Rahab's Redemption: A Tale of Courage and Faith

Show Notes

Episode 479: 
In this epsiode, we delve into the story of Rahab as told in Joshua chapter 2. Despite her past, Rahab's faith in God leads to her salvation and eventual inclusion in the lineage of Jesus. The hosts discuss the significance of Rahab's story, highlighting how her faith and courage transformed her life and the lives of her family members. We also emphasize the powerful message of redemption and the idea that God can use anyone, regardless of their past, for His glory.

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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, we're back the Bible Guys. That's right, that's right. I'm Jeff and this is Kyle and Chris is out of town this week, but we are super excited to be back. And today we have some bonus material. This isn't even on the list, and we're gonna go ahead and deal with the story that we were going to scuest. Absolutely super excited about that pretty pretty important story too. Yes, not cover. So before we get into that, though, we're actually. Gonna play quick game and uh, it's it's who's most likely too. Who's most likely between you and I? Okay, okay, okay, I haven't seen these by the way. Yeah, and I'll be honest, I didn't look ahead of time, ahead of time, so I do know. So we're just taking a vote on you're gonna you're gonna read a thing and that DESIREE arbitrarily chose, and. Then who's most likely you must either do these things or become these things. Okay, So be there uncomfortable? Yeah, I know. So there's five of them. So first one is who's most likely to become a meme? You or I. Oh, well, I've only seen several dozen memes of me, usually on a Sunday morning. I was just gonna say something dumb from stage, and immediately it's a meme. I was just gonna say. I think being with so many creatives on our team, I feel like anything on the same way. Anytime I say something stupid or make a funny face expression. Next thing you know, I'm on a group chat and somebody's replying with my face doing the same thing. And I and I have seen some memes of you. I have, so the one that's most common one of our drummers, Mark Crummins. Yes, is so quick to make so he always hears something that he thinks is funny, he puts it up there. We could probably find a dozen of them just searching from Mark. But so they make a bunch of memes of you too. Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, yes, And it's usually if it's a if it's a if it's a dumb look at the camera and they'll put something over top of it exactly something like that. So you're not the only one, but I think we're both gonna get definitely equal opportunity for getting made fun of. That's right, good. I gotta have thick skin. That's how it is, that heritage. We don't take ourselves. The way we show love is by eating our own. Yes, all right, here you go. Number two, it was most likely to show up at an event in costume by mistake. Mostly to show up an event in costume by mistake. I typically resist costume. I was. I was going to say, I think it'd be me, It's gonna be you. But it's not because the costume. It's because I think I don't always pay attention to the spider print. Well that's yeah, that's I'm gonna agree with that one. I do. The details just kind of escape me. It's more the bigger picture of things, and so I could see myself. In fact, I think it's happened before now that i'm remembering. There was a time there was something that happened and I thought it was a I showed up and I was like, I am the only one here. Yeah, I typically resist costumes. We'll do a couple of things every year where you know, kids events and things, so we have to wear costumes to go for it. Then I'll get in on it. I was Luigi a couple of years ago. I was what was that last year, I had all the SpongeBob people. Ye, your whole family was a SpongeBob. That was really great. People love that, by the way. That was really fun. So last year, my wife and I, you know, usually I don't I'm not a huge costume person neither, but if I'm gonna wear something, especially it's a themed, We're gonna go and get into it. So last year we dressed up as old people, which, by the way, is a very fun costume to do. So we I mean, and the thing is, we were able to find stuff at home, you know, like most of stuff because you're getting pretty yeah, exactly exactly, but it's fun. So we we you know, found a lot of stuff at home in goodwill. And then we went to our family Halloween party, and mind you it's only the kids dressed up, a bunch of adults there and me and Kristen we committed to like the first hour we were there, like the stay in character. We're just in character, like the first hour, and then got to the point where I was like, this is exactly Literally, people were just watching us and waiting to see we're going to say all the kids were just surrounding us. I'm like, wow, this is this is this is a lot of pressure. So anyways, that would be me. My wife and I were just in Venice a couple weeks ago, and you know they have those during Carnival, they have those Venetian you wear the courtier outfits with the little mask, you know, And Bonnie was like, hey, we should do that, and I was like, I can't think of any world, any universe. Now, I would be like that's a good. I no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no. I'm