Dare To Do Right
Steve W. Reeves
stevesermons.blogspopt.com
INTRODUCTION:
A. In
1927 a sculptor named Gutzon Borglum began work on a massive project in the state of South Dakota. For his project he chose a mountain 23 miles southwest of
Rapid City. The mountain is 5,700 feet above sea level. Its granite was of such
texture that it could be sculpted and its location was such that it stayed in the sunlight
throughout the day. There Borglum sculpted the faces of four U.S. Presidents;
Washington, Jefferson; Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. The project cost almost 1
million dollars. The faces are scaled to fit statues that would be almost 500 feet tall.
Mount Rushmore is one of our great national monuments.
1. There is a chapter in the Bible that is a monument to great faith. Seventeen times
in Hebrews 11 the phrase “By faith” introduces the accomplishments of great men
and women of faith. Their names are a “Who’s Who” of Old Testament history.
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses.
2. In verse 31 there is the name of a woman who surprises us. “By faith Rahab the
harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had
welcomed the spies in peace.”
a. The presence of this woman’s name surprises us.
b. She was a woman with poor reputation, a checkered past, and a questionable
character.
c. By faith her life was changed and, whenever you talk about women in the Bible,
her name is frequently mentioned.
d. Her name is mentioned three times in the New Testament (Matthew 1:5;
Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25).
B. What was Rahab’s story and what applications does her life have for us?
1. Rahab’s story begins in Joshua 2. Joshua and the Israelites were making
preparations to cross the Jordan river and enter Canaan (Joshua 1:10-18). Joshua
sent two spies into the land to gather information. He specifically told them to go to
the city of Jericho. Remember that Joshua, himself, had been one of the twelve
spies sent into the land by Moses in Numbers 13.
2. When the two spies came to Jericho they sought lodging at Rahab’s house.
a. Some scholars promote the theory that Rahab was merely an “inn keeper.” This
was no Motel 6. The Bible specifically refers to Rahab as a prostitute.
b. You would not suspect two men going into her house to draw attention. The
King of Jericho knew that Israel was encamped on the east side of the Jordan.
He, too, had spies and they were keeping watch. When two strangers came into
town they took notice and reported it to the king.
c. According to verse 3 the king sent word to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have
come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all
the land.”
d. Rahab had hidden the men under a pile of flax on the roof of her house. She lied
to the king by saying, “There were here but they have left” (verse 4). She urged
the king’s men to pursue them and overtake them.
e. Before helping the two spies to escape she told then, “ Now before they 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 terror of you has fallen on us, and that
all the inhabitants of the land have melted 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 utterly destroyed. 11 When we
heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer
because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth
beneath. 12 Now therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt
kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household” (verses
8-12).
f. The spies instructed Rahab to hang a scarlet cord out of her window on the city
wall and pledged that she and her household would be spared. This is exactly
what happened when Jericho was destroyed (Joshua 6:17, 21-23).
C. What did Rahab do that prompted her to be remembered as a woman of great
faith? I believe the answer can be summed up in one sentence. She dared to do
right.” Here are the applications I see for us.
I. DARE TO DO RIGHT IN SPITE OF YOUR PAST
A. There is no way to hide or disguise this woman’s past.
1. She had been a “harlot” or a “prostitute.” Some have called her the “Shady Lady
of Jericho.” Extra-Biblical Jewish literature (Midrash) referred to her as one of
the most beautiful women who ever lived. Her house was located in the walls of
the city. She had a window that opened to the outside of the walls. Perhaps this
was used to entice those who passed.
2. She was a pagan. She was a Canaanite woman. These people practiced a
false religion that included immoral acts and even the sacrifice of children. See
Leviticus 18 for a description of the wickedness of these people. God
had commanded the Israelites to claim the land from these people.
B. Rahab did not let her background deter her from doing the right thing. When she
learned about God she determined to stand with His people.
1. Sometimes people question Rahab lying to the king’s servants. Perhaps the
larger issue is that she risked her life in behalf of the spies from Israel.
2. Rahab did not allow her past to define who she was. When she was confronted
with the reality of God, she chose to follow Him and aid His people.
C. Too many people allow themselves to be defined by their past.
1. A poor decision, a moment of weakness, a failure. A broken marriage, prodigal
child, a financial loss. Such things will consume your life if you allow then.
