Rahab

- Good to see you, glad you're with us today. If joining us from our Cheektowaga, or our Lockport, or Niagara Falls campuses, good morning to you. And those watching online, so glad you're here today. We're gonna be in Hebrews 11. So if you have a Bible with you, please turn to Hebrews 11, and we'll be there in just a moment. We're continuing our sermon series called, the hall of faith. And we're looking at these, some select verses from Hebrews 11. And in this chapter, the writer of Hebrews has given quite a list about individuals from the past who lived by faith. And we've come to this chapter before in some other times in different years, and we're coming back to it again, because this is quite a long list. So in this chapter, we see a lot of people that maybe stand out in our memory of the Bible, the heroes of our faith, like Noah, or Abraham, or Jacob, or Moses. We've got all of those, kind of like the all star team of the Old Testament. But even though we've got this great list, there's also some names in this list that maybe we'd be surprised by, and even maybe wondering why are they even in this list, because maybe they had some things going on in their life that would make us say, really them, they're on this list. Now, we know that none of Hebrews 11, none of the people listed in Hebrews 11 were perfect, 'cause they were people, so they were flawed. We understand that, we get that. Noah had a problem with his vineyard after the flood, right? Abraham lied about his sister twice, his wife being his sister, not a good move in a family household, right? Moses had a temper, let's just be honest, call it what it is. So even though they were flawed, we get that the general trajectory of their lives was one of faith, and so we're all good there. Especially because Hebrews 11 beginning in verse one defines faith this way, "Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for, "and the assurance of what we do not see. "This is what the ancients were commended for." So we get that. We understand, okay, they were commended for their faith. This is what the ancients, this is what our spiritual ancestors, if we could say it that way, were commended for, and we get that. Even for flawed people, we get the trajectory of their life. But there's other names that maybe we have to pause a little bit longer, because we hear it or we read it and we think, that's a interesting. Case and point where we're gonna be today, Hebrews 11:31 starts this way, just the first part, "By faith the prostitute, Rahab." How's that for an introduction. "By faith the prostitute." Those don't typically go together, those terms. Or like the King James version that I grew up reading and memorizing, and hearing, by faith the harlot, just seems to carry an extra sense of weight, doesn't it? By faith the prostitute, Rahab. Now you hear that, you look at that, you see that in Hebrews 11 and you think, why Rahab? Why does Rahab make the list? And especially with this kind of identifier, her profession. Why does Rahab end up in Hebrews 11? Well, to answer that question, maybe we need to go to her story. And some of you maybe have never heard her story, or only heard parts of it before. So while you're holding a place in Hebrews 11, I want you to flip over to Joshua 2, which is in the Old Testament. So after you've navigated from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, find your place in Joshua. And as you're getting to Joshua, we will be in chapter two in just a second, let me just set the stage for you. The people of Israel have completed their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, all right. Shout out, tales from the wilderness anybody. Right? They've completed these 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and now they're on the precipice of entering into the promised land. So they get to kind of this Jordan river, that is kind of the dividing line for them. And they're there on the banks of the river, and God tells the people of Israel to go up into the land. And then this is the backdrop for when we first meet Rahab. So here's what Joshua 2 beginning in verse one says, "Then Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent two spies from." Do you wanna say it? He sent two spies from Chatauqua, let's just go with that, all right. "So go look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. "So they went and entered the house "of a prostitute named Rahab and they stayed there. "The king of Jericho was told, "'Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight "'to spy out the land.' "So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab, "'Bring out the men who came to you, "'and entered your house, "'because they've come to spy out the whole land.' "But the woman had taken the two men and had hidden them. "She said, 'Yes, the men came to me "'but I did not know where they had come from. "'At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, "'they left. "'I don't know which way they went. "'Go after them quickly, you may catch up with them.' "But she had taken them up to the