not fun with a powdered wig, you know, and all that lay buckles. And just have a little masks phra you too, now yeah? Yeah, okay. So third thing, who's most likely to eat something weird just to see what it tastes? Like? Oh I will, I will in the heartbeat, that's you, for sure, Yep, that is you for sure. Yeah. I would say when it comes to eating strange things, I'm not very adventurous. I'll be honest, No, especially if it involves spice, or if it looks weird or has a strange texture. I'm happy you know, people like, no, you have to try it. I don't feel that pressure like that doesn't it's but you have to. I'm like, do I I feel anxiety about it? Okay, right, but there's just something in me goes. I wonder what it tastes. Yeah, people like curiosity, right, Yeah, people like it, they're eating it, they're happy about it. Well, I wonder why, right, And a lot of those tastes are acquired tastes is what you find out. But I try at. Least not even for some people, probably not adventurous at all, but for me it was. I remember five six years ago, we're in Florida, but we're in like a like a like a you nique part of Florida where it's very like everybody like very local, locals only kind of thing. We went to a restaurant that was known for some of the exotic food, and the one I was willing to taste was alligator. Oh yeah, that's pretty tasty. Yeah, everybody's good. That's pretty good. And that just kind of sound funny to say I meet an alligator. Yeah. I ate I a camel burger in Fez in Morocco, just because I've never had camel before I was really good, okay, really really good. Yeah yeah, comparable to normal like burger meat. Yeah, it was really good. Okay. I like to know, all right, Fourth thing, who's most likely to find a hidden treasure? Hidden? Well? Where where you finding the hidden treasures? Like digging up a hire treasure or finding like a hidden treasure in a market place? Okay, that's I was thinking, just like the old school hidden treasure like a box from like you know. So I love going into markets, okay, like when you're in the developing places. And in Ecuador. My wife and I were in Ecuador and we were way out in the mountains, uh In, in an. Area where the relatives still live. Right. So we were in this open air market it's open once a week, and I was with a security guard, a safety guard who was guarding the wife of the former head of the World Bank for they're in Ecuador. And I mentioned her. I said, hey, you know what I love. I love to get like a little. Statue of the people. I want to remember their faces, take it home so I pray for these people. She's like, okay, So we're. Going around the market, she's asking, asking, asking, and she goes, okay, this guy. So we go into this guy's place and he starts pulling out these things. So I wind up buying I found this, You've seen it before. It's carved out of some kind of a marble or some kind of beautiful green rock, you know what I mean, Yeah, beautiful face, but then it's like chipped out. I couldn't figure out what it was, and so I bought it. And it only cost me like forty bucks or something like that, and I have it sitting them out. But when I got to the airport, all of a sudden, I'm surrounded by cops and the head of the antiquities comes out and they're inspecting this. They think I'm a grave robber and I stole this treasure. And he goes, oh, this is very old. I can't prove that you stole it whatever, And they just are reading me the right act, like I'm going to get arrested over this thing. And I was like, I bought it in a market, and I showed him. I took a picture, and thank god, I took a picture, and I said, this is where I bought it from. I was with her, you know, and her husband's pretty famous all this stuff. My wife and I were like, well, you know, we're not criminals. And so finally the guy goes, Okay, what do you do for a living? Do you sell antiquities? I said, like, no, I'm a pastor. I bought it to pray for the people I was working with. That was it. It just reminds me of all the people. It's very tribal looking, right, And I said, I bought it just to pray for the people. And he looked. He kept looking at me and looking at it, looking at me, and he goes, I cannot prove without confiscating it. I can't prove that this is an antiquity. He said, I'm going to let you have it as long as you keep praying for my people. And he let me keep it. But so I think I have a little treasure in my house. Yeah, yeah, there you go like that, Aloe. So you're the most likely to discover the head treasure. You're the most likely to try something you know new over your food. I'm most likely to show up at a costume person. Sorry, missing then invite and showing up with the costume. And then I think both of us could become memesday. Yes, So do you have a fifth one. Is there a last one? Yeah? I think, well, just because of time, I think we should get into I think we should get into it. Okay, yeah, think we should get into rehab. Here I was all excited about those you don't know why. Yeah, okay, So here's the bonus material for today. We were going to skip over rehab, but then I thought, oh, no, you know what, we need to tell this story. This is important for a lot of reasons. So, uh, it's, on its surface, it's a pretty on the nose kind of a story. So let's just read the whole story and then we'll talk briefly about rehab. So in Joshua chapter two, it says, then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelit camp at a Keasha 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. But someone told the King of Jericho, some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land. So the King of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, but bring out the men who've come into your house, For they've come here to spy out the whole land. Rayhab had hidden the two men, but she replied, yes, the men were here earlier, but I don't know where they were from. 