Amazing Grace 4 | Sunday Evening Livestream

Devotional

Day 1: The Captain’s Unanswered Question

Joshua stood facing Jericho’s walls when a warrior appeared with a drawn sword. “Are you for us or our enemies?” Joshua asked. The answer stunned him: “Neither. I am commander of the Lord’s army.” Joshua fell facedown. The battle wasn’t Israel’s to win—it belonged to God. [07:45]

This encounter reoriented Joshua’s entire strategy. The sword-bearing stranger claimed allegiance to no human side. Victory would come through alignment with God’s authority, not military might. Jericho’s fall would showcase divine power, not human ingenuity.

When facing impossible battles, you default to calculating resources or revising plans. But what if your first step was surrender? What if victory begins with recognizing it’s not your fight? When did you last lay down your solutions to embrace God’s holy strategy?

“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?”
(Joshua 5:13-15, KJV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal where you’ve claimed Him for your agenda instead of surrendering to His.

Challenge: Write down one situation where you’re striving in your own strength. Circle it and pray, “Your battle, not mine.”

Day 2: Rahab’s Defiant Rope

Soldiers pounded on Rahab’s door demanding spies. She lied to protect them, then lowered the men through her window with a scarlet rope. This prostitute risked death to side with Israel’s God. Her actions declared: “The Lord your God—He is God.” [11:21]

Rahab’s faith defied her culture, occupation, and safety. She heard of God’s power at the Red Sea and chose allegiance before seeing Jericho’s fall. Her rope became both an escape route for the spies and a marker of her future deliverance.

You don’t need a clean resume to trust God. Rahab’s past didn’t disqualify her—her faith did. What false identity or shame keeps you from acting boldly? Where is God asking you to tie your “scarlet rope” of trust despite the cost?

“And the woman took the two men, and hid them… And she said unto them, I know that the Lord hath given you the land… for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you… and our hearts did melt.”
(Joshua 2:4, 8-11, KJV)

Prayer: Confess one area where shame has silenced your testimony. Ask for Rahab’s courage.

Challenge: Text one person today with a sentence about God’s faithfulness in your life.

Day 3: Six Nights to Decide

For six days, Israel marched silently around Jericho. Trumpets blew, sandals crunched, but no swords swung. Inside the walls, every citizen heard the procession. Each circuit gave another chance to repent. Only Rahab’s household seized it. [19:26]

God’s patience shouted through the silence. The marches weren’t about strategy—they were mercy. Jericho’s destruction resulted from 40 years of rebellion, not six days of marching. The delay exposed hard hearts, not a hard God.

How has God’s patience with you or others been misunderstood as indifference? What recurring circumstance might be His invitation to surrender? Who needs you to extend the same grace God showed Jericho?

“And ye shall compass the city… once each day six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets… and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times… and the wall of the city shall fall down flat.”
(Joshua 6:3-5, KJV)

Prayer: Thank God for His patience in your past. Intercede for someone resisting His grace.

Challenge: Initiate a conversation with someone you’ve labeled “too far gone.” Listen without agenda.

Day 4: The Scarlet Threshold

Rahab tied the scarlet cord in her window as instructed. When walls crumbled, soldiers spared every soul under that blood-red sign. The rope that lowered spies became her salvation banner—a Canaanite harlot now shielded by covenant. [16:43]

This cord echoed Passover’s blood on doorposts. Both signs required obedient action to activate deliverance. Rahab’s faith moved her hands—she didn’t just agree mentally. The cord marked her household as God’s possession.

What “cord” has God asked you to display—a habit, conversation, or boundary—that demonstrates active faith? Where have you preferred safety over bold identification with Christ? What visible mark does your faith leave?

“Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window… And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.”
(Joshua 2:18,21, KJV)

Prayer: Ask God to highlight one practical step of faith you’ve delayed taking.

Challenge: Place a visible reminder (string, art, note) in your home as a “scarlet cord” of trust.