roof, "and hidden them under the stalks of flax "she had laid out on the roof. "So the men set out in pursuit of the spies "on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, "and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, "the gate was shut," and it wouldn't open until morning. This is how we meet Rahab. She's a resident of Jericho, which is to say that she was a Canaanite. She was from the land of Canaan. She was not only a Canaanite, but she was a pagan. So she didn't worship the one true God. In addition to that, we know her profession, she's a prostitute. And on top of all of that, her first recorded words in scripture are a lie, or at best a half truth. Oh yeah, sure, they were here, but I don't know where they are. You might. Yeah. You could tell she's had some practice covering up for some of her visitors before, right? This is Rahab, this is how we meet Rahab, a Canaanite pagan, lying prostitute. And this person is in Hebrews 11 by faith. What's that about? But it's important to note what we just talked about, that list, that she wasn't an Israelite, she didn't worship the one true God. She was a woman of ill repute, and she had a lying problem. None of those things are why Rahab is in Hebrews 11. Why is she in Hebrews 11? Why is she named? Because of her faith. Remember Hebrews 11:2 this. "This is what the ancients "were commended for." Well, what's the this? The kind of faith that is confident of what we hope for, and assurance of what we do not see. This is what Rahab then therefore is commended for. We just haven't read about her faith yet, so we have to keep reading. Stick with me. There's a lot of verses here. Versus eight through 24 of chapter two. So don't miss this, "Before the spies lay down for the night, "she went up on the roof and said to them," to the spies, "'I know that the Lord has given you this land, "'and that a great fear of you has fallen on us "'so that all who live in this country "'are melting in fear because of you. "'We've 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 Sihon and Og, "'the two Kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, "'who you completely destroyed. "'When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, "'and everyone's courage failed because of you. "'For the Lord your God is God in heaven above, "'and on the earth below. "'Now then, please swear to me by the Lord "'that you will show kindness to my family, "'because I've shown kindness to you. "'Give me a sure sign that you will spare "'the lives of my father and mother, "'my brothers and sisters, "'and all who belong to them, "'and that you will save us from death.' "'Our lives for your lives,' the men assured her, "'If you don't tell what we're doing, "'we will treat you kindly and faithfully "'when the Lord gives us the land.' "So she let them down by a rope through the window, "for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. ""She said to them, 'Go to the hills "'so the pursuers will not find you. "'Hide yourselves there for three days until they return, "'and then go on your way. "Now, the men had said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us "'unless when we enter the land, "'you have tied this scarlet cord in the window "'through which you let us down. "'And unless you have brought your father and mother, "'your brothers and all your family into your house, "'if any of them go outside your house into the street, "'their blood will be on their own heads, "'we will not be responsible. "'As for those who are in the house with you, "'their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. "'But if you tell what we're doing, "'we will be released from the oath you made us swear.' "'Agreed,' she replied, 'let it be as you say.' "So she sent them away and they departed, "and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. "When they left, they went into the hills, "and stayed there three days "until the pursuers had searched all along the road, "and returned without finding them. "Then the two men started back. "They went down out of the hills, "forded the river and came to Joshua, son of Nun, "and told him everything that had happened to them. "They said to Joshua, "'The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands, "'and all the people are melting in fear because of us.'" There's a lot here, isn't it. There's quite a bit going on in this story. The two spies return to Joshua and they tell him everything that had happened. And this scene had to have been so comical. I wish that we could read just a little bit behind the, peel a little bit behind the curtain, because they come back to Joshua and he says, okay guys, how did it go? Well, we got into Jericho and we went to this lady's house to spend the night. You did what? No, no, no, it's fine. She was a prostitute. You did what? No, it's all good. They found out that we were staying there right away, and they sent messengers after us. Wow. Great job, James Bond. You're the best spy ever, right? You get into this city and you're immediately found. I wonder if like at a point Joshua