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. Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she'd laid out so the King's men 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. Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rayhab went up on the roof to talk with them. 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, for we've 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 Sihan and Og, the two Emirit kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. 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. Now, swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since i've helped you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families. 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. Then, since Rayhab's house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window escape to the hill country. She told them, hide there for three days from the men searching for you, and then when they've returned, you can go on your way. Before they left, the men told her, we will be bound by the oath we've taken only if you follow these instructions. When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through wi you let us down and all your family members, your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives must be here inside this house. If they go out into the street and are killed, it'll not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept responsibility for their death. If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way. Accept your terms, she replied. She sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window. The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there three days, and the men who were chasing them searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned without success. Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. The Lord has given us the whole land, they said, for all the people in the land are terrified of us. Wow. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, this is obviously, like you said, pretty straightforward kind of story here. But we see rayhab. The one thing I'm just impressed by is just how quick she was, like like she was in. Survival mode, right, you see it back and forth. The way she's almost like not bargaining, but she's like, hey, if I do this, she's negotiating, she's she's strong, and she even says how afraid she was. So I'm sure there's some terror when she's going through this, but she was legitimately going out there and and really, uh, you know, bargaining for her life. And and I think it's really cool the way, uh they were kind of in the same way. They're like, hey, we're going to make sure we stay true to this. We're going to make sure that if they betray us, you know, there's this oath. And I just thought that was really cool, the way there's like this back and forth between people who just met each other. And then I think I thought it was interesting too, like the whole flax thing. I just was looking this up because it said flax, and you know, it's not a thing, I at least for us around here. You know, we don't really think about flax too often. But uh, I think there's flax seed oil. Oh yeah, there you go. Okay, that was like where if I heard okay, So it was it was interesting because all flax was harvest in the fields and piled high on the rooftops to dry flax rows to a height of three or four feet, so stacked on the roof made an excellent hiding hiding place for the spies. And that's why it was interesting because. I wondered how they hid that way, because you just envisioned like cartoon style like hiding. You're like, how did you know? When you're like, how did nobody say all this? But being up on the roof three to four feet high in the flax, it's pretty cool. Yeah. Have you ever seen when maybe they're harvesting out in a field and they're cutting everything, they just make those great big giantis like that. That's what it would have been, as it would have been a big pile that they brought in from the field set up on the roof to dry because up on the roof it's going to be a little bit more of a breeze, it's going to be really dry out in the sun, and so they would have just climbed into the middle of that great, big giant pile. That's what happened. That's really cool. So Rahab is important on the number of levels. One, she recognizes your god is the god of heaven. Yes, right, So, hey, we can't gloss over the fact. This is the Bible calls are a prostitute in this translation other translations a harlot. The so certainly not one of the upstanding ladies of the of the community, right, And it might have been one of the reasons why they were they hid there was the fact that respectable people would have gone less traffic. Right. Maybe people try to look away. From that society in the red