Rahab

Joshua Chapter 2

Definitely click through the link or pull out a bible to read this passage before - the story is pretty much amazing!  I just picture the spies trying to explain this to their wives when they got home. "Honey, we found a way to take over the promised land". "That's nice, how was the hotel?". "Um, well, the hotel was full, so we stayed at Rahab's house". "Rahab's house, what is that, a bed and breakfast?". "No, not exactly a traditional bed and breakfast. . .Rahab is a cough, prostitute, cough". "WHAT!!!". "Hon, I swear we didn't do anything bad, we just needed some help to take over the promised land. . .it really does make sense if you hear our reasons, I promise!!"

In truth, due to her personality and the perfect location of her home, Rahab is the perfect person to help the Israeli spies. I must add, that there is nothing in this story that would make us believe the men did anything sexual with her.  I am convinced that Rahab and the spies both had pure motives - trying to follow God's plan and moreover to stay alive in the face of great danger.

First, from a spy's perspective, Rahab's house was the perfect place to hide and gather information. We can first off assume that Rahab was at the high-end of her business. She owned her own home, she held sway with the soldiers, she was very eloquent, insightful, and intelligent.

She also had several other qualities that are prerequisites for success in the business. First, discretion, otherwise known as the ability to keep a secret. She would have to keep her business dealings totally confidential. . .a loud-mouth would mean that she would be out of business immediately.

She was also a good listener! Why in the world would that matter for a prostitute? I have read* that high end prostitution is as much about companionship as sexual activity. Rahab spent time talking with and learning from the powerful men of her country. She has heard all about what happened with the Israelites, she knows how the soldiers would search for the spies - she has intimate knowledge about the city that only someone in her position would gain.

Rahab is a good liar! Yes, lying is usually a bad thing to do, but there are certain, rare, circumstances where it is necessary and even godly to lie. She misleads the soldiers, telling a different version of what happened to the men, and they buy every word of it, leaving Rahab's house and chasing the men in vain.

Last, Rahab's protects those who she loves. Her concern is not only for her own life, but for that of her family. "Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.". She is wise enough to believe in the power of God through the stories she had heard, and she wanted both herself and her family to go with the people of God.

After talking to the men and promising her faithfulness and theirs to her, she lowers them down from her window, which happens to be in the city wall.  Any human skill seems to come in handy in this story, the last of which seems to be experience in rapelling!  They make their escape and she ties a scarlet cord in her window, which will signal to the Israeli army to protect her house when they invade.

What is Rahab's motivation in helping the spies? She knows that God is with the people of Israel, and she is choosing to side with God rather than the king of Jericho. "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, hour hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath".

Isn't it amazing to hear a new believer speak of God. Rahab was from a foreign land that probably worshipped idols. Then she hears stories about the One True God, and she believes it 110%. This is faith: she hears, believes, and when the time comes, she follows God.

In the New Testament, Jesus heals and tells the gospel to both the Jews and those who are not. He explains that he came to take away the sins of the world. Even before that, though, in stories of the Old Testament, we see that God does care for the entire world, that all may hear and believe. While God is leading his chosen people to the promised land, he is still caring for outsiders who choose Him. God loves the outsiders and outcasts!

Rahab leaves a pretty amazing legacy as well. She is Boaz's mom, the man who marries Ruth in the book of Ruth - we may talk about this at some point, but Boaz is a foreshadowing of how salvation works. Rahab is also the great, great, great, great grandmother of Jesus. And she is a phenomenal example of how God redeems the life of sinful people and uses them for his purposes.

"Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; his mercy is like himself-it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God." Charles Spurgeon

*Superfreakonomics - fantastic book on how human behavior and economics mix