FOURTH QUARTER 2025
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #2
OCTOBER 11, 2025
"SURPRISED BY GRACE."

 

Lessons of Faith from Joshua

“By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace” (Hebrews 11:31, NKJV).

Two questions follow on Tuesday’s lesson:

What powerful gospel message can we find in these two stories?

What gospel lessons can we take from them?

What wonderful themes to consider!

To both questions we reply, “Lessons on faith!”

Did Adam and Eve live by faith before the fall? With some reservation we reply yes.

Adam and Eve did not witness the creation of our world. They had to accept this fact on faith in the Word of the Lord. When the serpent questioned the Word, Eve believed the serpent’s lie; Adam’s faith gave way to unbelief.

But as newly created beings, Adam and Eve had an advantage in the garden that we do not have today. They could walk and talk with God face to face with no veil between. 

After the fall they were expelled from their garden home. No longer did they commune with God face to face.

From then on, they, along with every succeeding generation has had to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Now “we see through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). 

Upon what basis do we now believe? By faith, which is “the expecting the word of God to do what it says and the depending upon that word to do what it says. 

“As that is faith and as faith comes by the word of God, it is plain that the word of God, in order to inculcate faith, must teach that the word has in itself power to accomplish what itself says.”—A. T. Jones, Lessons on Faith, p. 15. 

Faith is not something we have to seek after, “as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3), but it can be nurtured and matured.

The faith given to every man has its source in God: it is “the faith of Jesus” (Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16; 3:14, 22, 26; Revelation 14:12). 

The two stories in our lesson this week illustrate faith in various stages of development. To this, we turn to commentary by the messengers of the most precious message.

"This righteousness to which we are called, and for higher attainments in which we must constantly press, is obtained only by faith, as Paul expresses his desire to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Phil. 3:9. Therefore, since righteousness comes only by faith, and it must increase, it follows that faith must also increase. So it was not a vain prayer which the disciples uttered, when they said, ‘Lord, increase our faith.’ Luke 17:5.

“One or two notable instances recorded in Scripture will illustrate this. The apostle records that ‘by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.’ Heb. 11:31. This case has been a cause of stumbling to some who have not given careful thought to it. It is well known that Rahab lied to the men sent by the king of Jericho to seize the spies (see Joshua 2:2-6), and they imagine that in saving her God placed a premium on lying, and that it is right sometimes to lie. Neither is true. Rahab was saved, not because of her lie, but because of her faith. She, in common with all the people of Jericho, had heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea, and how he had led the Israelites; but she alone, of all the inhabitants of Jericho, believed that the hand of the Lord was in the matter, and that he had given the land of Canaan to the Israelites. She had simple faith, but was totally ignorant of God's law. In the code of heathen morality, lying was accounted a virtue, and she knew nothing better. But her faith made it possible for her to be saved, and brought her into a place where she could learn righteousness. As a natural consequence her faith in God would increase when she learned more of Him. In her case we have a clear instance of the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith.”—E. J. Waggoner, January 15, 1892, Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, p. 26.

“Rahab was willing to submit to the requirements of God, and to live as one of His people, while her fellow-countrymen were not. In her case we see the evidence that God saves people, not because they are good, but because they are willing to be made good. Jesus is sent to bless us, in turning us away from our iniquities. That poor heathen woman of disreputable life, who could utter a lie with a composed countenance, and with no consciousness of guilt, had a most meagre idea of the difference between right and wrong; yet God acknowledged her as one of His people, because she did not turn away from light, but walked in it as it came to her. She believed to the saving of her soul. Her faith lifted her out of her sinful surroundings, and set her in the way of knowledge.”—E. J. Waggoner, 1900, Everlasting Covenant, p. 391.

“[Rahab] lived in the most exposed place in the city. ‘Her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.’ Joshua ii. 15. We know that after the walls of Jericho had been compassed by the Israelites they 'fell flat,’ yet her house stood. How could her house stand when it was built on the wall, and the wall fell flat?—"By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not.’ Heb. xi. 31. She had a more substantial foundation for her house than the stone wall of Jericho; she had the Word of God. We see in her case how literally true it is that faith furnishes a solid foundation, and that our visible houses may stand fast on the invisible Word. These things are written that we may learn to say, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed.’ ”—E. J. Waggoner, October 9, 1902, Present Truth United Kingdom, p. 656.

