Sheepspeak: sermons, articles, and papers: Redemption

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Sunday, January 13, 2019

Joshua 2: Redeemed!

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 13 January 2018 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Over the next few weeks we are looking at Joshua. Last week Tim gave us a brief overview of the book and gave us an introduction to Joshua himself I believe. Today, we are going to look a little bit at the conquest of Jericho and specifically Rahab (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25).

First, what do we know about Jericho? Jericho was this great fortified city. It was near the Jordan River. There was wonderful farmland all around. Its population was giants! It must have had some special significance for Joshua too. This isn’t the first time that Joshua had been over the Jordan River. Do we remember Joshua’s first encounter with the Promised Land? Remember that Joshua was one of the 12 spies Moses sent to check out Jericho 40 years before and at first how all of them except Caleb came back afraid to claim their inheritance. Joshua then quickly took Caleb’s perspective but the rest of that generation were afraid to enter the Promised Land before it was too late and so God in essence said ‘fine’ and the Hebrews wandered around the desert until everyone in that generation – except Caleb and Joshua - died.

Now in our text today the Hebrews have returned to Jericho and the Promised Land and Joshua is sending out the spies. He picks 2 young men and he sends them out just like Moses had sent him out 40 years before. These two young guys are on their first assignment in all probability and their first time away from their family Israel and their first time in the big city. So these two teenage boys or young twenty-somethings, where do they go when they get to the city? They go see the local prostitute! (Now we don’t know if they went there to give her some business or if they just thought that this would be a good place to blend in while they were spying on the town. We don’t know whether it was their idea or Joshua’s idea that they wind up at the home/business of Rahab the prostitute but here they are at Rahab’s house.

What do we know about Rahab? Every September the Salvation Army highlights those who are trafficked. Many of the people trafficked today in Canada are prostituted. While there is no evidence that Rahab was trafficked: her family was close to her; they lived in the same town as her (Jericho) and she went out of her way to save their lives when the opportunity arose (Joshua 2:12-13, 18; 6:23);[2] she was a prostitute [3] and though Shrine/religious prostitution was not uncommon in that area, we know, because of the specific language used to describe her work, Rahab was not a shrine prostitute. She was a secular prostitute not unlike those in our own time in this country.[4] And prostitutes then, like prostituted peoples today, were often outcasts from society.

It is significant that she is often referred to by her profession but another significant thing about Rahab of course was that she repented of her allegiances - when these young spies showed up at her door she, a probably young, marginalized prostitute was smart enough to see what was happening and she changed to support God (Joshua 2,6) and she was redeemed - James recognizes her for both her faith and her works (James 2:24-26). Rahab was saved and the author of Hebrews even records her as one of the heroes (heroines) of the faith. Hebrews 11:31: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Rahab, the prostitute, was saved.

Now today when we hear the name Rahab, we often think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho into the Hebrews’ hands. Does anyone know what the name ‘Rahab’ literally means? It - translated from Hebrew- means ‘fat’, ‘broad’, or ‘large’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’, and ‘pride’.[5] In the Bible, the country of Egypt is sometimes derogatorily referred to as a Rahab. Rahab is an insult word used of one of the Hebrews’ off again / on again enemies, the Egyptians.[6] Egypt - according to Isaiah and according to the Psalms – Egypt is a fat, insolent, Rahab (Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 51:9; cf. Psalm 87:4, Isaiah 30:7). Rahab in our story today was a prostitute. But Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed.

Many of you know some of our own personal history. Susan, the girls and I were soldiers with 614 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside prior to being commissioned as Officers in The Salvation Army. And since then we have served the LORD and the Army in Saskatchewan, in Winnipeg downtown and at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. And of course we spent the previous few years in downtown Toronto. We made more than a few friends in these environments who –like Rahab- were relegated to the margins of society by circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. We had friends in our Bible studies, church services, and/or staying in our very home (we ran a transition residence in Vancouver) who were prostituted peoples, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and suffering everything else common to those environments.

We have had more than one friend, for whom our hearts still break, overdose, convicted of murder, and other such things – some even since knowing the Lord. Sometimes we fall back but even still I have seen God transform many lives: sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice, or even more as need be. There are many more people still relegated to the margins of our society even here in our community - they (we) are not unredeemable; they (we) are as ready for redemption as anyone. During the many years we lived and worked in Saskatchewan between Nipawin, Tisdale, Carrot River, Maple Creek and Swift Current, I spent many hours sitting with my friends in the courts, speaking with our friends in the courts, speaking on behalf of friends in the courts, praying with friends in the courts. There are many people we knew there and in Toronto and Vancouver and that we are getting to know even here who wind up on the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. They can be redeemed. We can be redeemed.

