By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. (Hebrews 11:31, NKJV).
Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, (Matthew 1:5, NKJV).
Rahab was a porne [por'-nay], a prostitute who sold her body to others for their base sexual use. She was a pagan in a city of pagans who worshipped blood-thirsty idols demanding child sacrifice.
She is good news for us all. Notice how the writer of Hebrews brilliantly summarizes her importance: By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish…
A Caanannite woman on the lowest rungs of Jericho's society - a liar, a traitor to her earthly sovereign, a whore, and yet beloved by a merciful God - in due time, became a pillar in the genealogy of Jesus, for her son was Boaz, grandfather of King David.
Questions surrounding her behavior abound. Could she have told the truth about the Hebrew spies and still saved them? Why did they go into her house in the first place? Why was she brought before her king for interrogation? Was she routinely watched? Did she have routine connection to the king's court?
Whatever answers are arrived at for these questions are necessarily speculative. The Bible does not provide any additional details beyond the concise facts presented in the account in Joshua 2.
But the most important question, the one that shatters our own preconceptions of who God uses and why, the one that tells us more about our loving heavenly Father than it does about anything else, is this question: how did she warrant saving?
And the answer to this query is spelled out in great detail in various places in Scripture, and destroys irrevocably every single supposed basis for legalism, Christian moral superiority, and any and all arguments in favor of our own self-righteousness.
Rahab is good news indeed, for, whatever else her life illustrates, the shining beacon of her biography is the unspeakable grace and mercy of our God.
God is not a respecter of the outward person. He looks at the heart. This is a double-edged sword, meaning that it cuts through the white-washed veneer of any public righteousness, and pierces into the thoughts and intents of the hidden heart.
Rahab was saved because she heard about the wonders of God's miraculous dealing with the Children of Israel in the wilderness, and believed. His works had become known throughout Canaan, as had His decree of doom on that people. But she alone responded in faith.
Listen to the momentous words she spoke to the spies:
“I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. “For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. “And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. “Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, “and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:9-13, NKJV).
In His grace and mercy, the Lord made known to her His reality and power, and enabled her heart to be softened to His truth in a way that no other household in that evil city had. All had heard, but only she believed. And somehow she knew that God and His people were the only hope for her pitiful life.
Like all who come to believe, she was at the end of herself and realized the futility of relying on her own resources. It did not matter what sin comprised her life before that moment. It did not matter how deep and long-lived was her guilt. What mattered was her faith in the God of Heaven and earth.
Not only did she seek mercy for herself, but also that the Children of Israel would "spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death."
She risked everything that was in front of her and upon which she had depended her entire life for the merest prospect of a future with God. She decided solely by faith and not by sight, and her desperate courage was rewarded for all posterity.
And God, who is rich in mercy and because of His great love, granted her request and saved her alive.
But He did not stop there. Because He also abounds in grace, He made Rahab one of His own, and set her into the lineage of Messiah, Savior of the World.
Rahab's redemption means that no one is beyond God's forgiveness. Her example should give hope to even the most miserable and dejected and depraved souls; souls considered worthless and hopeless and beyond redemption. There is nothing too hard for God.
Rahab also reminds us that it is not the proud and self-righteous God lifts up and saves, for there were undoubtedly many in that dark city who thought themselves far better than this lowly prostitute. Rather, it is those who, coming to the end of themselves, reach out in humility to the only One who can save.
Let her life be a lesson to us all.