2. Do not live in the past. It is a poor neighborhood. Living in the past leads to
unnecessary guilt or complacency.
a. Suppose Paul had denied God’s call because of his past. In 1 Timothy :15
he referred to himself as “foremost” among sinners.
b. What if Peter had given up after his denial of Christ? What if John Mark had
given up after he turned away from Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13?
c. The amazing aspect of faith is its transforming power. On one occasion the
early church father, Origin. defended Christianity from criticism by the Roman
scholar, Celsus, “Christ’s gospel is a hospital for it heals of sins and diseases.
They are not afterwards what they were at first.”
3. Rahab reminds us that there is no one so bad that God cannot save them.
Neither is there anyone who is so good that they do not need salvation.
II. DARE TO DO RIGHT IN SPITE OF YOUR PEERS
A. Only live fish swim upstream. Dead fish float downstream alongside every piece of
trash and waste in the river.
1. The easiest thing at the time would have been for Rahab to go along to get
along.
2. Why should she risk her life by hiding these two foreign spies?
B. She recognized what was about to happen. She had heard about Israel’s victories.
Most importantly she had heard of what God had done for them. She knew that
Jericho could not stand against such a mighty force as God.
1. Do not base your life on what is popular at the moment or on what everyone
else is doing.
2. The church must never base its
beliefs on current trends, political correctness or what everyone else is doing.
3. It is more important to be right than to be popular. It is more important to stand
alone in faith than to stand among the multitudes in unbelief.
III DARE TO DO RIGHT IN SPITE OF PERIL
A. The movie “Schindler’s List:” is a 1993 film directed by Steven Spielberg that tells
the story of a man who helped Polish Jews escape the Holocaust. He did so at
great risk to his personal safety.
1. Corrie Ten Boom was a Danish woman whose family also hid Jews during the
early years of the Nazi occupation until they, themselves, were placed in
concentration camps.
B. Hiding the spies meant that Rahab risked her life and most likely the lives of all of
her family members.
IV. DARE TO DO RIGHT IN SPITE OF PERPLEXITY
A. Rahab did not understand everything.
1. She didn’t know the history of Israel and the promise that had been made to
Abraham that God would give his descendants the land (Genesis 12:7).
2. We do not know how much of Israel’s history she knew.
3. Can you imagine what she thought when the Israelites began marching around
Jericho? Was she wondering what they were doing?
B. Although she may have been perplexed she was not without faith. She had heard
about God and believed that He was the LORD of heaven and earth. This made all
of the difference.
CONCLUSION
A. The full impact of Rahab’s life was not realized for centuries.
1. In Matthew 1:5 as Matthew presents the genealogy of Jesus we find Rahab
mentioned. She became the wife of Salmon and the mother of Boaz. Boaz was
the father of Obed and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the
king of Israel. Rahab was David’s great, great grandmother. Ultimately in her
lineage there came the Savior Jesus Christ.
2. Your destiny does not depend on where you have been or the mistakes you have
made. Instead, it depends on the faith and trust you have in the God of the Bible
who can take a harlot and make her a hero.
B. “It was battered and scarred and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth the while,
To spend much time with the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. ‘What am I bid
for the old violin, who’ll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar, who’ll give me two,
two dollars who’ll give me three? Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for
three’ but no. From the back of the room a grey-haired man came forward and took
up the bow. Then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up all the strings,
he played a melody pure and sweet. As sweet as the angels sing.
The music stopped and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, said
“What am I bid for the old violin” and he held it up with the bow. “A thousand dollars,
who’ll make it two, two thousand who’ll make it three. Three thousand once, three
thousand twice, going and gone said he. The people cheered but some of them
said, “We do not quite understand. What changed its worth?” Came the reply, “The
tough of the Master’s hand.”
And many a one with their life out of tune and battered and scarred by sin is
auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd much like the old violin. A mess of pottage, a
glass of wine, a game and he shuffles along. He’s going once, he’s going twice, he’s
going and almost gone. But the master comes and the foolish crowd, never quite
understands, the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought, by the touch of the
Master’s hand” - Myra Brooks Welch
C. My hope and prayer is for you to know God in your life. Come to Him by faith
(Hebrews 11:6); repentance (Acts 17:30) confession (Romans 10:9-10) and baptism
(Romans 6:3-5).
