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Joshua 2:21 .. and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Only Your Unbelief Hides God

One of the great objections I often hear as to exclusivity of Christ – that is, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life … and that no one can come to the Father but by Him (Jesus’ words in John 14:6) is the question:

“What about those who have never heard of Christ?
Will they be condemned by God?”

Those who ask such questions may or may not be sincere – I don’t know their hearts. But I do know this. My God is big enough to make sure that EVERYONE who wants to be saved CAN be saved. The Bible begins with this truth. Abel was saved by Christ, though he was murdered by his brother Cain:

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God …

• Enoch – another early Saint – walked with God and did not see death (Hebrews 11:5). He walked with God prior to Scripture and missionaries. God is able.

• Noah was approached by God (Hebrews 11:7) and built an Ark based on God’s direction. Again, no one told Noah about Jesus but God.

• Abraham – an ancient Babylonian man – came to Christ by faith (Hebrews 11:8). Jesus said of Abraham:

“Your forefather Abraham was overjoyed to see My day. He saw it, and rejoiced!” (my paraphrase of John 8:56)

God is bigger than most of us conceive. God has said:

Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find Me.

Before God wrote this Bible that we cherish God wrote Himself on nature.

Only the most foolish can look at the design all about us and not know that such beauty cannot come from chaos, but from a Creator and a Master Designer. Only the most spiritually blind person – someone who my mamma used to say “doesn’t have the sense God gave a billy goat” – can look at creation and not know there is a Creator God. God is. God is.

But beyond this, God sees.
God watches the hearts.
God does not hide Himself.

God clearly reveals Himself to whosoever will believe in Him. The Israel that believed in the Lord and followed Him was blessed. The Israel that disbelieved – the Exodus generation – brought cursing upon themselves. The first generation of Israel “forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of their salvation” (Deuteronomy 32:15). An evil heart of unbelief manifested itself over and over again, until God finally said:

Hebrews 3:10-11 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. {11} So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

Christ has never hidden Himself from seekers. He woos us. If you go to hell, it is because you have heard Him call but have refused Him.

Hell is not God’s problem or God’s error.
Hell is man’s willing choice.

How terrible is sinful unbelief! The disciples could not cast a devil out of a child because of unbelief (Matthew 17:20). Unbelief caused some of Israel to be broken off (Romans 11:20) from the blessings of God for a time. Unbelief is the source of all blasphemies against God (1 Timothy 1:13). Sin and unbelief caused Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed of God (Genesis 18:20). Sin wrecks kingdoms and destroys civilizations (Genesis 20:9). The mighty Grecian Empire that once ruled the world died under the sins of hedonism and debauchery. The mighty Roman Empire died under the weight of evil and unbelieving rulers like Nero and bloody Caligula. The great and ancient city of Jericho died under the weight of Divine Judgment.

God Will Save The Rahab Who Hears

Joshua 2:21 .. and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Who is this “SHE”? This “SHE” is named Rahab. The word “Rahab” is actually the Hebrew רָחָב Râchâb, (pronounced raw-khawb’) which means “proud”. What is Rahab’s story? How did she even get into the Bible?

God had told Joshua that it was time for him to lead Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan. When God told Moses to go into the Promised Land the Lord told Moses to send twelve spies – one from each tribe – into the land (Numbers 13:2). Of those twelve all but two of them fell under the sin of unbelief. Their unbelief caused Israel to wander for forty years in the wilderness until the generation of all the unbelievers died. Now Joshua takes over. Forty years of misery is past. Israel and her leadership has learned the lessons of faith. The Bible says:

Joshua 2:1 … Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

The spies went to a Harlot’s house. What is a Harlot? This is a woman who sells herself – her body – to others for profit. In the modern world we call such a woman an “escort” or a “Geisha”, or perhaps “Lady of the Evening” or just prostitute or whore. The Bible speaks in the harshest of terms about those involved in sexual sin, especially of those who act as or support whoredom. The Bible says:

Proverbs 5:3-8 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them. 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

God tells His people “do not go to the door of a whore’s house”.

Ephesians 5:5 … this ye know, that no whore monger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

You will find no place in Scripture where God speaks lightly of those involved in sexual sin, whether it be as client or provider. Sexual sin is grievous according to the Lord. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee {sexual sin}. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth {sexual sin} sinneth against his own body.

Sexual sin brings with it disease and disaster. It destroys families. It confuses heritage. By it nations have collapsed. It is no joking matter!

Yet we see the two spies going – deliberately going – to the house of a prostitute. Why? And why would God put this in the Bible? Because God wants you to know that He sees you, and He loves you. God sees the heart of every person. God had a plan for Rahab’s life much greater than that of debauchery and debasement. The Bible tells us that Jesus said:

Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1 Timothy 1:15-16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners …

Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Oh Beloved, how can I make this clear? Oh that God would give me the tongue of Gabriel, for I am so limited. God watches the heart. God watches His creation. I believe He was watching the hearts of all of Jericho that day … and then He saw Rahab. Why was she a prostitute? Why did she fall into this most grievous of sins? The Scripture does not tell us. We do not know the backstory of many of those the Scripture uses as examples. But we do know this. God is able. God sees. God knows. God is watching. He sees your heart today.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Rahab Laid Her Life Down

Joshua 2:2-4 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

A prostitute sells herself for profit. Here are two men in her house, and the King of Jericho hears of these men. He knew their business. How did he know what business they were on? Probably because an Israelite betrayed Israel. Just as Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ so there are false believers in the Church and in Israel. Some sell their Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Others sell their Lord for temporal pleasure. But God knows. God knows.