was just like, this is the best I have, like, we're doomed. And he was a spy before himself, 40 years earlier, so he knew a thing or two and he's probably just like, man, there's no way. And then, you know, they're elbowing each other, tell Joshua what she said. Tell him what she said. Well, yeah. I mean, the Lord gave us the land, and everyone's melting in fear. They use Rahab's words as the report, which is incredible. So her testimony, if you will, becomes the grounds for their report to Joshua. But you might be thinking, okay, so she negotiates. I mean, she's shrewd, right? Like, she's streetwise. So she negotiates with these two young men, these two spies, she negotiates with them. She shows them some hospitality. She also protects them from the messengers of the king of Jericho, and she works out a peace treaty basically for herself and for her own household. Is this what qualifies her for the hall of faith? Just that, that she told a half truth and spared the spies, and they were bound to their word. Is that why she's in Hebrews 11? Well, first of all, don't discount that, but second let's press in a little bit further on her story, because remember, we're talking about, by faith. So here's the key question for today, what can we learn from the faith of Rahab, Rahab the prostitute. What can we learn from her faith? And there is much for us to learn. Here's the first thing, true faith remains standing, even when it stands alone. True faith remains standing even when it stands alone. This is from the life of Rahab. Look at the next part of Hebrews 11:31, I didn't show you this part earlier, "By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish "with those who were disobedient," and there's more. But the first thing we learn is that she didn't perish with those who were disobedient. Well, who were they? The residents of Jericho, the Canaanites. She didn't perish along with the rest of the Canaanites. Now you gotta understand, Canaan was not a good place to be in these days, especially in Jericho. I mean, the people of Canaan committed heinous evil, wickedness, sin, unrighteousness, that was a stench in the nostrils of God. And so he had committed to decimate this city as they really just threw off any knowledge of God, and went in a completely opposite direction, though they were neighbors to the Israelites in some strange way. They went headlong into sin. In fact, when you read in Leviticus, which I know you were doing this morning, because it's a great devotional book, right? The red heifer and all of the sacrifices, and the bread offering, right? But in Leviticus 18, 19 and 20, there's a bunch of ethical codes. And if you read them and you study the history of the people of Canaan, most of the laws given in Leviticus 18, 19, and 20 are like the opposite of what was the common practice in Canaan. So even in Leviticus 18, God says specifically, do not practice what the Canaanites practice. And then there's all these things that we read that sound pretty severe, and also pretty strange. Like not even Law and Order SVU would touch that, right? Like it's just that weird. And that's because it was common in Canaan. Infanticide, child sacrifices, cult prostitution, orgies, you name it. I mean, it was not a good place to be. And this was the environment that little Rahab grows up in. It's not conducive to faith in the one true God of Israel, quite the opposite. Yet she stands out in this crowd. Did you hear what she said to the spies? Look at it again in Joshua 2:9-12, she said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land, "and that a great fear of you has fallen on us "so that all who live in this country "are melting in fear because of you. "We 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 Sihon and Og, "the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, "whom you completely destroyed. "When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear "and everyone's courage failed because of you. "For the Lord your God is God "in heaven above and on the earth below," pay attention here, she calls the God of the Israelites by his covenant name. In Hebrew the Lord your God is, Yahweh. Or sometimes we say Jehovah. The Lord your God. For I know that Yahweh is God. Now we miss that 'cause we just sail right past it. But you gotta imagine she doesn't use a generic term for God, like, oh yeah, your God. She uses his covenant name that was revealed to Moses. Now, have you ever been around someone who, to your knowledge, isn't a follower of Christ. Keep this here for one second. And all of a sudden they say something to you like, yeah, so I was watching The Chapel, and pastor Jerry was talking about. And you're just like, wait, hold on. What? First of all, you know about The Chapel, you know about The Chapel live stream, and you know who pastor Jerry is? What's going on, you know? And you become a detective, like, are they like searching out on their faith? What's going on here? They just drop it in the conversation casually, like that needs more attention. I imagine that's what it felt like for them, 