JOSHUA - Chapter 2 - Rahab and the Two Spies
JOSHUA – Chapter 2
RAHAB AND THE TWO SPIES
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
May 24, 2016, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Rahab’s victory of faith gave her a name in the Hebrew’s Hall of Faith. Heb. 11:31: “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with them that did not believe, because she received the spies with peace.”
She is also in the lineage of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1: 5-6: “Salmon begat Booz (Boaz) of Rachab (#7342=Rahab); and Booze begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat David.”
James 2:25: “Likewise Rahab was justified by works when she received the messengers, and sent them out another way.”
The two spies were the first fruits of the nation to cross over Jordan, and to enter the Land.
- They are two in number (witness, covenant).
- They were protected from the King of Jericho
- They were hidden on the housetop under the flax (linen=righteous).
In chapter 1:11 – Joshua told the people to be ready to cross over the Jordan in three days. The Israelites were encamped at Shittim which was the last camp pitched by Moses. This was directly opposite of Jericho on the east side of the Jordan.
Jericho was a fortified frontier city; wealthy, walled, a city of trade. The city was strongly fortified and commanded the valley of the lower Jordan. It was a crowded area, covering about six acres. It was located west of the Jordan near the northern tip of the Dead Sea.
The metaphorical principle of Jericho can be any stronghold “that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Every high thing that exalts itself against the Word of God.” (2 Cor. 10: 3-5)
This can be the stronghold of the imagination of the carnal mind; a natural family who is proud against the dealings of God; a spiritual family (local church) that is stubborn and proud against the dealings of God. It can be a religious system, world system (religious, political, economic or social) over which Satan is king.’’
It can be the strong hold that the curse of the Law had on creation before the Lord Jesus redeemed us from the bondage of the curse of the law of sin, sickness, poverty, and death. Your Jericho can represent anything that has a strong hold on your spirit, mind and body.
Joshua 1: 1-3: “Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying; go view the land of Jericho. They went, and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. It was told the King of Jericho saying, behold, there came men here tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country. The king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying, Bring forth the men who have come to you, which entered into your house; for they are here to search out all the country.”
The King of Jericho is a type of Satan, who is the prince and god of this world system (kosmos). He is also a type of the spirit of the anti-Christ in a leader in the religious, political, economic of social realm of the world system, energized by Satan and ruling in the flesh.
I can say without hesitation that the spirit of anti-Christ in Barrack Hussein Obama is operating in this transgender restroom executive order by which he is attempting to impose this sin on the United States citizens.
1: 4-11: “The woman took the two men, and hid them saying, ‘there came men to me, but I knew not where they were.’ It came to pass about the time of shutting the gate when it was dark that the men went out; where the men went I do not know. Pursue after them quickly; for you shall overtake them. She had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. The men pursued after them all the way to Jordan to the fords; and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone, they shut the gate. Before they lay down, she came up to them upon the roof. She said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land…”
This is Rahab’s confession of Faith. She said. “I know…” She used the Covenant Name of Jehovah. “The inhabitants of Jericho and the land are full of terror. They have heard “how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and OG, whom you utterly destroyed.”
Satan and his demons should be full of terror every time a Christian wakes us in the morning.
Through revelation, through testimony, through belief, the inhabitants of Jericho were full of terror because Jehovah, the God of the Israelites had defeated all of Israel’s enemies before them. Jericho was next. There was no more courage in the enemy. God is Elohim in heaven above and in earth beneath. Many in the United States of America have become faithless and no longer fear God. However, those of us who know God know that He will perform His Word.
2:12-14: “I pray you swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you will also show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token: that you will save alive my father, mother, brothers and sisters, and all they have, and deliver our lives from death. The men answered her, our life for yours. If you do not speak of this business, it shall be when the Lord gives us the land; we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
The word “swear” and “token” reveal a solemn covenant. Rahab wanted her whole house saved.
This is a New Testament Covenant of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
This same blessing fell on the faith of Cornelius. Acts 1:14: Peter spoke the words to Cornelius, “whereby you and your entire house shall be saved.”
Then again on the keeper of the prison where Paul and Silas were freed by an earthquake; when the keeper of the prison asked how he could be saved, Paul and Silas replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.”
This is a Kingdom principle. Rahab’s victory of faith ushered in this Kingdom promise for all of us through Faith in the Blood of Jesus Christ. All of the heroes of Faith in Hebrews 11 through faith apprehended the Kingdom of God from heaven to earth through faith.
There is a bloody scarlet thread of redemption that weaves itself from Genesis to Revelation.
2: 15: “She let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwells upon the wall.”
