Spiritual Intelligence

A message from Joshua 2 by Phil Rogers 11/05/08

To listen to Phil's message click here mp3

The last time spies went out to spy out the land of Canaan it was pretty disastrous! The spies brought back a good report land did indeed flow with milk and honey, but ten saw the obstacles as too great to overcome and the negative talk affected the people. Which was why God made the Israelites wander round in the wilderness for 40 years! So what was in Joshua’s mind when he sent two men to spy out the land round Jericho? He knew the importance of accurate intelligence. Joshua could not see the land for himself; he needed dependable witnesses, who would be prepared to put their own lives on the line. While Moses sent out his spies publicly, Joshua sent his spies privately to report back only to him, which proved a wise leadership decision. Unlike their ten predecessors, these two had the eyes of faith. v24.

Our story focusses on the events in Jericho. The Lord led the spies to Rahab, a local prostitute. Does it amaze us that in God’s plan and purposes he includes the immoral and criminals? Jesus did not come to save the righteous but needy fallen people.

1. The Obedience of Faith
The Canaanites were terrified of these wandering Israelites, with their amazing stories of supernatural help and provision by God. They dreaded the day the Israelites would invade their land which they knew God had promised to give Israel as an inheritance. Rahab told the spies what was widely known : vs 9-11. Forty years earlier the ten Israeli spies doubted God’s power to give them what he had promised. They had no faith in their own God.Now it was reversed. Even the pagans had faith! They knew God had promised the land in which they lived to Israel. But they reacted with fear - their hearts melted, they lost courage. (compare God’s words to Joshua, ‘be strong and courageous’.)

This story is all about the one person in Jericho whose faith led to her salvation. Not all faith, all belief leads to salvation. “Even demons believe.” but they do not obey God. True faith always shows itself in obedience. Rahab had faith in the Lord (v11) and so had no qualms about betraying her country. Heb 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace. The citizens of Jericho knew conquest was inevitable but weren’t going to submit to God - Hebrews described them as disobedient - they were not going do the will of God, welcome the Israelites and give them their land! All unbelievers are disobedient and are ‘the sons of disobedience’. (Eph 2:2, 5:6 Col 3:6) and God’s wrath is coming upon all who do not obey God. They will perish! The only allegiance that matters is not to king and to country but to the Lord, God of heaven and earth. So we obey God even if ‘our king’ tells us not to. We have a number of such examples in scripture: the Hebrew midwives (Ex 1:17) Moses parents (Heb 11:23) Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Dan 3:18), Daniel (Dan 6:10), Peter and the Apostles (Acts 4:19, 5:29) If what people decree is contrary to God’s word, we obey God. In all such situations we need to be filled with the Spirit so we know how to act and how to answer those who accuse us. see Mark 13:11. True faith always leads to obedience.

2. Wisdom
Rahab’s faith is also commented on in James 2:25 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 a different direction? She was considered righteous: for betraying her people and her country and for lying and deceiving her king and for harbouring enemy spies and helping them to get away safely and for saving her own life and her family while all her compatriots were slaughtered by the Israelites!! You see God’s wrath was coming upon the disobedient.

This is why we can never live by law. If we live by the law everything is black and white - lying is always wrong. But if Rahab had though 'I must always tell the truth. It is wrong to lie', this the spies would have been caught and killed. Should we ever lie? When we follow ‘the law of the Spirit of life’ the Spirit will enable us to be ‘Wise as serpents and harmless as doves.’ Life is about wisdom, and not about legalistic right and wrong. Now I am not saying it is OK to lie! Rahab and the spies were given wisdom by God in this situation and we too also need God’s wisdom. In scripture there are general principles:- do not bear false witness, speak the truth, be honest and open, never tear someone down by gossip even if it is perfectly true, love covers a multitude of sins. But we don’t live just by principles, but by hearing from God. So while we do need to thoroughly know all the general principles of God’s word, at the same time we must listen very carefully to what the Spirit is telling us. It is good to be open, but just because something is true it is not necessarily something we should tell others, particularly if that truth exposes other people’s sins! Let us talk wisely. Someone once said 'before engage brain before opening mouth' - but it is actually about engaging with the Spirit not just our mind.

What a great end to the story - Rahab is later integrated into the Israelite people and is properly married to a man of the tribe of Judah who turns out to be an ancestor of King David and therefore an ancestor of Jesus! Her name appears in the Lord’s genealogy (Matt 1:5) What a triumph of God’s grace! - yet she is always called 'Rahab the Harlot' - a reminder of her former life from which God redeemed her and of what her life has now become! e.g. John Robinson, who spoek to us two weeks ago- Nobody's Child who is now Somebody's Child - God's own child!

3. Knowing the Enemy
We clearly need to hear from God if we are to obey God rather than men and if we are know his wisdom on a daily basis. We all need spiritual intelligence. We have a task - to take the Gospel message to those who do not know it and bring people into life in the Spirit. We need to be obedient to our calling and to have a strategy and much wisdom to accomplish our task. God’s plan includes the most unlikely people - like Rahab the harlot. So it is vital to have accurate intelligence, not like the so-called weapons of massed destruction supposedly held by Iraq! We need to know what we are up against?

We run a Setting People Free Course because we all need to know the nature of the spiritual warfare we are all caught up in. If you have never heard this information come on the next course - 27th-28th June. Also there is information leaders need to know to help us make decisions and bring wise counsel to people. Not all intelligence is to be shared widely or needs to be in the public domain. (e.g our British Press!!) We need to know about the North Ascot area we are seeking to invade with the Kingdom of God. What are we up against spiritually? So let us keep our ears and eyes open to real spiritual intelligence so we understand the times and seasons and what we have to deal with. But most important of all: we need to go on being filled with the Spirit and make sure we hear from God! So we can obey him in faith and know his wisdom.