Rahab

The last few weeks, we’ve been learning about faith and some of the people often described as “heroes of the faith” that are named in Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11:31 “It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in the city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

Joshua 2 & 6 Who was Rahab?

Rahab’s story is probably the most relevant for today’s time than any of the others up here. Rahab did not grow up in an Israelite household with a godly heritage. She wasn’t told bedtime stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob growing up. She wasn’t taught about Moses climbing a mountain to meet with God for instructions on how to live.

Rahab was a part of a pagan, corrupt, depraved culture.

Canaanites practiced ritualistic and temple prostitution in worship to their gods. It may very well have been that Rahab was “a religious prostitute”.

Some scholars disagree and believe she was only a business owner and only an “innkeeper who sadly, found other ways of bringing in revenue.” – Dr. Michael A Milton

In either case, she probably felt like she was the most unlikely person to be used by God.

The Bible tells us she was a prostitute and 2 spies for the Israelite army came to her house.

Like many times in history, inns, brothels, bars, and similar places became meeting places and clandestine hide outs.

This could have been a similar situation for the spies where they took up lodging at “Rahab’s place.”

As spies, the shadier part of town would have been the perfect place to go to collect information and keep a low profile.

The next morning, she had a choice to make.

She chose to hide them and told soldiers that they had already left. Once they were safe, she told them this.

Joshua 2: 9-11 9

“I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. 10For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. 11No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

Rahab Knew & Recognized – Israel’s God was the supreme God

The battles we fight and win in God’s name don’t only impact our lives; the bring testimony to others. Rahab was not in an ideal circumstance to come to faith in the one true God.

She just didn’t just fear him – she declared Him the Supreme God.

“For the Lord your God is the supreme God in the heavens above and on the earth below.” Joshua 2:11 Rahab believed what she heard was true – that Israel’s God was the true God

Knowing vs. Believing

It’s one thing to be informed about Jesus. It’s another to be transformed by Him. Rahab believed the “rumors” about the Israelite army and their God and believed it true.

Rahab probably thought – this God is powerful… far more powerful than all of mine. He is the supreme God, and I better turn to him or I’m toast.

Our beliefs don’t change because our circumstances change; our circumstances change because our beliefs change.

After Rahab made her declaration that she believed God to the supreme God she went on…

Joshua 2:12-13 12

“Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that 13when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families.”

Rahab could have turned to God and fled Jericho at any time, but she waited until the enemy was literally at her door.

Isn’t that human nature?

Why is it that it takes our lives falling apart before we finally turn to God?

Why is God our last resort? Rahab comes up with a plan.

They spies agreed to s

NOAH

KNOWING 

Genesis 6:5-8 NKJV 

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So, the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 6:9 NKJV

Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 

Noah came from a long line of generations who walked with God! 

Noah was able to hear about God from his family before him, but he also passed it on to his children. 

Genesis 6:13-14 NKJV 

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself and ark…

Genesis 6:18

But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 

He modeled a relationship with God in such a way that his family came to know, believe, and trust in God. 

BELIEVE 

GENESIS 6:9 

Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 

Noah walked with God, meaning he made the relationship personal! God was not just someone that his past relatives talked about. He believed in God on his own accord. 

HEBREWS 11:7 TPT

Faith opened Noah’s heart to receive revelation and warnings from God about what was coming, even things that had never been seen. But he stepped out in reverent obedience to God and built an ark that would save him and his family. By his faith, the world was condemned, but Noah received God’s gift of righteousness that comes by believing. 

By believing, his faith made him righteous. 

ROMANS 4:3 TPT

Because Abraham believed God’s words, his faith transferred God’s righteousness into his account. 

ROMANS 10:10 TPT

The heart that believes in Him receives the gift of the righteousness of God – and then the mouth that confesses, resulting in salvation. 

The same way that we receive salvation through faith today, was the same for Noah and everyone before him! 

Noah was made righteous by faith, not by his obedience. His obedience was a by-product of believing in God. 

TRUSTING 

Genesis 6:22 

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him. 

Obedience takes trust! 

It was through knowing and believing that Noah was able to trust. 

How do you maintain trust? By having a personal relationship with God. 

What is God asking you to build?

What God is asking you to build is not for your comfort, but for your calling! 

What you build will be carrying something for the next generation. 

How have you prepared for a storm?

MATTHEW 7:24-27 TPT

Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away. 

God wants to flood your world! Not to destroy you, but to make room for what he wants to do through you. 

GENESIS 9:1 

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 

Knowing leads to believing, believing leads to trusting, trusting leads to obedience, and obedience makes a way for the promise!

“In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.”‭‭Exodus‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

”By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. Hebrews 11:23

*”By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. Hebrews 11:23

Knowing, believing, and trusting God will produce the kind of faith that Denies circumstantial evidence. While the facts were that her son was about to be killed. Her faith said not today satan

KNOW-Moses knowledge of who God was passed down to him by his mother.

BELIEVE-Mose believed in God he was fully convinced. This belief shaped his identity and even though he was raised as an Egyptian he rejected the gods of Egypt.

