 As we look at Hebrews 11 verse 30 and 31, the writer writes, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace. And so we're going to look at Joshua, Jericho, and Rahab tonight. In order to do so, we're going to be summarizing several chapters in the book of Joshua. And so why don't you turn with me to the book of Joshua chapter one. And you might want to leave a marker here in Hebrews chapter 11 to remind yourself of the verses we're looking at. But we're going to spend time looking tonight in Joshua. And I'm going to summarize a lot of information for you, looking to actually highlight what we just read when it speaks of, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. We need to remind ourselves of how that took place and that's what we'll be doing tonight. We'll be looking at that particular event in the history of the nation of Israel. We know that Moses as the deliverer of that nation, the nation that had been in Egyptian bondage for many years, we know that Moses, the deliverer of that nation, had led the children out of Egyptian bondage and had taken them into the wilderness and they had been in the wilderness there for 40 years. And during the time that the nation of Israel was wandering in the wilderness those 40 years, it got to the point where Moses actually, through disobedience to the Lord, was removed from the scene and a replacement was raised up, an assistant by the name of Joshua. And what the Lord did is God raised up a young man or a man who was growing older by this time but raised up a man to be the assistant to Moses who ultimately began to be the commander of the nation of Israel. He became what is called a warrior leader and that's what happens. He is appointed to take the place of Moses. You see after Moses died, God handed leadership into the hands of Joshua and so Moses had a responsibility, if you take notes, it's in Exodus 1714 and that was to mentor him in the ways of God. In Exodus 1714, the Lord said to Moses, write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. And so Joshua was to be mentored in the ways of God and the purposes of God in order that he might take over as commander of the children of Israel and so what happens is during the time of journeying in the wilderness, this represents the Lord and because of this he's not allowed to enter the land and so the people entered into the land of promise under Joshua. When we look in Joshua chapter one verses one through five just to get our introduction, the Lord is speaking here and ministering to Joshua and so beginning at verse one, Joshua one verse one, it says, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of none. And the assistant saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel. Every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon, I have given you, as I said to Moses, from the wilderness of this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life as I was with Moses, so I will be with you, I will not leave you, nor forsake you. Now I'll read on verse six, be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant commanded you, do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you, be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. As I was with Moses, so I shall be with you. I want you to notice something here, I want you to notice that three times God gives him the same command. Notice in verse six, he says, be strong and of good courage. Notice verse seven, only be strong and very courageous. And then again, verse nine, be strong and of good courage. And so what is going to give you strength and what is going to give you courage? He said, the book of this law will not depart from your mouth, you will meditate on it day and night. I will be with you even as I was with Moses. You need to have strength and courage, but I'm going to give you my law, my word, which is going to strengthen you from within. And so Joshua was raised up to replace Moses as leader over the nation of Israel. The assistant became the leader. And so he takes this word from the Lord and begins to rehearse it in the ears of the children of Israel. And as he shares with them what the Lord is planning to do, I want you to notice their response to him. It's found in chapter one, verses 16 through 18. He's telling them what the Lord is going to do, and he's being presented to the nation of Israel as its leader, and Israel is now going to accept Joshua and his leadership. But notice it says in verse 16, they answered Joshua saying, all that you command us, we will do and wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we heated Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, and all that you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage. So he got an exhortation from God as well as the people that he was to have strength and be courageous in the things of the Lord. And God is going to prosper him. So he's been placed in a position of leadership over the nation of Israel. Moses is dead. Joshua, his assistant, is now leading. And as he begins to lead this nation, he begins to cross over from the eastern border of the River Jordan into, crossing towards the west, into the land of promise. Now, he's there right opposite this giant city, this enormous city during that day, a city called Jericho. And what is happening is the children of Israel, and it's recorded in chapter 3 here in Joshua, the children of Israel are going to cross over and they're about to enter into the land, and they're going to take the land by conquest. And so they go against this walled city, this fortress city, a powerful city, the most powerful city in that area. They're going to go in there because God is about to show them that he is with them. Now, what's interesting here in chapter 3 is that as they cross over the Jordan River and enter in so that they can do battle against Jericho, God commands that the priests take the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of the Covenant being God's presence with the nation of Israel, and he has the priests who are to cross over the Jordan River. Now, remember with me that when God was delivering the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and Moses came to the Red Sea, remember how the Lord God said to him that there to cross over as it is going to be dry land? And the Bible tells us in the Book of Exodus that Moses stretched out his hand over the Red Sea, and a great wind came all night and parted the