Throughout the Bible, we can see many amazing women of faith that God used mightily.
Deborah led the Israelite army to victory when it seemed impossible to defeat the others’ overwhelming might (Judges 4). Esther saved the entire Israelite race when Haman tried to kill them through genocide (Esther 7). Hannah asked God for a son when her womb couldn’t conceive and had faith that He would do it. God answered her prayer and gave her one of the most well-known and faithful priests Israel ever had (I Samuel 1-2).
But all of these women had something in common. They were Jewish. They were direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had heard about God for their whole lives and knew they were God’s chosen people.
That does not make their deeds insignificant or of lesser value. But as a gentile woman myself, I find great comfort knowing that God was able to use someone like me to do great work for Him. We don’t only have to be part of His chosen people, we can also become a part of His family through our faith.
And that’s how Rahab did it, through her faith.
Rahab the Harlot
There is not a whole lot known about Rahab besides what we have in Joshua 2 and 6. The Bible tells us that she was a prostitute, made ropes and dyed threads to the color red, and lived on the city’s wall. But what else can we see about her that might not be blatantly obvious from the text?
I believe that we can conclude these 4 things about Rahab.
- Rahab came from a poor family and had very low stature in the city.
- Rahab lived in the slums.
- Rahab loved her family.
- Rahab had faith that the Israelite God was the real God and she wanted Him to be her God too.
A very interesting archaeological find was made about the ancient city of Jericho within the last decade. The ruins themselves were found and confirmed in 1952. Since then, there has been much research done and many different conclusions brought about. To read the article about the findings, click here.
One of the things that caught my eye in the article is that they found a section of the wall that was still up. Everything else was torn down and burned except for one section. The section where Rahab lived.
In the beginning, I honestly wondered if Rahab was wealthy. I mean wouldn’t it be a great place to live on the wall of the city? The view would be beautiful and the air much cleaner. But what I didn’t think about was the era in which Rahab lived.
During Rahab’s time, it was much more important to be in the center of the city. That is where the markets and water wells were. It was also the safest place against enemy attacks. If one of the walls of your house was on the outer wall of the city, you would be one of the first to die.
The area where she lived was where the overflow of people gathered, no one well-known or with great authority. It is common knowledge that during ancient times the poor peasants lived on the outside and that their living conditions were the slums. So Rahab and her family were of low stature within Jericho, they were probably doing what they could to survive.
Which makes me wonder about her profession. I had always just assumed that she was a prostitute because that was what she wanted to be. I guess you could say that’s my Americanism showing.
But if her family was poor then she was probably selling her body just to take care of herself and her loved ones. Let’s be real. Most people that go to a prostitute don’t care about them or want them to enjoy the experience. They are there for their own pleasure. It would have been of no benefit to her.
Also, It is not typical for poor people to want to sell their bodies. Most cases are because they really need the money. Among the women and men who do it because they want to is for very different reasons. Typically to keep a wealthy lifestyle, for fame, or because they have very low self-esteem.
The last two things about Rahab I will talk about in the next part of Rahab’s life. This is where God presented the opportunity for her life to change because of her faith. The event when she acted upon her faith and hid the two Israelite spies.
Rahab the Hopeful
Previously, Israel had been freed from 430 years of slavery and 40 years of wandering in the wilderness due to disobedience. They were finally beginning their pilgrimage to take the land that God had promised to them and Jericho was one of the first cities they had come to destroy per God’s orders.
Joshua was in command at the time and he sent 2 spies to go in and scout the city. The Bible does not say precisely how it all happened but it does say that the men went into Rahab’s house and stayed there.
Was it through the window in the wall? That would easily cause suspicion. Was it sticking out like a sore thumb while going through the town? Possibly. Maybe Rahab even noticed they were different and knowing the Israelites were going to invade had invited them to her home to protect them. Maybe it was more simple and she just wanted to talk to them. One thing we do know is that it was not because of anything to do with her profession.
Either way, we don’t know how they got to Rahab’s house. But what we do know is that they were there and people told the king of Jericho that they were at her specific house. Since it wasn’t Rahab who ratted them out then someone must have been watching them wherever they went.
When men came to her house to take the spies she had already hidden them on the roof of her home. When they ordered her to give them up she lied and said that there were indeed men that came to her home but she didn’t know where they were. She made up a story that they had left in the dark when the main city’s gate was closing for the night. She even tempted them saying that if they leave quickly to pursue them they would catch them for sure.