Trust-Moses knew God, believed God, and trusted God, which birthed faith inside of him. When fully conceived he rejects his earthly position as a son to pharaohs’ daughter and steps out in faith into the unknown.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ ‭NKJV

Seeing is not believing but believing is seeing              -Craig Smee

Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.”‭‭Exodus‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬-‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.”‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬

“But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?””‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬ ‭AMP

“Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?””‭‭Exodus‬ ‭15‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭NKJV

‬ “And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteen

Photographs of Faith

The story of Joseph Gen. 37,39-50

I Wonder if Abraham ever thought about the journey his descendants would have go go on to finally see the promise come to pass?

Faith is not about seeing the provision but holding onto the promise. 

Joseph would not see the promise in his lifetime, but played a major part in making sure that promise would come to pass. 

Make no mistake about it, Joseph had to have Great faith to go through what he went through. 

Joseph had to Know God, Believe God, and Trust God. 

Let’s take a look at how these three aspects were a pivotal part of Joseph’s faith and how they are a part of our faith even today. 

Knowing God

How did Joseph know God?

How did Joseph know what was right and wrong? (No Law) 

300 year gap between Joseph and Moses

Joseph knew God through his family, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When Joseph was 28, in an Egyptian prison, Isaac, His grandfather died.  

Psalm 78:3-7 TPT

We’ve heard true stories from our fathers about our rich heritage.

We will continue to tell our children

and not hide from the rising generation

the great marvels of our God—

his miracles and power that have brought us all this far.

The story of Israel is a lesson in God’s ways.

He established decrees for Jacob and established the law in Israel,

and he commanded our forefathers to teach them to their children.

Forever God’s ways will be passed down

from one generation to the next, even to those not yet born.

In this way, every generation will set its hope in God

and not forget his wonderful works but keep his commandments.

What are you passing down to your children? 

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had to endure in faith so that others could experience the Promise.(Jesus) They endured so they could pass down a commission of faith to see the promise fulfilled.

Genesis 35:11-12 NKJV

And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” 

How important is our Christian heritage? (Inheritance)

Are you raising a Joseph? 

Joseph started off life well because he was taught to know God. 

 Believing God 

As Joseph learned from his family about who God was, at some point he had to start believing who He was. (Psalm 78)

In believing your are coming into agreement. 

Agreement: Harmony of opinion, action, or character! 

Joseph was faithful wherever he found himself. Why? 

In the pit: Maybe a little humble pie! He had been focusing on the provision. (Coat of many colors)

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

As a Slave: 

Genesis 39:2-6 NKJV

The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.

In Prison: 39:21-23 KNJV

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

2nd to the Pharaoh: Genesis 41:37-41

So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and

PHOTOGRAPHS OF FAITH 2

ABRAHAM

You have no idea what God may produce through a single seed planted in faith.

The settling of our expectations is the limitation of our faith.

Maybe you believed in God’s blessings at one time, but along the way, your disappointment has driven you to make your own plans.

Our God is not in the business of consolation prizes.

Abraham, the artist formerly known as Abram, labored through his dream.

Genesis 12 – The great promise: Leave your home—Go to the land I will show you. Make you a great nation—Father, many nations (Children—Grandkids).

Genesis 15:1-2 – The renewal

Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?”

From Genesis 12 to Genesis 15 would have been over a decade!

Over a decade of Abraham and Sarah hurting and wanting a baby. Everyone else becoming pregnant going to baby showers, but they could not conceive.

Promised by God – RIGHT?

Sarah planned the nursery, read baby names books, and even planned the Instagram reveal. Month after month – nothing.

A decade or more of unfulfilled promises and unrealized expectations.

Every month—Disappointed—Decade (120 months)

Did you forget about me? Did I not hear right? Are you there?

From Abraham’s point of view—Nothing is happening.

Holding our faith means holding to the promise – whether we see it as possible or not!

Faith is not about seeing the provision but holding to the promise.

Abraham makes up a human solution to a divine promise! 

He starts by lowering the expectation of seeing many nations to just one son. And then worked out a solution that would result in the Ishmael debacle.

He knew: “I AM.”

Genesis 15:1

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

He believed!

Genesis 12:4 

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

But His TRUST had to grow. 

At the end of His days, His trust had grown.

Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Our faith grows when we can hold our expectations to the exponential and not the mundane. WOW! vs. MEH!

It’s a journey. Somedays, we will get it right; others won’t. But knowing God and believing Him has to press us towards a life work of growing our trust and wonder.

We tend to think of addition, but God thinks of multiplication.

No idea what God can do through a single seed planted in faith.

Abraham/Sarah want son—Decade passes—Don’t see a thing.

Just because you don’t see anything

It doesn’t mean God isn’t doing something.

Just because you don’t see it

It doesn’t mean that God isn’t doing it.

An unseen promise is not an unfulfilled promise.

Genesis 15:2-3

But Abram said, “Lord God , what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

Abraham had the same problem we have, a limited perspective.

He was telling God what he didn’t see.

Don’t see you working—I don’t see anything happening.

We have a different set of circumstances:

·     Not married yet—Don’t see prospect.

·     Buried in debt—Don’t see how to get out.

·     Report came back—Not good—Don’t see God anywhere.