There are many of us in The Salvation Army who at one time or another have found ourselves outcast like Rahab. Rahab in our story today, Rahab was a prostitute. Rahab was a Canaanite. Rahab was marginalized. Rahab was an outcast. And Rahab is saved! And Rahab is redeemed! We can be saved! We can be redeemed!

I have been involved with AA at various times in my life and ministry and at AA we speak about a how a higher power, God, can deliver us. And God can redeem us and God can save us. And God offers salvation not only from alcohol; not only from addiction; not only from a horrible, storied past of abuse and other things; but from all else as well. There is one name by which we all can be saved not only for the here and the now but forever (Acts 4:12). That Name, that One is Jesus. Jesus has died and he rose again from the grave so that we don’t need to be trapped in our addictions; we don’t need to be trapped by our prejudices; we don’t need to be trapped in our sins; we don’t need to be trapped in our struggles. Jesus rose from the grave conquering sin and death so that even those of us most caught by sin and by circumstance can be saved. Rahab was prostituted in a doomed pagan city. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We, no matter who we are and what we have had done to us what we have done, we can be saved. We can be redeemed (TSA docs. 6&10).

After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty (Tal Megillah 15a; the others were Sarah, Abigail, and Esther).[7] Rahab may mean ‘broad’ but this Rahab is a beauty. The Bible tells us Rahab married Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, Matthew 1:5). We remember too the wealthy landowner, Boaz, who married the Moabite Ruth of the book of Ruth; this rich, prominent Boaz was Rahab the Canaanite’s son. Ruth was Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, Rahab’s grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great great grandson... do we know who that was? Who was Jesse’s most famous son? He was King David from whose line is God’s promised Salvation; A Dominion to be established for ever! (Matthew 1:5-6; cf. 2 Samuel 7). This Dominion is of course accomplished through another descendant of Rahab the redeemed prostituted Canaanite – that is Jesus, the Redeemer himself, the Messiah! (cf. Matthew 1:16).

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” – and God chose to send His only begotten son through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab.

Scholar Richard Hess tells us that, “the story of Rahab confirms God’s welcome to all people, whatever their condition. Christ died for all the world and the opportunity is available for all to come to him through faith, even the chief of sinners [like you and like me] (1 Timothy 1:15)...Rahab exhibits faith and understanding of the God who saves her. She becomes part of the family line that leads to the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) and [she is] a model of faith for all Christians” (Hebrews 11:31).[8]

Rahab, who was once a prostituted Canaanite on the margins of society now stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed, and as one of the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no matter who we have been, no matter what has happened to us, we too can be saved from it all. Jesus died on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so that we can live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13). It is my prayer that today each of us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and of His Redemption.

Let us pray.

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Friday, September 30, 2016

Rahab the Redeemed, 2016 (Jos 2&6, Heb 11:31, Jas 2:25)

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 25 September 2011, the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking and 20 October 2013. Presented on the same same occasion 25 September 2016 at Warehouse Mission in Toronto. Presented also on the 15^th Anniversary of Corps 614 Regent Park in Toronto, 01 October 2016. And to Alberni Valley Ministries on 13 January 2018

This is the 01 October 2016, Corps 614 version. To view the original, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/rahab-redeemed-joshua-2-hebrews-1131.html

To view the January 2018 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/01/joshua-2-redeemed.html

A distinguished, prominent big city pastor cruised through a small town. As he did his eyes fell upon a child not more than two feet tall at the door of one of the houses. The boy was on tiptoes valiantly attempting to reach the doorbell. Amused and wanting to help, the pastor parked his car and went over to assist the boy. He reached up and pushed his finger onto the button and the chimes rang inside. Satisfied that he had done his good deed for the day, the pastor turned to the child, “Okay, what happens next?”

With a smile the child replied, “Now we run!”

Another story: This lady goes to the doctor. She has been in serious pain for quite a while. The doctor asks her where it hurts and what is the matter. To which she replies, “It hurts when I touch my temple; it hurts when I touch my side; it hurts when I touch my arm; it even hurts when I touch my nose.”

