May 14, 2017 “Rahab reflects how mothers are made in heaven” (James 2:24-26)

 May 14, 2017 “Rahab reflects how mothers are made in heaven” James 2:24-26

Walk Thru The Word for Today: James 2: 21 – 26 ESV

21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.  24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Walk Thru The Word for Today: Joshua 2: 1-4

1And Joshua the son of Nun sent^a two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 2And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

Walk Thru The Word for Today: Joshua 2: 5-9

5And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. 8Before the men^b lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

Walk Thru The Word for Today: Joshua 2: 10-13 – 10For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.^c 11And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

Walk Thru The Word for Today: Joshua 2: 14-17 – 14And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” 15Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. 16And she said^d to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” 17The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear.

Walk Thru The Word for Today: Joshua 2: 5-9

18Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window

 Walk Thru The Word for Today: Joshua 2: 10-13 –

Joshua 2: 22-24 22They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. 23Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. 24And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.”

Message Map: Jas. 2:24-26 “Rahab reflects how mothers are made in heaven”

• Rahab’s Faith compares to Abraham’s (Jas 2:24-26)
• Rahab’s Risks and faith-filled Works
• The Witnesses confirm Rahab’s testimony
• Rahab’s Jericho rescue foretells the gospel
• Rahab’s Risk is rewarded & reflects mothers are made in heaven

Rahab’s profile: Risk-taking entrepreneurial courtesan

Rahab was a courtesan (harlot of wealthy or upper-class clients) who also may have operated a lodging/inn for travelers.

She also seems to manufacture linen from flax – a blue-flowered herbaceous plant, cultivated for its seed (linseed) and for textile (fabric) fiber made from its stalks, as they covered the flat roof of her house.

She also may have been an artisan of dyeing, for she had a stock of scarlet or red chord in her possession. This seems to favor Rahab as being a virtuous and industrious woman in need of God’s morality to a complete of Proverbs 31:13 – “She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.”  – People only reach their potential when they hear the Gospel. (Faith comes by hearing Romans 10:17)

Rahab’s risk compares to Abraham’s  (Jas 2:24-26 & Joshua 2: 4)

(Not on screen): James 2: 20-26 20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless/worthless/dead? 21Was not Abraham our father justified (proved to be saved) by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

On screen):  24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Rahab’s Faith-filled risks  (Jas 2:24-26 & Joshua 2: 4)

Faith-Filled Risks are based upon Who God Is & what we discern He is calling us to do!

Rahab’s Faith-Filled Risks included which of the following associated with how she had hidden  the two spies? (Jas 2:24-26 & Joshua 2: 4)

1. Aligning with two spies, whom could double-cross her.
2. If the Jericho king found out, he’d kill her.
3. Being counter-culture and believing in the Hebrew God of the Israelites.
4. Even if spared, the Israelites would never accept nor trust her and might enslave her. (She and her family would spend their lives as outcasts or perhaps slaves.)

Rahab’s faith & faithful works are evidence of redemption & salvation

Joshua 2: 8 ⁸ “I know (learned and considered true) that the LORD has given you the land, and that the dread/fear/terror of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt/faint away (become demoralized and disheartened) before you.

God told Abraham in Gen 15: 13-16 “12As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

”What the Amorites are experiencing in their capital headquarters city of Jericho is what Americans are experiencing, as we can’t stand up against the enemy we’ve empowered by turning our back on God.  The concept of “separation of church and state” communicates that the Bible, God and Christianity are bad for the state.  Not only does this idea cause many people to sever themselves from salvation in Christ, it also causes them to abandon the many positive outcomes Christianity brings to civilize societies.  Considering this, Rahab’s actions seem even more a demonstration of unusual faith.

James 2: 14 ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save (heal, preserve, rescue) him?

(Matt 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Rahab’s witness is confirmed by the spies / witnesses

(James 2:24-26 & Joshua 2: 4)

In Joshua 2: 9  Rahab received the men who are called the messengers  in James 2:25.  “Messengers are those who were “conveying news or orders from God to men” and sent them out by another way?

“By Another Way” signifies more than just a different direction. It means she acted neighborly in a countercultural  way towards them.

[bctt tweet=”May 14, 2017 “Rahab reflects how mothers are made in heaven” James 2:24-26″ username=”LibertyCF3″]

They came down from the hills to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. 24And said, “Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.” Mirroring what Rahab said!

Rahab’s Rescue At Jericho Foretells The Gospel

Joshua 2: 15-16 15Rahab’s house was built into the city wall. which should have been the most dangerous place to be during an attack.

[bctt tweet=”Because of God’s plan, however, Rahab’s house was the only Ark of salvation as the scarlet cloth marked her home as a place of passover in Jericho, as the red lamb’s blood saved Israel in Egypt in Exodus 12.” username=”LibertyCF3″]

16 Rahab sent the spies to the hills for three days. Then afterward they returned to the camp of disciples.

This foreshadows how Christ was crucified on a hill outside of Jerusalem and after three days was resurrected to return to His Disciples.

Rahab reflects how mothers are made in heaven

God’s purpose in sending the spies into Jericho was to

1. Confirm Jericho was a great place to inhabit (No because Jericho was burned and Joshua 6:26 curses anyone who’d try to rebuild it.)
2. Confirm the battle plan of walking around the city for 7 days indeed would bring down the walls. (No because the the spies meet Rahab in Joshua 2, and the battle plan is not mentioned until after the appearance of “The Commander of the Army” – a Theophany of The Lord Jesus Christ appears to fight the battle in Joshua 5: 13-16, after which the battle plan is explained in Joshua 6. 1-7)
3. Make a Divine Appointment to rescue only Rahab and her family by God’s grace – as Lot was rescued from Sodom & Gomorrah.
4. Establish Rahab as a mother in the bloodline of Christ. Prove, like in Rahab’s case, unlikely Mothers Can Be Made by God!

Rahab reveals God’s plan of predestination

Ephesians 1: 3-5 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us^b for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

We are predestined to be saved and serve God, and have our lives count for His purposes.

Rev 13:8 – The names of the saved are written in the book of life before the foundation of the world.

Rahab’s risk is rewarded  

• Rahab’s faith-filled act is compared to Abraham’s faith-filled or faith-motivated actions in James 2: 20-26.
• Rahab is in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith in verse 31. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
• Rahab is cited in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:5.
• There she is listed as the wife of Salmon, with whom she became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, and they became the parents of Obed, who was the father of Jesse, the father of King David. (See also Ruth 4:20-21 & 1 Chronicles 2:11.)

 Rahab rehab’s Reflects The risks & rewards of Godly Motherhood

Rahab’s counter-culture, faith-filled actions included she

• Listened, Learned and Believed Who Is.
• Discerned God at work in her life.
• Recognized God’s people – those through whom God was/is working.
• Acted on the opportunities God put before her.
• Accepted God’s people as her people.
• Was willing to figure out how to fit into God’s assembly of people, which God encourages us all to do in Heb. 11:25.

 Loving God Most Means Letting God Liberate Us to Reflect Christ Through Us

Dear God, please work within us to make us the type of people & especially mothers in whom You can manifest the fullness of Your Holy Spirit to conform us to Your Image that improves our ability to

• Listen, Learn and Believe Who You Are
• Discern You at work in our lives
• Recognize Your people
• Act on the opportunities You put before us
• Accept Your People As Our People by
• Remember to regularly assemble together with Your people as you encourage us to do in Heb. 11:25

To view the recorded message, go to:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klaNAcqr22o