Day 5: From Harlot to Hall of Faith

Rahab “dwelt in Israel” long after Jericho’s dust settled. Hebrews 11 lists her alongside Abraham and Moses. Her scarlet cord led to a royal lineage—she became King David’s great-grandmother and part of Jesus’ genealogy. [22:24]

Grace rewrote Rahab’s story. God didn’t require her to shed her past before saving her. His power transformed her from Canaanite outcast to covenant insider. Mercy always outshines judgment for those who respond.

What labels from your past or present make you feel unworthy? How might God want to repurpose your story for His glory? Where do you need to exchange shame for the identity “Redeemed”?

“And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive… and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day… By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”
(Joshua 6:25; Hebrews 11:31, KJV)

Prayer: Thank God for rewriting your story. Name one lie about your identity and replace it with truth.

Challenge: Share a personal redemption story with someone this week—in person or online.

Sermon Summary

Second Peter declares that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but long suffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Joshua 6 then sets that truth against a scene of terror. The text shows walls collapsing and a city “utterly destroyed,” and yet that very severity sits inside a frame of patient, extravagant grace. God hates sin and loves souls. He punishes sin and extends mercy. That tension is not a problem to hide. It is the light needed to read Jericho.

Joshua stands before an impregnable city with a ragtag people who look like pea shooters before 40-foot walls. Joshua 5 answers his fear with a sighting of the Captain of the Lord’s host. The Captain answers Joshua’s question, Are you for us or for our adversaries, with “Neither.” God is not recruited to a side. Joshua is summoned to God’s side. “This is not man’s battle. It’s God’s battle.” Strategy, siege craft, and bravado will not topple Jericho. Presence will.

The spies enter Jericho and land in Rahab’s house. Rahab risks everything, not out of politics but out of confession. “I know that the Lord hath given you the land… for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath.” The Canaanites at large also know, but they harden. Rahab capitulates. She ties a scarlet cord in her window, a Passover echo, a preached ark-door in a wall: come into this house and you will be safe.

God’s plan forces the issue. Six days of marching with the ark, then a seventh day of circling and a shout. Why not one lap and be done? The procession itself functions as patience. God gives Jericho six nights to think, to open the gates, to flee to Rahab’s marked room, to abandon their false gods. Judgment is not hasty. It is holy and patient. When the wall falls flat, the text keeps the dichotomy clear. He gathers and he scatters. Comfort rests on those who believe. Terror lands on those who reject.

Rahab and her family are spared and escorted out. “She dwelleth in Israel unto this day.” Grace does not merely spare a life. Grace rewrites a life. Rahab enters the covenant people, then the royal line through Boaz, to David, to the Messiah. God gets all the credit when his people move in obedience and faith. The battle is his. The plan is his. The grace is his. The window of patience is real, but it is not forever.

Key Takeaways

1. God’s battle demands allegiance, not enlistment The Captain’s “Neither” refuses tribal recruitment and calls for surrender to God’s agenda. Prayer that tries to conscript God into personal plans subtly inverts lordship. Faith aligns with God’s will even when the plan looks foolish and the odds look impossible. Holiness, not partisanship, decides the side. [08:42]
2. Patience marches before judgment falls Six quiet days with the ark preached a public countdown of mercy to Jericho. Long suffering is not delay by neglect but time granted for repentance. That window either softens into surrender or hardens into defiance. The seventh-day shout exposes what six nights have already decided. [18:16]
3. Confession becomes refuge at the window Rahab’s “He is God” is not mere data; it moves her feet, her rope, her allegiance. The scarlet cord gathers her household under a sign that answers Passover and points to substitution. Real faith hides in God’s marked place even when it costs reputation and safety. Risk becomes the shape of trust. [16:15]
4. Grace writes a new lineage Rahab not only lives; she dwells in Israel and enters Messiah’s family tree. Grace does not wait for a spotless record; it creates a new record by new belonging. Labels lose their power where covenant welcomes take hold. Judgment and mercy meet, and mercy has the last word in a life. [22:24]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:49] - Framing with 2 Peter 3:9
[02:05] - The fall of Jericho read aloud
[03:24] - Holding grace and terror together
[04:59] - Jericho’s might and Israel’s weakness
[06:03] - The Captain of the Lord’s host
[08:42] - Neither side: be on God’s side
[10:04] - Spies sent and Rahab’s risk
[12:36] - Rahab’s confession of the true God
[16:15] - The scarlet cord and Passover echo
[17:16] - God’s marching plan explained
[18:16] - Why six days: patience before judgment
[20:07] - The wall falls and holy severity
[21:08] - Rahab spared and dwelling in Israel
[22:24] - From Rahab to David to Messiah
[23:54] - Application: align with God’s work
[24:30] - Closing call to respond in faith

