Episode 14, "Rahab, Part 2: Enemy in the Camp" Series: "Stay in His Presence"

Hello and welcome to “Stay in His Presence.” This is Episode 14, in Season 13.

I’m your host, Stephanie Wright.

We are celebrating five years of podcasting in 2025 by revisiting our archives and remastering the top ten episodes since June 20, 2020. Last time we were together, we went into the archives and retrieved Rahab Part 1, the top episode since we started podcasting. This time, we will continue with Rahab Part 2, another of the top ten episodes since 2020. There will be some updates to the podcast, so if you were with us in 2020, listen for a few changes and more words of inspiration.

Thank you for joining us today as we revisit the series “Bad Girls, Gone Good: Rahab, Part 2.”

Thank you for joining us today for the conclusion of our study on Rahab. Another "Bible Bad Girl Gone Good."

Now stay tuned as Dr. Charles Wright closes us out with information on how you may contact us and access other podcasts.

Until next time.

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Transcript

Hello and welcome to “Stay in His Presence.” This is Episode 14, in Season 13.

I’m your host, Stephanie Wright.

We are celebrating five years of podcasting in 2025 by going into the archives and remastering the top ten episodes since June 20, 2020. Last time we were together, we went into the archives and retrieved Rahab Part 1, the top episode since we started podcasting. This time, we will continue with Rahab Part 2, another of the top ten episodes since 2020. There will be some updates to the podcast, so if you were with us in 2020, listen for a few changes and more words of inspiration.

Thank you for joining us today as we revisit the series “Bad Girls, Gone Good: Rahab, Part 2.”

She was the enemy in the camp. A spy who conspired with the Israelites to destroy her city, Jericho, but she did it for the love of her family, not for her own selfish gain. Her name is Rahab, a prostitute, through whose bloodline was descended Jesus, the Son of God. She was a bad girl transformed from harlot to hero and became known as a woman of faith in the New Testament. In this series, "Bible Bad Girls Gone Good," we are expounding on truths and destroying myths about so-called bad girls of the Bible who became godly women memorialized in Holy Scripture.

This is Stephanie Wright. Thank you for joining us today. Last time, we talked about Rahab in chapter two of Joshua. We studied and discussed the two spies who were sent to Joshua to spy out the land around Jericho. And these two spies actually went into Jericho. They came to the house of Rahab, a woman whom we believe also was, well, she was a prostitute, but she was also a businesswoman. The scripture says that spies had come to Rahab's house. So, the king sent soldiers to find them. Rahab lied and said the spies had left the city, but she had in fact hidden them on the roof. And you can read all this in Joshua, chapter two. And we're also going to Joshua, chapter six. So, Rahab lied. She hid the spies under the flax, and we believe flax was used to make clothes. We also believe people would stop at Rahab's house for many things, apparently, but we also believe that she sold clothing. Thus, the reason for the flax where she hid the spies. Rahab was so knowledgeable. She was knowledgeable about the Israelites' victories because many travelers told her about their conquests. So, when the spies came to Rahab's house, she asked the spies to show her kindness because she knew —based on what she had heard—trouble was coming. So, she asked those spies to show her kindness, show her father's house kindness, save her mother, save her brothers, save her sisters. And all that they had was saved. They were delivered from death. The spies agreed to help her. They told her, "Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window, and you shall bring your father and your mother and your brothers and all of your household, father's household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. And whosoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this, our business, we will not, we will not be responsible." Okay? In other words, they were telling her, “If you tell that we've been here, we're not responsible.”

So, she asked them to help her, and they gave her instructions on what to do. And this is her response:
"And she said, according to your words. So be it. And she sent them away, and they departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window." So, this brings us to the title of today's message, "Enemy in the Camp." This woman, Rahab, sought to save her whole family. She risked her life, hiding these spies. All that was in her household was saved. The spies accepted the offer she made, and at that point, they were in agreement. At that point, Rahab became one of them. She was now a spy. She was now the enemy in Jericho's camp. She was an enemy in her own people's camp.

So, on the outside of Jericho, the Israelites were following God's instructions through Joshua. On the inside of the wall, on the inside of Jericho, on the inside of the enemy camp, Rahab was following the instructions given to her by the Israelites. Jericho was going to fall because God said it would fall. Let's look at Joshua, six, verses one and two.

“Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel; nobody went out and nobody came in." They knew the Israelites were coming. So, they had that city shut down. They felt they were secure. Their walls were tight. Nobody was going to get through those walls. Verse 2, in chapter 6, "And the Lord said unto Joshua, see I have given into your hands, Jericho and the King thereof and the mighty men of valor."

Let's go back to Rahab. One person in the city, the woman Rahab, who was obedient to what she was told to do. We need to see the role this woman played. In the book of James, in the New Testament, chapter 2, and verse 25. It says, "Likewise, also, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way?" Justification was on the inside of Jericho. Justification means to make one right with God. The wall had to come down because God's justification and righteousness were on the inside, and God's power through simple obedience by the Israelites was on the outside. And even though Rahab had not yet been fully converted, God saw enough in her to see that which was to be. She was an enemy to Jericho, but to the Israelites, she was a comrade. She was an accomplice. She was a fellow spy. She was a collaborator. She was a confederate. She was Israel's female 007, double "O" seven.