The Lord knows those who are His. (2 Timothy 2:19)
The Shepherd knows His sheep (John 10:14)

The spies are found out. But Rahab – amazingly to us – saves these men. At the risk to her own life she hides these men, then lies about it. The Bible doesn’t mince words. She lies. But she lies to save life. She lied as Germans lied to hide the Jews in their homes from the concentration camps during World War II. She saved their lives by risking her life. She hid these men until the search party went away. Why would she do this? The Bible tells us that before the men rested that night:

Joshua 2:8-11 .. before {the spies} were laid down, {Rahab} came up unto them upon the roof; 9 And she said unto the men, I KNOW¹ that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

“I KNOW” the LORD – the Eternal Great I AM – has given you this land”. Here we see saving faith. This was not merely an intellectual assent of knowledge. It was not “I know” like people say “I know the grizzly bear is dangerous”. Many people say that, and yet every year hundreds of people are mauled by grizzly bears. Why is that? Because they have an intellectual assent to the fact that grizzly bears and dangerous, but have not internalized that knowledge.

There is a difference between an intellectual assent to truth
and an internalizing of spiritual truth.

Rahab knew Who God was. The reason she knew is not because she read her Bible. She knew because she had the witness of what God did in Israel.

Joshua 2:10-11 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that [were] on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. {11} And as soon as we had heard [these things], our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he [is] God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

The world watches God’s Israel, and the world watches God’s Church. When you go home after a Church fight and call your unbelieving friends to gossip, the world hears all about it. The world knew that Joshua sent spies into Jericho. The world knows how you as believers live your lives. Live for Jesus, Church, so that others will be saved!

Rahab’s confession of salvation is found in the words “the LORD your God, He is God in Heaven above and in earth beneath”.

By Faith Rahab Perished Not

Here is the wonder of God’s Grace. No matter how deep your sin, no matter how far you may think yourself from God, Jesus Christ laid His life down for you. The Scripture promises:

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. {10} For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Those who believed in Jesus were saved when Israel entered the land. Rahab was saved by her CONFESSION. But Rahab was also saved by her OBEDIENCE. Rahab wanted herself and her family saved from death. So she said:

Joshua 2:12-14 12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: 13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. 14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

The men once saved from death told Rahab:

Joshua 2:18-19 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

When God sent the death angel into Egypt he looked for the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of the believing home. When God came to Jericho He looked for the scarlet thread. The scarlet thread is symbolic of faith, of the Blood of Christ. What does the Bible tells us about Rahab? We are told in ..

Hebrews 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

You cannot go so low that salvation by Grace cannot reach you. I can show you time and time again in the Scripture where God’s grace has been sufficient to save even the most lost.

Who cannot be reached by Grace? The person who clings to their sin as if it be an idol cannot be saved. The person who believes themselves to be sufficient unto God cannot be saved. The person who believes that there are many ways unto God cannot be saved.

But the Scripture promises that whosoever will …

Psalms 116:13 … take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD…

… shall be saved.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Rahab was saved by OBEDIENT faith, a faith that looked to God and His purpose. The Scripture says:

James 2:25-26 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Rahab did not debate the small thing. She did as she was directed – and so she and her whole household was saved. She obeyed God – not with the obedience of a slave, but with the obedience of a dear Child.

That great preacher C.H. Spurgeon said: “… when {Rahab} tied the scarlet line in the window, she expressed her confidence in the fact that Jericho would be destroyed, and that she would be saved because she had received a promise to that effect. Sin would not have hidden the spies if she had not believed in their God … Beloved, obey in faith. The obedience of the slave is worth little; the obedience of the child is precious, for it is the fruit of love. That keeping of God’s commands which comes of slavish fear lacks the very heart and bowels of obedience, for love is absent, but, as God’s dear children, resting alone in Jesus confiding in your Father’s promise, feel that because you believe you must obey, not because you dread hell, or expect to win heaven through any works of your own, but because you have believed in Jesus to the salvation of your soul, and therefore, it is your joy to do his bidding.”

Joshua 2:21 .. {Rahab} bound the scarlet line in the window.

The line was bound in the window. She did not hide her faith under a basket. Rahab made an open declaration. Will you make an open declaration of your faith in Christ today? Will you turn to Him Who loves you, and gave His life for you? Do not delay. Do not tarry. Trust Him. Trust Jesus. Bind the scarlet thread in the window of your life. Give yourself to the Lord openly, publicly. If you do, you and your household shall be saved.

May God touch your hearts with his Word.