge us like people do, if He did none of us would be saved and used of God.
Have you ever heard the saying? “You can’t judge a book by its cover”?
Let’s look at a woman who everyone shunned but God used to bring a great victory.
Foundation Scriptures:
Joshua 2:1-21
Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So, the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
2 But someone told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”
3 So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.”
4 Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from.
5 They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.”
6 (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.)
7 So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.
8 Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them.
9 “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror.
10 For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed.
11 No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord, your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
12 “Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that
13 when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers, and sisters, and all their families.”
14 “We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.”
15 Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window.
16 “Escape to the hill country,” she told them. “Hide there for three days from the men searching for you. Then, when they have returned, you can go on your way.”
17 Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions.
18 When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house.
19 If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death.
20 If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.”
21 “I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.
POINTS ABOUT RAHAB TO UNDERSTAND
1. Rahab opened her house to the two spies from the Israel camp at the risk of her life.
2. She received orders to give the spies up.
3. She deceives the King of Jericho and the men sent by the king for the safety of the spies.
4. She then gives them a suggested direction to look for them, getting them out of her house.
5. She was hiding the two spies on the roof under bails of flax.
6. She went to the roof after the kings men left to talk with them.
7. She tells them what she knows. Joshua 2:9-11
“I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror.
10 For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed.
11 No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord, your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
8. She then wants to make a deal for what she is doing for them, and wants a guarantee.
9. She says, “When Jericho is conquered let me live, my father, mother, sisters, brothers, and their families.
10. They agree with the guarantee of safety with their own lives.
11. They give her instructions to follow. Joshua 2:17-20
“17 Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions.
18 When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house.
19 If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death.
20 If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.”
12. She accepts the guarantee in Joshua 2:21
“I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.”
13. They keep their Promise in Joshua 6:22-23
“Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, “Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family.”
23 The men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel.”
14. She and her family were saved by her faith with actions of saving the two spies: Hebrews 11:31
“It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”
15. She was taken in for safety near the Israel camp (justified)
James 2:24-26 AMPC
24 You see that a man is justified (pronounced righteous before God) through what he does and not alone through faith [through works of obedience as well as by what he believes].
25 So also with Rahab the harlot—was she not shown to be justified (pronounced righteous before God) by [good] deeds when she took in the scouts (spies) and sent them away by a different route?
26 For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead.
Conclusion:
Matthew 1:5 NLT
“Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).
(In the lineage of the Messiah) Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.”
· Rahab’s fear for her life and family turned into faith in the God of Israel and took her fear from the king of Jericho to protect the spies.
· She reveals to the spies what she and everyone around her heard, thinks, and are doing.
· She wants a guarantee and a new location.
· She receives:
- Saved with her family.
- Location near the camp of Israel.
- Protection
- Marries into the tribe of Judah.
- Becomes part of the lineage of the Messiah.
It is not who you are or what you have done in the past, but it is what makes you when you change sides with the God Almighty and you are saved, have a new destination, and become part of the family of God that changes your future as well as that of your generations to follow you.
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