20251111 [새벽묵상] 위기의 상황 속에서 드러나는 하나님의 사람 | God's People Revealed in the Midst of Crisis (수/Josh 2:1~7)

2:1 눈의 아들 여호수아가 싯딤에서 두 사람을 정탐꾼으로 보내며 이르되 가서 그 땅과 여리 고를 엿보라 하매 그들이 가서 라합이라 하는 기생의 집에 들어가 거기서 유숙하더니

1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

2:2 어떤 사람이 여리고 왕에게 말하여 이르되 보소서 이 밤에 이스라엘 자손 중의 몇 사람이 이 땅을 정탐하러 이리로 들어왔나이다

2:3 여리고 왕이 라합에게 사람을 보내어 이르되 네게로 와서 네 집에 들어간 그 사람들을 끌어내라 그들은 이 온 땅을 정탐하러 왔느니라

2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

2:4 그 여인이 그 두 사람을 이미 숨긴지라 이르되 과연 그 사람들이 내게 왔었으나 그들이 어디에서 왔는지 나는 알지 못하였고

2:5 그 사람들이 어두워 성문을 닫을 때쯤 되어 나갔으니 어디로 갔는지 내가 알지 못하나 급히 따라가라 그리하면 그들을 따라 잡으리라 하였으나

2:6 그가 이미 그들을 이끌고 지붕에 올라가서 그 지붕에 벌여 놓은 삼대에 숨겼더라

2:7 그 사람들은 요단 나루터까지 그들을 쫓아갔고 그들을 뒤쫓는 자들이 나가자 곧 성문을 닫았더라

4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

                  영화 장르 중에 스파이액션 영화들이 있습니다. 첩보물이라고도 하지요. 우리가 흔히 아는 007 시리즈 라던지, 미션임파서블 시리즈 같은 것이 그 좋은 예인 것 같습니다. 일반적인 스토리는 이런 식으로 진행이 되지요. 007의 경우 전세계를 위협하는 악당이 등장하고, 영국 첩보기관의 수장인 M이 007에게 임무를 부여합니다. 그러면 007은 그 임무를 받아서 멋지게 성공시키지요. 미션 임파서블 같은 경우에는 이단 헌트가 불가능 할 것 같은 임무를 정말 온갖 곡예를 하며 어떻게든 성공을 시켜요. 그런데 오늘의 말씀은 이런 첩보 영화처럼 흥미 진진하게 잠입 임무를 시작했는데 스토리가 진행되자마자 작전이 유출됩니다. 특수 요원들이 위기에 빠졌어요. 그런데 이 위기를 해결하는 것이 임무를 맡긴 사람도, 임무를 수행하는 사람도 아닌, 전혀 의외의 인물임을 우리는 보게 됩니다. 우리는 그제서야 오늘의 본문의 주인공이 임무를 맡기는 여호수아나 임무를 수행하는 정탐꾼이 아니라 바로 그 의외의 인물, 창녀 라합이라는 것을 깨닫게 되지요. 오늘은 ‘위기의 상황 속에서 드러나는 하나님의 사람’ 이라는 제목으로 말씀을 전하기 원합니다.

                  We all love the spy action movie genre—the espionage thrillers. We know the classics: the James Bond series, the Mission: Impossible franchise.

The typical plot goes something like this: A global villain emerges, and M, the head of the British intelligence agency, gives 007 his mission. Bond receives the assignment and executes it with style and success. In Mission: Impossible, Ethan Hunt completes seemingly impossible tasks with all sorts of acrobatics.

But today's story begins like one of these thrilling infiltration movies, only to have the mission leaked immediately. The special agents are plunged into a crisis.

Yet, we see that the person who resolves this crisis is neither the one who gave the mission nor the agents carrying it out, but a totally unexpected figure.

We realize that the true protagonist of this passage is not Joshua, the commander, nor the spies, but the very unexpected person: Rahab, the prostitute.

Today, I want to preach on the theme: God's People Revealed in the Midst of Crisis.

