Episode 58 - Rahab and the spies: a balance of trust and faith

Welcome back to the Sojo Show!  Question for you: Have you ever inappropriately spied on someone?

In today’s episode, the second from our “Lessons from Joshua’s Life” series, we are discussing Joshua chapter 2.

As reviewed, in Joshua 1, God called Joshua and said, “Be strong and courageous, you're going to take the land”. Now in chapter two, Joshua sends two spies into Jericho preceding their invasion.

What happens within the first two verses is that the spies are found out by the authorities!  If this was a spy Netflix series, we would probably be thinking, “Well, these are some bad spies.” Right? 

But what if God had a bigger plan? Joshua thought he was secretly sending these spies, but God was ultimately the one with the plan and He directed their steps to the exact place they needed to be: Rehab’s house. 

Why a prostitute's house? Logically, it was a place where there were men going in and out.  And so they could overhear conversations and keep a low profile, but their reasons for making that decision had nothing to do with God's reason.  

With the King’s soldiers at her door, Rahab says there is no one there, no spies. Rehab had to make this decision between choosing loyalty to her authority (the King) and protecting the spies. Ultimately, she understood who the authority truly is (GOD!). 

The trust between these two spies and Rahab is tremendous. She is trusting them with her entire future and they are trusting her with their present, their lives, and the immediate ability to stay alive. What a beautiful tension of trust.

Rahab helps the spies to escape but in return, they are to remember her and her family. She recognizes their God is going to be victorious. She understands that and has faith. And that for us, it's astounding.  She had to choose her side and she chose the side of God and placed her trust in him.

Spoiler alert: her entire family was rescued from the invasion. The risk she took paid off because she chose correctly. She chose God. 

Because of Rahab’s faithfulness, because of her trust, and her faith in God, she was not only rescued and saved, but she ended up in the line of Christ. 

Which makes us think… We have the Bible, we have the benefit of the cross, we have the benefit of all of history, and yet sometimes, we forget about the goodness of God. We forget how faithful and victorious he is! Sometimes we rely on ourselves and we rely on things that are not God. Even with the perspective we have. 

Rahab’s story was preserved for us to know that that same grace, and the same God, is available for us today. 

We encourage you to read this chapter and see what God has to show you.