Rahab: Not who she used to be

RAHAB: NOT WHO SHE USED TO BE

Joshua 2:1-24 (Part 1)

Intro: The Israelites were about to enter Canaan and claim their promised land. The first city they would have to face was the great walled city of Jericho. If they could take this city, they could easily split the country in two and then move from there to conquer the north and the south. 

Before they attack the city, Joshua sends two spies into the city to examine the mood of the people and to determine whether or not they were ready for the war that is coming. When these two men arrived in Jericho, they went to the home of a harlot. Their purpose in entering into a harlot’s home was not immoral. Their reasons were practical. The sight of men entering a harlot’s home would not attract too much attention. What they found when they entered the home of Rahab must have been a shock to the spies. They found a woman who had already been changed by the power of God. When they met Rahab, they found out that she wasn’t who she used to be!

Rahab is a demonstration of the power of God to transform lives. What I want you to see from this text is how the Lord takes sinners who will place their faith in Him and completely changes them by His power. Listen to the facts that present themselves in this passage. As you do, if you are saved you should rejoice in the great change Jesus has made in your life. If you are not saved, listen to what the Lord did for Rahab, and consider coming to Jesus Christ that you might be saved and changed by His power. I want to tell you today that Rahab: Not Who She Used To Be. God changed her life, and He can change yours as well. Let’s consider the facts this passage lays before us today.

1. v. 1 RAHAB AND HER SPIRITUAL FAILURES
2. Rahab Was A Defiled Sinner – Rahab was a harlot. She was engaged in a wicked lifestyle, selling her body to men for money. Her life was a life of deep depravity and wickedness.  Some people have tried to redeem Rahab by telling us that the word translated “harlot” can also refer to an “innkeeper.” It can, but when we consider what the Bible says about Rahab in the New Testament, there is no escaping the fact that she was a harlot, Heb. 11:31; James 2:25. The word “harlot” in both of those verses means, “a woman who sells her body for sexual uses; a prostitute, a harlot, one who yields herself to defilement for the sake of gain.” So, it seems clear that Rahab was a wicked woman who lived a defiled lifestyle.

Rahab is a picture of every person who is lost in sin today. You may not be a harlot, but if you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, then you are lost in sin and need to be born again! Everyone is a sinner – Rom. 3:10-17; 23; Gal. 3:22. If you are outside Christ today, you are in a helpless and hopeless situation – Eph. 2:1-3; Eph. 2:12. If you are lost, no matter your lifestyle, your life is wicked in the eyes of the Lord, Isa. 64:6.

 Q: According to Ephesians 2:1-3 give 3 traits of everyone before Christ saves us. 

14. Rahab Was A Dead Sinner – Rahab was living her life, but spiritually she was dead in her sins. This is the condition of every person outside of a relationship with the Lord Jesus today, Eph. 2:1; 4:18; 1 John 3:14. 1 Tim. 5:6 says, “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” This death the Bible speaks of is a spiritual death. It is deadness to God and to all He represents. Spiritual death always ends in the Second Death, Rom. 6:23; Rev. 20:11-15.

 Q: Give a detailed description of our sinful state from Ephesians 4:18 and 1 John 3:14

1. Rahab Was A Doomed Sinner – She lived in a city that had already been selected for destruction (See Deut. 20:16-18) God had already determined that Jericho would fall! I am sure the people living there felt confident and reasonably safe behind the walls of their city. Yet, God had already passed sentence upon them and they were doomed to destruction! The people of Jericho may not have felt that they were in great danger, but they were condemned nonetheless!

Every lost sinner is in the same situation! The lost person may feel secure today and may not believe that there is any danger. The Bible tells us that the lost are condemned already, John 3:18. It tells us that they abide under the wrath of God, John 3:36. It tells us that their ultimate destiny is eternity in Hell to be forever separated from the presence of God, Psa. 9:17; 2 Thes. 1:8-9. 

If you are lost, that is your future we are talking about! In spite of her lifestyle, in spite of her pagan background, in spite of her lost condition, God had given her forty years of grace, mercy and warning. How much time has He given you? You that are saved; how many times did the Lord touch your heart before you responded in faith? What a gracious God we serve. If you are lost, you should be very careful about presuming upon the grace of God. The Bible makes it crystal clear that there is a limit to patience in calling the lost to come to Him for salvation – Gen. 6:3; Isa. 55:6; Pro. 27:1; Pro. 29:1. It is a dangerous thing to delay coming to the Lord! If you have been holding off and waiting for something, wait no more! Come to Jesus while He is calling you!