“The great lesson to be taught by the case of Rahab is that God accepts singleness of purpose, even though the person may be very ignorant and degraded. Rahab's faith saved her life, and brought her among the people of Israel, where she could receive perfect instruction in the law of God. Thus the faith of even the most ignorant and sinful heathen brings the soul into contact with God, into God's kingdom, where it can be better instructed. God does not measure people by the amount of their knowledge, but by their humble submission. As soon as a man is purged from the sin of rebellion, he can be admitted into heaven. The thief, an evil doer all his life, who surrendered himself wholly to the Lord while being executed, was a fit subject for His heavenly kingdom; because, being admitted to it, he would make not the slightest opposition to its laws, but would ever live in perfect harmony with them. . . . Thus it was that Christ said to the self-righteous Pharisees: ‘The publicans and the harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.’ ”—E. J. Waggoner, June 25, 1903, Present Truth United Kingdom, p. 403.

Like Rahab, the Gibeonites were also awed by God’s work of deliverance for His people Israel. Yet they feared to come openly and honestly to the Israelites and confess their true proximity, fearing their lives would be lost. God had made provision whereby those of nations other than Israel could become a part of His chosen people. Circumcision, the sign of righteousness by faith, was required (Exodus 12:48). The Gibeonites were uncircumcised. 

Interestingly, in connection with this story, we note that ”the Hivites dwelt about Salim, in the time of Jacob. Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, was a prince of the country, and wanted Dinah, Jacob's only daughter, for his wife. Jacob bought a field of the sons of Hamor for one hundred pieces of money. ‘And he erected there an altar, and called it El-Elohe-Israel.’ When the children of Israel came from Egypt to Canaan, the Hivites dwelt in Gibeon. These played that trick on Joshua with the old moldy bread, and old sacks, and old wine bottles torn and bound up, representing that they had come as ambassadors from a far country to make a league with Israel. There were some yet remaining in the time of Solomon, upon whom he relaid the tribute and bond-service. The Nethinim of the temple service were also of this people."—A. T. Jones, 1904, Empires of the Bible, pp. 30-32. 

While the tragedy of Shechem and Dinah was now at least 300 years distant, one wonders whether the Gibeonites had ever heard of the slaughter of the Shechemites by Jacob’s sons from the Hivites, since Shechem was the son of Hamor the Hivite, and the Hivites dwelt among the Gibeonites. Some of these things we won’t know until we get to heaven, but it’s possible the Gibeonites, while professing faith in the God of heaven, were nonetheless reluctant to submit to the rite of circumcision as a seal of their faith in view of what had happened in Shechem long ago.

But the bigger failure in this story arises not from the duplicity of the Gibeonites but from the presumption of the Israelites to enter this league without first taking it to God in prayer. Joshua and the others apparently felt they had enough tangible evidence that the Gibeonites’ story was true, that further consultation with God was unnecessary. What a lesson is there for us! We are are not safe to make any move without God’s direction. 

This league with the Gibeonites brings to view yet another challenge.

“The Israelites were the congregation, or church, of the Lord, and He would not have His church in alliance with the world. The union of Church and State is a thing that is utterly abhorrent to the Lord, since it destroys the life of the church, and makes the world no better. But all who had faith might in those days, as well as in these become identified with the church, and thus come out and be separate from the world."—E. J. Waggoner, June 29, 1893, Present Truth United Kingdom, p. 194. 

When genuine faith fails, the temptation is to look toward the civil government to corral the corrupt machinations of the heart. It may be sought for, but it will never be achieved, through political enactments or treaties. The most precious message of Christ our righteousness (in contrast to our own) will prepare a people to stand in the day of judgment when every human support fails.

“There are precious promises in the Scriptures to those who wait upon the Lord. We all desire an immediate answer to our prayers, and we are tempted to become discouraged if our prayer is not immediately answered. Now my experience has taught me that this is a great mistake. The delay is for our special benefit. Our faith has a chance to be tested to see whether it is true, sincere, or changeable like the waves of the sea. We must bind ourselves upon the altar with the strong cords of faith and love, and let patience have her perfect work. Faith strengthens through continual exercise.”—Ellen G. White, Letter 37, 1892.

“We must pray more and in faith. We must not pray and then run away as though afraid we should receive an answer. God will not mock us. He will answer if we watch unto prayer, if we believe we receive the things we ask for, and keep believing and never lose patience in believing. This is watching unto prayer. We guard the prayer of faith with expectancy and hope. We must wall it in with assurance and be not faithless, but believing. The fervent prayer of the righteous is never lost. The answer may not come according as we expected, but it will come, because God’s word is pledged.”—Ellen G. White, Letter 26, 1880.

 

~ Patti Guthrie