Intermediate Level, Block 5—Occupying the Land
Week 43
Rahab and the Two Spies
Point to Emphasize: We believe that God plans to reach the right people, even an entire household, for His plan.
Reference Reading: Joshua 2
Memory Verse: …For Jehovah your God, He is God in heaven above and upon earth beneath.
(Joshua 2:11b)
Story Sample
As the children of Israel were journeying, they had to fight many battles in order to take possession of the land that God had given them. Each of these battles was for different purposes. There was one battle in particular that was very important. This was the battle to take the city of Jericho. In that city there was one woman whom God had plans for. One day she would be an ancestor of Jesus!
Before entering the land that God had given them, Joshua sent two men as spies to go out and view the whole land, especially the city of Jericho. When these two men went, they entered the house of a woman named Rahab. Rahab had done many things that were not very good. [Storyteller, please do not use the word “harlot”!] But, even though she was not a good person, she realized and believed that the God of the children of Israel was the only One God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath!
Now, while the two spies were in Rahab’s house, the king of Jericho heard that there were two men from the children of Israel searching out the land. So, the king sent a word to Rahab to bring out these men. Instead of bringing the men out, Rahab took the spies to the roof of her house and hid them among the stalks of a plant called flax, that she had laid out on the roof. When she was asked about the spies, she said she didn’t know where they were. Then Rahab and the two spies made an oath. Rahab was going to preserve their lives by not turning them in and providing a way for them to flee. In exchange, the two men were going to preserve her and her entire family later, when Jericho would be destroyed by the children of Israel.
How did these two spies flee? Well, Rahab’s house was right on the wall of the city, so she used a rope to let them down through her window! Before they left, the two men gave her a scarlet thread which she needed to tie to that window. This was going to be the sign for the children of Israel not to destroy her house. Her whole family needed to gather inside her house when they were coming to destroy the city in order to be safe. So, she sent the spies away, they went down the rope from her window, and she tied the scarlet line to the window. Can you picture that? I tell you, the stories in the Bible are like no other!
It seems that these two spies were sent by God especially to find Rahab and her family! Why would they go in to find Rahab even when she was not a good person? God had a plan for Rahab! Rahab and her entire household needed to be saved from the destruction that was about to happen in her city. This was because one day Rahab would marry Salmon, a leader of the tribe of Judah, and she would become a part of Israel. Rahab turned to the children of Israel and to their God and she put her trust in God and His people. Because of her faith, she was the right person for God’s plan, and she later became one of the main ancestors of Jesus! [Storyteller, insert your personal story about how you and your family have been preserved by God, without getting too spiritual.]
This whole story was part of God’s desire to gain the right people for His plan! I am so glad that one day God came to preserve me and my family! Aren’t you?