“I think I know what the problem is”, the doctor says, “your finger is broken.”

Now, of course, last week we spoke about the real pain associated with Human Trafficking. Susan spoke about Hagar. Today I thought we would chat about the story of a prostituted Canaanite lady, Rahab (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25). While there is no direct evidence that Rahab was trafficked to various locations: her family lived in the same town as she did (Jericho) and by all accounts she had a strong positive relationship with her family (Joshua 2:12-13, 18; 6:23).[2] However, many of the people trafficked today in Canada are prostituted in a way similar to the way Rahab was a prostitute:[3] though Shrine prostitution was not uncommon among the pagan peoples in Canaan, Rahab was not a shrine prostitute: the language used of Rahab’s activity refers to her strictly as a secular prostitute not unlike some in our own time, in our own country.[4]

Prostitutes then, like prostituted people today, were often on the margins of society. Today we are marking the 15^th anniversary of our corps and many of us who are or have been part of 614, at some time, for some reason, have also been marginalized. Such was Rahab. The significant thing about Rahab, of course, was that she was redeemed – even as she was marginalized God redeemed her. She turned from her life in Jericho to a life in God (Joshua 2, 6); she was redeemed - James recognizes her for both her faith and her works (James 2:24-26). Rahab was redeemed and the author of the sermon (or letter) to the Hebrews even records her as one of the heroes (heroines) of the faith. Hebrews 11:31: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Rahab, the prostitute, was saved. Rahab was redeemed.

Now today when we hear the name Rahab, we often think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho into the Hebrews’ hands. Does anyone know what the name ‘Rahab’ actually means? It -literally translated from Hebrew- means ‘broad’, ‘fat’, or ‘large’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’, and ‘pride’.[5] In the Bible, the country of Egypt is sometimes derogatorily referred to as a Rahab. Rahab is an insult used of one of the Hebrews’ off again / on again enemies, the Egyptians.[6] Egypt - according to Isaiah and according to the Psalms – Egypt is a fat, insolent, Rahab (Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 51:9; cf. Psalm 87:4, Isaiah 30:7). Rahab in our story today was a prostituted Canaanite. But Rahab is saved! and Rahab is redeemed!

Now many of you know some of our own personal history. Susan, the girls (the oldest 2 anyway), and I served with 614 Vancouver in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside many years ago. And before we were appointed to serve the LORD and the Army in Toronto here, we served in Downtown Winnipeg and Winnipeg’s North End; I also served in Stoney Mountain Penitentiary and Saskatchewan. We made more than a few friends in these environments who –like Rahab- were relegated to the margins of society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. We had friends in our cell groups, Bible studies, knee drills, church services, and/or staying in our very home (we ran a transition residence in Vancouver) who were prostituted peoples, addicted to drugs and alcohol, reliant on theft and deception, and we have friends whom the Lord redeemed and transformed as –among other things- we read the Bible in community.

We have had more than one friend, for whom our hearts still break, overdose, convicted of murder, and other such things – some even since knowing the Lord. Sometimes we fall back but even still I have seen God transform many lives: sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice, or even more as need be. There are many more people still relegated to the margins of our society even here - they (we) are not unredeemable; they (we) are as ready for redemption as anyone. During the many years we lived and worked in Saskatchewan between Nipawin, Tisdale, Carrot River, and Swift Current, I have spent many hours sitting with my friends in the courts, speaking with our friends in the courts, speaking on behalf of friends in the courts, praying with friends in the courts. There are many people we knew there and we know here who wind up on the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. They can be redeemed. We can be redeemed.

The weekend between the garage sale, church service and everything else we have been marking our 15^th anniversary as a corps and many of us at one time or another have found ourselves outcast like Rahab. Rahab in our story today, Rahab was a prostitute. Rahab was a Canaanite. Rahab was marginalized. Rahab was an outcast. And Rahab is saved! And Rahab is redeemed! We can be saved! We can be redeemed!

I have been involved with AA at times in my life and at AA we speak about a higher power. Step 1 in AA: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.” Step 2: We “came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” and Step 3: We “made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.”

