<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

It Is Written

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

Eric Flickinger

Barna Magyarosi

01 Recipe for Success

02 Surprised by Grace

03 Memorials of Grace

04 The Conflict Behind All Conflicts

05 God Fights for You


Welcome to Sabbath school brought to you by It Is Written. We're glad that you are joining us today. We are studying the book of Joshua. In fact, lessons of faith from Joshua. How can the story in the book of Joshua help encourage and strengthen our faith living in the times in which we live.

That's what we are taking a look at. This week is lesson number 2, Surprised by Grace. 1 of my favorite stories in the book of Joshua that we're going to be delving into in just a moment. Let's begin with prayer. Father, we thank you for bringing us together today to study more about you, to learn more about you from the story of Joshua.

We ask that you'll bless our time together and help our relationship with you to be strengthened and broadened as a result. We thank you in Jesus name, Amen. We're also grateful to have with us once again, the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson, Barna Majoroshi. Barna, welcome back once again. Thank you.

So we're looking at Surprised by Grace this time, and this is an exciting story that we're going to be looking at, spending some time in Joshua chapter 2. So we've come through the book of Exodus. Now we're in Joshua. That handoff is kind of taking place between Moses and Joshua. And Joshua is given the opportunity, the mission, if you will, to go in and take the land that God has given to them.

Why did Joshua begin to decide, why did he decide to start this mission of conquering the land by sending out spies? Historically, this had been tried before. It didn't have a very positive ending, all things considered. So here we are again at the borders of Promised Land, and he sends out spies again. Why does this happen?

To make it simple, because God is a God of grace, and grace means a second chance. And as I look at this new generation, God says, okay, now this is your opportunity. And the procedure could have been different. But I think God, through Joshua, chooses the same circumstances, the same way of approaching the land, just to give them a possibility to make it right this time. Of course, we know the place.

In Hebrew it is called Shittim, the Acacia Grove. This is a place where in the past, at least there have been at least 2 incidents. 1 is the first exploration of the land that ended in a complete disaster. We know that because out of the 12 spies, only Joshua and Caleb brought back positive news and the possibility and the faith in conquering the land. The second is related to this licentious debauchery that took place in the same place when the prophet Balaam incited the Israelites to get involved in sin with the Canaanites.

And that was again a very, very disgraceful moment for Israel. And then God brings the people back to the same place again, and he says, I give you another chance. And as we will see this time, they will be living up to the expectations. So they get this second chance, this second opportunity. You mentioned a little bit about God's grace and forgiveness.

What can we grasp, how can we deeper, better understand God's grace and forgiveness as a result of the second chance that he's giving them here. We say second chance, but sometimes we say third, fourth, fifth, and who knows? Because God is a God who looks at a possibility to save. And sometimes we have this image about God, and sometimes our viewers might have encountered this view, that God is watching, God is looking and waiting for us to make a mistake, and the moment we made a mistake, the judgment comes. I think the picture about God that comes in this chapter is completely different.

God is looking for anything in our life that can be, and I'm using it in quotation marks, an excuse for him to step into our lives and save us. And this is what we see in the life of Rahab. God, there's a lot that is not okay in the life of Rahab. And yet, God finds that little element in her life as an anchor of His grace to give her a second chance. And it's the same with the Israelites.

God is willing to give us a second chance, and not a second, many chances. And this concept is going to also help us understand the case of the Canaanites. Why is it that God has to write off an entire generation of the inhabitants of Canaan. Why is it that there's no other solution for them? And we will see it's not because God is not the God of grace.

It's because they have chosen to rebel against God and to become adamant in this rebellion. You mentioned Rahab and this story, this chapter revolves a lot around Rahab. She's portrayed to some extent as a hero of faith. You mentioned she's got flaws, many of them. And yet, we look at her story and we find positive elements of it there.

Walk us through a little bit more about how she, though imperfect, is still perceived as a hero of faith. Yes, first of all, we see that the spies that enter Canaan, and especially Jericho, they have to find a place where their presence is not conspicuous. They need to come in a way that they are not observed or discovered. So I think that's why they have chosen, or they had chosen the House of Rahab. This was an inn, and even if some of the commentators tried to imply that there was a relationship of sexual nature between the spies and Rahab, the text does not warrant such conclusion at all and you can read that in the Sabbath School Quarterly and also in the Companion Book.

There is no reason to believe anything like that. But of course, Rahab is part of an entire culture that has become very corrupt. And we will speak about that in 1 of our lessons later. But what we have to understand is 2, I mean, let's say 4 conceptual categories. And there is a little graph that I did in the companion book, and if you look at that you will understand what I'm referring to.

We'll put it up for you here. But you have to imagine 4 elements, 4 categories. 1 is holy. And of course, according to the Bible, there's only 1 person who is intrinsically holy. It is God.

God's holiness, though, it is something that he wants to share. And he wants his people, Israel, to step on the road of sanctification. But the normal situation of Israel is, and things on this earth, is clean. But clean things can be sanctified, but holy things can become by profanation, normal, clean. But clean things can become unclean, as we know from the Bible, which uncleanness is a complex concept, but basically it is something that reminds us of our mortal nature, because it is only in relationship with this cycle of life and death that we speak about uncleanness.

