Well, thank you, Andrew, for leading us. And a lot of good songs, good message and song this morning. I want to thank all the Jack Pine Savages for coming out this morning, because we had 26 below at my house this morning. Pretty chilly. I know a lot of people are sick. As Andrew mentioned, a lot of people are struggling right now. I've never had a time in my time here where we had so many people having so many various struggles in our church. So you might pray for your brothers and sisters and look for opportunity to encourage each other as well. 

I want to begin this morning in Joshua chapter 2. I'll ask you to turn to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew 1, 1, please. Gospel of Matthew chapter 1 at verse 1. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez begot Hezron. And Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amenadab. And Amenadab begot Nashon. And Nashon begot Simon. Simon begot Boaz by Rahab. Boaz begot Obed by Ruth. Obed begot Jesse. And Jesse begot David the king. 

And if you look down to verse 16, it says, and Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So in verse 5, we see here in the lineage of Jesus Christ is the harlot Rahab. 

Now if you turn to Hebrews 11 with me, please. Hebrews chapter 11 at verse 29. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled seven days. By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace. 

So here we see Rahab the harlot in the chapter of faith, sort of the hall of fame of faith in Hebrews 11. In Joshua 2, the Israelites are preparing to cross over the River Jordan and take the land of promise. And we've seen Joshua prepare the people and act in obedience to God and his word. And my friends, the monumental day is at hand when they're going to cross the Jordan and take the land. And we see here that Joshua sends out two spies into the land to gather intelligence, especially concerning the city of Jericho. 

Jericho is going to be their first obstacle, their first battle. And the spies come to Jericho, and they lodge in the house of a harlot named Rahab, probably a rather inconspicuous place for two men to go to find lodging. What we're going to see in our text this morning is that this story becomes a redemption story. A harlot, a prostitute living in a grossly immoral pagan city becomes the grandmother of the savior of the world, Jesus Christ. 

Leviticus 18 tells us a little bit about what the city of Jericho was like. In Leviticus 18.3, God says, and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, that's where we're at, where I am bringing you, he says. You shall not do, nor shall you walk in their ordinances. And then he gives us a list of how things were in that city. He said, you shall observe my judgments, keep my ordinances to walk in them. I am the Lord your God. And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech. They were sacrificing their babies in the fire. Nor shall you profane the name of your Lord God. I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion. Do not defile yourselves with any of these things. For by all these, the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 

Remember that. That's important. It's hard to read those words. Those are perverse things to talk about. These are what the nations were doing, he says. For the land is defiled. Therefore, I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it. And the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you. For all these abominations, the men of the land have done who were before you. And thus, the land is defiled. Lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Therefore, you shall keep my ordinance so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you and that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God. 

The people who occupied the land of Canaan were an utterly wicked and perverse people who committed every debauchery known to man, including putting their babies in fire to worship the god Molech. God has given these people 400 years to repent, but their sin now has reached its fullness. He said before that he was not conquering them because their sin had not reached its fullness. He's long-suffering. He's patient. He wants every man to come to faith and believe him. But the fullness of their sin has come now, and he's going to go in and conquer the land. It was in this context that the lowest of the low, a harlot in that city, lived in the wall of Jericho, a woman renowned and known for her sin, and to her house the spies come to lodge. 

This is an amazing story of redemption, of the mighty and powerful grace of God. And in Hebrews 11, in that great chapter of faith, we find Rahab the harlot who believed God. James says she was justified, a believer, and by God's grace, the distant grandmother of our Lord. This is a story of the grace of God. This is a story of redemption. 

Let's read our text, Joshua 2, verse 1. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy 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 from the children of Israel to search out the country. So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country. 

Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So 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 the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof. Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 

Now before they 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, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. For 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 the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sion and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 

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 they have, and deliver our lives from death. 

So the men answered her, our lives for yours. If none of you tell this business of ours, then it shall be when the Lord has given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with you. Then she led him down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall. She dwelled on the wall. And she said to them, get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way. 

So the men said to her, we will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless 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 own 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 if you tell us business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear. 

Then 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. They departed and went to the mountain, stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over. And they came to Joshua, the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. And they said to Joshua, truly, the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands. For indeed, all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted because of us. 