sea so that the walls of the water stood up and there was a pathway through. They walked across dry land. But in this particular case, it's interesting because God once again says, I'm going to dry up the waters, and he dries up the waters of the Jordan. But he says, what I'm going to do, though, this time is the priests are going to enter into that water and the souls of their feet are going to touch it. As they touch it, the water will part before them. And you see this in chapter three at verse 13. Notice how it says in Joshua 3.13, it shall come to pass as soon as the souls of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap. And so the water coming from the north, coming from the northern area, Mount Hermon area, the Jordan stops, and then the rest of the water that is flowing down to the Dead Sea continues on and leaves that dry. And so the priests had to first step into it, and then it dries up and the children of Israel march in. Now, as they do so, they enter in and are preparing themselves for a great battle. They're going to be battling against Jericho. Chapter five records that, a part of that, and I want to take you there, because in chapter five we see that Joshua is waiting to enter into this promised land, and as he is waiting, he has a divine encounter. In Joshua chapter five, verse 13 through 15, notice it says this, it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us or for our adversaries? And so he said, no. But as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord say to his servant? Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, take your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is holy. Joshua did so. I've often found this interesting how that the question is asked that is not expecting just a single word, no answer. Are you for us or are you for our adversaries? You would expect an explanation, but you don't get one, do you? What you get is a single word, no. I'm not for you and I'm not for your enemies. I'm for the Lord. What you have here is Joshua wondering if this perhaps is a spy or a warrior that has come out to do battle with him and that's why he's challenging him that he does. And yet what you have here in reality is not a human being at all. What you have here is what is called a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. What this is is called a theophany or a Christophany. It's a manifestation of Christ prior to his incarnation in the New Testament. And Jesus is being portrayed here as the commander of the army of the Lord. And we know that this is actually the appearance of God on earth there before Joshua in flesh because you have three things that show that to us. One, notice verse 15 how the commander of the Lord's army says take your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is holy. That reminds us of what took place in the book of Exodus in chapter 3 when God appeared before Moses there in the burning bush and said to him take off your shoes because you're standing on holy ground. A second thing that we see here is in verse 2 of chapter 6 where it says the Lord said to Joshua it's the Lord and then finally third you see him being worshiped in verse 14 where it says Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him what does my Lord say to his servant? So you have worship, you have holiness and you have his identification and so that's what's taking place here. Joshua is there and he encounters a pre-incarnate Christ who is saying to him this is what you're going to do. And as he speaks to him he now gives him marching orders and now we're going to be looking at Joshua in the battle of Jericho. In chapter 6 verse 1 Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out, none came in. The Lord said to Joshua see I have given Jericho into your hand it's king and the mighty men of valor you shall march around the city all you men of war you shall go all around the city once this you shall do six days and seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark but the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the trumpets then it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the rams horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet that all the people shall shout with a great shout then the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up every man straight before him. Now to be honest with you you know if I was in the military and my commander said listen this is what you're going to do you've been trained you're battle ready and also this is going to be the answer this is how you're going to handle this you're not really going to fight it all what you're going to do is just quietly march around this encampment you're going to do it every day you're going to walk around and you're going to do this every day for a week and then ultimately what's going to happen is you're not really going to do much at all you're going to blow some horns you're going to shout and the walls are going to come down and then you're going to take the city I don't know about you but at that point I think that's a bit absurd I'd say that really doesn't make much sense and yet the Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Hebrews to say by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they'd been encircled for seven days they must have felt ridiculous but we need to understand something and we're going to look for a spiritual principle here and and you need to understand and they needed to learn something they were in a spiritual battle God was with them and they needed to understand that God would deliver them they needed to understand that because they're walking into a battle and they're going to actually war to take the land and so they need to understand that that God is with them going against Jericho was going against the most powerful city that there was for them to go against God in other words didn't start them out small God started them out strengthening them by going against the most mighty and powerful city in encampment that there was no possible way that they were going to be able to take and yet what they're doing is actually ridiculous one of the things that we need to learn in spiritual principles and you find that in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 3 and 4 where the Bible says though we walk in the flesh we don't war according to the flesh for the weapons of our war for our not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds