Joshua Generation: Your Hiding Place
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Your Hiding Place
The Scarlet Cord Of Christ
Your Hiding Place
Joshua 2:1-24
And Joshua the son of Nun sent 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. And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then 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.” But 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. And 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.” 6 But 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. So 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. 8 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and 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. For 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. And 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. Now 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 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And 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.” Then 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. And she said 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.” The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 Behold, 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. Then 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. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” And 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. They 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. Then 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. And 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.”
View the land, especially Jericho.
HAVE YOUR EYE ON THE HIGH WALLED UP CITY
The people of Jericho heard the reports of all that God had supernaturally done to deliver the Israelites from slavery and win their battles.
The people were scared because of the judgment that would come against those who stood against the God of Heaven and Earth, the God of Israel. The good news, as always, is that this God gave an opportunity for reconciliation with himself through faith and repentance. This is what Rahab would exemplify.
RAHAB CHOSE THE RIGHT SIDE
Rahab put her faith in the one whose power was greater the human forces that she saw in front of her.
Some, however, still resisted.
The enemy will try to stamp out the purposes of God since he knows the work of God that’s been done in people’s lives in times past. He knows that if the people of God rise up, God will deliver again.
In what ways is there resistance to the life of God in us?
We’ve all hidden in the things that we think will give us comfort, security, a sense of belonging and keep us safe. What is that for you?
Rahab had to make a choice of with whom she’d hide.
Have you made your choice?
Some hide in their work. Some hide in their favorite tv programs. Some hide in a relationship. Some hide in their habits or additctions, their forms of escape whether illicit or though cyberspace. Some hide in their objections to faith because of misunderstandings about the faith.
“The older idea of the body being bad and the soul being good - of the emotions (resident in the body) as bad and reason as good - changed under Christianity. And these new views of the importance of the body and the material world laid the foundation for the rise of modern science. The material world was no longer understood as an illusion or simply something to be spiritually transcended. Nor was it just an incomprehensible mystery but, according to the Bible, it was the creation of a personal, rational being. Therefore it could be studied and understood by other personal, rational beings.” - Timothy Keller, Making Sense of God (pg. 45)
The coming conquest by the Israelites became good news to Rahab even as the gospel of the coming Kingdom of Jesus Christ is good news to us.
Luc Ferry wrote the informative book A Brief History of Thought that helped to illuminate the following realities, which you can imagine would be mind-blowing for an ancient prostitute. These are the things she could have hope in as she put her trust in the God of the Israelites:
“In general, Christianity brought an unprecedented idea of the importance of the individual. “For the Buddhist, the individual is but an illusion, something destined for dissolution and impermanence; for the [Greek] Stoic the individual self is destined to merge into the totality of the cosmos; Christianity on the contrary promises immortality of the individual person: his soul, his body, his face, his beloved voice - as long as he is saved by the grace of God.” It also undermined the elitism of antiquity. “Salvation” for the Greeks had to do with philosophical contemplation, something only people with training and leisure could do. For Christians, however, salvation came through dependent, trusting faith that Jesus had saved them, doing what they could not do. In this sense it was much more egalitarian than other kinds of ancient and classical thought.” - Timothy Keller, Making Sense of God (pg. 45-46)
The cross of Jesus is the great equalizer for Dealing with Discrimination
Rahab was a prostitute who would have a community stigma attached to her. However, she cane into the same grace which the Israelites were now standing.
(Racism and Champ Bailey’s Hall of Fame speech - listen to those experiencing something different from you.)
There should be a depolarization in the church.
Why I Love the Church of Jesus Christ
Once given the hope of this salvation, Rahab was taking the action necessary to keep faith alive in the midst of hostile territory? Are you?
A Devotion to The Word of God, Regular Christian Fellowship, The Sacraments, Prayer and a Commitment to Church Involvement are Essentials in this Modern Fight (Acts 2:42-47).
Proverbs 28:13
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Who’s Hiding Who?
Are you hiding Jesus amongst your co-workers, family and friends?
OR
Do you, like Rahab, find yourself hidden in the hope of Christ and his salvation?
Though Rahab did not grow up with the law or covenants of God. Upon her change of allegiance to the God of the Hebrews, she, through faith, became one of four women named in the genealogy of Christ as an heir.
Hebrews 11:31
By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
The Scarlet Cord Of Christ
The Scarlet Cord:
A Looking Back to the Passover Blood
A Looking Ahead to the Shed Blood of Jesus on the Cross for the Forgiveness of Your Sins.
Repent and Bring Your Household into the Household of the Lord, under Christ’s Scarlet Cord so that they might be saved.
Why is it important to stay in church?
*You must remain in the house, underneath the covering of the scarlet cord to avoid the destruction coming on others.
Just as the spies remained three days in the hills to escape their pursuers, so we must remain in the faith, in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for our salvation.
Matthew 21:28-32
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
Second City Church - Joshua Generation - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019