'cause they're talking to Rahab the prostitute, in Jericho, in Canaan, and she's like, yeah, Yahweh. What? She uses it four times in these short verses, "For the Lord your God is God in heaven above, "and on the earth below. "Now then please swear to me by the Lord, Yahweh, "that you will show kindness to my family, "because I've shown kindness to you." Did you catch this? She uses his covenant named four times. She knows about what God is going to do. He is going to give you the land. She's certain. And she knows about God's past track record. She says, we've heard about the Red Sea, and about what you did to the two Kings of the Amorites, which if you're tracking in the story of Israel, really is the bookends of their journey in the wilderness, 'cause the Red Sea was 40 years ago. The destruction of the kings on the east side of the Jordan, that was recent 'cause they're right there on the east side of the Jordan. It would be like if someone said, I know what your God has done from A to Z. She's been keeping track. How long we don't know. But Rahab's faith stands out to me because she alone out of Jericho. She alone out of this mess, this cesspool of sin, she alone stands out and stands by faith. Did you hear it? We heard about what God did, our heart's melted, but I know that God has given you the land. Did you hear that? True faith remains standing even when it stands by itself. What about you? What about your faith when you're the only believer at work, when you're the only believer in your family, or in your neighborhood, or in your group of friends, you know the friends that you all partied with in college and then everybody grew up, and you found Christ along the way, or rather he found you along the way, and now you get together with those friends again, and they're still kind of where they were, and you're not there anymore, but you still wanna be a friend to them. What's your faith doing there? What does your faith look like then? Does your faith remain standing? I remember when I was 18-years-old, and my parents pulled away from my college, my Christian college, and there I was all by myself. And some of you maybe are watching this weekend from your college dorm or with your family as they're preparing to drop you off and do the same thing. Or maybe it's your first week alone wherever you are, and I remember this feeling like, oh my gosh, I'm alone. I mean, there's 13,000 other people here, but I'm alone. I knew a couple people here and there, but it was a really strange feeling like I'm a grown up now, I have to make grown up decisions. And I think my parents drove away on a Saturday, and so I went to bed that night and woke up Sunday morning. And for the very first time in my whole life I woke up and no one was there to tell me it's time to get ready for church. Now I was on a Christian college campus and so I, you know, I wasn't waking up early. I mean 9:30 would be a generous description of the time. And so I look over at the two guys that are in my dorm room, and they're out cold, snoring. They're dead to the world right now. And I open the door and look down the hall, where 71 other guys lived, and not a sound. No sound from the bathroom, showers, no sound in the hall, nothing. And this may seem like a really small thing to you, but at the time, and even now it seems like it was a really big deal, because there was this crisis point for me. No one was gonna tell me to get ready for church, that decision had been made for me for 18 years, and rightfully so, but no one was gonna tell me, none of my dorm mates were gonna gimme a hard time. There was no human accountability for this decision. So, easy decision would've been go back to bed, and that's what I considered, but for some reason, and I remember this, this is August, 2006 to now. So all these years later I remember this decision point, is my faith mine, or is it just my parents? And I had inherited a rich legacy, but was this gonna be mine? And like, I'm gonna invest in my faith, or is this just something that mom and dad made me do? So for the very first time in my life, I got up, got ready, drove to church, sat by myself. I don't remember the sermon that day, but I remember the decision, because even in that environment, my faith felt like it was standing alone. But those are the kinds of moments that God grows, and develops our faith. And he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. True faith remains standing even when it stands alone. But there's a second thing that we learn, and it's that true faith sacrifices the seen for the unseen. True faith sacrifices the seen for the unseen. When you think about it for Rahab, there was a golden opportunity in her lap. She could have manipulated the situation with the guards from the king to get a bribe. Hey, I'll tell you where those spies are, but it'll cost you. She could have done the same thing for the spies. Hey, I'll protect you, I can cover this up, I can make this problem go away, but it'll cost you. And we wouldn't be surprised if a Canaanite lying prostitute did something like that. We