and what they needed to learn is that this was a battle that belonged to the Lord God was with them his presence was with them and this battle belonged to him and they needed to learn that if God is for them who can be against them every one of us go through battles in our life obviously nothing as physically tangible as this normally but we go through spiritual battles nonetheless we go through times of war spiritual war where we need to learn to rely on God and sometimes the opposition is impregnable it's something that we can't possibly have any victory over and yet God is going to say listen I am with you and if I'm for you who can be against I'm going to give you a great victory but you have to trust in me and I'm going to ask you just to resolve to have faith and to trust what I'm going to do for you and that's what they have to learn to do here you see they remain silent for six days they silently paraded before their enemies as they march around the city it's an impregnable wall they've got people on the standing on top of it looking down just watching them mocking them they must have felt ridiculous for all of those days as they're walking around that wall absolutely nothing the people would be taunting them and an increasing number of inhabitants would begin circling the walls watching these ridiculous people marching around this wall doing absolutely nothing but finally Joshua blew that horn the walls did fall down and the city fell before them notice verse 16 it says the seventh time it was so when the priests blew the trumpets that Joshua said to the people shout the Lord has given you the city and then in verse 20 the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets and it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down flat then the people went up into the city every man straight before him and they took the city they utterly destroyed all that was in the city both man and woman young and old oxen sheep and donkey with the edge of the sword so they took the city not because they fought a battle but because the battle is the Lord's that's something that we have to learn I have to tell you in the life of Moses you see this very clearly we have a tendency of wanting to do something ourselves we have a tendency of wanting to win the battle and so how we can perhaps somehow share in the glory of the conquest but sometimes the Lord is saying look you're not ready to war in that way because you're going to take the glory and therefore I'm going to basically put you in a position where you are not going to do anything other than trust me so for 40 years in the life of Moses, Moses knows that he's the deliverer of the children of Israel and as we examined his life when he's 40 years old he's visiting the children of Israel he sees an Egyptian that is mistreating one of his fellow Jews he looks to the left he looks to the right he promptly slays the man buries him in the sand Stephen tells us that Moses thought for sure the children of Israel would recognize him as the deliverer as he did that in reality what happens is he gets banished to the backside of the desert he's 40 years old in the prime of his life and then for the next 40 years he's in the wilderness so the first 40 years of his life he thinks he's something the second 40 years of his life he sees nothing and then the third 40 years because he lived 120 years he discovers that he is something with God and that's how it works in our lives guys we will go through things that the Lord will allow into our life so that we can see that the battle belongs to him some of us find some things that we're dealing with ourselves even right now that is so beyond our strength and our ability to deal with but the Lord is simply saying listen I don't want you to learn to trust me just trust me in this just do what I tell you to do and you will see a response and that's exactly what took place they all had faith they trusted the Lord they obeyed and they all participated in that battle's victory as the Lord gave to them a victory there in Jericho now interestingly enough the way the writer of Hebrews put it he speaks of Joshua in Jericho but he leaves out a very significant person in that and that's found in chapter 2 and that's a woman by the name of Rahab now anybody who reads his Bible knows her as Rahab the Harlot how would you like that to be your reputation you're reminded by that name that's David the Harlot I don't think I'd find that a very attractive way to be remembered but that's how she's looked at Rahab the Harlot it had said that she had received the spies and all in Hebrews 11 31 so now we have a chance to look at her she is found in chapter 2 and that's what we're going to be looking at in the second portion of our study the faith of Rahab and so not all the faith was outside the city faith was also being exercised inside the city by a woman by the name of Rahab you see when the walls fell down there was a portion of the wall that remained standing and that portion is the house of Rahab we'll see that in a moment Rahab is a gentile prostitute who lives in the city of Jericho the Canaanites were begging for judgment when you read a little bit of the Old Testament history and all you discover that historically the Canaanite people were cruel idolaters and were debauched the history records that the people in that area in the city of Jericho were sexually perverted as well as cruel an example of their cruelty was that they placed live babies in jars and built them into their city walls as foundation sacrifices this was a city that was ripe for judgment well there's a woman who's living there by the name of Rahab but Rahab belonged to these people but while these people are rejecting the God of Israel Rahab did not live their life on the fact that God said he would protect his people and therefore chose to be on his side Joshua chapter 2 gives us that in verses 1 and 2 it says 2 men from Acacia Grove despised secretly saying go view the land especially Jericho so they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there and it was told the king of Jericho saying behold men have come here tonight Israel to search out the country and so Joshua sends two spies to prepare the best strategy for entering into the city and taking it their purpose basically in going into Jericho initially was to discover the best entrance but the problem is is that the city is in a state of alert they