Series: Get in the Game

Play for The Right Team

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiMVv-0uek0

What I like about Jim’s story is that though he went the wrong way and made a very foolish play in favor of his opponent, he later forces a fumble which helped seal the win for his team.  He eventually got it right and started playing for the right team.

There is a story in the bible of a woman who was playing for the wrong team at first.  But she too would eventually get it right.  Her name is Rahab.

Moses had led the children of Israel as far as God would allow him. He was not allowed to enter the promised land because of his disobedience.  Joshua was the man for the job.

Joshua 2:1-24

Rahab Hides the Spies

¹ And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.

Joshua, upon receiving the role as commander in chief, sends out spiesto check out Jericho.  By God’s provision and His infinite wisdom, the spies are led directly to a woman named Rahab who was a prostitute.  

It was not unusual for such a woman to have men coming and going from her house throughout the day.  This would help disguise their real reason for being there.

Besides being a prostitute, Rahab was a Canaanite, who were the enemies of Israel.  Already she has a lot stacked againsther, it was evident that she was on the wrong team.

The Canaanites were an idolatrous people; thus, God had instructed the Israelites to purge the city of Jericho.  Everyone was to die, and everything was to be burned.  This was to be done so that the Israelites would not defile themselves by intermingling and worshipping the false gods of the land. 

Not only is Rahab on the wrong team, she was fully aware that her team was about to suffer a catastrophic loss. Everyone that she knows and everything that she had knownin Jericho was on the brink of being destroyed.    

However, God had a plan.  His plan did not only involve the Israelites and their conquest to the promised land, but His perfect plan included Rahab who would play an integral part. Part of His plan was leading the spies to Rahab, because had the spies gone to any other household for refuge they surely would have been reported and killed on the spot.  Only God knows the conditions of our hearts.  He knew that she was willing to change her alliance from a team that was set for destruction to one that would be victorious.  Therefore, God had led the spies directly to her. 

Rahab was willing to welcome the spies into her home, knowing where they from and what they were really doing.  If she were caught doing so, she and her family could potentially be killed.

 ² And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” ³ Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” ⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” ⁶ But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. ⁷ So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

So besides being a Canaanite, a prostitute, we find that she is also a liar. She blatantly lied to the king’s men who were pursuing after the spies. If it were a baseball game, that’s three strikes.  These were traits that were currently evident in her life.

However, we learn something else about this woman named Rahab, what seemed like a lie was really a step of faith.  The reason she lied was to spare the livesof the Israelite spies, who she believed to be God’s people. In doing such a deed toward them, she was really doing it to God.

In fact, the book of Hebrews 11which is known as the faith chapter,

³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

It was her faith which caused her to lie on their behalf.  Perhaps she had a past in which she lied for the wrong reasons now she was using it for the glory of God.  She wasn’t perfect but she was making progress.

Her allegiance was changing to a different team, she was using what she had, to the best she knew how, for a people she knew of, who were belonged to a God she was desiring to know.  It was a step of faith on her part, because she had only heard of what God had done for Israel and she believed.

Her faith was put in effect when she hid the spies on top of her roof in the flax.  By the way, having flax on the roof would indicate that she was industrious with her hands, as they would use flax to make clothing, cords, lamp wicks etc…  It was one of the traits of a virtuous woman described in prov 31.

Rahab realized the value of workingwith her hands, she was not perfect, but she was making progress.

Yet Rahab would go down in history as one of the hero’s in the Hall of faith.  Her name would be mentioned with great men of faith such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Samuel. 

Though she was on the wrong team at the beginning of this story, she was being transformed on the inside.  In the next few verses she makes a public declaration of faith which changed her allegiance.

⁸ Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof ⁹ and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. ¹¹ And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 

She confesses that the God that they serve was the one true God who reigns over the heavens and earth.  It was faith which caused her to make such a proclamation. It was because of this declaration of faith and her actions accompanied with her faith that would make her go down in history as one of the greats of the faith. 

Though she was born in and confined to Jericho for the time being, she was making plays for the right team.

The spies had risked their lives in going to Jericho, and Rahab had risked hers by letting them stay with her.  Both sides were unsure whether they could trust the other.

¹² Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign ¹³ that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” ¹⁴ And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

She was wanting some assurance that she and her family would be well taken care of for having spared their lives.  They tell her, our lives for yours even to death.  They promise that she and her family would be rescued.

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. ¹⁶ And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” ¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. ¹⁸ Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. ¹⁹ Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. ²⁰ But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” ²¹ And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

This message is more than a just a story of how God rescued Rahab and caused her and her family to “play for the right team.”

This whole story is about our redemption through Christ.

Like Rahab, we all had a past of sin and guilt.  We were all unclean and bore the shame of our sins. 

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Which means you’re playing for the wrong team.  Your efforts are amounting to nothing, everything you do is to appease yourself, which makes you just as guilty as the people of Jericho.  While you might not worship an image made of wood, the idolatry you are guilty of is putting other things before God mainly yourself. 

Just as Jericho deserved the judgment of God, for your sins you deserve death. 

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

However, just like Israel cameand rescued Rahab and her family from the impending doom, Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins and rescue us from eternal damnation that we deserved.

It was Rahab’s confession of faith in God which brought about her salvation. 

It is a confession of faith in Jesus Christ that will begin your Christian walk.

Romans 10:9

⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Rahab wanted an affirmation that her salvation was a sure thing, As believers we are affirmed by theHoly Spirit that we are indeed saved.   The sign used to assure her was the scarlet cord.

As the spies gave Rahab an affirmation “Our life for yours even to death!”

Jesus gave His life up for yours even to His death so that you can live.  Rahab began playing for the right team.  My question today, “are you playing for the right team or do you need to switch?”