RAHAB AND THE SPIES

Proclamation

“And the king of Jericho send unto Rahab, saying, ‘Bring forth the men that are come to thee …’ and the woman to the two men, and hid them, and said thus, ‘There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were …’ ”  Joshua 2:3-4 (KJV)

 

Explanation

These are the words of God which were written by Joshua under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Joshua was filled with The Spirit because Moses had laid hands on him. (Deuteronomy 34:9)  After the Israelites had grieved for the death of Moses for thirty days, (Deuteronomy 34:8) The Lord God spoke to Joshua and told him that he would lead the people into the promise land. (Joshua 1:1-6)  Joshua sent out two men to secretly spy on the land of Jericho.  When they got to Jericho they went to the house of the prostitute Rahab and stayed there. (Joshua 2:1)  The king of Jericho heard that men from Israel had come to search out their land.  So the king sent men to Rahab’s house to get the two Israelite spies but she hid the men and told the messengers from the king that she did not know where they went. (Joshua 2:2-6)  Rahab had heard what The Lord had done for the children of Israel and the He had promised them the land of Canaan.  She told the spies that since she had shown them kindness, that they would show her and her family kindness when they take over. (Joshua 2:9-14)  Then she let them down the city wall through a window with a rope.  She told them to his in the mountains for three days before they return to their people.  When the two spies returned to Joshua they told him all that had happened and that the people in the land of Canaan were afraid of them. (Joshua 2:15-24)

 

Application

Joshua was chosen by Moses; he even went part of the way up The Mount of God with him. (Exodus 24:13)  The Lord God had spoken to him telling him that he was going to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. (Joshua 1:2)  Joshua sent two men to secretly spy on the land.  They returned with a good report that the people in the land were afraid of them and told how helpful Rahab had been.  Rahab sided with the spies from Israel against her own country.  God can use our enemies to work for our benefit.  He can strike fear in the hearts of our enemies before the fight or battle begins.  The devil may cause some people to oppose us, but this is a “fixed fight” because we already know that in the end we will win.