The walls of Jericho were double and were made of bricks 4 inches thick and 1- 2 feet long. The outer wall was 6 feet thick. Houses were built over the spaces of separation. Rahab’s house was upon the town wall.
2: 16-21: “She said to them, get you to the mountain, less the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers return. Afterward you may go your way. The men said to her, we will be blameless of this your oath which you have made us swear. When we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you let us down by; and you shall bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household home with you. It shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. Whosoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any be upon him.”
Rahab speaks of anyone who is locked in the bondage to the king of Jericho who through faith is delivered by the Blood (scarlet cord) to become part of the covenant community and the royal family.
The Greek word for harlot is “porne” (#4204). #4203 is pornue and means to engage in unlawful lust or fornication. So now we know where the word pornography originates.
Rahab stands alone in her faith in Jehovah. This self-denying faith cost her something. When she received the spies, she turned her back on all that Jericho stood for. The cord (rope) was “the token” for which she had asked. Those who dyed fabrics in those days stored the dye in cords.
There were three conditions to this pact:
- When Israel took the city, make the house known by hanging the scarlet cord out the window.
- Collect the family into the house at that time. No one is to leave the premises or He is responsible for his own life.
- If the covenant was uttered, then the path of verse 14 (“our life for yours”) would be disannulled.
Rahab’s life depended upon a thread and a promise.
2:22-24: “They went and came to the mountain. They abode there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers searched for them every where, but could not find them. The two men returned, and descended from the mountain. They passed over and came to Joshua, the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them. They said to Joshua, truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.”
The mountain was probably on the north side of Jericho, a wall of rock 1200-1500 feet with limestone caves. They swam the Jordan and returned unto Joshua with the good report.
A nation gripped with despair is already a defeated nation. Until Donald J. Trump began to overturn political correctness in this nation, even the government leaders had come into agreement with Barrack Hussein Obama’s unlawful strongholds over this nation. Church leaders have cowered down to be politically correct.
Joshua kept his word in sparing Rahab. She married an Israelite named Salmon, who may have been the son of Caleb. He was a prince of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of David and the Lord Jesus Christ. Rahab was the ancestress of Christ Jesus and a heroine of faith.
The book of Joshua reveals a people who enter, overcome, and occupy the Land of God’s promise. This is the principle of Victory by Faith. For the New Testament Church, it is the principle of the overcomer who lives, walks, and has his being in Christ, in the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven.
Moses (the old order) is dead. A new generation under new leadership now is arising to walk into the promises of God. The new generation had a new leader in a new sphere of living.
“The response of men’s hearts to divine destiny must be birthed by the Holy Ghost. The Lord of Glory has but one theme, message, and project to build Himself a holy habitation in the earth that will contain and then dispense His glory, a people out of whom He can live and bless the nations. Survival in these last days pivots on two hinges: We must know the Lord is with us, and we must declare that we are with the Lord.” (K.V.)
There is not an Old Testament Jesus and a New Testament Jesus. There is One Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He continually leads His people into victory and rest. As we make our journey through the book of Joshua, we will see Christ Jesus as the Captain of Our Salvation, and the One who leads the Church into our inheritance of rest, bounty, and triumph.
God-sent men/women must be “in” the Lord’s message. The message in the prophet is his spiritual heredity---Christ in the man---the man in Christ. You might be the Lord’s messenger, but are you in the Lord’s message.
Joshua teaches us the lesson that FAITH is “the victory that overcomes the world.” (1 Jn. 5:4).
As believers, by FAITH, we are responsible to surmount formidable obstacles, engage in protracted warfare, and overcome fierce foes before we possess the blessings and power of the Kingdom of God.
June 14thth we will see the faith principle of crossing the Jordan. This is the Passover of conquest, which speaks of the preparation of God’s people for the full possession of the Kingdom. The reproach of Egypt is rolled away (slavery to anything). The enemy is afraid. This results in a new dimension of warfare which we will see in chapter 5.
The nation had been baptized into Moses (1 Cor. 10: 1-11), in the Red Sea (baptism in water), and in the Cloud (Holy Ghost Baptism). Now they were to move out of the Feast of Pentecost into the Feast of Tabernacles. Now they were to experience a third baptism; a baptism into Joshua, which is a baptism of fire that brings God’s people into a new dimension of spiritual warfare and the overcoming life. Moses the shepherd gives way to Joshua the soldier.
Next week Henry Johnson will teach the Bible Study and I will resume Chapter 3 on June 14th---the crossing of the Jordan.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of Principles of Present Truth by: Kelly Varner. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of Rev. Varner (1949-2009