And God is great and God can redeem us and God can save us. And God offers salvation not only from alcohol; not only from addiction; not only from a horrible, storied past of abuse and other things; but from all else as well. There is one name by which we all can be saved not only for the here and the now but forever (Acts 4:12). That Name, that One is Jesus. Jesus has died and he rose again from the grave so that we don’t need to be trapped in our addictions; we don’t need to be trapped in our sins; we don’t need to be trapped in our struggles. Jesus rose from the grave conquering sin and death so that even those of us most caught by sin and by circumstance can be saved. Rahab was prostituted in a doomed pagan city. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We, no matter who we are and what we have had done to us what we have done, we can be saved. We can be redeemed (TSA docs. 6&10).

After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty (Tal Megillah 15a; the others were Sarah, Abigail, and Esther).[7] Rahab may mean ‘broad’ but this Rahab is nonetheless a beauty. She is – as Reba said last week – she is not a back of the store lady; she is a front of the store lady! Like we all can be front of the store people! The Bible tells us Rahab married Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, Matthew 1:5). We remember too the wealthy landowner, Boaz, who married the Moabite Ruth of the book of Ruth; this prominent Boaz was Rahab the Canaanite’s son. Ruth was Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, who was Rahab’s grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great great grandson... do we know who that was? Who was Jesse’s most famous son? He was King David from whose line God promised Salvation and to establish His Dominion for ever! (Matthew 1:5-6; cf. 2 Samuel 7). This was of course accomplished through another descendant of Rahab the redeemed prostituted Canaanite – that is Jesus, the Redeemer himself, the Messiah! (cf. Matthew 1:16).

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” – and God chose to do this through, to send His only begotton son through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab.

Scholar Richard Hess tells us that, “the story of Rahab confirms God’s welcome to all people, whatever their condition. Christ died for all the world and the opportunity is available for all to come to him through faith, even the chief of sinners [like you and like me] (1 Timothy 1:15)...Rahab exhibits faith and understanding of the God who saves her. She becomes part of the family line that leads to the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) and [she is] a model of faith for all Christians” (Hebrews 11:31).[8]

Rahab, who was once a prostituted Canaanite on the margins of society now stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed, and as one of the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no matter who we have been, no matter what has happened to us, we too can be saved. Jesus died on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so that we could live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13). It is my prayer that today each of us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and of His Redemption.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 50:15-21: Regarding Forgiveness: Do not be afraid, for are we in the place of God? Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 07 August 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/genesis-5015-21-regarding-forgiveness.html And Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 39:2a: The Lord was with Joseph and He Prospered. Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 July 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesis-392a-lord-was-with-joseph-and.html

[2] Cf. Robert B. Coote, The Book of Joshua, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 592.

[3] Cf. RCMP Criminal Intelligence. Project SECLUSION: Human Trafficking in Canada (Ottawa: 2010).

[4] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] ‘Rahab’ in Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0003054

[6] ‘Rahab’ in Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=3&wid=S10094

[7] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2

[8] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1996 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 6), S. 89

Friday, January 6, 2012

Judges 6:1-16: Salvation, Theodicy, Gideon, and Dinosaurs

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 08 Jan. 12

By Captain Michael Ramsay

There was a show on Television late last century called Dinosaurs; it was about an anthropomorphic family of dinosaurs. There was a mom, a dad, a brother, a sister and a baby. Here is a clip about a running exchange between the dad and the baby. The dad loves the baby and will do anything to just try to get the baby to call him ‘Daddy’ but instead the baby just keeps referring to him as ‘Not the Mama’.

[1]

This, I think in some sense, is God’s relationship to Israel in the book of Judges. God just wants Israel to love Him and show that they love Him. He wants them to call him Father but they just refuse to and instead they just do whatever they see as fit in their own eyes. This is the tragedy of the book of Judges. It really is a love story that has all of the sorrow of Romeo and Juliet or some other Shakespearian tragedy.

God in the opening scene of Judges offers Israel the place of rest that she had been promised. It is before her. God uses Joshua, a conquering hero, to bring His people into this promised land and this is good as, Judges 1:7, “ the people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel” (cf. Joshua 1:14, 10:7; compare Judges 1:10–15, 20 and Joshua 15:13–19; Judges 1:21 and Joshus 15:63; Judges 1:27, 28 and Joshua 17:11–13; Judges 1:29 and Joshua 16:10).[2] But, Verse 10, “after that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what He had done for Israel.” And, Verse 11, “Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.” This is the sad, sad story of the story of Judges that is repeated again and again and again (Judges 2:11, 3:7, 3:12. 4:1, 6:11, 10:6, 13:1, 20:13). God loves His people and, like the Daddy Dinosaur, He just wants them to call on Him, their Father, but again and again and again the people refuse to this and instead they serve other gods or -possibly even worse- just like today; Judges 21:25, instead of serving God, everyone just does as he sees fit; the Authorized Version reads, “…every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” God loves them but instead –like Baby Dinosaur- they just serve themselves.