light district a lot of times, nobody's making eye contact, nobody's studying faces, right, that kind of thing. So that might have been why they went to her place. Was it was an easy place that men were coming and going anyways, it was easy to get in and out. Nobody's actually carting you at that moment paying attention, right, that kind of thing. And so it wasn't that they were living in sin and just hanging out with prostitutes in the thing. It was the practicalities being spies, the practicality of being unnoticed was what they were going for. Oftentimes. Also, you know the word that's translated into English prostitute here or harlot in the like the King James or the nasb would be also can be a woman who has that kind of a business, but also running like a hotel or an inn. Right, so her brothel would also be an inn kind of a thing, and it built into the wall of the city. It would have been very If you know about caravan series, they would often be you know, you'd put your animals, bring your animals in your your camels, all that stuff would come inside, close the gate, and then the upstairs would be all these you know, pretty sketchy hotel rooms, flee bit and hotel rooms kind of thing. That very likely is what's happening here. And that makes sense. People would have been coming and going, and therefore their face would not have stood out. That's what they're hoping for it, that's where we stand out. That's right. So this rehab probably wasn't a prostitute like you would think of a woman standing on the corner, but rather running this CD hotel that nobody's paying attention to. Yeah, right, well, and then, and I know you're getting around to it. The significance of using her and the fact that eventually in Hebrews, I don't know if you want to get yeah, go ahead, But in Hebrews it talks about how God commended her faith in God so she's mentioned as was Moses in the eleven Hall of Faith because of her faith. And then ends up becoming in the lineage of g So she. Hides these two. She hides these two spies, protects them through a lie. By the way the Bible says, lying is a sin. But hey, that's not going to be the biggest surprise in her life on that day, right. But there's intrigue here. This is. Not the same as telling a lie, bearing false witness against your neighbor. This is a different kind of a lie. I'm not justifying it, but this is more of a spy, intrigue, government kind of thing. But she does, through all of this other stuff, confess your. God is the God, yes, all powerful, yep. And she said I want to be saved. And as best as she knew how, she solicits these two guys to say, would you save me and my family because I believe in your God? They say, okay, put this red cord. The red cord represents the blood of Jesus, by the way, which is fantastic, very similar to put the blood on the doorposts and on the mantle. When I see the blood, I'll pass over. They do the same thing. Put this red cord in the window, and your house won't be destroyed, and your people don't leave the house but inside the house to protect you. Well they did. Eventually, we're going to read how they come and they wipe out Jericho and she is saved. She winds up marrying a prominent Jewish man Israelite, and she's in the Lineage of Jesus. There's two women besides Mary mentioned in the Lineage of Jesus that both of them were prostitutes, which is phenomenal the fact that God decides both. In the Book of Hebrews Hebrews eleven, it says 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. Right, So think about this. Rehab is mentioned in the Hall of Fame with Noah, with Abraham, with Abel, with Moses, right, and then Rehab and so you know, it's phenomenal. I love the fact that God uses every kind of sinner who's willing to repent and turn to him, and so, hey, her past is her past. The Bible doesn't even blink looks clearly at it, admits it, and doesn't even blink with a hint of shame. No red cheeks about this one. Just it's what she was. Yeah, but she met Jesus. She came to this saving faith moment where she realized that God is the God of Israel, is the God, the creator of the universe, and she wanted that God on her side. And then God takes this woman that normally would be unapproachable, winds up marrying into an Israelite family that eventually is in the lineage of Jesus. Which you know, if you were trying to make up a lineage of a god and you were just trying to make up a fake religion, you certainly wouldn't choose a couple of hookers to be in the lineage absolutely of your God. But here what it's acknowledging is that, you know, God uses everybody and every kind of person for his glory when we surrender to him. Yes, and then in that same lineage you got King David right, a man after God's own heart, right in that same lineage. So it is interesting because I think it's you know, you've seen it so much a ministry, and I have as well, where you have people who just don't feel qualified and they don't feel like they have what it takes. Yea. They think that their sin or their past or their experience is whatever it may be, disqualifies them from being used by God. And it's so interesting because time and time again, like well, for one, if you think that it's not biblical, it isn't something that you can find in the Bible. Because even Jesus himself, the people he chose to spend his time with the people