Lessons Learned: Rahab

Joshua 2, 6:17, 22-23, Mathew 1:5, James 2:25, and Hebrews 11:31

Rahab was a prostitute which God used to save Israel.  Besides the book of Joshua, Rahab was mentioned three other times in the Bible.  There is not much known about Rahab but if you google her you get a ton of speculation.  One person said she married Joshua but if you read Mathew 1:5 you find it is not true.  She married Salmon who is in the line of David and Jesus.  Many scholars believe she weaved linen clothe because she had flax on her roof.  Others speculate Rahab’s house was large and it could have been an inn.  She also was well known and trusted.  Some say this because the king’s men believed her when she told them the spies left to go back to the Israelites. 

However, she was a woman, and, in her culture, she was considered property by the men in her family until she married.  Then she would be her husband’s property.  It makes me wonder if it was her choice to prostitute herself or was it her father’s.  Even so, she loved her family enough to saved them. 

I imagine Rahab to be an obedient daughter who was very intelligent.  She also must have been beautiful.  I have been told people will tell prostitutes things they may not tell others.  Perhaps, men of high places visited her regularly and told her what was happening.  She was intelligent enough to see God was more powerful than any of the gods her people worshipped. 

Did she hide the spies from her family then later confess to them what she had done?  How did she convince them of the city’s pending doom?  Oh, the fear that must have been in her heart.  Yet she was very brave to do what she did.

Any of this could be true but to God she was willing to put her faith into action.  James 2:24-25 says:

24You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Here is what she said to the two spies of Israel.  The last verse tells of her faith.  She believed God was the God above all. 

8Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.11When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Rahab’s Story (The following is a speculation on what I think Rahab’s life was like. It is fictional.)

I was just fifteen when my father told me I needed to help the family by sleeping with men.  I was scared but I loved my father so much I would do anything for him.  The family linen business helped support the family but it was really not enough for all of us.  We also kept travelers in our large house.  Jericho was a busy place and soon I became very popular with the leaders in the city.  Even the king has sent for me from time to time.  Soon I became so used to this it became easier to become adjusted to the emptiness I felt inside.  I wondered if this was the only kind of love I would have. 

More and more the king sent for me.  He was an arrogant man and demanding.  I hated being with the king, but he paid very well.  My father seemed please the king kept asking for me.  One day the king asked me to be a spy for him.  My father’s house was right on the wall and near the gate.  My part of the house had a large window overlooking the gate and I could see for miles.  The king wanted me to especially look for Israel spies because the king had heard Israel would cross the Jordan and attack the city.

A year ago, a man visited our house and told us about the God of Israel.  He told us about Israel’s history in Egypt and the miracles Israel’s God had done.  Many in the city were very afraid of Israel and their God.  I started to believe the God of Israel was much more powerful our gods.  I wanted to learn more about this powerful God.  I also wanted out of my life of prostitution.  My family became wealthy because of me.  I loved them dearly but at the same time I was hurt deeply they wanted more from me.  I started to form a plan.

What if I got an Israelite spy to come into our house without my parents knowing about it?  I could learn about their God and help them stay safe from the king’s guards.  If I was found out I would surely be put to death.  But if I was successful, I could save myself and my family from the Israel’s attack.

Later, I was looking out the window and saw two men that looked different from the others entering the gate.  I was able to get their attention before they were noticed by the guards at the gate.  I promised to give them information and a place to hide.  I was not really expecting them to come with me to my house but for some reason they did.  I brought them up to our roof while my family was away gathering flax for linen.  We talked awhile and I realized the Israel God was the only real God.  I heard my family coming home so I hid the two men under the flax and told them I would come back later.

Someone must have seen me with the two Israelite men because a short time later a few guards came to our house and asked me to bring the out of the house.  I told them the men had been there but had left.  I told them they were heading back towards the Jordan river and if they hurry the guards could catch them.  The guards believed me and hurried out the gate toward the Jordan river.

Later I went back up to the roof.  I brought the two men down to my room.  I asked them to save me and my family when Israel came to attack.  They said they would.  I had a long, strong red cord and I told them to go down it and head to the hill country opposite to the Jordan and hide in the caves there for three days before going back to their camp across the Jordan.  They said if I leave the red cord in the window until they came to attack everyone in my house would be spared.  One of the men’s name was Salmon and he was very appealing to the eye.  Why can’t I meet a guy like that instead of the multiple men who have forced themselves on me just because I accept money from them?

A few days later the whole army of Israel come across the Jordan.  It was an act of their God because He cause the Jordan to stop and they crossed on dry land.  The whole town became scared and a fear kept everyone who could in the city behind those huge walls.  After a few days the Israelite army started to march around the city.  They did that for six days.  Everyone was confused.  Why are they not attacking?  On the seventh day the Israelites marched around the city seven times.  On the seventh time the ram horns rang out and all the Israelite army shouted!  The walls fell!  Israel attacked and everyone was killed except my family and me.  Salmon came and got me personally.  Others helped get my family to safety.  Later that night Salmon and I had a nice talk.  I learned a lot more about his God.  I think he likes me.   I do not deserve Salmon to like me.  Nor do I deserve a great God to save me.

So, what lessons can we learn from Rahab?  Well, one thing God uses people who are less than perfect.  Yes, sin is sin and we deserve punishment for it, but God made a way to save us from the punishment through His Son, Jesus.  See, God saw the big picture.  He knew Rahab needed to save His people and to be in the linage of Jesus.  He also knew she had enough faith in Him to be a doer not just a hearer.  Rahab had enough faith God would protect her even though she could be killed for what she did.  I want to have enough faith to be brave enough to face my problems like Rahab.

https://www.wiseintentionalleadershipdevelopment.com/

I also read Rahab’s story in this book. You can purchase it at:

A Lineage of Grace By Francine Rivers / Tyndale House In this compilation of the five books of the best-selling Lineage of Grace series by Francine Rivers, we meet the five women whom God chose–Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Each was faced with extraordinary–even scandalous–challenges. Each took great personal risk to fulfill her calling. Each was destined to play a key role in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.

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