I'll have four points for you this morning. Your outlines are laying on my dining room table. But I was thankful I forgot those rather than the sermon. So four points. First, recon. Second, Rahab. Third, redemption. And fourth, reward. 

Well, first in verse 1, we see recon. Joshua sends out two men to spy out the land to do a reconnaissance mission, especially concerning the city of Jericho. Remember, Joshua was one of the 10 spies that Moses had sent out before, who came back to report on all that they saw in all the land. And the eight spies, remember, gave a bad report, not trusting the Lord and discouraging the people. But Joshua and Caleb saw the reward before them and trusted God and His word, trusted His promise. I wonder if those times were on the mind of Joshua as he sat at the precipice of entering the land and conquering Jericho. 

So the men go to Jericho. They find lodging at the house of Rahab the harlot and have a most interesting meeting with her in our text. And we see the heart of Rahab. Really, it's an amazing testimony that we just read by Rahab. And it shows us her heart of faith. She believed that Jehovah is God, sovereign over heaven and earth. She did not have a lot of revelation. She didn't know a lot. But notice it says she heard. She heard and she knew the works of the Lord God. 

They had heard the word concerning the Lord and the Israelites and all that He had done through them, all the way back to Egypt and the Red Sea. In Exodus 6, it says, I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land, which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them. 

This is what it has always been about, is that the nations, that the people, would know that He is the Lord, that He is God. The promise of God for the people of Israel was a declaration that He is the Lord God, the only true God, and the works which He performed in Egypt, the plagues, the pronouncements to Pharaoh, the parting of the Red Sea, the deliverance of Israel, the destruction of Pharaoh, and all his armies. These words and these works has spread across all the land, and the people knew that Jehovah was the true God. 

But notice the dichotomy of their response to these truths. In Hebrews 11.31, again, it says, by faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe. Thousands of people in Jericho, and they all had heard the word concerning the Lord Jehovah. They all knew of His mighty works. They were all fearful of what might come their way in way of judgment. But only Rahab had the response of faith. Clearly she believed in the Lord God, and the New Testament makes clear that she believed unto salvation, was justified by faith. 

All the other people heard the same things, all the other people knew the same things, and yet they wouldn't respond in faith. We see this in her heart response. She said, I know that the Lord has given you the land. How does she know that? I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint hearted because of you. For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sion and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 

And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, he is the God in heaven above and on earth beneath. She rightly proclaims that the Lord your God, he is God, and she pleads for mercy. Her acts show her faith, hiding the spies, and her desire for mercy shows us her heart. She believes that Jehovah is God. She knows that he's going to give the land to Israel, and she also believes and knows that God can deliver her and her family. 

There's a lot of talk. I hear people talk over the years about this text, and every commentary you read, is it okay for her to lie? You know what? The Bible doesn't say anything about that. What's the Bible say? We read the passages in James and Hebrews and Matthew. It emphasizes her faith, her faith, her faith. 

So as I was studying through this, thinking about that, I decided, I'm going to emphasize what the Holy Spirit emphasizes, her faith. You can sort out the rest of that. But what a picture of God's amazing grace this is. His grace reaches to the lowest depths. The vilest offender who truly believes, the hymn says, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. And God saved her, and He answered her call for mercy and delivered her whole family, as we shall see. 

I read Spurgeon on that topic, and he said her faith was weak, so she lied. If her faith had been strong, she'd have told the truth and trusted God. And I think that's a valid point. But I don't see any criticizing of Rahab anywhere in the scriptures, so I would be hesitant to do that. 

Let's look at this story of redemption again, 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 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. Then 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 mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way. 

So the man said to her, we will be blameless of this oath of yours, which you have made us swear, unless 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, mother, brothers, and all your father's household to your own 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 if you tell us business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear. 

Then 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. She let them down through the window on the wall, and she bound the scarlet cord in the window. 

The scarlet cord is a picture of the blood of Christ. You think about the Passover in Egypt where they spread the blood on the doorpost, and it covered the house so that the death angel passed over them. The scarlet cord here is a picture of the blood of Christ. In fact, it's much more in depth than just that. The word here for scarlet speaks of a scarlet or crimson worm. Some say it's an insect, but it seems to me when compared with Psalm 22, it's best to understand it as a scarlet or crimson worm. 

