* LESSON
* SCRIPTURES CONCERNING RAHAB
* HANDOUT
Bible Memory Verse:
“…Be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
Finally the Israelites reach the land God had promised them. Moses died just before they entered the land. Of the twelve spies that Moses sent into the land, only the two who had believed God would give them the land and were not afraid of the enemy were still alive. God chose one of these two men, Joshua, to lead His people.
Joshua led the Israelite people into the promised land. God took care of them, but their lives was not always easy. The land was full of wicked people. They had to conquer these people in order to live in the land.
God told Joshua, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8 The Book of the Law is the first five books of the Bible. Moses wrote them before He died. God was telling Joshua to think about what was written in this book all the time so he would be careful to do everything written in it. Then he would win every battle. During the time Joshua was leader, the Israelites won every battle except one when they failed to ask God’s help.
In the first chapter of the book of Joshua in the Bible, God told Joshua four times to be strong and courageous. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 God is telling us also that we should be strong and courageous in order to live our lives successfully.
The first battle the Israelites fought after they came in the promised land was called the battle of Jericho. Jericho was such a wicked city that God told the Israelites to destroy everything in it. Joshua sent out two spies. He said, "Go, look over the land, especially Jericho."
Cities had walls around them in order to protect them from their enemies. City gates would be opened during the day and closed at night. The spies entered the city of Jericho through the city gate and entered the house of a woman named Rahab. Rahab was an innkeeper. Her house was on the wall of the city.
The king of Jericho was told, "Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land."
So he sent out a message to Rahab, "Bring out the men who entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
But Rahab had hidden the men under the stalks of flax she had laid on her roof. In that town, they had flat roofs and she had a grain like hay on her roof.
Rahab said to the king’s messengers. "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. When it was almost dark, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them."
After the king’s messengers had left, she went up on the roof and said to the spies, "I know that the Lord has given this land to you 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 Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt…When we heard of it, our hearts sank 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."
The men said to her, “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”
Then she let the men down outside the city by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.
The spies said to Rahab, "Put a scarlet (red) cord in the window through which you let us down, and when we come to capture this city, we will let everyone that is in your house go free."
When they left they went into the hills and stayed there three days until the men that were chasing them had looked all over and couldn’t find them. Then they came down from the hills and went to where Joshua and the Israelites were. They told Joshua everything that had happened and said, "The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
When Joshua was near Jericho, the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of ram’s horns (a ram is a male sheep). On the 7th day, march around the city seven times having the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpet, have all the people give a loud shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."
Joshua and the people obeyed God. The priests carried the ark of the covenant which was a special sign that they worshiped God. They marched ahead of the people around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times. The seventh time when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city." When the people shouted the walls fell down.
Joshua and his men destroyed all the city of Jericho except for Rahab and her family. They took them to a safe place outside the city while they destroyed the city of Jericho.
Rahab and her family went to live with the Israelites, and she married an Israelite man. Jesus was born into her family many generations later. She had the special honor of being part of the family into which Jesus was born. God took care of the Israelites and anyone who chose to be their friends just as He had promised.
QUESTIONS:
1. What was the name of the town where the first battle of the Israelites was fought?
2. What was the name of the woman in whose house the two spies hid?
3. What sign did the spies tell Rahab to put in the window of her house so that her family would be spared when Jericho was destroyed?
4. How many times did the people have to march around Jericho on the seventh day before the walls fell down?
5. Why did the Israelites win the battle of Jericho?
6. Rahab is praised for her faith. What did she do that showed that she had faith in God?
* SCRIPTURES CONCERNING RAHAB:
“A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ…Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab…” Matthew 1:1-5
“In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in different directions?” James 2:25
JOSHUA
Bible Memory Verse:
“…Be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
Words to choose from: FAITH, RED, MARCHED, WALL, JESUS, PROMISED, WICKED, ARK, ROOF, SPIES
1. Joshua led the Israelites into the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ land.
2. Jericho was such a __ __ __ __ __ __ city that God told the Israelites to destroy everything in it.
3. Joshua sent two __ __ __ __to look over the land, especially Jericho.
4. Rahab’s house was on the __ __ __ __ of the city.
5. Rahab hid the men under stalks of flax on the __ __ __ __of her house.
6. The spies told Rahab to put a __ __ __cord in the window so they would know which house was hers and be able to let her family go free.
7. The priests carried the __ __ __of the covenant which was a special sign that they worshiped God.
8. The people __ __ __ __ __ __ __around the city once a day for six days and on the seventh day seven times.
9. Rahab showed that she had __ __ __ __ __ in God because she welcomed the spies.
10. Rahab married an Israelite man and __ __ __ __ __was born into her family many years later.