God delights in using all kinds of people to do His work. The only qualification for God to use us is our faith in Him; will we trust Him to keep His promises? “Faith is the conviction that God will do what He has promised,” is how Jack Countryman puts it in one of his devotional books.*
Rahab was likely the owner of an inn in Jericho, and is identified in Joshua 2:1 as a harlot, a prostitute. As we saw in last week’s blog, God saw something in her that prompted Him to save her from the calamity about to befall Jericho.https://www.cosdavis.com/three-days-two-spies-and-one-prostitute-continued/
Rahab was a Moabite, but she expressed a faith in God that many of God’s chosen people had failed to do. Her faith qualified her to be a true child of God, because true children of God become His through faith in Him. Hebrews 11:31 cites her as a faith hero because she met the sole criterion for inclusion: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to Him must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Rahab’s story covers most of the second chapter of Joshua, couched between Joshua’s assignment of the two spies in Joshua 1:1 and their safe return because of her heroic act of faith in Joshua 1:22-24. After I give my “nutshell” version of how the story begins, I will return to some specific questions and observations about this woman’s faith in God.
The story begins with the spies arriving at Rahab’s house, but somehow they were noticed, and the king learned of their mission. The king of Jericho sent Rahab an order: “Bring out the men that have come to you…for they have come to search out the land.” She anticipated what would happen and hid the spies under some stalks of flax on the roof of her house. So, how did she respond to the king’s order? She told a half-truth, which was also a half-lie. “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from…the men went out; I do not know where they went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” Soon after the king’s men left and closed the city gate, Rahab went to the spies with her plan to save them, herself, and her family.
Time was of the essence, and she had to work quickly and wisely to accomplish her goal. What did Rahab want to do? What did she know that prompted her “deal” with the spies? How did she demonstrate her faith? How did the spies respond to her proposal? How did Rahab’s actions contribute to God’s plan?
What did Rahab want? After she had deceived the king’s men and sent them on a meaningless chase, she came to the spies and told them what she wanted from them: “Now therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give a pledge of truth. And spare my father and my mother and my brothers and sisters, with all that belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” Joshua 2:12-13
Rahab knew she and her family were in mortal danger and needed to be saved from what was about to happen.
What did Rahab know that made her fear for her life and her family’s? What struck fear in her heart? News of what the Lord had been doing for Israel had been circulating for many years. Look at what she said had caused the fear of the Lord to come upon her. “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted 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 utterly destroyed. And when we heard it, our hearts melted, and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” Joshua 2:9-11
Rahab’s fear of God told her it was time to take action. Wisely, she did not ignore the imminent warning and took action to save herself and her family.
How did the spies respond to Rahab’s plan? Think about what she did. Because of her faith in Israel’s God, she had put her life in jeopardy if the king discovered what she had done. By doing this, she saved the spies. She had risked everything and boldly petitioned these representatives of the Lord for what she knew only God could give her. Wow! What faith!
Joshua 2:14 tells us how the men responded to her bold faith. “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
Rahab was assured of what she asked for, but the spies required one more thing she must do to complete the agreement. How does the story end? To be continued…