Our story today opens up with, “Again Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD and for seven years He gave them into the hands of the Midianites” (Judges 6:1; cf. Genesis 25:2; Numbers 22:7, 25:6, 31:8). Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD and they suffered the natural consequences of this.[3] They decline God’s offered love and protection so they do not have it; they reject the Lord and so they do not have Him. I don’t know how many of you know Stephen; he has been our janitor here since Alvin moved. Stephen is from England and he worked in a street mission in one of the larger cities over there. Sometimes when we chat, we compare the Lord’s blessings through Stephen’s serving the Lord in urban missions in Birmingham, England with Susan and my experiences on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Winnipeg’s North End. We were talking the other day. Stephen was mentioning the really high unemployment in England, the crime in the large urban centres, the people that he had known who were pedophiles, addicted to drugs, involved in violence. He relayed to us one story where he needed to rely on the Lord’s strength in order to evict a man from the shelter who was, in turns out, carrying a loaded gun. I then relayed similar stories from our experiences living and working alongside prostituted peoples, people enslaved by addiction, and other horrors that do occur in a society where people are beginning to walk away from the Lord and so there is poverty in the midst of abundance.

The Lord has provided more than enough for everyone in our country – for everyone in our world really. The problem is now that we in this country are quickly moving away from the Lord; we are failing to share these resources with our neighbours, with society. Now – societally speaking– at the same time as we in the English-speaking world are refusing to share our material resources, we seem have no problem in eagerly sharing a secular sense of entitlement with everyone we meet. We deserve everything in our own eyes but we are unwilling to be reconciled with God and with our neighbour. We want everything for ourselves. We just want to do what is right in our own eyes (Judges 25:21); more and more in this country we choose to do evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 6:1). We continue to focus on ourselves, instead of on God and our society (our neighbour), and then we are somehow surprised and even complain that– even though it is us that has left God and our neighbour - when we need God and when we need our society, we complain that they are not there. You cannot keep your cake on a shelf forever and eat it all at the same time. You cannot turn down a job and still expect to collect the paycheque.

In our country as we have more and more resources and finances we seem to be more and more readily committing the sin of Judges and we seem to be more and more moving away from the Lord as we more and more are doing what is right in our own eyes instead of loving God and loving our neighbours. We leave God and we leave our neighbour behind and then are offended and surprised when God and society, whom we left behind, are not right there with us when we need them. We leave God behind and then our surprised when more and more of us are struggling with sin, poverty, addiction, rejection, and isolation. We leave God behind and then we are surprised when more and more people in this country are more and more oppressed as they feel the effects our actions.

There is even more than this though – lest you think that somehow in our discussion so far that I am promoting the prosperity heresy, which states that if you love God, you will be healthy, wealthy and wise but if you don’t you won’t be. This is certainly not true. (The opposite may even be true to some extent.) Judges 6:1:“Again Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD and for seven years He gave them into the hands of the Midianites.” God loves His people. God, like the daddy dinosaur in our opening clip, God wants his people to love Him. He really wants his children to show and experience the same love for Him that He has for them. God knows that His people will be so much better off -even if they have nothing else- so long as they have Him. God never promises that if we turn to Him there will be no hardship; God however does promise that with God we can rejoice even in our suffering because God will see us through it (2 Corinthians 12:9) God really wants us to experience all the joys of loving Him which are so abundant, so plentiful, so good that even in the midst of our very real suffering in this life we can boast and we can be joyful (cf. Genesis 39; Romans 5:3-4; Philippians 2:17, 3:1, 4:4; 2 Timothy 1:8-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:18 1 Peter 4:6, 4:13).