This was a common worm in that area of Israel used for dyeing garments and wool. So the word for the worm became synonymous with the red dye. In Psalm 22 6, this is a psalm about the cross. In verse 6, it says, this is Jesus speaking, but I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All those who see me ridicule me, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, he trusted in the Lord, let him rescue him, let him deliver him since he delights in him. 

The word translated worm here in Psalm 22 comes from the same root word, and this is the prophecy of Jesus on the cross, which is confirmed in Matthew 27, verse 43. Now this scarlet or crimson worm is an interesting character. When it's time for the female or mother worm to have babies, which she does only once in her lifetime, she finds the trunk of a tree. She then attaches her body to that wood and makes a hard crimson shell. And she's so strongly attached, permanently stuck to the wood that the shell cannot be removed without tearing her body and killing her. 

The crimson worm then lays her eggs under her body in the protective shell. When the larvae hatch, they stay under the shell, and not only does the mother's body give protection for her babies, but it also provides them with food; the babies feed on the living body of their mother. After just a few days, when the young worms grow to the point that they are able to take care of themselves, the mother dies. As the crimson worm dies, she oozes a crimson or scarlet red dye, which not only stains the wood she's attached to, but also her young children. They are colored scarlet red for the rest of their lives. 

Now listen to this. After three days, the dead mother crimson worm's body loses its crimson color and turns into a wax which is white in color and falls to the ground like a snowflake. Sometimes God just does stuff, doesn't he? Just going to make this little worm here in Israel. 

What did Jesus mean by saying, I am a worm? Well, there are a lot of ideas that Jesus might have meant, however, it's very interesting that just like the crimson worm, Jesus sacrificed or gave up his life on a tree so that the children might be washed with his crimson blood and their sins cleaned white as snow. He died for us, that we might live through him. 

In Isaiah 118, we have the same word here for scarlet. Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, the red crimson worm, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

The scarlet cord of Rahab was her only hope, hoping the God of Israel to deliver her and her family from certain judgment. She bound that cord in her window as the spies instructed and my guess is she went to that cord often the next few days waiting for the armies of Joshua to come. She must have checked on that scarlet cord again and again, securing it as her hope. Like the blood on the doorposts of the Passover, the scarlet cord covered her and her sins. 

This is a story of redemption. It's the same for us. But we now have the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ that was pictured in that scarlet crimson worm, that cord that hung from Rahab's window. We now look to the cross, secure in our hope, realize our salvation accomplished in Jesus Christ, His promise, His word, and His work on the cross for my sins and my place to save me from the wrath of God to come. 

In John 3.14, Jesus said, as Moses was lifted up, or lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. 

This was an offer, a genuine offer to Rahab and to all the people of Jericho and all the people of the land. Jesus died for every man and they heard the word and they knew the works and Rahab believed. Listen to John 3.18, makes it so clear. He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already. Why is he condemned? Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light, does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. 

But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God. Verse 18 is as true today as it was in the day of Joshua and Rahab. He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The issue is faith. Rahab believed God. 

And she knew that judgment was coming for the sinful people of Jericho and she called out for mercy, asked to be saved from the wrath to come. And her hope was in that scarlet cord, that crimson worm that hung from her window as a sign of her faith. She trusted in the Word of God, she trusted in the grace and mercy of God and put her faith in Him. 

But the rest of Jericho would not because their deeds were evil and they loved darkness and they would not come to the light. It's no different today. We see the pride of man, we see the love for his sins standing in the way of coming to Jesus by grace through faith. And men set up all kinds of devices to protect themselves to fend off the judgment of God. There's such a picture of this in the city of Jericho as Joshua prepares to go into the land and God will give him the victory, give him the city. 

Rahab is a picture of faith, receiving the grace of God, though she was a great sinner. But the rest of the people are a picture of those trusting in everything other than Christ, trusting in the wisdom and the power of men, the power and might of men, their double city walls, the false hope of their religion and their works. It says they had the whole city locked up tight because of their fear of the God of Israel. 