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Joshua 6:1-27 (ESV)
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

Observation questions

In Joshua 5:13-15, how did the "Captain of the Lord’s host" respond when Joshua asked if He was for Israel or their enemies? What does His answer reveal about God’s role in the battle? [08:42]
What specific actions did Rahab take to protect the spies, and what motivated her to risk her life (Joshua 2:4-11)? [12:36]
Why did God command Israel to march around Jericho for six days before the walls fell (Joshua 6:3-5)? What does this reveal about His character? [18:16]
How does the phrase "she dwelleth in Israel unto this day" (Joshua 6:25) contrast with Rahab’s former identity?

Interpretation questions

The Captain of the Lord’s host says, “Neither” when asked to take sides. How does this challenge modern assumptions about God “supporting” human causes or preferences?
Rahab’s scarlet cord is compared to the Passover blood in the sermon. What do both symbols teach about how God provides safety for those who trust Him? [16:15]
The sermon states, “Judgment is not hasty. It is holy and patient.” How does the six-day march around Jericho illustrate God’s patience toward those who reject Him?
Why might God include someone like Rahab—a Canaanite prostitute—in Jesus’ lineage (Matthew 1:5)? What does this imply about His grace? [22:24]

Application questions

The Captain’s response, “Neither,” reminds us that God’s agenda is not ours. What personal plans or desires have you been tempted to “enlist” God into supporting? How might surrendering to His priorities change your approach? [08:42]
Rahab’s confession (“He is God”) led her to act boldly despite the cost. What tangible step could you take this week to align your actions with a truth you know about God?
The six-day march gave Jericho time to repent. Is there a situation in your life where God’s patience is giving you—or someone else—time to turn toward Him? How will you respond?
Rahab’s story shows grace rewriting a person’s identity. What labels or past mistakes do you struggle to let go of? How does God’s covenant promise (like Rahab’s “scarlet cord”) redefine your story?
The sermon warns, “The window of patience is real, but not forever.” Where do you sense urgency to act on God’s truth before opportunities fade?

Sermon Clips

Hear this phrase, and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day. A Canaanite woman dwelleth in Israel unto this day. Let's take it further. A Canaanite harlot dwelleth in Israel unto this day. Under Mosaic law, she would have been stoned. How is this even possible? It's the grace of God extended through faith. In fact, Rahab is actually mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, the great chapter of faith. By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she received the spies with peace. [00:21:12] (37 seconds)

I mean, just look at that again. Joshua asked, are you on our side or theirs? Neither. What a tremendous truth this really needs to be understood for us today. We have a tendency in our prayers and in our planning practically to take God and put him on our side, and we're actually on God's side. We should always align with God's will. That's what Jesus prayed in the garden. That's instructive to us. This impossible overwhelming enemy, it's not your battle. It's God's. [00:08:58] (34 seconds)

There is a simple fact that exists about God and it is this, God is both terrifying. He's to be feared and he's forgiving and he's long suffering and he's merciful and he's gracious. He hates sin and yet he loves the souls of men. He punishes sin. His wrath is poured out on sin and yet he extends extravagant grace to sinners. And I think that dichotomy helps us as we approach this story in Joshua chapter six tonight continuing to look at the amazing grace of God. [00:01:09] (49 seconds)

But you don't just get to pick the enemy that you want God to overwhelm. God is doing his work. You're on God's side through this. Now this is important because God's saying he's about to do something that ultimately, as we already read, ends in destruction. But we started by saying he's long suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And and I think we're about to see amazing grace in this very familiar bible story. [00:09:32] (31 seconds)

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