The Bible - Slavery to Freedom Part 2 Joshua 2:2-21 3/10/13

Sermon 3-10-13 bible series pt 2 - slavery to freedom Joshua 2:2-21

2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute^[a] named Rahab and stayed there.² The king of Jericho was told, “Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³ So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. ⁵ At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” ⁶ (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) ⁷ So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.⁸ Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea^[b] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.^{[c] 11} When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. ¹² Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign ¹³ that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death.”¹⁴ “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”¹⁵ So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. ¹⁶ Now she had said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”¹⁷ The men said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us ¹⁸ unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. ¹⁹ If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰ But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”²¹ “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

Wider story of the exodus/wilderness/conquest

There is a lot here…we will go a lot of places today

Slavery, deliverance, the promised land

God’s people had been delivered from slavery in Egypt,

led through the Red Sea,

and had wandered in the Sinai wilderness for forty years.

received God’s Law and coalesced as a nation …

worshiped God in an organized fashion for the first time…..

but they were still nomads.

Their deliverance was not yet complete.

They did not have a land

In order for that to happen,

they had to conquer the most heavily fortified city in the entire land.

Jericho.  Rahab Lives in Jericho

Rahab is a prostitute [oldest profession]

The army is coming.  The people in the town are afraid.  rahab takes her chances with the invaders.  She becomes a part of the story of salvation,

Reference the window in the sanctuary – show                VIDEO CLIP

Commercial break – commercial one– long standing question

This is a question that all pastors get asked. 

Why does God want them to kill all of these people?

My old thoughts……God establishing himself

Greg Blessen--- this life is a small part of the big story

My comment fits better with how can God allow such killing. Basically it all boils down to God knows what Heaven is like and he knows what earth is like. I believe that the glory of Heaven so outshines our time here on earth that he looks at it from his perspective and knows that humans will be much better off in the Heaven. Perhaps death is even a gift.....? I think God knows that death on the battlefield, death of an innocent child, someone dying to early in life, someone leaving a loved on here on earth....the dead are all going to a better place than this sinful corrupt earth.   

We are taught from our youth to put the highest value on life in this world. We also have been given very strong survival instincts.   This gives us the perspective that this life is all we are sure of and we selfishly do not want to leave it. I believe the Holy Ghost shows us a different way. "the peace that passes all understanding". It may take the Holy Ghost a long time to work this miracle in us and hope that we all eventually "get it".

Some scripture that I use to support it includes:

Psalm 103:15-17

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.^[a]
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,

Isaiah 40: 6-8

⁶ The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he^[a] said, “What shall I cry?”

“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 51:7-9
“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people in whose heart is My law:
Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
⁸ For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation.”

Isaiah 55:8
For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us

1 Peter 1:24-25
because

“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man^[a] as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.”^[b]

Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Commercial 2 There are Two sides to every story

Israel saw her as a hero……..Jerichoians - they saw her as a trader…..

Contrasting stories of the jews and the Palestinians

I have a friend at church……jewish friend.  Another whose grand parents were run out of Israel in 48

Isaac vs Ishmael

There are two sides to every story…….

wouldnt it be nice if all opinions were welcomed and loved here

Can I push on you today?

Democrats vs republicans

June 25, 1876 - General Custer’s men had a story of the battle.  So did the Indians

One of the sad things of the story of Israel is that they went from

The oppressed became the oppressors [Jesus wants to save the Christians]

Not suggesting that you change your opinions, but want to make the point that there are other ways of looking at the story.  We celebrate rahab, but the townspeople did not….

Open your life paradigm to other ways of seeing the world

Back to Rahab the sinner, jeff the sinner

she was a prostitute, right? 

She gave herself to other things for personal gain

How would you like for your autobiography to start out like that?

How would you like for your story to be preserved forever with those words?

Well, guess what?  It kinda is - Not just your story. Mine, too.  -- All of us.

It’s the story of all sin

we have given ourselves to other things for personal gain

We have prostituted ourselves away from God

The salvation story is a story slavery to freedom - Deliverance -

Ultimately the story of salvation is being \delivered from our selves. 

We think we know, we think we have it all together.  We make a mess of our lives and god delivers us

It’s a process.   We never arrive in this life time.

Deliverance…freedom…..If we are delivered, then we are free….

Free from what?

Free to something.

Free to what?

They were nomads.  Released, but still wandering, never settled

It really isn’t enough to be freed from some bad thing if you are not then enjoined ot the good.

Jesus cast out demons….

The person who has had a marital problem…….most be enjoined back to their spouse...

Free away from sin……..free towards love

Free away from ourselves will…..free towards God

The circle must be complete

Or  some other addictive thing will come in

Like  Rahab - Our journey involves a choice

We have Free will

God is a perfect gentleman. 

He does not force you to choose him

Rahab faced a decision.

She could have turned the spies away.

She could have turned them in.

She didn’t have to help them.

The safe choice probably would have been to stay out of the line of fire.

But given a choice between the side the Lord was on and the other side,

she chose the Lord’s side. 

Maybe that is because she saw something real in israels God

Different from the statues in the temple of Jericho

She heard of a god that actually did things and she wanted to be a part of this

Have you ever heard someone talk about God in a way that made you want to know him?

This is why people live perfectly good homes and go into the mission field

This is why every year, people with good jobs leave them and go into the ministry.

God sets the captives free

By grace, through faith, I can be set free  Galatians 4:3-7

³ So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of the world. ⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.^{[b] 6} Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^[c] Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child,

God has made you also an heir.

But he will not do so without our consent.

One more thing before we go.  There is this scarlet cord

She was told to tie it on the door/window

Because she chose to side with God, she was not only forgiven

but she became the great-grandmother of King David …

from whose royal line Jesus the Messiah came.

That’s quite a journey,

from “Rahab the prostitute” to “Rahab the progenitor of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Do you realize what this means?

In a world where most of us have trouble with forgiving ourselves, this is huge.

Jeff brinkman, if God can forgive rahab, god can forgive you

Dave I don’t know what you have done in your life, but if God can forgive rahab, God can forgive you

This is good news.  Capital G good news.

From slavery to freedom.  Simply by choosing him.

Lets pray