Join us on a journey through Hebrews 11 as we explore the remarkable stories of the Old Testament heroes like Rahab and Gideon. Discover how faith can defy societal norms and transform the lives of those deemed unlikely heroes. Our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, delves into how these figures stand as a testament to the power and wonder of faith, and what they can teach the modern world about trust in the divine. In this episode, explore Rahab’s brave decision to protect the spies in Jericho and how her faith set her apart in a heathen city. Contrast
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
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Welcome to Through the Bible. Our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, continues our study in the Old Testament Heroes in Hebrews chapter 11. It’s a great study. So go ahead and find your seat on the Bible bus and get comfortable. And while you do, let’s listen to a few quick thoughts from Dr. McGee.
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Since Dr. McGee spoke those words, many curtains have come down, but there are still so many people who have yet to hear the Word of God. And you know, the financial policy that Dr. McGee set for us so many years ago continues with us today. And I know that he’d be astounded to find that through the Bible is now heard in more than 250 languages around the world. To learn more about how you can partner with us in prayer or financial support, visit ttb.org forward slash give or call us at 1-865-BIBLE. Let’s pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity that we have to study your word. Open our ears to hear your truth and like the heroes of the faith that we’re learning about, Lord, help us to apply it to our lives. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. We’re back in Hebrews 11 as we make our way through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McKee.
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Now, friends, we come to the harlot Rahab. And I thought about calling this the weakness of faith in the life of this woman. But I’m very frank to say to you that I don’t think that would be proper at all to call it the weakness of faith. I think in the life of this woman, you would have to call it the wonder of faith. By faith, we are told the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. Now, of course, her story is in connection with the story of the walls of Jericho and And you have in the story of the walls of Jericho, you have the watch of faith. That man that was leading those people around had found out that headquarters was in heaven and that the captain of the hosts of the Lord was really leading the group and that General Joshua was really more or less like a second lieutenant. And he was watching for those walls to come down. I’m not sure but what those on the inside after seven days were beginning to wonder what was going to happen. Now we know that inside that city was this woman Rahab. And we’re told that by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not. Now she lived in a very wicked, pagan place. Heathen City, Jericho. And not only did she live there, but she practiced the oldest profession. And it’s been pretty much considered that those that practice it are sinners. Until recently, since we’ve come along with our new morality today. But this woman was a sinner. And yet we’re told here by faith. A harlot, Rahab, perish not with them that believe not. Now, I’m sure that the mayor of the city and a great many of those that were in high positions felt like that they were good enough to have been saved. But they were not. We are told they perish in the city because of just one reason. They did not believe. Now, the way that God had moved in relation to this city actually was very generous. Oh, I know the critic finds a great deal of fault with God for destroying the people in Jericho. I had a professor when I was in college, a liberal college and a liberal professor, and he just wept crocodile tears because of what happened to the people in the city. Jericho. The thing that always disturbed me about this professor was he showed very little interest in other people, including students, by the way. I happened to be one of his students. Showed very little interest, but he could really work up a lather when it came to the people in Jericho, that they were destroyed. Now let’s look at this for just a few moments and see actually what this woman Rahab did. Because she did something, by the way. She expressed her faith in a very definite way. Now, when the city was ready to be destroyed, the people of Israel had crossed over Jordan. And when that word got to Jericho, the city was shut up immediately. That is, the gates were closed. Because they never dreamed that during the flood season, that that great host of people could be brought across the river at flood tide there was no bridge for them to get over and the river was on a rampage at that time and how in the world would you get the company over. So they knew they didn’t have to worry until after it was all over. That is, the flooding season. Then they’d have time to worry. But now they’re over. And the city of Jericho apparently has been made aware of the method that was used. But actually, God gave the city an opportunity to see if they had turned in faith to him. Joshua would send spies into the city And there was a harlot there, and she practiced this oldest of the arts. She came in contact with these men. I have a notion she made a business proposition to them. I do not know whether they accept it or not. I do know this. They made it very clear that they were on a mission and that they needed protection that God was going to give the city to them. They at least gave her that much information. And so she took them in and actually hid them on the roof. I suppose she risked her own life when she did that. But she asked for one favor from these men. She said, when you take this city, I want you to remember me and my family. I want you to save us. And they made that promise. And they said, you put out that scarlet thread. And when Joshua took the city, he was very careful that they save this woman and save the household. Now, her testimony went something like this. Back in the book of Joshua, in the second chapter, verse 9, I read, And she said unto the man, 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. 