It worked and the soldiers chased after them and the gate was shut once they were out. The spies, now safe for a while, were met on the roof by Rahab. She had risked her own life to help these men. But why? They were the enemy. They were coming to destroy all of those who lived in Jericho, including her. What could have possibly caused her to do something so dangerous and self-harming?
She did it because of her faith. She tells the spies that all of Jericho had heard of Israel’s God and His amazing miracles. How He had caused the Red Sea to dry up and got them out of slavery in Egypt. How they had utterly destroyed the two mighty Amorite kings when they refused to let them pass by their land.
The gods of Jericho had never done anything like that. This type of phenomenon was unheard of in any other nation. This caused such a deadening fear amongst the city of Jericho, that as she says it, “our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man.”
This is the biggest reason why I love Rahab. She didn’t have to see the miracles to believe them. She didn’t have to read a Bible or be convinced by someone to know God was real. She didn’t even have to say a prayer to have faith. She heard and chose to believe.
She confesses her faith in Joshua 2:11, “for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”
But how does that show only Rahab believed? Wouldn’t others believe too? I mean, they heard the same stories as she did, yet I believe we can conclude only she took it to heart. Because that’s the fascinating thing about God. No matter how few believers there are, he will always save the faithful. And the only one he saved was Rahab and her family.
Think of Sodom and Gomorrah. These were two other cities that God destroyed because of their wicked deeds. But God promised His faithful servant Abraham that he would rescue his nephew Lot and his family. This was a time when only a few were saved from God’s wrath on a city. I also think of Nazareth. Jonah was told to go and tell them that God would destroy their city if they did not repent of their wickedness. The Bible says that those in the city changed their ways and believed in Him. Because of this, He did not pour His wrath upon the city. Instead, their faith saved them.
Now Rahab didn’t know what the Israelites were like. She had never met one and honestly, I would be scared of a nation that went around destroying people and taking their land because their God had promised it to them. Especially since she had the knowledge that they were there to destroy Jericho. Why should they care about her? Well, that would be a great motive for her to hide and keep them safe.
Rahab was hopeful. She was hoping they would be kind to her and her family because of her kindness to them. She pleaded with the spies to spare her and her parents, siblings, and all that they had from death when they came to destroy Jericho. (Which, by the way, shows that she believed their God would give them the victory.)
This shows the point I made before that Rahab must have loved her family. This is going to sound horrible but if she didn’t like her family wouldn’t this be the perfect time for them to disappear forever? If she did not invite them into her home they would have died with the rest of the city. She would not be to blame because it was the Lord that did it. She would be free to live the life that she chose with no extra baggage. But she didn’t. She brought them in. She gave them refuge. She wanted them to stay a part of her life.
They agreed and went a step further. The day that the Lord gave them the land they would not just spare their lives, but would also treat them kindly and truly. They would not be seen as God-forsaken Caananites, but as ones that had faith in God.
There is much more to this story and if you would like to hear what happened between the spies and Rahab, click here. To learn about the fight and miracle God performed, click here.
Looking to the future, Rahab had no idea when the attack would be, and neither did she know what was going to happen next. But she believed the words the spies spoke when they said they would save her and her father’s house. She believed that keeping the red cord on the window, which the spies told her to do, would keep them safe. She believed that her family had to be with her in her house for them to not be destroyed. She wholeheartedly believed every word that they said.
To Have Faith as Rahab
If only we could all have the same faith as Rahab! To believe without seeing and to be confident in the words spoken to us. To be brave enough to ask for our own needs and desires, not just for ourselves, but also for others.
Rahab’s story of faith is a perfect example of what God’s salvation looks like for all. The process of salvation that she went through is the same for us even today.
- She was a sinner with a sinful past.
- She heard of the one true God and thought about Him carefully from her own life’s experiences.
- She chose to believe in God and desired to have Him become her one and only God.
- She acts upon her faith by helping those who loved God.
- She boldly confesses her faith in Him.
- She makes her requests known to those who can ask God on her behalf.
- She patiently and earnestly awaited the future God had promised her.
Today our salvation is very similar to that in the Old Testament. We are all born in our sin and commit sins even unknowingly. However, stories of God’s greatness, our searching for the truth, God’s pricking of our hearts, and speaking with other Christians lead us to Jesus. In the New Testament, Jesus finished God’s perfect salvation process. He made it so anyone, anywhere, and at any time can be saved and talk directly to God through him. To learn more about Jesus and His salvation, click here.