God also knows that many of our problems tend to happen when things are apparently going quite well. When societies are wealthy, we tend to do what is right in our own eyes and what is evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 6:1, 25:21; Proverbs 3:5). God, in His love for the Israelites, finally gives them into the hands of the Midianites. This is the action is a Father who is willing to do whatever is necessary for the salvation of His children. The picture here is of a people who have rejected God and are so trapped in their sin like someone with a limb caught in an active piece of farm machinery. In pulling them out they may lose a toe, finger, a foot, or even worse but if you don’t pull them out they will die. This is the pain that God is suffering through. God is the Father extricating His child from the machinery. The Israelites are so steeped in their sin that the way to pull them out now is through the seven years in the hands of the Midianties and even though it hurts God so much to see His children suffer in this way, He knows that this is the way He can save them from their sin, from themselves, and from even eternal separation from the paradise of His love so -even though it pains them and even though it pains Him- the LORD is willing to do even this to save His children (cf. TSA docs. 6,10,11).

I think that we in Canada in the 21^st Century are just like the Israelites of the twelfth and eleventh centuries BCE when it comes to turning our back on God and beginning to feel the consequences of that.[4] I mentioned last week how I recently read comments on news sites where people feel free to blame God for every difficulty that they encounter. At the same time, however, they are completely unwilling to turn to Him for the support that He offers us when we suffer the consequences of our own actions.

In and through and maybe even because of our affluence, things are starting to get bad here. The income disparity is higher than even before, drug addiction is more prevalent than ever before, sexual perversion is more known and accepted than every before. There are many things to which Canada and Canadians are becoming enslaved as we leave the safety and security of our Lord. God doesn’t want us to walk in this direction but we are and as we are, people in our society are suffering.

Here is the real tragedy: God wants us to be saved from all of this (TSA docs. 6,10). God does not want us to be trapped in our sin or enslaved by the Midianites and God will do whatever is necessary to extradite us from the machinery of our sin that has got a hold of us and is pulling us to our death. God will do what is ever necessary and we know that He has already provided for our salvation at a great cost to himself. Looking back from our text today to the story of Abraham where God promises salvation to the whole world -Genesis 12:3- and even promises that He will die if necessary to save us from our sins –Genesis 15:7-21.[5] Looking forward in our text to where God does indeed send His Son who is Himself, God Incarnate; we see that this is true. God is faithful even when we are faithless (cf. Romans 3:3,4; see Deuteronomy 31:6,Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5). God has provided for the salvation of Gideon; God has provided for the salvation of the Israelites; God has provided for the salvation of the Canadians, and God has provided for the salvation of the whole world (cf. TSA doc. 6). John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” This plays out in a number of different ways.

1) As far as Gideon and Israel are concerned in our story today, the Lord answers Israel’s cries and Gideon’s doubts with, Judges 6:16, “…I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianties together.”

2) As far as Canada is concerned, if indeed we cry out to the Lord, He has already provided for our salvation from those things with which the devil is presently enslaving our society. He will answer our cries and doubts with, “I will be with you, and we will strike down the oppressor together.”

3) As far as each one of us in this room today is concerned, God – like the daddy dinosaur from our introduction –loves us and just wants us to love Him. Whatever challenges there are in our lives, whatever difficulties there are in our lives, He does not want us to perish under their weight. God does not promise us that there will be no suffering in this life. What God does promise us however is the opportunity, as the Apostle Paul repeatedly tells us in his letters, to learn how to suffer and even to experience joy in the midst of our suffering (Romans 5:3-4; Philippians 2:17, 3:1, 4:4; 2 Timothy 1:8-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:18 1 Peter 4:6, 4:13). And the story of Joseph in Genesis tells us how to prosper in our imprisonment, in our slavery, in our troubles, and in our life (Genesis 39). God can save us for now and forever.

So today then, I know that some of us are feeling the weight of being crushed by our world around us; some of us are feeling deep oppression. Some of us are struggling with sin. Some of us may be suffering under the oppression of circumstance, the oppression of unemployment, the oppression of crisis or the slavery of stress, the slavery of disabilities, the slavery to struggle. Some of us may be suffering from real emotional, intellectual, or physical pain. Some of us may be suffering alone, as instead of casting our burdens upon the Lord, we like the sin of the judges, continue to do what is right in our own eyes (Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7). We don’t need to suffer alone; with the Lord we can rejoice in every circumstance: Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again, fulfilling the promise to Abraham and fulfilling the promise to the whole world that indeed the whole world can be saved (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:7-21; John 3:16). We can prosper in our troubles. We can delivered in our suffering to the point that we can even rejoice in whatever circumstances we face in this life (Philippians 2:17, 3:1, 4:4; 2 Timothy 1:8-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:18 1 Peter 4:6, 4:13). Jesus is there for us; he is offering this salvation to the whole world so that whosoever may will be saved (John 3:16; TSA doc.6). So I encourage all of us today, if there are any here who have not fully grasped hold of His salvation and if there are any of us here today who are not experiencing the joy of the Lord even in the midst of our very real suffering, please come up to the altar, to the mercy seat here and we will gladly pray with you as you accept this salvation which the Lord offers freely to each and everyone of us here.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