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.” 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. Now, that’s a strange statement coming from this woman, but it is a tremendous revelation that of the fact that God didn’t arbitrarily destroy the city of Jericho. You see, for 40 years, word had been filtering into Jericho about a people who at that time crossed the Red Sea. Now, she said, we heard that. That was 40 years ago. We heard that. And I, for one, believed. And the others believed the facts. But they never believed in God. They never trusted the living God. And then later on, they heard how God was leading them and that he’d given them a victory on the other side, Jordan, against the Amorites. And this city should have profited by that. And now they’ve crossed miraculously the Jordan River. And here they are parked right outside the door, actually, of Jericho. And they are going to do a very unusual thing. What was God doing? He was giving this city an opportunity to believe him, to trust him, to turn to him. Now, I think it ought to be obvious to any person that if God saved this woman who believed him, then he would have saved the mayor of Jericho. And he would have saved anyone in the city of Jericho if they had trusted him as this woman trusted him. And therefore, God would have saved. You see, God saw them all on one basis in the city of Jericho. He saw them all as sinners. They all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. She just happened to be a more open sinner than probably the mayor was. I do not know about the mayor of the city, but I’m of the opinion that his private life would not stand inspection. And I’m sure that could be true of many others in that city. They were open sinners. But they had an opportunity to trust God. And had they believed God, and they had 40 years to decide whether they would believe God or not. Now, after 40 years, they didn’t believe him. And I wish that that professor was still alive. I have a question I would love to ask him. I didn’t know it at the time. But I do now, and the question would be, God gave them 40 years to make up their mind whether they would trust him or not. Only one woman made up her mind to trust God, and God saved her. And it’s quite obvious, since who she was, that anybody else would have been saved if they’d trusted God. Now, do you think 40 years is not quite long enough? Do you feel that probably God should have given them 41 years, 42 years. My friend, after 40 years, if they’re not going to believe God, they are not going to believe God. God is long-suffering. This is obvious. He’s patient. He’s not willing that any should perish. If Mahalik will trust him, God will save her. And so she could say, we have heard. And it had an effect upon the people. The people believe the fact But they didn’t trust God. If they had, they would have been saved. Now, this woman evidenced she believed God because she said to the spies, you’re going to take the city. And when you do, I want you to save me. And she took a step of faith. And that step of faith, she risked her life. You see, faith began to move. Faith goes into action. Faith does not sit on the sidelines. And so this woman, here Rahab, she perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. You see, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. We have heard what God has done through you, and we believe it. That is, she said, I trust him. And I trust him to the extent that I’m willing to rest my life And she evidenced the faith that she had. And I tell you, friends, you see in Rahab, you see in this woman the wonder of faith. That today, in a lost world, God doesn’t see this group of people so much better than another group of people. God sees them all as sinners. And when anyone will turn to God, God will save them. How wonderful this is. And what a marvelous picture of faith that we have. Now, I want to move down to verse 32 here. And I read now verse 32 of chapter 11 of Hebrews. And what shall I more say? Now, the writer at this particular juncture says, has come to a place in the Word of God, in the Old Testament, what can he say now? He can go any direction, and he can list heroes, if you want to call them that, of faith. He can demonstrate how faith has worked in the lives of men and women. And now he brings in a list and he makes it very clear that he’s not able to discuss any one of these, but that any one of these could be put and is put here in this marvelous chapter. He says, “…for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel.” and of the prophets. Now, here again, you see the war of faith now in the lives of these men. Not one of them is dealt with in detail at all. They all have something in common. Every one that’s mentioned here was a ruler. These men that are mentioned, like Gideon, Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and Samuel, they were all judges. And David was a king. So they were all rulers, and they were all engaged in a war for God. And each one of them won that by faith. And you have the story of Gideon. And if there ever was a man who had a weak faith, it was Gideon. In fact, Gideon was a very weak man. A great many people today talk about that we have in our church just a little Gideon’s band. That’s all we have. Well, what they really mean is they have a small number. But friends, it’s not the small number that was impressive about Gideon’s band. It was the faith of these men. And this man Gideon actually is a man that had very little faith. And I’m not going