knew that Israel was right across the Jordan there and was preparing to attack so it makes these two spies task especially dangerous so they come in verse 1 of a harlot named Rahab why would they go to a prostitutes home while it was characteristic for traveling merchants to lodge in this kind of home but their strategy fails they think that they're going to be able to get in and not be noticed but they're seen entering the city and they're reported and now they're trapped to run is impossible and they know that they're in danger and so as this is taking place verse 3 the king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying bring out the men who have come to you who have entered your house so they have come to search out all the country and the woman took the two men and hid them and she said yes the men came to me but I did not know where they were from and it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out where the men went I do not know pursue them quickly for you may overtake them but she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with stocks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof then the men pursued them by the road to the fords and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out they shut the gate and so what we have here is we have the king aware of spies being there and he gives the order bring out the men who have come to you he didn't know though that Rahab had hidden these spies something the spies had not counted on in all of this was going to be the faith of a harlot now in verses 4 and 5 I want you to see something there what we have here is a lie it's reported her first action is a lie and I want to say something very briefly about this the bible doesn't condone her lie it simply reports that she lied it's not that God prompted her to lie as a matter of fact she gave three lies in one she said she didn't know where they were from where they went out to where they went when they went out and where they went so she actually gives three lies in one if you don't mind I'll tell you a quick story here that reminds me of something when I was in the military I had a friend of mine by the name of Danny Danny was he became a very good friend of mine but unfortunately Danny was a liar Danny liked the lie so Danny bought a car he bought a 1963 Chevy Chevy Impala was very nice by the way we used to cruise around in it all the time problem though is we discovered that when Danny bought the car he didn't register it so what he did is he went into the parking lot there by our barracks and he stole some license plates from two different vehicles that were in the parking lot two different cars and he put one license plate in the back and the different one in the front and he was I didn't say he was smart I said he was a liar and he would and he drove around like that on the fort and well eventually the MPs pulled him over and there were four guys there was Danny and three friends and the MPs pulled him over and took him into the station there and began to question him and then questioned his three friends and I'll never forget how a friend of mine Richard Salinas told me what happened he said the MP came out and he was kind of shaking his head and he says there are four of you but you've told me five different stories he said Danny lied twice now there's three of you you told me two different stories Danny lied twice Danny was a big liar I mean this is a guy that he told me that anyway I can't go on in this I can go on and on Danny was a great liar and he did it constantly he eventually got saved by the way that's something better I used to pray for him all the time because he really needed the Lord and I prayed for him it's quite seriously for probably about 18 years longer than that longer now that I think about it much longer than that probably well over 20 years because I was in Visalia a few years ago now doing a Sunday morning for Bob Grenier and I shared a story from the army and as I was sharing the story after the service I stepped down and was talking to people and a guy walks up to me and he's looking me straight in the eye and I said were you with and he gave me the unit and I said Danny how are you and he was there at the church service he was living up in Visalia at that time and walked up to me and I said do you want to know something but I said I have been praying for you since we were in the army it was well over 20 years I wish I could give you the exact amount of time well over 20 years I said I have been praying for you for over 20 years now and he actually came to church here about a year ago to visit me you know to see Danny but he was a liar that's just the truth well Rahab was too she had three lies in one here but I hasten to add this because see sometimes when you're reading the Bible and you'll see this she lies and so somebody might say now wait a minute does that mean it's okay to lie is it okay to lie there's arguments related to that the lesser of two evils etc but the bottom line is as you look at this what you're looking at is a woman who has heard of the works of God in the nation of Israel who has made a decision to embrace this God her faith isn't mature she's just now made that decision she has heard of what God had done through the nation of Israel over the many years 40 years the exploits of the nation and how they had been marching to victory after victory and all of that she's heard stories of what God has done in other words in them how he delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage and how he preserved them and she's heard of those things and so that's all she's embracing she doesn't have a full counsel she doesn't have like we have a Bible that she can read and learn the ways of God she's simply saying the God that you worship is the God that I want to worship too the God that I love here is undeveloped faith so it's not as if the Lord is saying it's okay to lie he's not the fact is she just did have a new trust in this God of Israel and she wanted to do the right thing now God is intended to deliver these spies but her lie is not part of his intent yet he works anyway genuine faith works very often in spite of sin even if sin is mixed in it's exercise if you have understanding on her part it required courage for her to protect them and that's what she's going to do now in verses 8 following it says and as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you for now