wouldn't be surprised, but she doesn't go for the, maybe the thing that's familiar or the thing that's easy, she reaches for what is unseen, and what is yet to be revealed. She doesn't operate over here, she operates over here. And true faith does that. True faith is willing to sacrifice the seen for the unseen. The rest of our verse in Hebrews 11:31 says, "By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish "with those who were disobedient, "because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies." But I need you to understand that this isn't just like, oh man, that Canaanite hospitality, that's really great. It's not about that. It's about what the hospitality meant, because what Rahab is doing, even in defying the king of Jericho, is that she is signaling and deciding that she sides with the God of the Israelite army, not with the people from which she came. She sacrifices what was known and familiar, and what she could see, for what was unknown, and what she couldn't see. She doesn't go with the king of Jericho, she instead decides I'm gonna go with the God of Israel. And the writer of James, when he's talking about faith without works and he says, faith without works is dead. Remember that passage in James? He uses two examples to talk about the kind of faith that acts on that, that acts for the unseen, not just on what is seen. And the two examples that James uses are Abraham, which okay, that makes sense to us. But you know what the second example that James uses about faith without works is dead, here it is in James 2, "In the same way was not even "Rahab the prostitute considered righteous." There's a righteousness at work for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies, and sent them off in a different direction. Two examples on faith without works is dead, Abraham, got it. Rahab. Is Rahab even in your top 10 examples of people of faith, if you're thinking, oh, I'll follow up Abraham with Jacob. Nope. James goes to Rahab. Why? Because she consistently makes decisions consistent with the fact that she had a confidence in what she hoped for, and an assurance in what she did not see. So she puts a scarlet rope out her window, and she takes confidence in the fact that this is gonna be the signal to her deliverance. She can't see the deliverance, but she acts on what she has been given, this faith. And that faith leads her to do it, even though she has no real guarantee, other than these two young very bad spies giving her their word. That's really all she's got. Now, you hear that scarlet cord and you're like, Jonathan, that's talk about Jesus. This is your moment right now. Okay, hold on. I agree with you. But as one scholar said, we don't need to go forward just yet. We actually need to go backwards so that we can go forward, because that scarlet cord for the Israelites was signaling something unique to them. You see, there was something that was true for the people of Israel that was not yet true for Rahab. That the people of Israel, every one of their families that was in Egypt in slavery, all had this in common. They all walked out through a door that was covered in red. The very first Passover their ancestors painted the door posts with lamb's blood. And every one of those families walked out under a door that was painted red. So now Rahab hangs out this scarlet red cord out her window as a signal to the Israelis that this one will be spared. And just like at the Passover, everyone who's in the house will be passed over. I know it doesn't seem to make sense to paint this doorpost with lamb's blood, but it will, and everyone who's inside will be passed over. So now in Rahab's story, everyone who's inside. Make sure your father, and mother, and brothers, and sisters are all in there with you, for wherever that red cord is, they will be passed over. And so she's spared. She's spared because she sacrificed the seen, what was familiar, what she knew, for the unseen. This was an act of faith. This is why Rahab is described as someone who acted by faith. 

- So now in Rahab's story, everyone who's inside. Make sure your father and mother, and brothers and sisters are all in there with you, for wherever that red cord is, they will be passed over. And so she's spared. She's spared because she sacrificed the seen, what was familiar, what she knew, for the unseen. This was an act of faith, this is why Rahab is described as someone who acted by faith. But not just that, in her story, as we continue through the chapters of the book of Joshua, we come to Joshua 6, and the Israelite army is preparing to take the city of Jericho. And so they're marching around the city. You remember this? They march around the city every day for a week, and then on the seventh day, they march around seven times. But as they're preparing to take the city of Jericho, they're not setting up catapults, or getting their weapons ready, or anything like that. They're playing trumpets and shouting. They're basically a glorified marching band, all right, if we're just being honest, and no one's ever been afraid of a marching