00:00The Faith of Rahab, an Unexpected Hero
00:08If you have ever felt too far outside God's grace, you need to know Rahab's story.
00:15God includes her in the faith chapter in Hebrews because she demonstrated great trust in God
00:20despite intense personal risk. Her story is told in connection with the story of the walls of
00:27Jericho in the book of Joshua. Once Joshua successfully led God's people across the
00:33Jordan River after their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, they came to the valley of
00:38Jericho. The city of Jericho sat as a looming, impregnable fortress. In order to know the
00:45city's weakness, Joshua dispatched spies to assess Jericho's walls. While scaling the walls at night,
00:52the spies encountered Rahab, whose apartment lay tucked in the side of one of Jericho's outer
00:58walls. She no doubt had witnessed Joshua and the army of Israel marching around the city walls.
01:05Now it was her time to show faith in God's power and goodness. If God showed grace to Rahab,
01:12a prostitute and woman who would feel the scorn of society, how much more will he offer his grace
01:18to all who turn to him? The Bible is full of stories of unexpected people like Rahab coming
01:24to faith in God. People of all walks of life, troubled by all manner of life's issues, turn to
01:31God and receive his grace. The list goes on and on in Hebrews 11. God graciously reaches into the
01:38lives of people who may feel as if life has passed them by or at times when all hope seemed lost.
01:45But God is always gracious. That's his way. He longs to meet you where you are and show his grace
01:52to you. Just like he did with Rahab. Many of the names near the end of Hebrews 11 might sound
01:58familiar to you. They each have a story of how they showed their faith in God. All the details of their
02:05lives are different, but they have something in common. They believed in God. There was a category of
02:12ruler or warrior. Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and Samuel all held significant roles in God's
02:19story as prophets to his people Israel. David, one of the most beloved kings of Israel,
02:26conquered his most trying circumstances by believing God's word. They all lived by faith.
02:32What an amazing litany of courageous warriors of the faith who subdued kingdoms, battled on the
02:38front lines for causes of righteousness, received the promises of God, and even stopped the mouths
02:44of lions. The prophets of old faced hardship, persecution, and even death, as well, because
02:51they aligned themselves in faith with God. And those who followed after them in the time of the early
02:56church faced similar trials, persecution, and threat. Also listed among the heroes in Hebrews 11
03:04are a company of people who lived by faith, simply called others. These others, past, present,
03:11and future suffer greatly for their faith. The suffering has ended for many of them, and they
03:17have already gone into the presence of the Lord and will never have to die again. You can draw strength
03:23and encouragement from their stories in your own struggle to endure suffering for his name.
03:28God offers the promise of eternal life and his sufficient grace and presence for those who
03:35suffer for their faith. When you're tempted to shrink back because of trouble or doubt your faith in a
03:41time of difficulty, you can be encouraged by the lives of those who have gone before you and stood firm
03:47in their faith. Recalling the faith of loved ones gone to be with the Lord, or people in your life who
03:53were steady sources of encouragement to you can shore up those times when trusting God seems impossible.