[1]‘Not the Momma’ Dinosaurs clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNR4hKbSH7I

[2] Arthur E. Cundall in Morris, Leon: Judges and Ruth: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1968 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 7), S. 21: There are close parallels between the two accounts [Joshua & Judges…The minor points of difference will be dealt with in the commentary on the text. But what appears to be a major difference is that in Judges attention is given to the individual participating tribes, particularly Judah, whereas in Joshua the Conquest is viewed as the work of the united tribes under one leader.

[3]Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today. Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army

[4] Dennis T. Olsen, The Book of Judges (NIB II; Nashville: Abingdon, 1998), 724

[5] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'When God is Bound… a look at Genesis 15:7-21’ in Journal of Aggressive Christianity, (Issue 52: December 2007 – January 2008), pp. 5-10

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Rahab the Redeemed (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25)

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 25 September 2011, the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking and 20 October 2013. Presented on the same same occasion, 25 September 2016 at Warehouse Mission in Toronto. Presented also on the 15^th Anniversary of Corps 614 Regent Park in Toronto, 01 October 2016. Also presented to Alberni Valley Ministries in Port Alberni, By Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking version. To view the Alberni Valley Version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/01/joshua-2-redeemed.html To view the Corps 614 version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/09/rahab-redeemed-2016-jos-2-heb-1131-jas.html

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We have just been speaking about human trafficking in Canada and I am going to lighten the mood a little bit here before we briefly examine the story of Rahab today. Here is something that I ran across the other day when researching another topic.

With a smile the child replied, “Now we run!”

“I think I know what the problem is”, the doctor says, “your finger is broken.”

Now, of course, today we have been speaking about the real pain associated with Human Trafficking. And the most logical passage in scripture to speak about addressing this would be the story of Joseph,[1] Genesis 37 [38] – 50, as he was actually was trafficked into slavery but as we have just spent quite a bit of time looking at Joseph over the summer, I thought we would deal with the story of the prostitute Rahab today instead (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25). While there is no evidence that Rahab was trafficked: her family was close to her; they lived in the same town as her (Jericho) and she went out of her way to save their lives when the opportunity arose (Joshua 2:12-13, 18; 6:23).[2] Most –or at least many- of the people trafficked today in Canada, however, are prostitutes, in a similar manner as Rahab was a prostitute:[3] though Shrine prostitution was not uncommon among the pagan peoples in that area, in those days, Rahab was not a shrine prostitute: the language used of Rahab’s profession refers to her strictly as a secular prostitute not unlike those in our own time, in our own country.[4]

Prostitutes then, like prostituted peoples today, were often outcasts from society. The significant thing about Rahab of course was that she repented -she changed to support God (Joshua 2,6) and she was redeemed - James recognizes her for both her faith and her works (James 2:24-26). Rahab was redeemed and the author of the sermon (or letter) to the Hebrews even records her as one of the heroes (heroines) of the faith. Hebrews 11:31: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Rahab, the prostitute, was saved. Rahab was redeemed.

Now many of you know some of our own personal history. Susan, the girls (the oldest 2 anyway), and I were urban missionaries with 614 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside prior to being commissioned as Officers in The Salvation Army. And before we were appointed to serve the LORD and the Army in Saskatchewan, we served in Downtown Winnipeg and Winnipeg’s North End; I also served in Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. We made more than a few friends in these environments who –like Rahab- were relegated to the margins of society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. We had friends in our cell groups, Bible studies, knee drills, church services, and/or staying in our very home (we ran a transition residence in Vancouver) who were prostituted peoples, addicted to drugs and alcohol, reliant on theft and deception... I have elsewhere previously told the story of transvestite friends of ours whom the Lord redeemed and transformed through –among other things- simply reading the Bible in community with the rest of us.