band. If we're serious, you know? Yeah. Guys, just walk around. Don't worry about the swords, don't worry about the swords, just grab your trumpets. This is how we're gonna take over the city of Jericho, brass buttons. Like, that's what the key is, and yet what happens? Joshua 6 tells us in verse 20, "When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, "and at the sound of the trumpet, "when the men gave a loud shout, "the wall collapsed, "so everyone charged straight in and they took the city. "Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "'Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out, "'and all who belonged to her "'in accordance with your oath to her.' "So the young men who had done the spying," that's a generous description, "went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, "her brothers and sisters, and all who belonged to her. "They brought out her entire family, "and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel." Hold onto that. "Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, "but they put the silver and gold, "and the articles of bronze and iron "into the treasury of the Lord's house. "But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute with her family, "and all who belonged to her, "because she had hid the men "Joshua had sent us spies to Jericho, "and she lives among the Israelites to this day." So first they take Rahab and her family, and they put her out, put them outside the camp, it's 'cause they were unclean Gentiles. They couldn't reside with the Israelites. That's the first part, that makes sense. But did you catch what verse 25 said? "And she lives among the Israelites to this day." She lives in Israel to this day, as of that writing, right? Basically if you don't believe me about this, you can go ask Rahab. But more than that, you don't have to be a biblical scholar to understand what the law of Moses said to do about prostitutes. That there was to be no sexual immorality in the people of Israel, of any kind, and that there would be even capital punishment awaiting anyone who did. But Rahab sticks around. Now later in Israel's history, there was plenty of compromise, like in the era of the kings after David and Solomon, like that era, there was plenty of compromise. But this wasn't one of those times, this was a season of devout allegiance to God and his law as they prepared to enter the promised land. So this was not a wishy washy time. So what does that mean for Rahab, if she was still around? She gave up her career, she gave up her livelihood. She was no longer Rahab the prostitute, she was Rahab the former. She gave up all she knew. She gave up economic stability. She gave up earthly pleasure, all for, the Lord your God, who is God alone. She sacrificed the seen for the unseen. What has your faith cost? What are you willing to pay? Some of you don't have to think hard, because you've had, you've been passed over at work. And though it was never said explicitly, you know. You've lost friendships. You've lost family members who thought you just went off the deep end. And maybe when you got baptized, and you family of origin said, well, why did you do that? We already took care of all that stuff for you. And now you don't even have a close relationship with them because you knew that you wanted to follow Jesus no matter what, no matter who. Some of you don't have to think. It will cost you, it will cost you something. But as many have said before, it will cost you more not to follow Jesus. It will cost you to follow him, but it will cost you more not to. It cost Rahab something, a lot of things, but it would've cost her way more, 'cause she would've gone with the disobedient into oblivion. True faith sacrifices the seen for the unseen. And then a last point, true faith rewrites the family legacy. True faith rewrites the family legacy. You know, we don't know much about Rahab's family. It's a little, we're a little scarce on details, save, just a few places and one of those we read already, look at Joshua 6:23, it says, "So the young men who'd done the spying "went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, "her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. "They brought out her entire family, "and put them in a place outside the camp." So we've got father and mother, brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. Well that could have been any number of people, cousins, nieces, nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles. Could also have been coworkers of Rahab's, or maybe depending on her position and rank, employees. This group. Either way, one thing's for sure, there's a conspicuous absence of a husband or children. Rahab has no husband and no heirs. Now, even in Canaan, prostitution was tolerated, not celebrated. It a necessary evil if you will. But she lived on the margins. Her house is on the wall, you can't even get more marginal than that, and so even in their time, even in this setting of Jericho, that I described, Rahab was in a, not only financially vulnerable position with no husband