Joshua 2 "Deadly Deeds"

Joshua 2 – Brandon Hatmaker “Deadly Deeds”
Friday, July 25th, 2008

“Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and 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 have come to spy out the whole land." But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.” – Joshua 2:1-4

There is a time when our faith must show the fruit of action. Otherwise our faith is proven dead. No doubt Rahab’s occupation had caused her much persecution in life and was probably an outcast, at least at some level. Here was an opportunity for her to redeem herself to the King of Jericho. All it would require is for her to betray these men whom she had never met before. Surely she had no loyalty to them. Seems like the perfect opportunity for her. No doubt she would be redeemed in the eyes of her leader, her countryman, and possibly even be considered a hero. This was her chance… but only in the eyes of men.

But she had a faith in God. And through His divine leading she remained faithful and protected them. Although she had nothing to gain and everything to lose, she chose the pleasure of her God. What an amazing faith. What an amazing dedication. And through her lineage came our Savior. Amazing faith and amazing fruit.

No doubt the story of her faith was passed on from generation to generation. James wrote about her faithfulness in James chapter two, “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Today, we can learn from a prostitute what it means to respond in faith. It makes me wonder what I am willing to sacrifice to follow my God, especially in the eyes of men. It makes me ponder how much I truly desire the Will of God and His Kingdom come. I hope today, that the fruit of my faith can only begin to reflect that of this prostitute, a faith that even the disciples failed to have at one point or another.