notice this the Lord your God he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath and so she says I know that the Lord has given you this land because we have heard of the works of God so the works of God had preceded the children of Israel and she believed that testimony in other words she had heard of the greatness of God now remember with me the Bible says in Romans chapter 10 verse 17 that faith comes through hearing the word of God and so she had heard of what God had done though she had never heard of the word of God she had never heard of the word of God had done though she had never heard the whole message of God's greatness she heard enough for her to believe you know that's one of the things by way of application that I rejoice in the Lord in is that the day you get saved doesn't mean that you automatically become a Bible scholar the day that you get saved it simply means you began a journey of faith and so you develop you grow over time through studying the word of God being in Bible studies serving the Lord and over time you grow you may not have heard everything about the Lord but you heard enough about him for you to be saved and that's what we see here with Rahab we see that she has faith in the Lord as a matter of fact she gives her confession of faith there in verse 11 when she says the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth beneath and so verse 12 now therefore I beg you swear to me by the Lord since I have shown you kindness that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token and spare my father my mother my brothers my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives from death so the man answered her our lives for yours if none of you tell this business of ours and it shall be when the Lord has given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with you so this is how it should be she's concerned not just for herself I want you to see this she's also concerned for her family she's saying it's not that I want to be saved and spared by myself I want you to spare not only me but spare all of my family my father mother brother sisters and the things that we have I'm asking you to spare not just my life but may you spare the lives of my families now that to me is a great motivator because as you know this story so I don't have to repeat it or give you a lot of details and I got saved at the age of 20 I spoke to the fellow who followed up on me because they said if you want to get you know right with God stand your feet and I did and there were 4,000 people in this auditorium and maybe maybe a dozen or so stood up and I remember going into the back room and talking to a follow-up counselor and and he said what you need to do is you need to read the Bible you need to begin to make a habit of reading the word of God you need to learn to pray you need to develop friendships that are Christian because they're going to influence your walk with God always remember that your friendships the things that you develop in terms of relationship are the things that influence you so have Christian friends and then he said and tell somebody about the Lord Jesus Christ those are the 4 basic things that they told me when I got saved and those are the 4 basic things that I've basically done since the day I got saved those 4 elements that are very very practical and very helpful so like I've told you before I went home I went directly across the street before entering under my father's roof I went across the street and because I had made arrangements that day I was going to be smoking some pot some friends of mine were receiving a kilo from Thailand and we were going to smoke pot and I decided rather than to go and smoke pot to go with my friends and that's how I got saved but I went to go speak to my friends and tell them about the Lord and what God had just done in my life they weren't there my friends that I usually got loaded with were not there but the mother was there and some of the smaller kids and that's the very first time that I ever shared my faith with anybody it was almost immediately I got in a van from the Hollywood Palladium drove back to Norwalk they dropped me off and actually drove to Lahabra drove home pulled up to the side of my parents house crossed the street went to their house and spoke to them that's the first thing I did the next thing I did is I went into the house walked into the den and shared with my parents and my two sisters that I had given my heart to Christ and that's what I was taught to do I was taught that you don't hold back I was taught that if you have a light it shouldn't be put under a basket but it should be placed on a lamp stand so that all in the house can see that light and so that's what we are called to do we're called by God to take what God has done in our life and to share it with others and to care about for me it was of absolute importance that my parents come to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ for me it was absolutely important for them to get saved it wasn't something that I thought lightly of it was something I took very seriously and that's why I was willing to alienate them that's why I was willing to say the things that I said to them I knew that my life had to change I was a pretty rotten kid and all of that there was no argument with that but I also knew that my parents needed to be saved Rahab has this attitude she's saying look it I'm asking you to save my life but not only mine I want you to to spare the life of my family all my family and by the way would you please spare their possessions too and this mentality that I don't want to be spared but I want to be spared with my family as a very good attitude now in verse 15 it says she let them down by a rope through the window for her house was on the city wall she dwelt on the wall and she said to them get to the mountains lest the pursuers meet you hide there three days until the pursuers have returned afterward you may go your way the men said to her we will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear and less when we come into the land you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down and unless you bring your father your mother your brothers and all your father's household to your home so it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street his blood shall be on his own head and we will be guiltless and whoever is with you in the house