and no heirs. She was in a socially shameful one, even in her place. But this isn't the last time we hear from her. We don't hear from her again in the Old Testament, but this isn't the last time we hear from her. When Matthew sat down to write his gospel, he begins with a genealogy. And so I know, you can be honest when you come to the lists of so and so begat so and so, let's just call it a skim, right. Let's just call it a skim. Yeah. Okay. Yep. Oh, alright. Yep. Still there, still what I thought it was. Good. Okay, good. Get to the. Now where's Jesus healing people, let's get to that, right, or Christmas. We won't call it a skip, just a skim, but don't do either for this part. Matthew 1 says "This is the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, "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 and Zerah, "whose mother was Tamar. "Perez the father of Hezron, "Hezron the father of Ram, "Ram the father of Amminadab. "Amminadab the father of Nahshon, "Nahshon the father of Salmon, "Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. "Boaz is the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. "Obed the father of Jesse, "and Jesse the father of King David." True faith rewrites the family legacy. You gotta understand that for a Hebrew genealogy to contain the names of women was not just unusual, it was unheard of. And the fact that there are four women listed in this genealogy, is astounding. The fact that two of those women are not even Jewish, is astounding. And the fact that one of those non-Jewish women, in the lineage of the Messiah, is a prostitute, is just baffling. But this is what happened. So apparently Rahab gives up her profession, and moves in with the camp of Israel. And apparently she meets a man named Salmon. What an amazing man he must have been. Now we don't know much about him, but he decides to knowingly marry a Canaanite former prostitute, and make her his wife. We don't know much about him, but we know their son, Boaz. And we know that in the story of Ruth, Boaz is called a worthy man, and worthy men don't just appear. They're not just out there. They require training. Could it be, could it be that, and maybe you've even wondered this, like, why does Boaz take such an interest in the Moabite widow named, Ruth? Could it be that it maybe reminded him of a story he had heard all of his life in his childhood home, about how his dad married a foreign woman who became a devout follower of Yahweh. What an incredible story. Maybe you are the result of a rewritten legacy. Maybe you're here, humanly speaking, because a parent, or a grandparent stood by faith when they were standing completely alone, and they have deposited the seeds of the gospel into your heart until the Holy Spirit struck the match, and brought forth your salvation. Maybe it would be good for you to remember the generational change that can happen. Or maybe you are the first of your family to follow Christ. Maybe you are the one standing alone, and maybe you feel very defeated sometimes about how hard it is to go against the grain, how hard it is to continue to walk by faith, even when there's ridicule and jokes, and misunderstanding about what you're even doing, and why you take this Jesus thing so seriously. And maybe you're feeling defeated. Maybe you feel discouraged. Maybe I could encourage you that God is gonna use your story to rewrite the family legacy. Maybe you're the piece in this story that starts to change generation, after generation,, after generation. Either way faith, true faith, that's what it does, it rewrites the family legacy. After all what kind of a story? What kind of a story has a prostitute in the lineage of the Messiah, the savior of the world? I'll tell you, a true one. A true story. A story about real people who are in a real mess, because of their real sin, but they encounter a real God, who provides real redemption, and real forgiveness, and extends real life for a real eternity. That is the kind of story that has a prostitute in the lineage of the Messiah. One about real people, living in a real place, and a real God who steps in. Here's how I would summarize the story of Rahab in a few sentences. Here's the first one, there are no unlikely candidates for mercy. I can't tell you of all the commentaries and articles, and things I researched in preparation for today, how many people referred to Rahab as an unlikely candidate. And I get what we're saying, I get what we're talking about. Man, Rahab, she's an unlikely candidate because she, was even as I said, a Canaanite, prostitute, lying, right? But here's the implication of a sentence like that. Do you get it? Do you know what it is? If you say there are no unlikely candidates for mercy, you're saying that there are likely candidates for mercy. But I feel very confident to say this as well, there are no likely candidates for mercy either. There are no unlikely candidates. But that really just means that you could possibly be someone who deserved mercy. Now, they're an unlikely candidate to find the gospel. Really. Does that make you a