Yes. And then if, but this unclean state cannot be too long because it either has to be purified and go back to the normal clean state and back again on the way to sanctification or if it persists in this state of uncleanliness then it becomes what the Hebrew Bible says, herem. Now you have to remember this word because we will deal with this word. The Bible translates it as ban or banned things or devoted to destruction. And this is the exact opposite from holy.

When things become so departed from their original purpose that God says I cannot use them anymore, they are useless, and he as we are writing off things that have become useless in our lives, God has to write these things off. The challenge is that sometimes these are people that persist in their state of rebellion, uncleanness, to an extent that there's no way back for them. Not because God is not the God of mercy. And the case of Rahab is going to show he is part of this group of people that are doomed to destruction. But she discovers a glimpse of hope in the message of the spies.

And she says, I want to be saved. I want to cling to this grace and God what does God say? No, I'm sorry you in this category there's no way out for you. No, God says okay and as we read the story of Rahab in chapter 6 We discover that after she is being saved, she has to spend the whole week outside of the camp of Israel. Why?

Because she steps from this category of devoted to destruction into the unclean category And she has to spend some time until she becomes normal, or clean again. And then she has the possibility to step on the road of sanctification. Sorry, this was a little longer than intended, but I think it's important for us to understand this conceptual frame for the entire book of Joshua. I think it does because it gives us, or at least it should give us, hope that when we're interacting with people or maybe even considering ourselves and our past and the road that we've walked down, the choices that we've made, maybe we feel that, you know, what kind of hope is there for me? But the story of Rahab really helps us to see that from the depths of sin, God can bring somebody back through unclean, too clean, and by the grace of God, to holy.

And so there's hope for us, there's hope for others. Let's talk for just a moment about that companion book. You've made mention of it, and that graph is in the companion book, and you delve a little bit more deeply. What else might a person want to consider if they're thinking, well, should I get this companion book or not? Why would they want to pick it up?

I think, first of all, it's not only this graph that we have in the Companion Book. We have more than that. And I also speak about the way God's holiness is shared and also the concept of Rahab taking the spies to the rooftop. And the rooftop was a place where usually they worshipped the hosts of heaven. Of course the hosts of heaven were not only the stars, but all those heavenly beings that they considered to be beyond the stars.

And the fact that Rehab has the courage to take the spies into this sacred space, means that that sacred space meant nothing for her anymore because she has discovered a God that is greater than the hosts of heaven. So significant insights into Rahab's journey. If you're interested in learning more about this journey of Rahab, then make sure you pick up that companion book. It's very easy to find. Just go to itiswritten.shop, itiswritten.shop, and look for the companion book to this quarter's Sabbath school lesson on lessons of faith from Joshua.

We're going to continue looking at the story of Rahab and the spies when we come back in Just a moment here on Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written. Coloring book has more than just pictures to color. You'll also enjoy activity pages, each accompanied by their very own audio story. Mr. Dixon came across a small, well-weeded rice patch out in the middle of a field.

Get ahead of a rainy day or a relaxing evening as a family and order the Buried Treasure Coloring Book from It Is Written. Welcome back to Sabbath School brought to you by It is written. We're looking at lesson number 2, Surprised by Grace, the story of Rahab. And now we're going to get into the story of the Gibeonites. So, Barna, let's start here.

We were talking about Rahab and the transformation that we see her going through in this story. What are some elements of Rahab's behavior and speech that give us some evidence that she's beginning to turn a corner, she's beginning to make some progress? I think if we look at chapter 2 verses 9 through 11, and if you would like to read those, that would be helpful for us. And Rahab said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the 2 kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of Jordan, Sion and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you. For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." and on earth beneath. What is interesting in Rahab's speech is that, first of all, it shows us that God prepared the way. When they came out in the time of Moses, the whole thing was prepared.

These people were afraid. They were ready to go and leave the land. But of course that didn't happen because of the unfaithfulness of Israel. But now again, it shows that Rahab had a knowledge of who Israel was and of who the God of Israel was. And she comes to a confession that is not far away from a confession of faith that we find in Deuteronomy, for example, that the Israelites are required to recite.

He is a God who is God in heaven and God on earth. The words are very similar to some of other biblical passages as if Rahab had read these passages. The narrative is very interesting because the spies in the first expedition during the time of Moses, they are supposed to bring some valuable things from the land to convince the people that this is a good land. Now, they return, but they don't bring anything except the news that they will have to save Rahab. So the valuable thing that they bring from this expedition is not some huge grapes or something, no, it is a person and this is Rahab and who is saved by God's grace.

So I think this chapter shows us that there is value in unexpected places. We can discover faith, trust in God, and readiness to follow God and His purposes in places that we would write off from the beginning. A beautiful picture of the value of human beings in the sight of God. And God is trying to help His people to recognize that value as well. That's powerful.