Think about this. They had the whole city locked up tight because of the fear of the God of Israel. In chapter 6, immediately before the fall of the city, it says, now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out, none came in. They had a mighty fortress, a double wall, a great military defense, listen, against the God of heaven and of earth, the sovereign creator of the universe. It seems silly from the perspective of those who believe, but think about how ridiculous it must have seemed to all those worldly pagan people who watched as Israel marched around the city for seven days. Not exactly a traditional battle plan. 

It's no different today, my friends. Christians are mocked for their faith in God and his word, but how senseless it is from our perspective, from God's perspective, to watch men try to save themselves, to trust in sacraments and religious rites and rituals, to deny God altogether, or to seek solace in human spirituality. All the might and wisdom and glory of man is as nothing. All the righteousness of man is as filthy rags before a holy God, and all the weapons of man are nothing against the one who spoke everything into existence. 

Paul learned this on that Damascus road. Listen to his testimony in Philippians 3, so clear. This should be the end of all religion. He says, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation, for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 

But what things were gained to me, these I have counted lost for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. 

Now listen to verse 9, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. What a clear statement. You just set that up against any religion, all your mainline Christian denominations. They're false. What's it say? Not by my works, not by my religion, not by my rites and rituals, only his righteousness imputed to me by faith. 

This is the only way that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Paul's faith was not in himself, not in his religion or works or carnal weapons of war or the wisdom of man. Paul's faith was in Jesus Christ alone. And because of his faith, the very righteousness of God was imparted to Paul, imputed to his account. 

Because he received the grace of God through faith alone, he could now rest in the fact that he would never experience the wrath of God for his sins because Jesus took that wrath on the cross of Calvary. This is the basis of justification for you and for me and for Rahab all the way back there in the book of Joshua. This is a story of redemption by the grace of God through faith alone in him. 

We see in our text this morning, Recon, Rahab, redemption, and finally we see reward. Look at verse 17 of our text. So the men said to her, we will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear unless, 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 mother and your father and your brothers and all your father's household to your own home. 

If anyone goes outside the doors, their blood is on their own head. If they stay inside and someone lays a hand on them, their blood's on ours. If you tell this business of ours, we'll be free from the oath. And she agrees, so be it, and she binds the scarlet cord. 

Rahab cried out for mercy, she believed in the living God, she asked to be delivered from the wrath that was coming, and she received her reward, not only justification as we read in James and Hebrews 11, but also the reward of the deliverance of her family according to the oath, the agreement made. 

Turn over to Joshua 6, and let's look at the story when they come in to conquer the city. Joshua 6, 21. He says, "'And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword. But 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 that they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. 

But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, 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 she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.'" 

God saved Rahab because of her faith. God destroyed the city and all that was in it because of their rebellion, and because they do not believe. I was thinking about that when Jesus comes in Revelation 19, it says He's going to come out of heaven on a white horse, and all the saints are going to come with Him, and what's He going to do? By the word of His mouth, He's going to destroy all who offend. The sword, the word, He's going to speak the word and destroy and wipe out every man and woman who haven't believed. 

You have a problem with that? And why would we have a problem with God using Israel as His instrument to go in and destroy them? He gave them 400 years to repent. They were putting their babies in the fire. Women were laying with animals. They were unwilling to believe. God's righteous judgment will come upon this earth fully and finally when Jesus comes. And the righteous will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. 

Do you know what that means to me? I'm going to see it as God sees it, and I'm going to agree, and I'm going to give Him praise and worship because what He does is right. God saved Rahab because of her faith, and my brother and my sister in Christ, God saved you, if you believe, because of your faith in Jesus. It's only by grace through faith that we can be saved from the wrath of God. 

This is the story of redemption. It is the story that we still tell today. Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for redemption. We're so thankful for Jesus that He died in our place, that He was our substitute. He stood in our stead to take the wrath that we deserved, to suffer Your wrath in our place. Our sins were imputed to Him when we believed and trusted in Him alone in what He accomplished, and His righteousness was imputed to us, and we are justified. 

And Father, we thank You for all that comes with salvation when we believe. Thank You for the promises, the hope, the regeneration, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for Your grace, which is sufficient today and every day, no matter what's going on in this world. We know that You're in control, and we can trust You. In Jesus' name, amen.