Rahab and Achan -- The Outward Can be
Deceiving
October 20, 2002 pm
Mike Blume
Joshua
2:1-14 And
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. (2) 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: (5) And it came to pass about
the
time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out:
whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall
overtake them.
(6) But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid
them
with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the
roof.
(7) And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the
fords:
and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut
the
gate. (8) And before they were laid down, she came up unto
them
upon the roof; (9) And she said unto the men, I know 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. (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.
Joshua
6:17-19 And
the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the
LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her
in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
(18) And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from
the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of
the
accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble
it.
(19) But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron,
are
consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the
LORD.
Joshua 7:1 But
the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for
Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the
tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD
was kindled against the children of Israel.
Joshua
7:16-22 So
Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their
tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: (17) And he
brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the
Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and
Zabdi was taken: (18) And he brought his household man by
man; and Achan,
the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of
Judah,
was taken. (19) And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I
pray
thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him;
and
tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. (20)
And
Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD
God
of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: (21) When I saw
among
the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of
silver,
and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and
took
them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent,
and
the silver under it. (22) So Joshua sent messengers, and
they
ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver
under
it.
Joshua
7:25-26 And
Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee
this day. And all Israel stoned him
with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with
stones.
(26) And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this
day.
So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name
of
that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
Today I have
stayed in the book of Joshua noting details that speak of
the work of God in our lives as are on our ways to enjoy God's
blessings
and promises, as Israel proceeded to take the promised land.
The first two
conquests in Canaan were those against Jericho and Ai.
And these two
conquests and experiences of Israel also show us very contrasting
pictures.
- The notable character in the conquest of Jericho was a little
harlot named Rahab.
- And the notable character in the battle with Ai is an Israelite
named Achan.
- People so far apart from one another in their worlds.
- Yet we will learn that they were people who did not at all belong
where they were.
- People who would be transformed from being part of their present
surroundings and people into the collective
of another people so contrary to the former.
Rahab is a
harlot who receives spies of Israel sent into her home.
- She heard of the fame of Israel's victories forty years previous
in Egypt, and how Israel conquered two kings.
- She knew these people were the people of God.
- Jericho's watchmen reported seeing
the spies around Rahab's house.
- Rahab had hidden the Israelites in
her roof under the flax stalks used to keep rain from falling into her
home.
- She lied to the representatives of
Jericho and said the men took off and the watchers ought to pursue them
right away lest they escape too far away.
This little
lady lied, she was a harlot, and a heathen ignorant of the
ways of God.
- However, even at the risk of her life at the hands of Jericho's
authorities, she hid in her roof the spies.
- Something in her heart manifested in an interesting way.
- To look at her appearance she was well-known to be harlots by
their appearances.
- Her gaudy and alluring and suggestive clothing and jewels.
- She was of Jericho.
- She was a sinner and a serious sinner at that.
- Many sins on her account.
- But she hid IN HER HEART, a desire
for the God of Israel.
- With all her faults and reputation, she had a sincere heart.
1 Samuel
16:7 But
the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth
not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
She may have
been ignorant of Moses' law to not bear false witness and
lie, making a living at committing adultery, but her heart reached out
for
the things of God.
- Somewhat like Jacob.
- A deceiver.
- Deceiving his father that he was Esau, his brother.
- Wanting the birthright of blessings from God.
- While Esau looked so responsible who hunted for food and provided
for the family, yet cared not for the things of God, such as the
birthright of God's blessings.
Rahab had to
cover up those spies because she was in peril from Jericho for
harbouring enemy spies.
- She could not openly show the spies.
- It would mean instant death for her.
- She was a citizen of a city that was deemed to be accursed along
with everything and everyone in it.
- That city was going to be made ruins and burned and left as a
heap of rubble.
God was
cleaning out the land of Canaan form all the accursed things.
- The reason he was doing this was to make the land a blessing for
Israel.
- How can there be blessing, though,
when there are things that are accursed everywhere?
- By destroying, burying and leaving
it in a heap, God would remove the accursed things and turn it into a
blessing.