his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him and so in verse 20 and 21 and if you tell this business of ours then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear she said according to your words so be it and she sent them away and they departed and she bound the scarlet cord in the window and so verses 15 and 16 she gives them instructions she's going to protect them but they say in verses 17 to 21 you have to bind the scarlet cord because the red line that appears on the wall will mark off where you are but when you look at this as a symbol what you're looking at from a distance is a line of blood a line of blood and so we get a picture here of her family being spared because of a line of blood or being covered if you will by picture of blood interestingly enough the red rope was something that nobody would notice and you know why because a red rope was a way of advertising the home of a prostitute you have heard the term red light district I was in Amsterdam in 1975 a friend of mine and I were traveling backpacking through Europe so we arrived in Amsterdam it was a late afternoon and we began to look around for a place to stay we were staying in either very cheap hotels motels or hostels and so while in Amsterdam we were wandering away from the train station there the train depot and we just began to wander down the street and we ended up walking into this area walked into this motel and rented a room so we put our bags up and we decided to take a walk and as we were walking through Amsterdam I started looking up into the windows in this area that we were in and they actually had red lights all of the windows as you walk by there were red lights and there were women sitting on the window sills you know saying you know hi big boy you know and this and that and we spent the night in the red light district without knowing it we did not know where we were but I have to tell you it was the freakiest place to stay that we've ever stayed because they really have red lights there really were red lights and so I discovered that that term red light district is a very real term well during the time of Joshua they would have a red cord that would say this is the home of a prostitute but that red cord or that scarlet thread there is also a picture of salvation because she is pictured as being under the blood and so what does she do well according to verse 21 she bound the scarlet cord in the window she acted on the orders and as a result of that this is really an act of faith it's a work of faith what good would it have been if she had failed to act immediately on their word and it's interesting because even James in the New Testament refers to this in James chapter 2 verses 25 and 26 it says likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and had sent them out another way for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also so the fact is that she received their word and she acted on what they had to say now again her faith was still in its development stage it takes time for genuine faith to grow it has to be nourished it's something that you have to actually nurture from the day that you're saved throughout the rest of your life she's ready for a new life because what she had been and how she had lived was not good and so as a result of that she desires to have this newness of life and actually gets it through faith in the God of Israel now in chapter 6 we see the result of this if you'd like to turn there in chapter 6 beginning at verse 22 excuse me Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country go into the harlot's house and from there bring out the woman and all that she has as you swore to her and the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab her father, her mother, her brothers and all that she had so they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel they burned the city and all that was in it with fire only the silver and gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord and Joshua spared Rahab the harlot her father's household and all that she had so she dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho faith works and faith is rewarded she lived the rest of her life there in Israel she actually married an Israelite and the Bible tells us she became an ancestor of Jesus Christ it's interesting how in the genealogy of Jesus as is recorded in Matthew chapter 1 we have Rahab's name mentioned there in that genealogy of Messiah it says a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham Abraham was the father of Isaac Isaac the father of Jacob Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers Judah the father of Perez the first Mexican in the Bible and Zarah whose mother was Tamar Perez the father of Hezron Hezron the father of Ram Ram the father of Amenadab Amenadab the father of Nashon Nashon the father of Solomon Solomon the father of Boaz whose mother was Rahab and Boaz the father of Obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of King David she actually became an ancestor of Messiah she became part of the family of God and so as a sinner she is saved through faith and obedience and they were gracious to not only save her but to allow her family to be saved too as a result of that her faith was seen in action because no better than Rahab every one of us have lived lives that are in one way or another worthy of some kind of shame even the nicest and finest person you ever meet as a skeleton in their closet somewhere some memory or some regret something they've done that they wish they hadn't done some have a lot worse than others this is true but everybody has something they have done and everybody else that they wish they had not done whether it was a mean thing or something that is worse than simply being mean all of us are sinners all of us need help but all of us can be saved even as Rahab was by just trusting in the God of Israel and obeying what he says and so in the right of Hebrews is speaking about Joshua he's speaking about a man of faith when he's speaking about the fall of Jericho he's speaking of an action of faith and when he speaks of the woman Rahab once again he's speaking of someone who trusted God believed and ultimately was brought into the family of God to the point that her name is mentioned in the New Testament as a descendant of Jesus Christ and a model of faith and so we see what God can do in somebody's life and we simply say with Rahab Lord do something in mine forgive me