                  그렇다면 오늘 말씀에서의 위기의 상황은 어떤 상황을 말하는 말하는 것일까요? 첫째는 리더십의 위기입니다. 네? 리더십의 위기라고요? 라고 질문하시는 분 계실 수 있을 것 같습니다. 네, 그렇습니다. 리더십의 위기입니다. 자, 임무가 실패한다면 그것은 임무를 계획하고 맡긴 사람의 책임이 더 클까요? 아니면 임무를 행하는 사람의 책임이 더 클까요? 말씀을 한번 보시겠습니다. 1절 말씀 같이 읽겠습니다. “눈의 아들 여호수아가 싯딤에서 두 사람을 정탐꾼으로 보내며 이르되 가서 그 땅과 여리고를 엿보라 하매 그들이 가서 라합이라 하는 기생의 집에 들어가 거기서 유숙하더니” 여호수아가 스파이로 두 사람을 보냅니다. 임무는 두가지였지요. 그 땅을 엿보고, 여리고를 엿봐라. 그랬더니 이 두 사람이 기생의 집에 들어가서 거기서 묵었다고 전하고 있습니다. 여기에 무슨 리더십의 문제가 있을까요? 여러분 어제 말씀 기억하시나요? 어제 말씀에서 하나님께서 여호수아에게 어떻게 말씀하셨나요? 1:2 입니다. “내 종 모세가 죽었으니 이제 너는 이 모든 백성과 더불어 일어나 이 요단을 건너 내가 그들 곧 이스라엘 자손에게 주는 그 땅으로 가라” 하나님께서는 이 전쟁이 하나님의 전쟁이며 군사전략보다 하나님을 신뢰하고 그 말씀에 순종하는 것이 승리의 절대적인 요건임을 1장을 통해 말씀하고 계십니다. “강하고 담대하라, 너를 능히 대적할 자가 없다.” 반복해서 말씀하셨지요. 그러나 여호수아는 가장 조심스럽게 전략적인 접근을 선택합니다. 에이, 목사님 그건 당연한 거지요. 그래도 결국엔 저 말씀대로 다 같이 건너가지 않습니까? 큰 그림으로 봐야지요. 라고 말씀 하실 수 있어요. 자, 그러면 광야 1세대는 처음 정탐을 할 때에 어떻게 했는가 비교해보면 좋겠지요. 그 때는 어땠을까요? 자 우리 함께 묵상했던 신명기 13:3 말씀을 제가 읽어보겠습니다. “모세가 여호와의 명령을 따라 바란 광야에서 그들을 보냈으니 그들은 다 이스라엘 자손의 수령 된 사람이라” 먼저 하나님께서 모세에게 정탐꾼을 보내라고 명령하셨습니다. 그래서 모세가 그 말씀에 순종해서 각 지파에서 지휘관을 뽑아 총 12명의 정탐꾼을 보내지요. 그들의 이름도 민수기에 다 기록되어 있습니다. 임무에 대한 지시도 매우 자세했지요. 어떻게 생각하면 정탐하는데 12명이나 보낸다는 것은 상식적이지 않지요. 그러나  그들은 오히려 발각되지 않고 그 정탐 임무를 무사히 마쳤던 것을 기억하실 것입니다. 여호수아는 아마도 자신의 기억에 의존 했던 것 같습니다. 자신의 멘토였던 모세가 했던 것을 기억해서 그 모양을 따라 했던 것이겠지요. 그러나 본문에는 그것이 하나님이 명령하신 일이라는 말이 없습니다. 그는 두사람의 정탐꾼을 보내는데 이들은 지휘관도 아니고 그들의 이름조차 나와있지 않아요. 6:23을 보면 그들을 “정탐한 젊은이들”이라고만 적고 있는 것을 볼 수 있습니다. 이들에게 맡겨진 임무도 상당히 모호하지요. 어쩌면 이들의 작전이 유출된 것은 당연한 일일지도 모르겠습니다. 이를 통해 우리는 여호수아의 리더십에 대해서 다시 한 번 생각해보게 됩니다.

[Point 1: The Crisis of Leadership]

So, what is the crisis in today's passage?

First, I believe it is a crisis of leadership.

