Hebrews 11: 30-31:By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
James 2:25: In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gaged lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
Joshua 2: 1-24: 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 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.”
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.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and 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. 10 We 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.
11 When 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.
12 “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”
14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”
17 Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”
21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”
So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”
Rahab Is a Prostitute
Her home is in the city wall. In fact, she would sit at her window and entice visitors to the city to visit her, calling our and demeaning herself.
We get a picture of a lady who has to do this to support her family. Jericho is an unkind place to live. The rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer.
Rahab has a family. Later she mentions them when she brokers a deal with the spies.
12 “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”
It is not a great leap of logic to assume that this close knit family depends upon her ability to sell herself. She is trapped.
How many hearts do you think she had broken?
How many homes do you think she had destroyed?
How many families had she torn apart?
How many marriages had she ruined?
How despised she would have been by those women in the city of Jericho?
She was an outcast in a city that hated her.
Rahab Knows There is a God
Joshua 2:8-11: 8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and 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. 10 We 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. 11 When 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.
In verse 9 she tells them that everyone in the city is frightened about the presence of the Israelites are across the Jordan River.
It's not the numbers of the Israelites that scares them. They've encountered large armies before; Jericho has a reputation for being impenetrable.
She and her people are frightened, because of some events that had happened some 40 years earlier - the crossing of the Red Sea, and the defeat of the kings Sihon and Og.
Rahab did not experience any of those events directly. She did not see them with her own eyes. Personally, she knows nothing about God. She has no idea of any of hHis teachings.
She does not know what is required of her to be forgiven of her sins for God has not revealed to her what kind of animal she is to sacrifice as a sin offering.
All She has to go by is what she has heard about this awesome God and that was enough for her to be willing to put her life on the line.
In fact, the spies knew this as part of their history, but these guys are the children of those who crossed the Red Sea - they have it in their history, but in their own story. Rahab seems to honour God more than them! They will soon cross the Jordan (Joshua 3) miraculously with the people of Israel, but haven't yet.
How great is your God today believer? You see the unsaved will have various options about what a Christian should belie and behave! They will have an idea that if God exists, what He would be like (even if it is incorrect).
Rahab knows that if the reputation of Yahweh is correct it is time to jump into the winning side!
Do not take your salvation for granted. Do not allow complacency and compliance to the world to take over your life (Romans 12:2). Be daring! Be courageous! Be free!
If you find your experience of God is based on the experience of the previous generation it is because you have not placed a demand upon His presence in your life.
Rahab Declares Her New Found Faith
In an hostile environment Rahab declares her new found faith in God. She hangs the scarlet thread out of her window.
21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”
So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
Nothing had changed yet. The city had not changed around her. She and her family remain huddled up in the home (17-19). Her prostitution has ended though. She has to share this place with her family now.
There is such a richness in this symbolism. The scarlet thread is a reminder of how the children of Israel were finally delivered from Pharaoh in the last plague of Egypt. When the angel of death came he left untouched the homes of the Israelites who had the scarlet blood on the lintels of their homes (Ex 12:13).
It is reminding us of the saving power of the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9). That you are His precious possession.
This is the sign for the Lord to spare her and her family with her.
Rahab has to Wait
She knows a change is coming but not when. How many times had men promised her that they would come back, rescue her and save her from this life of harlotry? How many had returned? None.
Yet she trusts in these men. Not because of who they are, but because of Whom their God is.
Don't think for one moment her rescue was instant. it took time. It's not clear how long but at least 23-31 days. That's a long time when you're used to disappointment and heartache.
The hardest place for Christians to be is between the bow and the target. You know God has something special planned but He seems to take his time! In flight the arrow had nothing to do but allow the force that is propelling them to do its job.
Be patient! Do not try an rush the processes of God in your life. Allow Him time to refine you and prepare you.
Rahab is packing her bags and convincing her family it will all be ok.
Rahab has to Leave the Ruins
It is hard to let go of our own past sometimes. Rahab had to leave the ruins of her life. She could have become a hermit, an eccentric living in the demolished city. She could have held on for years in burnt out ruins.
After the fall of Jericho the first thing that happens is this:
Joshua 6:22-23:[22] Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her. " [23] So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
Time and again I meet Christians who do not walk fully in their redemption. They hold on to the old ruins of their lives: their unforgiveness, their past failures, their past labels, their hurts. It is easier to do this than to leap out on the invisible but solid floor of God's amazing grace.
There is always a choice for us. There is a choice to follow Jesus or a choice to sit in the rubble of rebellion.
Rahab is Redeemed
Rahab is a foreshadow of God's grand design for the world. She is the first recorded gentile convert.
All through the Bible, wherever her name is mentioned, right next to it are the words, “The Prostitute”. Rahab, The Prostitute. Except one. One place she is known as Rahab, mother of Boaz.
Matthew 1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab….
This is in the geanaolgy of Jesus recorded in Matthew’s gospel.
We discover that she marries. She marries a Jew by the name of Salmon. She has a son, Boaz. If his name sounds familiar to you it is because he is a pivotal figure in another biblical book, Ruth.
He is the distant relative who redeems Ruth, as a biblical ‘type’ of Christ. He frees Ruth from hardship, gives a her a new life, gives her fresh opportunity but, more importantly, a new identity.
Why do you think he did this? Well Ruth was probably attractive. She probably flicked some switches for him. Yes, he was probably honouring the traditions of the day and taking her on when her closest relative did not want to do so (Ruth 3:12-13).
I also think he was influenced by his own mother's experience - she had been redeemed, saved, shown forgiveness, brought into the Jewish nation and given a fresh opportunity, a clean slate, a new start and a fresh identity. Rahab becomes the great-grandmother of King David!
This is what God does for us through Jesus Christ. You have a new start. You have a new opportunity. You have forgiveness. You have a new identity. A new citizenship (Phil 3:20).
For some you still might be known as the name of your past. You might be known as the troublemaker, the fraudster, the liar, the cheat, the adulterer, the wheeler-dealer, but God knows you as His child. You are adopted. Set free. Changed!
There is no recored of Rahab following her old trade when she is saved. She turns and follows God and raises at least one godly child!
Wrapping this up:
Do you find yourself in the middle of something and life is changing?
Do you run the risk of sitting in the ruins of the past when you should moving into your future?
Have you truly lived in your redemption?
Respond to God now.
Reaffirm Jesus as your Saviour and hang the scarlet thread over your life!
Come and collect a scarlet ribbon as your response to remind you of your trust in Christ as your Saviour!
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