In our continual study in Hebrews 11 we come now to yet another familiar story which is about the destruction of Jericho. This story alone is probably one of the most famous stories about the victories of Israel in the Bible. The Exodus of Israel is famous but it is the walls of Jericho coming down that brings about an amazing look at how God brought victory in the most unlikely fashion. We will look at this very thing as we look at our text from Hebrews 11.
As we look at this I do want to point out that this story could easily have been attributed to Joshua’s faith but that is not what we will see as a direct teaching from the Scripture. Instead what we see is that this faith is directed towards the children of Israel as a whole. They are not mentioned by name just like Joshua is not either but we will see their faith in God clearly as we look at the original text in Joshua 6.
We will also see in this story about the faith of Rahab. Her faith will be obvious by her obedience to do as God had commanded her to do and by the fear that she had in God. Both of these tie into this story concerning the destruction of Jericho. These both will give to us a clear picture that faith is not something to just think on but there must be obedience and action.
Let’s look now at our first point for this study.
1.The faith of Israel gives to them salvation.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
To get us in the context and setting let’s look at what is happening at this point in history. Moses the great leader of the Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness, has died. Joshua has taken over the place of leader among the people of Israel. This was something that Moses spoke of in Exodus 31:3-6 that says It is Yahweh your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as Yahweh has spoken. 4 And Yahweh will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. 5 And Yahweh will give them over before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or be in dread of them, for Yahweh your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.
The leadership of Israel had been handed over to Joshua even though he would not be an exact replica of Moses. In fact Exodus 34:9-12 says Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not yet arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face, 11 in regard to all the signs and wonders which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, 12 and in regard to all the mighty power and in regard to all the great terror which Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
This shows us that what Moses did was not the norm for all prophets and people of God. Joshua would be used by God but in a more militant way. He would lead the people through times of war. They would face adversity with nations and people all around them. But as we have already seen they were told that they would be victorious not because of their own power but because of God’s power and sovereign will.
After the death of Moses, Joshua was instructed by God to cross over the Jordan to possess the land promised to them. In fact this promise takes us back to Genesis 12:7a where God promises this to Abram. It says there: Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I will give this land.”
This promise had been so long ago but here they are at the very place that was promised. They had been enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years and now they have seen God move in a mighty way to bring them away from that slavery to where they are now. But what stands in the way is the city of Jericho. This was a great city that was very difficult to get into. Joshua knew that Jericho would be a city that needed to be conquered in order to possess the land as God had promised. Therefore Joshua sends spies to the land before them. Look at what he says in Joshua 2:1a Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, see the land, especially Jericho.”
Jericho was a city that was not going to be easy to defeat at least not from a human standpoint. Jericho was tightly secured filled with a great army and powerful presence. But the presence of their strength was only that. The spies reported to Joshua in Joshua 2:24 “Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.”
Clearly these spies had came back with news that would bring confidence and a sense of victory but they still had the problem of getting through this great wall around the city. They knew that God was going to bring victory but they did not know how until they hear the instruction given to them from what God told Joshua in Joshua 6:2-5 that says And Yahweh said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. 3 And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And it will be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down beneath itself, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.”
*As the story goes, the children of Israel did exactly what God told them to do and the walls fell. Joshua 6:20-21 says So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down beneath itself, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city. 21 And they devoted to destruction everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
This was an amazing victory because the impossible was made possible. In no way could we face such difficulties in our own strength and win this type of battle. In fact disobedience to God’s commands brought on defeat at Ai in the very next chapter.*
I want to turn our attention back before this victory to help lead us to our next point. The spies entered into the city of Jericho and found themselves at the house of a harlot named Rahab. It is there that they find out the information of the status of the city, Rahab tells them in Joshua 2:9 I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.
This statement is amazing to see coming from a harlot from the land of Jericho. We will now move to look at this woman of faith in God’s salvation. Let’s look at our next point. We have seen the faith of Israel that gave to them salvation or victory and now we look at Rahab.
2.The faith of Rahab gives her salvation.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after welcoming the spies in peace.
The fact that we see a pagan woman that was called a harlot listed here as a person of faith is amazing. This title harlot strictly means a prostitute. It is the Greek word porné (por’-nay) and it means exactly what we think it means. The Hebrew word is zanah (zaw-naw’) and means to commit fornication. This woman was not the type of person that most people would think to be accepted into the place to receive the blessing of Israel and to be saved eternally.
In fact what we find out is that she ends up in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:5a says And Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab. This once pagan prostitute becomes the distant relative to the Lord Jesus but we will ask how can this be?
We have already seen how she hid the spies and told them of the attitude of those that lived there. It is the act of hiding the spies that shows her faithfulness to God. I do want to point out that she is never commended for lying about the spies being there when questioned but only for hiding the spies. We see that here and also in James. James 2:25 says And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
James had been speaking of Abraham and how he was seen as a man of faith because of his actions when he was obedient to God concerning sacrificing Isaac. That act did not save Abraham or give him eternal life but it showed his faith was real. In the same way Rahab showed her faith was real by hiding the spies so they could escape to get back to the camp and tell of all they had seen and heard.
Through that act she was saved from the destruction that came upon Jericho and also she was saved from an eternity in Hell. How do we know that? Well she is listed among the ones in this chapter that speaks of those that as Hebrews 11:13-16 says died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them.
Briefly let’s look at her protection on that day of destruction. Joshua 6:22-25 says Now to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” 23 So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel. 24 But they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of Yahweh. 25 However, Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua preserved alive; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Her faith stands out because she lived in a city that was fearful of God but not in a good way. They were fearful to the point of weakness that brought upon them anxiety and destruction. She lived among these people yet she displayed her faith in God to save her as she trusted the men that came from the people of Israel to keep her safe. Ultimately she had faith in the same God we do and for that she is forever commended as one that had a faith in the face of difficulty and destruction.
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