God, you are not doing what I wanted…

If God met all your expectations,

Photographs of Faith 1

The Construct of Faith

What Faith Is Not

1. Faith is not just a religious feeling.

Trusting our entire eternal existence in how we feel is confusing and dangerous.

Proverbs 28:26 (NLT)

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.

2. Faith is not blind.

It is not accepting something without evidence.

Acts 17:10-12 (NLT)

That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.

3. Faith is not a positive mental attitude.

It is not minded over matter.

What we believe is crucial!

When we know what we believe, making decisions becomes easier.

It is faith’s object that gives faith itself any significance. 

Biblical faith is not a positive mental attitude that seeks to bring into existence the things that are believed in. It is good to think positively. It is good to be around positive people. 

Positive thinking in and of itself is not biblical faith.

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

What Faith Is

Hebrews 11:1 (N KJV)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It is a divine substance that earthly substance both longs for and is confused by.

What Faith Involves

Biblical faith involves three key aspects:

1. Knowledge of the Divine

Faith is dependent upon what can be known about God. The New Testament says that faith involves us coming to know God Himself. 

John 17:3 (NKJV)

This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

That’s why it is so important to consider the claims that Jesus made. It is in knowing Him that we know God. And this knowledge of God gives us the basis for our faith.

2. Believe Without Excuse (Assent)

In biblical faith, our knowledge of God must then be followed by assent. 

Once we’ve recognized that certain things are true and are to be believed, we must actually believe them! 

We persuade our excuse-ridden flesh to be obedient.

“I don’t want to believe in Jesus.”

“I don’t want my life taken over.” 

“I don’t want somebody in charge of me.” 

When we lay our lives open before Christ, when we see Him on the cross, and when we understand that He bore all of our sin and rebellion, He compels our belief.

Knowledge must be followed by assent.

3. Trust

Genuine faith involves trust. Knowledge and assent alone do not make real faith.

James 2:19 (NKJV)

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ‘

If faith is simply about understanding God correctly, we must conclude that the demons have saving faith. 

A simple awareness of facts is not faith. There must be a movement from knowledge to assent that culminates in trust.

A summons to trust in Christ—actively, not passively—is included in all His invitations.

Matthew 11:28-29 (NKJV)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” 

Note the verbs: “come,” “take,” “learn,” and “find rest.”

These are all action words. They involve doing.

Faith is not passive resignation.

New Testament faith begins in knowledge, leads to assent, and ends in trust based on the knowledge to which we have assented.

The circle of faith.

4. Without Seeing

We don’t have faith based on provision but on promise!

Hebrews

CHEMISTRY OF A CHRISTIAN 10

The Construct of Intentionality 

THE RACE SET BEFORE US 

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD (GENESIS 1:27)

BUT WE FIND OURSELVES IN DARKNESS

THE FOUNDER AND PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH

Through Christ’s disciplines, He moves us from darkness to His glorious Light.

THE DISCIPLINES OF THE CHRIST

1. HE CONQUERS THE WORLD (AUTHORITY)

JOHN 16:33 (NKJV)

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

2. HE TRUSTS HIS OWN WORD EVEN WHEN IT’S TOUGH (IDENTITY)

MATTHEW 4:1-11 – When tempted, He conquered the Devil. 

3. HE IS EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT (PURPOSE)

Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

THE RESULTS OF HIS DISCIPLINES – THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM

DEATH TO LIFEDARK TO LIGHTDESPERATION TO HOPEBOREDOM TO WONDERESTABLISHES HIS PASSION FOR THE RELATIONSHIP WITH USOFFENSE TO FORGIVENESSDESPERATE OPPORTUNISTIC LIFE TO ETERNAL LIFE

We see HIM! And if we see Him, we are no longer blind but free…(HIS PURPOSE – LUKE 4:18-19) and our transformation begins.

JOHN 1:4 (TPT)

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

THE WORD reestablished as the life and light ensures that the character of God can manifest in our lives, removing false Gods and establishing divine relationship and purpose through the wonder of the Father and the direction of the Holy Spirit. 

With the full spectrum of Elohim, our darkest moments are no longer our strongholds, but we are set free. Free to begin the wonderful race set before us – free from the hindrances that held us in the dark. We can see the Son… 

JOHN 1:5 (TPT)

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 

OUR LIVES ARE TRANSFORMED 

ROMANS 12:1-2 9 (TPT)

Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.

THE RACE SET BEFORE US (Hebrews 12:1-2)

We desire to solidify our freedom, so we understand that the cross is His discipline and purpose to free us and restore our sight. 

That cross becomes ours (long-suffering) but running the race set before us (8 steps), we discover that moving from long-suffering towards truth mimics the joy Jesus discovered in running this life from darkness to light. 

IF WE SEE HIM, WE SEE THE FATHER

JOHN 14:8-9 (TPT)

Philip spoke up, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be all that we need!” Jesus replied, “Philip, I’ve been with you all this time and you still don’t know who I am? How could you ask me to show you the Father, for anyone who has looked at me has seen the Father. 

We don’t just step from the darkness (from dark to free – we transform our thinking and walk out the fullness of the character of God.