into detail with each one of them, but note for just a moment this man Gideon. He was a judge at the time of the Midianites. Midianites had taken the land, and they couldn’t even harvest their crops. The Midianites had taken it from them. And this man Gideon, you find him as a young man. He is down by the winepress harvesting grain, and that’s where he should not be. You see, the grain was taken to the top of the hill. pitched up in the air, and then the wind would drive the chaff away. And the wind blows in that land in the afternoon. I had occasion to notice that in particular again when I was over there. They had quite a bit of wind. This was in the month of June and was the time of the harvesting, by the way. And many places harvest still the same way. We saw them pitching up grain in one place there, and the chaff was being blown away. Wind comes up in the afternoon. Gideon was a coward. He took the grain down there by the winepress. That’s way down in the valley. Nobody can see it. That’s the lowest place. And you talk about an operation of frustration. Watch Gideon down there. He pitches the grain up. There’s no wind to blow the chaff away. And you know what happens? The straw comes falling around his neck. And I can’t think of anything that would be more discouraging than that, to pitch up the grain and have all the straw down your back. Well, that was Gideon. And it was at that time the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, Thou mighty man of valor. And that wasn’t really the proper address for Gideon because he didn’t think the angel was talking to him. I think he looked up and said, who, me? Why, he’s the biggest coward of all. And he’s willing to admit it. Why, he says, I belong to the smallest tribe. My family is the small family in the tribe. And I’m the smallest potato in the family. Why, you picked the smallest pebble on the beach. I’m a nobody. God says it’s the reason I picked you is because you’re a nobody. I want you to believe me. And you’ll find out God began to strengthen the faith of that man until the day came with 300. He was able to get a victory over the Midianites by faith, Gideon. Faith operated in the life of this man. And today, how many people, even that are Christians, feel like that there must be some great big show, some big demonstration, some big meeting, if it’s going to be of the Lord. May I say to you that God just doesn’t move quite like that. I’m of the opinion that right today, the greatest work for God is being done by individuals And little groups across this land and even throughout the world. I have bumped into groups. I was amazed in Lebanon to meet a man. He is a Gideon, by the way. He belongs to the Gideon. And he’s an active Christian layman. As a real witness there for Christ. You don’t hear much about him. At all. He’s not one that’s getting publicity. And then in the land of Israel, there’s a very wonderful Hebrew Christian. I could tell you about him. But my friend, I don’t think he’d even want his name mentioned. He’s been persecuted a great deal. But he’s a real witness for God there today. May I say to you, there are a great many Gideons about today. And they move by faith. And I believe that it’s not the size of the meeting and the greatness and the publicity and all of that. I think that today God is moving in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. And so we have here Gideon and Barak and Samson. I don’t know whether I’d have put Samson in the list or not. Samson was a real failure as far as his service was concerned. But he did believe God. And there was a time when the Spirit of God came upon him and he began to deliver Israel. He never completed the job, though. And Jephthah. And then a David. Oh, we could just stop and talk about David and of Samuel and of the prophets. But he makes it very frank. He says, the time would fail me. And friends, I see the clock moving very fast right at this moment, and the time had failed me. Now, notice what these did. This is the war of faith. Who through faith subdued kingdoms, brought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Now, we know who that refers to. It refers to Daniel. He hadn’t been mentioned by name yet. They quench the violence of fire. They escape the edge of the sword. Out of weakness were made strong. Wax valiant in fight. Turn to flight the armies of the aliens. War of faith. And these are the victors that we have mentioned. But we’re going to have another class mentioned next time. And these are the ones that we don’t hear about much today either. They are the ones that don’t get the outward victory at all. And they are the ones today that, to my judgment, if you want heroes, they’re really God’s heroes. We’ll see them next time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you heard it. Come back next time for more inspiration as Dr. McGee concludes our study of Hebrews 11. To share these messages with a family member or friend or to listen to them again yourself, you can download our app. It’s super easy. Or you can visit ttb.org. And if you’re looking to dive deeper into the book of Hebrews yourself, be sure to download our free Bible Companion for Hebrews at ttb.org. It’s a great resource for a small group Bible study as well. And we’ve got great news for those asking for printed editions of our Bible Companions. All of Dr. McGee’s New Testament Bible Companions are now available in soft cover. You can order your copy over at ttb.org or by calling 1-800-65-BIBLE. That’s ttb.org or 1-800-65-BIBLE. You can also reach us by mail at Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109, or in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. I’m Steve Schwetz, grateful for your company on the Bible Bus and your partnership in taking the whole word to the whole world.
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Jesus came in all All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
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