- Kings were hanged on trees and then buried beneath stones that
remained, as the bible says, "to this day", meaning permanency.
As Rahab hid
the messengers in her house, God's word tells us to hide His word in
our hearts, so that we might not sin against Him.
- Rahab had to hide her faith.
- She was amongst a cursed people, who had to hide her righteous
faith.
In Joshua 6 we
see Israel march to Jericho and conquer it.
- As Jericho is destroyed, we read a
note about Rahab that actually links us to the story of Achan and the
battle
of Ai, and gives us background understanding as to what is so notable
about
Achan's sin.
Joshua
6:17-19 And
the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the
LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her
in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
(18) And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from
the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of
the
accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble
it.
(19) But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron,
are
consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the
LORD.
After a woman
is transformed from being accursed, as a citizen of the accursed people
in the accursed city of Jericho, into a righteous woman whom we later
learn came into the lineage of Jesus Christ(!), we read the exact
opposite of Achan.
Achan for all
intents and purposes was simply known to be an Israelite.
- Joshua 7:1 shows his membership in
the people of Israel right down to the very tribe and family.
- He looked like an Israelite and walked like an Israelite, and
talked like an Israelite.
- Rahab was the opposite.
- She looked like a sinner, lived like a sinner and was reputed to
be a sinner amongst an accursed people.
- How wicked would God have otherwise considered Rahab, had she not
sought Him in faith?
- She was not only an accursed "Jericho-ite", but a harlot amongst
that accursed people, at that!
- But Achan was a reputed man of the
people of God.
But just as
Rahab hid something in her home, so did Achan hide something in his
home.
- What Rahab hid was absolutely forbidden by the wicked accursed
people of Jericho.
- But what Achan hid was absolutely forbidden by the righteous God
of Israel!
- Jericho did not know Rahab hid those spies.
- And Israel did not know that Achan
hid within the earthen floor of his tent a Babylonish garment, a wedge
of
gold and shekels of silver from Ai.
If we'd stand
Rahab and Achan side by side, we slap Achan on the back and shake his
right hand in fellowship and say, "Praise the Lord, brother."
- And we would disdain Rahab.
- But...
1 Samuel
16:7 But
the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth
not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
...beneath the
tent floor of Achan was a robe that Israelites do not wear.
- A Babylonish garment.
- Babylon was the absolute symbolic city of sinfulness.
- It was built by Nimrod who defied God not long after the flood
destroyed the earth, and built a tower he considered too high for flood
waters to cover next time, so man could continue in sin despite God's
judgments.
- For Achan to wear that robe would mean instant death, just as
Rahab's announcement of harboring israel's spies
and worshiping the God of Israel would mean her instant death.
- So he had to hide the robe.
- The gold and silver were noted by God to be consecrated to him
whenever they came across some in the cities they'd conquer.
- But all else would be destroyed and burned with fire and left
beneath a heap of rock.
Achan hid these
things in the earth in the midst of his tent -- in the
floor.
Rahab hid the
spies in the roof of her house beneath stalks of flax.
This is
meaningful.
- The floor of Achan was made of earth and dirt.
- The roof of Rahab was made of stalks of flax.
- Our flesh, which loves to enjoy sin and has to be put at bay so
as to not commit every sin it desires us to commit, through our
disciplined lives for Jesus, is made from the dust of the earth.
- the floor is the lowest part of the house as well.
- Flax covered Rahab's roof.
- It is meaningful that LINEN, representing the spiritual robes of
righteousness, is made from the raw material called FLAX.
The roof is a
covering.
- That lady had the covering of flax
on her roof.
- She had the makings of what God could use to COVER HER IN
RIGHTEOUSNESS!
- She dealt with the part of her life within her soul, her home,
that was the HIGHEST PART.
- The part of the heart where you can hide the word of God.
- A heart that God could use as raw material to place His
RIGHTEOUSNESS there.
Revelation
19:8 And
to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints.