If a mission fails, whose responsibility is greater: the person who planned and assigned the mission, or the people who executed it?

Let's look at the Word, starting with verse 1:

"Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. 'Go, look over the land,' he said, 'especially Jericho.' So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there."

Joshua sends two spies on a two-part mission: to spy on the land, and to spy on Jericho. The two men immediately enter the house of a prostitute and stay there. Where is the leadership problem?

Do you remember yesterday's message? How did God instruct Joshua? Joshua 1:2 says: "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites."

Throughout chapter 1, God emphasizes that this is His war, and that trust in Him and obedience to His Word are the absolute keys to victory, not military strategy. He repeated: "Be strong and courageous! No one will be able to stand against you."

Yet, Joshua immediately opts for a cautious, strategic approach.

Someone might argue: “Well, Pastor, that’s natural. They did cross the Jordan together in the end, didn’t they? We have to look at the big picture.”

Let's compare this to the first scouting mission by the wilderness generation. What happened then? Deuteronomy 1:23, which we meditated on, says: "This idea seemed good to me [Moses]; so I selected twelve of you, one from each tribe."

First, the Lord commanded Moses to send spies. Moses obeyed the Lord, selecting twelve commanders—one from each tribe. Their names are all recorded in the Book of Numbers, and their instructions were highly detailed. Sending twelve men to spy might seem illogical, yet they successfully completed their mission without being discovered.

Joshua, perhaps, relied on his memory. He recalled what Moses, his mentor, had done and tried to follow that pattern. However, the text here does not say this was commanded by God. He sends only two men who are not commanders, and their names aren't even mentioned. In 6:23, they are simply called "the young men who had spied out the land." Their mission is also quite vague.

Perhaps it was inevitable that their plan would be leaked. This forces us to re-examine Joshua’s leadership at this crucial moment.

                  자 그런데 여기에 반전이 있습니다. 이 위기의 순간에 정말 예기치 않은 사람이 등장하기 때문이지요. 그것이 누구였습니까? 네, 기생 라합입니다. 오늘 본문의 말씀에서 이름이 직접 언급되는 것은 여호수아와 라합 밖에는 없습니다. 심지어 여리고의 왕도 그 이름이 밝혀지지 않지요. 자, 정탐을 들어가서 무엇을 했는지도 나와있지 않은데 작전이 이미 발각되었습니다. 여리고의 왕이 사람을 보내서 정탐꾼을 끌어내라라고 명령하지요. 3절을 보면 네게로 와서 네 집으로 들어간, 이라고 말하는 걸 보면 정탐꾼들의 일거수일투족이 이미 모두 발각되었음을 알 수 있습니다. 그런데 그 때에 라합이 어떤 증언을 합니까? 4-5절 말씀 함께 읽겠습니다. “그 여인이 그 두 사람을 이미 숨긴지라 이르되 과연 그 사람들이 내게 왔었으나 그들이 어디에서 왔는지 나는 알지 못하였고 그 사람들이 어두워 성문을 닫을 때쯤 되어 나갔으니 어디로 갔는지 내가 알지 못하나 급히 따라가라 그리하면 그들을 따라잡으리라 하였으나” 우리는 이 증언의 결과를 알지요. 추적자들은 결국 이들을 찾지 못하였습니다. 좀 이상하지 않습니까? 분명 여리고 왕이 들었던 첩보는 이들의 일거수일투족을 모두 알고 있었습니다. 그렇다면 이들이 은신이 성공했던 것은 오로지 라합 덕분이라는 것을 알 수 있는 것이지요. 이들이 숨은 것이 아니라 라합이 그 두 사람을 숨겼습니다. 라합의 증언으로 이들은 목숨을 부지할 수 있었고 임무를 완수할 수 있었습니다. 이 증언을 한 번 보십시오. 내게 왔지만 어디서 왔는지 모른다. 나갔지만 어디로 갔는지 모른다. 여리고 왕이 들었던 첩보는 인정하지만 자신은 이들이 누구인지 또 어디서 와서 어디로 가는지 철저히 모른다고 진술하고 있지요. 그 예로 그 사람들, 그들, 그 사람들, 그들, 이라고 정탐꾼들을 지칭하여 그들의 신분을 완벽하게 비밀에 부칩니다. 우리는 이 라합으로부터 하나님이 일하시는 모습을 볼 수 있습니다. 정탐꾼들의 입장에서 보았을 때 기생 라합은 그들의 적이지요. 그런데 그 적이 자신의 목숨을 내어놓고 그들을 보호하고 있는 것입니다. 위기의 상황에서 가장 예상치 못했던 하나님의 구원이 기생 라합을 통하여 이루어진 것이지요. 하나님께서 준비하신 사람이 이들의 위기를 통해 드러난 것입니다.