It is then up to us what we are going to do with this knowledge. Will we reject it? Will we accept it and boldly confess our faith to others? What we do at this point determines our future.
If you choose to reject Christ then let me warn you. Those with knowledge of God are punished far worse than those who have never heard of His salvation. When you willfully reject God you are then given a more tormented life after death.
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
John 3:36 NKJV
From this verse, we can see that once we believe in Jesus, God’s son, we will have everlasting life after death. Although Jesus had not come yet during Rahab’s life, I believe she was still saved and going to heaven. I understand that I can truly never know a person’s heart, only God knows it. But the Bible does say that we know a man by his works. And although works cannot save you, nor make you more righteous than another, the Bible does say that faith without works is dead.
James 2:5- “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him?”
James 2:17-18- “Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
James 2:24-26- “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
I believe that, based on the little knowledge we have of Rahab after the fall of Jericho, we can see her good works and her faith show true. One of these verses even says that Rahab was justified by her work of helping the spies.
Rahab the Blessed
When Israel was ready to attack Jericho the two spies were given special orders by their leader, Joshua. He told them that instead of fighting they were to bring Rahab and her family out of the city and have them come to the camp of Israel.
When the walls fell down and only her house was left it would have been easy for the Israelites to know who they were not to attack. And with her house being right on the edge of the city it wouldn’t have been far to reach the Israelite camp. She did not perish because of her faith (Hebrews 11:31). Everything works out for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28).
Now that we know everyone kept their promises and it ended well for Rahab and her family, what happened next? What was her life like? What did she do? What became of her? There is very little information given but I can assure you that she was blessed greatly by God.
Joshua 6:25 shares with us that her whole family was kept alive and that she decided to live with the Israelites for the rest of her life. It even says the phrase to this day but how can that be? Rahab has been dead for many years.
God gave her the greatest blessing anyone could ever have. She became part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. What a great honor for a gentile prostitute that I’m sure she never thought would happen! But how do I know this? Let me show you.
According to Matthew 1:5, she married an Israelite man named Salmon and she was blessed with a son. We know he was an Israelite because she was the mother of Boaz and later in the Bible, we see that Boaz is a well-known Israelite. Thus, if she wasn’t an Israelite then her husband had to be for her son to be an Israelite.
Boaz…doesn’t that name sound familiar? The Boaz that she gave birth to was the same Boaz who married Ruth in the book of Ruth. Just as a child typically learns from their parents, especially their mother, how to act and the difference between right and wrong, I believe that by looking at Boaz’s life we can also get a glimpse into the type of mother Rahab was.
- Boaz was a kind man. He would leave food out in his fields for those that were less fortunate than him.
- Boaz was a compassionate man. He had his servants help Ruth with getting food and allowed her to eat with them as well.
- Boaz had integrity. Not only did he treat Ruth with respect but he was also willing to marry her as his duty to the family.
- Boaz was said to be a worthy man who believed in the Lord.
- Boaz was humble to accept someone that was not an Israelite as his wife, and a widow at that. It makes me wonder if his love and admiration for his non-Israelite mother helped him to not care about Ruth’s origins and instead looked at her heart.
Now that we know who her son was we know that he gave birth to Obed, Obed to Jesse, Jesse to David, (that would be King David), and it is well known that Jesus came from the lineage of David. What a blessing to be given the honor of your seed giving birth to the Messiah of the world!
In Conclusion…
Faith is a powerful thing. It took a poor, unknown prostitute and gave us an example of the type of Christian God wants us to be. The faith that Rahab had in her heart and was portrayed in her life was given a position of great honor. There are only two women talked about in the faith chapter of Hebrews 11, and Rahab is one of them. And if you remember in the beginning I said that there are many women of faith in the Bible. To be chosen as one that God uses for us to remember for all of eternity just goes to show that what happened to this woman and how she reacted and what she believed in is important to our own lives.
But we shouldn’t just read about her. God calls us to be like the faithful who have gone before us. We are to be examples of great faith to other Christians around us. We are to be bold and confident in our relationship with God and confess our faith with our words and deeds.
Will you be a Rahab? Will you have faith in God? God has not finished His work on earth and He is looking for the faithful.