 Amen, amen, amen. So, let me back up. Let me back up with what I'm saying about taking a city with a modern-day testimony. We were in Bible study on a Wednesday night in 2002. And there was a sniper out in DC. This sniper killed ten people. Some of you may remember it. Two people were injured.

While we were teaching Bible study that night, Apostle Charles and I would teach together. And, on that night, I was teaching, and I know it was the Holy Ghost who spoke through me. But I believe what I said. I was scheduled to go to DC around the time of those sniping incidents. I stood flat-footed while teaching that Bible study, and I told the class that when my foot hits Washington, DC, they will find the sniper. Let me tell you something. When I hit Washington, DC, when I got off that plane, it was in a couple of days, they found the sniper and the accomplice. Not only did they find the sniper, but we also realized that, because I was staying with a girlfriend at the time, the main perpetrator lived somewhere near where my girlfriend's house was.

So, what I'm saying is, it only takes one person to believe to bring down a city. It only takes one. And then I think about my sister-in-law, Cora, who told me years ago that God had told her to go to Africa, and she didn't want to go. But she said, "Why can't I just send money?" But God said, “No, you've got to go. Your foot has to touch that ground.” You see, when God tells us to go, sometimes we don't want to; he will tell us to go to places we may not want to go. And I'm not saying that you necessarily have to, you know, hop on a plane and go to some foreign country. Sometimes God is just telling you to go across the street and be kind to somebody. But if God says to go, God says your foot has to be in that place, then that's what you have to do. You must be obedient to God, and you must be obedient to what he tells you to do.

I have another friend. She wanted the Lord to use her, to send her. And then, finally, the opportunity came to go to Africa—again, Africa. And she called me. There was a little concern in her voice, but I reminded her. I said, you told God, you wanted him to send you to the nations. So, amen, here it is, girl. So when he calls you, don't be fearful. If God calls you, don't call yourself. Don't send yourself because you're asking for trouble then. You must be led of God. Especially when you're talking about going to these foreign countries. Amen. You must be led of God.

So, when I said it only takes one, Rahab was that one on the inside. Cause they only had one on the inside. That's all it takes, one. Jesus plus one is a majority. Rahab followed through. She was a good spy. She did not even have to go anywhere. She just had to follow instructions. If God is going to use you, you have to follow instructions. The spies told her, “Listen, when we get here, when we get to Jericho, you've got a couple of things to do. You have to drop the scarlet thread, and you've got to keep yourself and your family inside that house. Because if you stay in the covering, if you stay under the covering, if you stay under the shadow, if you stay under the shadow of the almighty, you will be protected.”

He will cover you. If you cover yourself in the Holy Ghost, if you cover yourself with a breastplate of righteousness, your head covered with a helmet of salvation, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In other words, if you cover yourself with the whole armor of God, if you do that, if you keep that instruction, then you will not have to worry about blood being shed. This is what the spies told her. Follow the instructions, and you won't have to worry about anyone's life being lost. Follow instructions. Amen. There will be no bloodshed. There does not have to be bloodshed because Jesus already shed his blood for all of us. Jesus shed his blood; that was all that was needed. The blood of Jesus, Amen. So let me ask you this. Tell me today, which city do you need to take? I'm not speaking literally, but maybe I am. Maybe there is a city you feel like you need to take. What stronghold? What is your Jericho that has to fall? What is the enemy telling you that you ain't going to do? That you can't set aside? What weights do you need to set aside? I think we all have something. Amen. If so, is there an enemy in your camp? I don't mean a good enemy like Rahab. I am talking about enemies in your camp that want to keep you from your victories, in your walk in the kingdom. Do you know who your worst enemy is sometimes? Yes, you do. Sometimes, it's you. I am my own worst enemy. But God has given us everything we need to destroy the Jerichos that try to so easily beset us. We just have to listen, hear, and be obedient. We just have to submit ourselves to God. We just have to do what he tells us to do. It's time to break down these walls in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Do what God has called you to do and told you to do. You cannot wait. We cannot always wait for the pastor or the prayer leader to call a fast, to sacrifice, or to give up things we like most. And I will repeat it. What you have to do is listen and be obedient to God. So, people, it's time to take an assessment. Ask yourself why my Jerichos are not coming down. Enemy in the Camp. Everybody who's in your camp doesn't need to be in your camp. Somebody listening to this message today, you got some enemies in your camp, and you need to get 'em out. Okay? Amen. So, we thank God for His Word today.

Thank you for joining us today for the conclusion of our study on Rahab. Another "Bible Bad Girl Gone Good."

Now stay tuned as Dr. Charles Wright closes us out with information on how you may contact us and access other podcasts.

Until next time.

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