likely one or me? I mean, the self-righteousness just eeks out of us whether we want it to or not. When we say, well, they're just an unlikely candidate to find the mercy and grace of God. But are there likely ones? Remember what Jesus said about, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick," but what was the wink-wink of that statement? Hey, everybody's sick, some people just admit it, right. That was his whole point. There are no unlikely candidates for mercy, because there's nothing you can do to deserve it. There are also no likely candidates for mercy. So the last thing I conclude from the life of Rahab is, there are only candidates for mercy. How's that? There are only candidates for mercy. No matter what you've done, or what you didn't do, you are a candidate for God's mercy. Because Rahab, out of all of Jericho, God steps in and steps down, and he saves her, because he knew exactly what he wanted to do with her into the story of His Messiah. What does she do to deserve that? There are only candidates for mercy. In closing I'll tell you a story I heard. It's a story about a woman who was involved with a man who was not her husband, and she knew that it was wrong. She knew she shouldn't. She had grown up in a legalistic, hyper legalistic environment, even culturally around her, not just her family, but like all around her. And so she had knowledge of right and wrong. It wasn't an ignorance thing, it was a will thing. And she knew it was wrong, but she did it anyway. And one day her worst fear came true. She was with this man, alone, and she heard voices outside, and the voice is getting closer. And though she knew what was right, she had this constant war going on in her, battling her upbringing, but also the reality of, finally someone who pays attention to me. Not to mention the satisfaction that it brought however fleeting. And so, then just all of that combusted in that moment, as she heard those voices approaching her door. And the door bursts open, and if it couldn't get any worse, who's standing there? One of the leaders of her family's religious tribe, like one of the priests basically, and a small mob of guys with him. And she's mortified. And she grabs a shawl to cover up even just some of her dignity. And the man she was with slips out the back way, or maybe he was never the concern anyway. And they grab her and they drag her outside. It's mortify, in the daylight. And she sees a small crowd assembled, and a man standing off to the side. And this religious leader grabs her, and throws her into the middle of this circle of people. And she gets closer to that man and she realizes, she recognizes him. She's seen him before. She didn't know his name, but she recognized him as a traveling teacher. And her priest yells out at the teacher, "You know what our law says to do about people like this? "What do you say?" And the man, the teacher looked at her, but he didn't look at her body, he looked at her in the eyes. She was used to men admiring her figure that had been true for a long time, but he looked at her differently. And then he ignored the question, and looked away, and they kept badgering the teacher, "What do you say we should do? "You know that this is "a capital punishment kind of situation? "What do you think we should do? "What do you say?" He didn't even look up. He knelt down. "Well, "whoever is without this sin should cast the first stone." And he just looked down. And the woman is standing there, and her eyes are closed, 'cause she wants to be anywhere but here. She's just hoping this will end, and that it'll be a swift execution, that she won't suffer. But the next sounds she hears are the rocks hitting the ground. She opens her eyes and realizes she's now alone with this man. And now she's uncertain 'cause she's alone with this guy that she's never met and in her condition. And Jesus stands up and looks at her in the eyes, and he says, "Where are your condemners?" She could barely speak, but holding back tears she says, "They're gone." And Jesus says, "Leave your life of sin. "It's done. "And I don't condemn you either." See, the gospel it's for every single man, woman and child. No one deserves mercy, that's why it's mercy. No one deserves it. But no one who comes to Jesus will ever be turned away. He will meet you, and he will give you mercy. Maybe you've believed that you've done too much, you've gone too far, you've said too much, you've seen too much, you've sinned too much, and that there's no way, Jonathan, there's no way, I've already made too much of a mess of things. But your past sin or present sin does not disqualify you from being a recipient of his grace, so don't believe the lie. Maybe you come from a place where, when God saved you, he made a really great decision, because your performance religiously has sustained you in your eyes. But I need you to know that your performance doesn't qualify you for His mercy either. There are no unlikely candidates, there are no likely candidates. The story of Rahab teaches us there are only candidates for his mercy, and you are one.