No prophet since was like Moses.
But Moses was dead and gone – just when the Israelites desperately needed leadership to conquer and claim the promised land.

How would new leadership proceed, when an amazing man like Moses could not?
How would the voyage to the promised land commence?
How would decades of Israeli struggle culminate?

Even casual observers of Jewish history know: they got an eyeful of a whore.

Case Study: Rahab, the Art of the Whore – a Portrait in Flesh.

Nahum 2:10
   She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.

No other prophet since was like Moses.
Deuteronomy 34:10
   And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face

Exodus 33:11
   And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

Numbers 12:6-7
   If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
   My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

But Moses could never cross the Jordan river to the promised land.
Deuteronomy 3:25,27
   I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
   …Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

Moses, and the Law of Moses, could only take us so far.
In the end, the perfect Law of Moses could only condemn – including the man who bore its name.
Something special would be necessary to cross the Jordan into the promised land.
All that Moses got was a look at the promised land.
Deuteronomy 34:4-5
   And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
   So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

(In retrospect, a look was all that was needed.)

Case Study: Rahab, the Art of the Whore – a Portrait in Flesh.

It began step by step, a walk on water.
Joshua 1:2-3
   Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
   Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

The first step was to send reconnaissance – that is: spies – spies to view the whore.
Joshua 2:1
   And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho.  And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

What did the spies see?
They saw a harlot, Rahab, not hold back – she held no secrets back.
She expressed all.
Joshua 2:9-10
   And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
   For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

She broke open her heart – a broken heart.
Joshua 2:11
   And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

What would our portrait of Rahab look like?
Vulnerable, this harlot would have her legs spread, with nothing hidden.
She held nothing back.  She held back no secrets.  She was out of options; she was desperate.
She was desperate enough for Grace.

God is sovereign.
Confused by doctrines, laws, and principles, many forget that God does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants, and he doesn’t ask anyone’s permission.
Job 37:5
   God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

Job 11:7
   Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

Who would have thought that God would have Saul of Tarsus become the Apostle Paul and write the largest part of the New Testament (Covenant)?
Acts 9:4-5
   Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
   And he said, Who art thou, Lord?  And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest

1 Corinthians 15:9
   For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Who would have thought that the return of Christ would be heralded by Elijah – a mocking jester?
1 Kings 18:26-27
   O Baal, hear us.  But there was no voice, nor any that answered.  And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
   And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Malachi 4:5
   Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD

Normally, God expects the man to be head of the family.
John 4:16
   Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

1 Corinthians 14:35
   And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

But, God’s sovereignty grafts in whom he calls how he will.
Romans 9:18
   Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Ephesians 1:4
   According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…

Thusly, Rahab led her family to safety.
Joshua 2:13
   And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

Even though our art of the whore features visible red – from the other side of the Jordan river, Moses was too far to see our portrait in flesh.
Exodus 12:13
   And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Exposing all of the broken heart for a Passover:
Joshua 2:18-19
   Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy 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 thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

With no secrets hidden, our harlot’s legs are spread to confess the fornication.
Isaiah 3:17
   Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

Ezekiel 16:35-36
   Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
   Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

See the blood that needs a substitutionary blood sacrifice from Christ.
Ezekiel 16:22
   And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

In our portrait, the whore has a chance to start again.
We wipe the canvas clean.
John 8:3,11
   And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery;
   …And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

1 Peter 1:23
   Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

2 Corinthians 5:17
   Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

A chance to heal broken promises and mend relationships:
John 18:17
   Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples?  He saith, I am not.  

John 21:17
   Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?  And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.  Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Joshua 2:12-14
   Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
   And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
   And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business.  And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Our art of the whore would be missing a couple of items.
Like all proper harlots, Rahab was dressed for the job – that is, nude.
(Our portrait is a full body portrait.)
John 8:4
   They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

She is nude as she hates the clothing that God sees as our own ‘good’ works.
Isaiah 64:6
   But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteous acts are as filthy rags;

Jude 1:23
   And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Zechariah 3:3-4
   Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
   And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him.  And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

Not only is our portrait in flesh missing clothing, but it also lacks someone.
It lacks an accuser.
John 8:10-11
   Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
   She said, No man, Lord.  And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Isaiah 54:17
   No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.

