This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see
what’s happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

Joshua is about to lead Israel
back into her ancestral homeland.

But Jericho, a walled
enemy city, stands in their way.

Joshua sends two spies to
scout for potential weaknesses.

But they’re immediately compromised and need
to hide from the king’s guards in Rahab’s tavern.

Rahab is a prostitute.

But she’s sympathetic to Israel because she’s heard
the stories of how God destroyed the kings Sihon and Og.

The whole city lives in fear of Israel and her God.

But while the kings of Canaan are preparing for war,
Rahab is ready to worship.

In an act of faith, she hides the spies, lies
to protect them, and helps them escape.

She pledges allegiance to Israel's God.

In exchange for helping the spies she asks for
her family to be spared when Israel attacks Jericho.

The spies agree and set up a code.

Rahab needs to hang a scarlet thread out her
window so the soldiers will know to spare her house.

And when Joshua hears about Rahab’s faith
and kindness, along with the spies' report

that the hearts of Canaan’s
warriors are melting from fear,

he knows the Lord is about to give Israel
its first victory in their promised land.

[music]

It’s significant that the first story in a
book about Israel’s conquest of Canaan

is the story of a Canaanite prostitute
confessing faith in Israel’s God.

Rahab’s faith not only saves her from Jericho’s
fate but includes her in God’s chosen people.

God promised Abraham that Israel would own
the land of Canaan and bless the whole world.

Rahab is God’s promise
to Abraham coming true.

In fact, Rahab is listed as a hero of faith
along with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When this enemy prostitute Rahab trusts God, she
becomes a founding mother of the nation of Israel.

Rahab is even one of Jesus’s ancestors.

Because of Rahab’s faith, she’s
a branch in Jesus’ family tree.

This is good news.

If a prostitute on the wrong side of God’s battle lines
can become a member of God’s family, so can we.

Jesus tells his disciples “whoever does the will of my
Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother”.

By faith alone God’s promise
to bless the world comes true.

And by faith alone we become brothers and
sisters, even fathers and mothers, to Jesus.

Like the Canaanites, this should cause our hearts
to melt inside of us—not just in love but in fear too.

Jesus is like an army that has ransacked death,

just as Israel rampaged through the
powerful kingdoms of Sihon and Og.

There is no ally and there are no walls that
can protect us from Jesus’ rule and reign.

We have a choice.

We can resist him like
the king of Jericho.

Or we can, like Rahab, bow before the God of
heaven and earth and be adopted into his family.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes
to see the God who saves his enemies

and and may you see Jesus as the one
who makes God’s enemies his family.