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                   Joshua E-Mail Bible Study
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                    Lesson 2 - Joshua 2
                   RAHAB HIDES THE SPIES
                    Faith for salvation
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People we see in the Bible provide windows into spiritual lessons.
Rahab the prostitute is acclaimed in the New Testament's "Hall of 
Faith" (Hebrews 11:31) as well as in James 2:5. She is one of only
five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew
1:5). Why?

Was she a woman of faith? Or an opportunist and risk-taker who was
shrewd enough to see which way the wind was blowing and pitch her
sails to catch the breeze? Let's examine her story and her faith,
and see what we can learn.

MONDAY AND TUESDAY, Sept 21-22
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LEVEL 1: OBSERVATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY?
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1.1  What threat is faced by the city of Jericho?

1.2  What risks are being taken by: (a) the two spies?  (b) Rahab?
(c) the king of Jericho?

1.3  What are the two spies trying to learn?

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LEVEL 2: INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT MEAN?
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WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, Sept 23-24
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2.1  From this story, what do you learn about Rahab's social
status in Jericho? What are the positive signs? What are the
negative signs? What does flax drying on her roof indicate? Does
she have any children? What's her relationship with her family
like?

2.2  (vss. 1-2) Why do you think the two spies stopped at her
house?

FRIDAY, Sept 25
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2.3  (vs. 4) Why do you think she hid the spies before even
talking to them?

2.4  (vss. 9-13) What is the core of Rahab's faith in God? Why do
you think she believes that Israel's God is superior to the god
worshipped in Jericho?

MONDAY, Sept 28
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2.5  (vss. 4-6) Does God honor Rahab for lying to the king's men?
Is her lying justified in this case?

We'll also be discussing this issue for about an hour in our
JOYFUL HEART CHAT ROOM on Monday evening, Sept 28: 5:30 pm
Pacific, 6:30 pm Mountain, 7:30 pm Central, and 8:30 pm Eastern.
http://www.joyfulheart.com/cgi-bin/chat/chat.cgi  You're welcome
to join us and put in your two cents worth.

Question for Chat Room ONLY: During World War II some families in
Holland hid Jews in their homes to save them from the Nazis. If a
Nazi soldier came to the door and asked, "Are you harboring Jews
in this house?" what should they say? Is lying always wrong?
Sometimes justified? What about the God of Truth whom we serve and
seek to emulate?

TUESDAY, Sept 29
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2.6  (vss. 12, 17, 20) What is the significance of swearing by the
LORD? If she was a person of faith, why did she make them swear an
oath?

WEDNESDAY, Sept 30
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2.7  (vss. 12-14) Can't Rahab be seen as a mere opportunist? What
is the difference or similarity between being an opportunist and
being a person of faith?

2.8  What was the RESULT of Rahab's faith? What did it accomplish
for her?

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LEVEL 3: APPLICATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME?
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THURSDAY, Oct 1
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3.1  Why is a prostitute honored by mention three times in the New
Testament? (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:5; Matthew 1:5) How does God
look on prostitution? On prostitutes? How did Jesus treat
prostitutes? What does this teach us about God's attitude toward
sinners and sin?

3.2  Have you ever been misjudged by others because of your
reputation? Have you ever misjudged others because of their
reputation? What would Jesus do? What would he have you do?

FRIDAY, Oct 2
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3.3  How deep was Rahab's faith? How deep a faith does someone
need to have in order to be saved from the destruction of a city?
From eternal punishment?

3.4  Have you ever had an experience where your faith leads you to
take big risks like Rahab did? What did you learn from the
experience?

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Copyright 1998, Ralph F. Wilson, all rights reserved. Joyful Heart
is a trademark of Joyful Heart Ministries. For reprint permission
contact pastor@joyfulheart.com