The Greek terms for the ‘Devil’ and ‘Satan’ mean the slanderer or the accuser.
He accuses us day and night.
Revelation 12:9-10
   And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world
   …for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

How does Satan accuse us?
He uses The Law of Moses.
John 5:45
   Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

1 Corinthians 15:56
   The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

2 Corinthians 3:6-7
   …for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
   But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance;

Why was Moses left on the other side of the Jordan river?
Because The Law which bears his name could only condemn our whore.
John 8:4-5
   Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
   Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

The Law of Moses could never justify us (justify means: just as if we’ve never sinned).
We are justified by faith towards Grace.
Acts 13:39
   And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Romans 8:2
   For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Even if our whore repents, the Devil will still accuse her of not meeting complete conditions of The Law – Temple laws, Sabbath laws, cleansing laws, etc.
Galatians 3:10
   For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

James 2:10
   For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

But, by baring all, by stripping naked of her old works, and by breaking open all of her heart, no secrets withheld, our whore is being cleansed in her walk on our painted water-colors.
Christ cleanses all of her opened heart.
She becomes more Christ-like day by day – towards perfection (maturity, fulfilment, completion).
2 Corinthians 4:16
   …the inward man is renewed day by day.

Matthew 5:48
   Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Colossians 3:10
   And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him

Old clothing discarded:
Colossians 3:8-9
   But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
   Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

New clothing awaits in her walk.
Colossians 3:12,14
   Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
   …And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Proverbs 31:25
   Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

So, the Devil can accuse our harlot day and night, but in her walk on water towards Christ, she is getting better every day, and remains forgiven as she walks in the light.
1 John 1:7
   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Art has so many critics.
They accuse day and night.
Are we going to succumb to bad reviews?
1 John 1:9
   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 32:5
   I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

If you don’t believe that God ‘forgives all our sins,’ – the past – then you are vulnerable to the Devil’s accusations. 
What is the past?  Is it the nudity of the harlot?  Is it new clothes for her?
No, it’s the old clothing (the old ‘good’ works) that she removed.
What is the greatest threat to our portrait in flesh?  The old clothing.

Under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites overwhelmingly conquered the promised land.
Joshua 11:21,23
   Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.
   …So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes.

However, they had a problem at the start, immediately after taking Rahab the harlot’s city (Jericho).
They should have enjoyed an easy victory over Ai.
Joshua 7:3
   And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.

But Ai defeated Joshua’s army.
Joshua 7:4-5
   So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
   And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men

What happened?
Our art became polluted by clothing of old works.
Joshua 7:13,20-21
   …for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
   …And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
   When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

We cast away those whorish clothes.
Isaiah 30:22
   Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

Now that our art of the whore, a portrait in flesh, is complete – where would we display it?
The art of the whore belongs on the top shelf.
Joshua 6:25
   And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Matthew 1:1-16
   The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
   Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
   And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
   And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
   And Salmon begat Booz of Rahab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
   And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
   And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
   And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
   And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
   And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
   And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
   And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
   And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
   And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
   And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
   And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

The top shelf is not the ‘dirty magazine’ area of a convenience store (as the world views our art as pornography).
The top shelf is with the great men of the genealogy of Christ.
A proper art gallery.

But where is this gallery?
This gallery is in a special place – a place beyond the cross.
Philippians 3:18
   …that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ

The gallery is hid away from the enemies.
Are these the enemies of Christ?  No, they are enemies of the cross.
Job 28:7-8,21-23
   There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
   The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
   …Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
   Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
   God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

Those who have not died with Christ, that is – the world, look at this art gallery and see only a bloody, disfigured corpse – a gallery of sacrifice, servitude, selflessness, temperance, mercy, love, and forgiveness.
The worldly critics do not think much of this art gallery.

But that’s okay, because those in Christ, in that special place beyond the cross, look back at the world and see only a bloody, disfigured corpse – a world of personal ambition, career success, popularity, selfishness, pride, greed, arrogance, and cowardice.