To hide
something of God in your heart when you are an outright sinner, is to
get ready for God to transform your life from an accursed citizenship
of people bound for a fire and devil's hell, to the blessed citizenship
of God's people who will live forever.
She came from
being accursed to BLESSED!
But Achan....
Joshua
6:(18) And
ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make
yourselves accursed, when ye take
of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble
it.
He also was
transformed.
- He was amongst the righteous people of God.
- He hid the filthy and accursed thing in the lowest part of his
house.
- In the dirt, of his heart, so to speak.
God said you
would be transformed into being accursed yourselves, if you take the
accursed thing and poison the rest of the people because of it.
- And when God's people become troubled because of sin in the camp,
they are going to call out to God, as Joshua
did, and God is going to uncover the plot, and the accursed person is
going
to be dealt with.
Joshua
6:21-25 And
they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman,
young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the
sword. (22) But Joshua had said unto the two men that had
spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence
the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
(23) And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab,
and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had;
and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of
Israel. (24) And they burnt the city with fire, and all
that
was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass
and
of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
(25)
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household,
and
all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day;
because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
CONTRAST
WITH....
Joshua
7:24-26 And
Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of
Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and
his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his
sheep, and his tent, and all that he had:
and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. (25) And
Joshua
said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day.
And
all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after
they
had stoned them with stones. (26) And they raised over him
a
great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the
fierceness
of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley
of
Achor, unto this day.
Rahab and all
that she had was taken out and deemed no longer accursed, and spared to
become part of the righteous people of God.
Achan and all
that he had was taken out of Israel and deemed no longer
of God, and accursed, and treated like the cities that were accursed by
being stoned and buried under rubble.
BOTH ACCOUNTS
SAY... UNTO THIS DAY.
UNTO THIS DAY
she was alive.
UNTO THIS DAY
Achan was beneath a heap of stones.
In fact,
ACHAN's name means TROUBLE.
Joshua
6:(18) And
ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make
yourselves accursed, when ye take
of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble
it.
Joshua repeated
this.
- Achan was indeed "trouble".
- They named the place where TROUBLE/ACHAN was buried beneath a
HEAP, the valley of ACHOR, which also means TROUBLE.
- "A HEAP OF TROUBLE."
Churches are
mocked all the time by the world for harbouring hypocrites while some
sinners are more kind and good-hearted who profess nothing about God.
- But God will root out the false and the fake.
- Our parts are to be sincere.
- God looks on the heart.
- And that is what we will always preach here, by the grace of God.
- A HYPOCRITE IS SOMEONE WHO IS NOT HIMSELF IN SUNDAY.
Achan would
never have been known to be so wicked by all appearances.
- The man who committed one sin in Matthew 18, who would not
repent, let alone seek forgiveness, may have looked good with only one
sin.
- But he was a castaway in God's mind.
- Accursed.
- All appearances said he was good.
- And he may have genuinely been very good in many parts of his
life.
- But his single sin that he refused
to confess as wrong, due to pride, sent his soul to hell.
- But Peter's offender who came seven times seeking forgiveness for
the same sin, may be considered to be insincere, since one would think
true sincerity would cause the man to stop committing the same sin.
- But the fact that he came seeking forgiveness, with no required
delegation to hunt him out and urge him to repent, tells us that
although the outside looked bad, inside that man's tent, was a hidden
desire for God.
- Hidden from man.... but not hidden
from God.
If we do not
get that sin out of hearts, you're in for a "heap of trouble" one day.
- God is going to bring that out and
you will be made known for what you are.
- You are what you are in YOUR HEART.
On the other
hand, if in your heart is a desire for God, and your sinful life is
something you do not want to continue in any longer, God sees your
desire hidden in the tent of your life.
- And he is going to make sure it comes out and you are transformed
into a righteous child of God!
Rahab's heart
was dressed up in God's robes of righteousness.
- Although people never saw it.
Achan's heart
was dressed up in the devil's robes.
- Although people never saw it.
Man looks on
the outward, but God sees the heart!
Why fool man?
- Man is not going to judge you.
- Let go and let God have his way!!!!!!!!!!!