[Point 2: God's Person Revealed]

But here is the turning point. At this moment of crisis, a truly unexpected person appears. Who was it? Rahab, the prostitute.

In today's passage, the only people mentioned by name are Joshua and Rahab. Even the King of Jericho remains unnamed.

The spies haven't even accomplished their mission, and the operation has been compromised. The King of Jericho sends men with the command to bring the spies out. Verse 3 states they had "come to you and entered your house," indicating that the spies' every move had been fully exposed.

But what testimony does Rahab give? Let's read verses 4 and 5 together:

"But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, 'Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when the city gate was about to close, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go quickly. You may overtake them.'"

We know the result: the pursuers did not find them.

Isn't this strange? The King of Jericho had intelligence that tracked their every move. The spies’ successful concealment was entirely due to Rahab! It wasn't that they hid themselves; Rahab hid them. It was Rahab’s testimony that saved their lives and allowed them to complete their mission.

Look closely at her testimony: They came to me, but I didn't know where from. They left, but I don't know which way they went. She acknowledges the King's intelligence that they came to her house, but she deliberately maintains that she is completely ignorant of who they are or where they went. As evidence, she refers to the spies only as "the men," "they," or "them," perfectly concealing their identities.

In Rahab, we see the way God works. From the perspective of the spies, Rahab was an enemy. Yet, this enemy risked her life to protect them. The most unexpected salvation, prepared by God, came through the prostitute Rahab. The person God had prepared was revealed through their moment of crisis.

                  말씀을 맺습니다. 어쩌면 여호수아는 실수를 했는지도 모릅니다. 이는 여호수아의 연약한 리더쉽을 보여주는 것인지도 모릅니다. 하지만 하나님께서는 그럼에도 불구하고 1장에서 당신께서 약속하신 것을 지키십니다. 위기의 정탐꾼들을 사용하셔서 하나님의 사람 라합을 등장시키십니다. 이 위기의 순간을 통하여 오히려 이들에게 하나님이 하시는 일을 확신시켜 주십니다. 오늘의 말씀은 여호수아의 리더쉽의 위기를 구원하신 것이며, 정탐꾼들의 위기를 구원하신 것이고, 여리고와 함께 진멸의 위기에 처했던 라합을 또한 구원하신 것임을 우리는 볼 수 있습니다. 우리의 부족함과 위기 속에서도 결코 변하지 않는 하나님의 신실하신 약속을 붙잡으십시오. 여러분이 가장 예상치 못한 장소에서, 가장 예상치 못한 사람들을 통해 하나님께서는 당신의 일을 이루십니다. 오늘 말씀의 라합처럼, 위기의 순간에도 담대히 믿음의 결단을 내리시는 여러분 되시기를 주님의 이름으로 축원합니다.

[Conclusion]

Perhaps Joshua made a mistake. This passage may reveal a momentary weakness in his leadership.

But despite this, God keeps the promise He made in Chapter 1. He uses the crisis of the spies to bring forth Rahab, God's person. This moment of crisis serves to confirm for the spies the work that God is doing.

Today's passage is about the salvation of Joshua's leadership crisis, the salvation of the spies’ crisis, and the salvation of Rahab, who was on the brink of destruction along with Jericho.

Hold fast to God's faithful promise, which never changes, even amidst our flaws and crises. God accomplishes His will in the most unexpected places and through the most unexpected people.

May you, like Rahab in today's Word, make a bold decision of faith even in the moment of crisis. I pray this in the name of the Lord. Amen.