Difference between revisions of "Joshua 2 Courage"
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==Rahab Showed Courage (Joshua 2:12-21)== | ==Rahab Showed Courage (Joshua 2:12-21)== | ||
*What request does Rahab make in Joshua 2:12-13? | *What request does Rahab make in Joshua 2:12-13? | ||
| − | **Rahab asked for kindness, the word she used (hesed) is used 250 times in the Old-Testament and "means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love based on a promise, agreement, or covenant | + | **Rahab asked for kindness, the word she used (hesed) is used 250 times in the Old-Testament and "means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love based on a promise, agreement, or covenant <ref>Donald K. Campbell, “Joshua,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 332.</ref>. It is interesting that Rahab asks the covenant people for a covenant. Rahab clearly understood God to be a God of dependability. |
| − | + | *Have you ever wondered what Rahab and the spies discussed? | |
| − | * | + | **James 2:25 refers to the spies not as spies, but messengers. In his divine plan, God provided Rahab salvation. |
| − | *What | + | |
| − | * | + | *What requirements did the spies set forth for Rahab if she, and her family, were to be saved? |
| + | **She had to get them to all come into her house and set out the cord. Rahab had faith, now her faith had to be demonstrated in a way that convinced her family. Sometimes I wonder if God asks us to have the faith to tl someone about him but we in out cowardes try to pawn the duty off on someone else. | ||
| + | |||
| + | *According to 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, how should we act? | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Israel's Courage (Joshua 2:22-24)== | ||
| + | *How was the report of the two spies different than the report that had come in Numbers 13:25-29, 31? | ||
| + | |||
| + | =Conclusion= | ||
| + | *What circumstances do Christians face today in which they should show courage? | ||
| + | *What can we learn from Rahab today? | ||
Latest revision as of 13:12, 12 September 2018
Contents
Objectives
- Students will face challenges with confidence in God's care for them.
- Students will courageously face the challenges that lie before them.
Opening
Think back to a time where you were scared. What did you do? Did your actions actually contribute to your safety, or did they just make you feel better? What actions would actually make you safer? Joshua 2 Courage Handout
Main Body
The Canaanites (Joshua 2:1-11)
- What did Joshua do before moving the entire nation over the Jordan?
- He sent two spies into the land.
- Do you think it would have been better for Joshua to just enter the land, after all hadn't Moses done the same thing and it resulted in 40 years of wandering?
- Joshua seems to have sent the spies specifically to Jericho. He also only set two spies. This really seems to be about information gathering in preparation for entering and not about checking out the promises of God.
There is debate about Rahab and some have tried to temper the story by simply calling her an inn keeper. However, Heb. 11:31 and James 2:25 make it clear that Rahab was immoral. In this text God sees it fit to provide his grace to anyone.
- What events take place in verses 2-4?
- Was Rahab right to lie?
- I think that at times we focus so much on behaviors that we forget the point. We all are sinners and guilty of death. The Bible holds no punches regarding Rahab's sin of prostitution. The text is not trying to demonstrate that Rahab is righteous in and of herself, but rather that Rahab placed her loyalty in God instead of her own people and that fact led to her salvation.
- What is the result of Rahab's deception?
- God protects the spies. Note: this does not necessarily mean God endorsed Rahab's deception. God can work in spite of sin.
- What statement does Rahab make in Joshua 2:8-11?
- How does this match Joshua 1:9, Exodus 15:14-16, and Numbers 14:14?
- Remember, the two men were spies, what did their trip to Jericho tell them?
Rahab Showed Courage (Joshua 2:12-21)
- What request does Rahab make in Joshua 2:12-13?
- Rahab asked for kindness, the word she used (hesed) is used 250 times in the Old-Testament and "means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love based on a promise, agreement, or covenant [1]. It is interesting that Rahab asks the covenant people for a covenant. Rahab clearly understood God to be a God of dependability.
- Have you ever wondered what Rahab and the spies discussed?
- James 2:25 refers to the spies not as spies, but messengers. In his divine plan, God provided Rahab salvation.
- What requirements did the spies set forth for Rahab if she, and her family, were to be saved?
- She had to get them to all come into her house and set out the cord. Rahab had faith, now her faith had to be demonstrated in a way that convinced her family. Sometimes I wonder if God asks us to have the faith to tl someone about him but we in out cowardes try to pawn the duty off on someone else.
- According to 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, how should we act?
Israel's Courage (Joshua 2:22-24)
- How was the report of the two spies different than the report that had come in Numbers 13:25-29, 31?
Conclusion
- What circumstances do Christians face today in which they should show courage?
- What can we learn from Rahab today?