We've been looking at the story of Rahab. What about the Gibeonites? Coming to the Gibeonites. Yes, you touch on this story, and it's an interesting comparison here. Walk us through this.

Now, the Gibeonites are also Canaanites. We know that the Canaanites lived in city-states. They have a different government. They don't have a king. They have a kind of a council of elders.

But in Deuteronomy 20, God gave a very clear law to the Israelites, said those people that are in the land of Canaan you will have to drive them out and if they rebel or if they manifest opposition, you will have to make war with them. But those who are far away, not in the land of Canaan, you will have to offer them peace. Now of course, I don't know how, and the Bible doesn't tell us, but it seems that the Gibbonites somehow learned about the fact that if they are 1 of those other nations far away from outside of Canaan, they can be offered grace. So they have the same purpose as Rahab. That's the common thing.

They both want to be saved. They both want to come out of this of this group of people that are devoted to destruction. But instead of being open like Rahab, Rahab is very direct. She says, I know who your God is, I know who you are, I help you because I want to be saved. I want to be on your side.

I want to be on God's side. The Gibeonites have the same desire, but they are afraid, and they use a trick. And of course, the Bible tells us that neither the elders of Israel nor Joshua himself. Joshua is conspicuously absent from this chapter. He's not there.

We speak of the chapter with the Gibeonites, but they don't ask the Lord. And of course, the Gibeonites say, we are from far away, and they promise them that they will protect them, and they will not make war with them. And of course, what happens is a few days later, they discover that they are Canaanites. Now, of course, the interesting question is, what would have happened to the Gibeonites had they disclosed their true identity? Now what happened now we know, because, and to me this is a very interesting combination of grace, mercy and justice.

God combines the 2 in his wisdom and he says, okay, Because you have tricked us and we promise to you that you will not die. You will be our servants. But where are they serving? They serve close to the sanctuary. God allows them to get a glimpse of who he is.

In a huge object lesson that goes every day and throughout the year, they could contemplate the salvation and the way God is bringing salvation to Israel in the parable of the sanctuary. And he puts them to serve there, I mean not within the sanctuary, but to be helpers around the sanctuary in order for them to get an understanding of the God of grace. Now coming back to the question, what could have happened? Of course it's a theoretical question because we don't know, but looking at how God deals with Rahab, I would say God does not find pleasure in destroying people. And we know that from the prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they say, you know, I don't find pleasure in the judgment of the sinner in the destruction of the sinners rather I want the sinners to repent and be saved So God looks at the Gibeonites with all their flaws and all their problems and he offers them the possibility to be saved.

I think that if they had come out openly to Joshua and to the elders and said, we are the Gibeonites, we are not far away from here, but we have discovered that you have a gracious God. We have discovered that your God is willing to save. God would have saved them. Yeah, it's a... It's certainly, it's not explicitly stated, but we get that impression from the way that God interacts with them.

Let's bring it a little bit closer to home. There are people that we interact with on a somewhat regular basis, maybe more regular, maybe less regular, who seem in our eyes to be more like Rahab, more like Gibeonites, far from God. How can we reflect God's grace to people like that? What lessons can we learn to apply in our lives when we interact with people who maybe at least at first don't seem interested in God and His plan of salvation. What does that look like for us?

The text that comes to my mind is Micah 6.8. It says, Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. I think first of all we get this text in a wrong way because we love justice. We think we need to do mercy once in a while which we translate into charity and then walk humbly with your God is the kind of thing that, yeah, sure. But I think it starts with walking humbly with God.

And when people see that, and something happens in us, And that reminds me of 1 of the Beatitudes that says, blessed are those with a pure heart, because they will see God. And it's interesting that the Greek text uses here a verb for seeing, that means to see beyond the surface. It uses for John when he saw the empty grace, but he believed because he was able to see beyond the empty grave and saw the risen Savior. And I think if we walk humbly with God, He will give us the ability to see beyond the surface. When you see people who are rough, who are, you know, very, very rude sometimes, and their manifestation is not graceful.

But God will give us eyes that can see beyond the surface, to see the value that is there, and to bring that out in such a way that God can use it for their salvation. And that's something that we see God doing in these stories, the story of Rahab, the story of the Gibeonites. They're far from perfect. They have flaws and foibles, and yet God sees in them that spark of faith, that seed of faith, and He works with it and works with and He gives them opportunities. And that's an example that He sets for us.

Exactly. An example that he sets for us. An example that he sets for you and for me as we interact with people in the vast thoroughfares of life. God will bring people across your path that he wants you to reach, that he wants you to be a witness to, to let his light shine forth through you. And I pray and trust and hope that you will be that vessel that God desires you to be.

We're going to continue studying the book of Joshua, Lessons of Faith from Joshua as we continue this 13 lesson, 13 week journey. We're glad that you are with us and we look forward to seeing you again here next time on Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ you

Back to Menu

Series

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

02 Surprised by Grace

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

01 Recipe for Success

28m

02 Surprised by Grace

28m

03 Memorials of Grace

28m

04 The Conflict Behind All Conflicts

28m

05 God Fights for You

28m

Sound Doctrine