that were in his close twelve were anything but the religious elite, anything but you know, the goodie two shoes, the perfect people He chose intentionally chose people who he knew who'd be faithful with small things. And then yeah, then you throw in some of these old like you and I. Even a few weeks ago, Jeff and I were talking outside of this podcast talking about about perfect or people that could be could. Be seen as blameless, and. I remember we talked about that because I can't remember what character we're talking about who would be seen as blameless. We started thinking through and it was like, in the Old Testament, there's actually not. Minute Joseph, Yeah, Joseph, unless you accuse him of being prideful, which I'm not sure that that any because the word blameless in in because we were talking about uh. In First Timothy two Timothy Titus, where talks about bishop's, pastors, elders in the church, leaders in the church, it says, if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good thing, he must first be blameless. And that word blameless means without a handle, send me grab and go ah, gotcha, right, look at this in your past, right, And so that idea blameless, there are not very many you have. You have Joseph Daniel, Daniel's shad Wick me shaking a been to go. Yeah, we talked about Neamiyah's is right there at that blame the level. Yeah, most everybody else in the Bible has some kind of their murderers, their adulterers, they're whatever. Maybe yeah, yeah. And that's the thing that's crazy, And I love that that, like you said, they chose to use Rahab as a part of this in such a massive way. I mean she was in many ways. She was a lynchpin to help get and then then you throw on the scarlet, the scar like there's so much to it that ultimately is pointing to Jesus and the fact that he died for everybody, that he loves everybody, loved the world. Then and yeah, again, just looking at the storyline, how it comes full circle and brings Rahab into the lineage. It's beautiful. And then that's why Hebrews eleven saying putting her in the hall of faith, the author of Hebrews is saying, it was not her deed. That saved her. It was her faith in the fact that their God was the God of the universe, and that she was willing to surrender. She surrendered to God when the spies were there before the battle happened. Right, she surrenders. Yeah, And so the note by the way, which I love in Hebrews, chapter eleven, verse thirty one, it says it says a lot of things about her, but it says faith helps us turn around and do what is right, regardless of our past or the disapproval of others. Isn't that great? And that's what changed her life. It wasn't that she just decided to suddenly muscle up and change her life. It was her faith in God changed the whole trajectory of her life to where now we look back and we go Okay, she had this rough We're not going to look away from it. She had this rough patch in her life. She started off bad, but manned. Her faith in God radically transformed her life. Not only her life, her mom and dad, her brothers and sisters, their children, their family members. Right, it goes way beyond just her. Her faith transformed an entire family and changed the trajectory of their life. When everybody else died in that battle, she didn't ye know. She lived. And so there's a note in the Life Application Study Bible, this big thing where they do like a profile every once in a while, and it says Rehab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho. As a prostitute, she lived on the edge of the city, one stopped short of rejection. Isn't that amazing? Her house, built right into the city wall, provided both lodging and favors to travelers. It was a natural place for the Israelite spies to stay, as they'd be mistaken for Rehab's customers. Stories about the Israelites have been circling for some time. Isn't that amazing that she remembered from thirty nine years ago that God had dried up the Red Sea. Right, so it's been circling. But now it was evident that the Israelites are about to invade. They're just across the river. Now there's millions of them right across the river. Living on the wall, Rehab felt especially vulnerable. Yet while she shared the general mood of fear with the rest of Jericho's population, she alone turned to the Lord for her salvation. Her faith gave her the courage to hide the spies and light of the authorities. Rahab knew her position was dangerous. She could have been killed if she'd been caught harboring in the Israelites. Rehab took the risk because she sensed that the Israelites relied on a God worth trusting, and God rewarded Rehab by promising safety for her and her family. You know what God works through people like Gabra, like Rayhab, whom we are inclined to reject. God remembered her because of her faith, not her profession. If at times you feel like a failure, remember that Rehab rose above her situation through her trusting God, and you can do the same. Right. So I love that she had a. Sense that the Israelites had a God worth trusting, Yes, and then God saw. Her faith not just a profession. It's a fabulous all. That's a great price. Thanks, yes, good, Hey, thank you guys so much for joining us. And I hope that the story of rehab inspires you where you're at today. And thank you so much for joining us. See you guys tomorrow, next time.