February 7, 2014 - Friday

Start Time: 6:17 A.M.

End Time: 7:48 A.M.

Title: Rahab and the Spies

Scripture: Joshua 2:1 – 24

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.  The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.  At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who gives us the Vision to our victory!  God sent two spies in the enemy’s camp, and there are times when God will send us to  the enemy’s camp, because before we can conquer, we need to see (visual) the land that we are to conquer.  In life, we need to visualize and see God’s vision in our lives before we can conquer and take possession.  We need to see with our spiritual eyes the promise in full effect in our lives to take possession of it.  This is how faith works!  See God’s promise, see God’s Grace and favor, see God’s provision and healing, see it in full effect in your life even if your environment shows otherwise and live by faith!

Ø God is a God who provides refuge for His people who sees His Vision!  At times, to see God’s vision and promise can be dangerous.  The enemy will never allow us to see it and will show the opposite of victory in our lives by covering our spiritual eyes and showing negative outcomes in the physical world but God provides a safe place for us to visualize, where we can live in the Vision He provides and walk in faith because He provides a refuge for us to safely do so.  God will set us in a place where we can freely see His plans, promise and vision despite of what the world reveals because we are in His refuge.

→Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.  “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”

NOTES:

Ø God’s Glory can never be contained!  Rahab was not an Israelites or an Egyptian yet God’s Glory reached her people enough to change her mind and know that only God is the true God.  This is how God works!  Hallelujah!  Everything He does, not only impacts our lives but spreads His love, goodness and glory to all men!  God’s words and actions, provide life to the dead (spiritually and physically and in all aspect of life)!  This is what happened to Rahab, she was once dead yet when she heard of God’s glory, it awakened her soul.  And though she has not learned about God, what she heard was enough to bring life in her and changed her life!  Amazing Lord!  This is the power of our testimonies!  It can bring change in other people’s lives so we must testify of God’s goodness, God’s love, God’s Grace and favor, and everything God has done!

→“Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”  Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”  “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.  So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

NOTES:

Ø God is the God of the unexpected and the God of miracles!  God makes a way for everything He asked us to do.  He provides a way out and finds a way even when things seem so impossible.  Indeed, impossible is not in God’s vocabulary.  Who would think that an enemy would take their side?  They never knew Rahab and Rahab never knew any of the two spies yet their connection is God.  Rahab heard and knows little about God while the two spies knew their Lord and this common knowledge glued them together and built trust within them.  The two spies went to Jericho, to Rahab’s spies, to the enemy’s camp knowing no one in the camp but with the full trust in the Lord.  Who in their right mind would go to the enemy’s camp without knowing anyone inside who can help them?  At most, the men who go to the enemy’s camp thought of how they plan to spend their time in the camp but most especially how they plan to escape.  And the two spies may have thought about this and planned strategies with Joshua before entering the enemy’s camp.  But no one would have thought that one of their enemies would help them out.  Only God does that!  Praise the Lord!  He is the only One who can turn an enemy into a friend!  This alone is a miracle!  Hallelujah!

→ When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”

NOTES:

Ø God’s Vision brings boldness, assurance, and confirms His Promise in our lives!  What the two spies saw when they went only confirms God’s words that the land is ready for their taking!  When God shows His vision and His promise to us, it confirms what He has already spoken!  Always remember that!  So it is important to know His words by heart because the Vision from God will always confirms what He has said!  Thank You Lord, for You are truth!  And whatever You do, confirms who You are and what You say!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Praise and Glory to You alone.  Hallelujah!  Glory to Your name only!  Father, I am so amazed of Your word.  Thank You because You Vision shows victory and it confirms every word You spoke!  Thank You because You provides us a refuge to see Your vision of us.  Thank You because You have allowed our spiritual eyes to see what You see and this vision will allow us to walk in faith in You!  Lord I am amazed because Your glory can never be contained!  It reaches the people to the ends of the earth and changes their hearts on its own.  Your word is truly alive!!!  It travels and reaches the people everywhere and it brings change in the hearts of those who hear.  Thank You because Your word brings life to the dying and Unexpected things happen because people believe!  Lord thank You because Your work is a miracle and in the eyes of men, it is impossible but to You, it is just a piece of cake.  Thank You Jesus.  Holy Spirit, open my eyes to see Your vision, Your Love, Your Glory, Your goodness, Your Grace, Your favor every day so that it will give me boldness to speak of You to others, so it will give me assurance and confirmation of what You have already spoken!  Thank You Lord.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!