We have had more than one friend, for whom our hearts still break, convicted of murder – some even since knowing the Lord. Sometimes people fall back but even still we have seen God transform many lives: sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice, or even more as need be. There are many more people still relegated to the margins of our society even here - they (we) are not unredeemable; they (we) are as ready for redemption as anyone. I have spent many hours since we have moved to Saskatchewan between Nipawin, Tisdale, Carrot River, and Swift Current, sitting with people in the courts, speaking with people in the courts, speaking on behalf of people in the courts, praying with people in the courts. John, Ron, Sylvia, and others here through the food bank and other ministries are walking people through many of life’s challenges. We have post-food bank interviews now where volunteers sit down with people in need and we try to help out in anyway that we can. There are many people we know here who wind up on the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. They can be redeemed.

There are many relegated to the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. Many of us at one time or another have found ourselves outcasts like prostituted peoples, like Rahab. Rahab in our stories today, Rahab was a prostitute. Rahab was an outcast. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We can be saved. We can be redeemed.

I have been involved with AA at times: I would fairly regularly attend meetings in Nipawin and the AA Roundup has had their annual celebrations here, at the Swift Current Corps, the previous few years. I have been to more than one AA meeting and at AA we speak about a higher power. Step 1 in AA: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.” Step 2: We “came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” and Step 3: We “made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.”

Well, there is one higher power, God, through whom salvation is offered not only from alcohol; not only from addiction; not only from a horrible, storied past of abuse and other things; but from all else as well. There is one name by which we all can be saved not only for the here and the now but forever (Acts 4:12). That name, that one is Jesus. Jesus has died and he rose again from the grave so that we don’t need to be trapped in our addictions; we don’t need to be trapped in our sins; we don’t need to be trapped in our struggles. Jesus rose from the grave conquering sin and death so that even those of us most caught by sin and by circumstance can be saved. Rahab was a prostitute in a doomed pagan city. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We, no matter who we are and what we have done, we can be saved. We can be redeemed (TSA docs. 6&10).

After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she married Joshua and became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is also listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty (Tal Megillah 15a; the others were Sarah, Abigail, and Esther).[7] The Bible tells us she did marry Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, Matthew 1:5). We remember too the wealthy landowner, Boaz, who married Ruth of the book of Ruth; this prominent Boaz was Rahab’s son. Ruth was Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, who was Rahab’s grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great great grandson was King David from whose line God promised Salvation and to establish His Dominion (Matthew 1:5-6; cf. 2 Samuel 7). This was of course accomplished through another descendent of Rahab the redeemed prostitute – that is Jesus, the Redeemer himself, the Messiah (cf. Matthew 1:16).

“For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” – John 3:16 (AV) – and He chose to do this through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab.

Rahab, who was once a secular pagan prostitute now stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed of her sins, and as one of the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no matter who we have been, we too can be saved. Jesus died on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so that we could live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13). It is my prayer that today each of us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and of His Redemption.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 50:15-21: Regarding Forgiveness: Do not be afraid, for are we in the place of God? Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 07 August 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/genesis-5015-21-regarding-forgiveness.html And Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 39:2a: The Lord was with Joseph and He Prospered. Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 July 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesis-392a-lord-was-with-joseph-and.html

[2] Cf. Robert B. Coote, The Book of Joshua, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 592.

[3] Cf. RCMP Criminal Intelligence. Project SECLUSION: Human Trafficking in Canada (Ottawa: 2010).

[4] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] ‘Rahab’ in Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0003054

[6] ‘Rahab’ in Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=3&wid=S10094

[7] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2

[8] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1996 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 6), S. 89

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Sunday, January 13, 2019

Joshua 2: Redeemed!

Friday, September 30, 2016

Rahab the Redeemed, 2016 (Jos 2&6, Heb 11:31, Jas 2:25)

Friday, January 6, 2012

Judges 6:1-16: Salvation, Theodicy, Gideon, and Dinosaurs

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Rahab the Redeemed (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25)

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Sunday, January 13, 2019

Joshua 2: Redeemed!

Friday, September 30, 2016

Rahab the Redeemed, 2016 (Jos 2&6, Heb 11:31, Jas 2:25)

Friday, January 6, 2012

Judges 6:1-16: Salvation, Theodicy, Gideon, and Dinosaurs

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Rahab the Redeemed (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25)

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