Rahab — The Woman Who Discovered the Power of Faith

And she said unto the men, As soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath (Josh. 2:9,11).

   There is a higher morality in life than that of personal virtue. It is the morality of atonement and it is based upon faith in what God has done. Herein lies the great hope for all sinners who may be justified or declared righteous before the tribunal of God, before they have any personal righteousness or any meritorious standing. Rahab is a fine illustration of this great Biblical truth of the higher morality.

   Rahab was a base strumpet, a harlot, a woman who submitted to any man who crossed her threshold for sinful purposes, who sold her body for money, and who practiced what has been called "the oldest profession in the world." Ethically and morally speaking, Rahab was anything but the kind of woman one would expect to be singled out as an example in a matter of religious standing.

   Rahab was delivered from her sin and given a place with Sarah in the roster of the heroes of the faith, who were justified and declared righteous (Heb. 11:13). It seems incredible that Rahab should take her place with Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses and the other heroes of the faith, and yet she does. She was given this position not after she reformed, but while she was still a harlot. This seems all the more incongruous

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and yet it sets forth the principle about which we are speaking in a very clear light.

   Rahab was inducted or adopted into the family of the Israelites. She married a prince in Israel, by name Salmon, and she became one of the progenitors of the sinless one, namely, Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:5). The incongruity of this is seen in the attempt by some interpreters to avoid the embarrassment by making the Hebrew word mean, "a landlady" or "a formerly fallen woman," etc. They try to circumvent the direct meaning of the word "harlot," but the very fact of Rahab's sinful condition is the glory of this message. Hence, this should teach us something about the nature of saving faith.

THE STARTLING DISCOVERY OF FAITH

   In the story of Rahab we see faith exhibited in an inhospitable environment, in an immoral woman and in an impending catastrophe, all of which surprises us.

   The environment in which Rahab lived was the Amorite civilization centering in Jericho. These Amorites worshiped Chemosh, Milcom, Baal and Asteroth. These were brutal, vengeful and lustful heathen deities. The worship of Chemosh demanded the offering up of children as living sacrifices to the god and the passing through fire on the part of devotees. The worship of Baal and Asteroth involved immorality. These were fertility deities and they inspired the corruption of a people. The old adage "as gods, as people," applied to the Amorites. The people rise no higher than the gods they worship. If there are immoral and lascivious relationships and vengeful acts in the legends of the gods, the people excuse themselves for practicing similar acts.

   We are not in the dark about the morality of these Amorite peoples. Since the discovery of he Ugaritic tablets at Ras Shamra the condition of the Amorite civilization is plainly known. About this we read, "The myths and practices described in this unique collection of documents reflect the most frightful barbarism and abound in magic rites of gods and demigods that are stupefying, primitive, gross and sensual.

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Particular significance is attached to the rites of the goddess of fertility. The other nations of the old world also worshiped goddesses of fertility, anchoring the cycles of growth and decay, of birth and death to their ritual. But in Canaan they were openly shameless. Mother goddesses were for example, branded as 'holy whores'....

   "The goddesses of fertility were worshiped principally on hills and knolls. Their votaries erected for them Asherim and set out 'sacred pillars' or trees under which the rites were practiced." Compare I Kings 14:23.

   As a result of these religious practices the decadence of the people became complete. It was this corruption and iniquity of the Canaanites which God promised to destroy. He said to Abraham, "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (Gen. 15:16). Four hundred years later when the Israelites invaded Canaan, the cup of iniquity was full and God commanded them to exterminate these corrupt and wicked people. When Jericho was destroyed, it was placed under a special curse of desolation (Josh. 6:26). For us to think of a woman of faith in the midst of this corruption is quite surprising.

   Moreover, we find faith in an immoral woman. Rahab desecrated her body to commercial uses. How she began this sinful practice, we know not. Probably she fell by the usual means: either temptation, or seduction, or perfidy, or force, or alcohol; but whatever the original cause, that first fall was long past and she now lived by means of the prostituting of her body. Hers was the habitual resort to immorality to earn a living. Recently there have been revelations over radio, on television and in the newspapers of similar practices which are going on in the United States. The extent of this practice was shocking and challenging. Students of history know that prostitution has had a place in the life of all peoples, but there is evidence that America today is surpassing in the depth of degradation even the worst periods of history. The house that Rahab maintained was a house of prostitution so marked and so

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known in Jericho. She conducted her evil house with the connivance of the authorities as is done even today.

   Rahab was held in disdain by society. Even in a civilization which practices immorality in its religious rites and maintained temple priestesses who were harlots, a woman like Rahab who made her living by this means was ostracized. It is obvious from the narrative that she was separated from her family and was considered an untouchable. The fact that prostitution becomes a general practice does not remove the stigma from those who are engaged in it. Society exacts a price of ostracism for such.

   We may believe that Rahab had a basic desire for a better life. She had no satisfaction in the worship of Jericho's filthy gods, or in the measure of security which she seemed to get from her business. There was in her a deep yearning for something better and from traveling merchants who used her house on the wall for the dual purpose of an inn and of indulgence, she heard the reports of what had happened to the people of Israel in Egypt and during their wanderings in the wilderness. She knew all about the dividing of the Red Sea and the catastrophe which overtook the Egyptians. She heard about the successful wars which Israel had waged against the people on the other side of Jordan. She knew about the miracles which God had performed for this people and as she heard of these things, hope sprang in her heart that this God might be the answer to her own spiritual problems. Such a hope alone can explain her subsequent action. Her hope was based upon a faith in the God of Israel as she later testified to the spies.

   Rahab's faith was displayed in the midst of an impending catastrophe. The time of judgment for the Amorites and for Jericho was imminent. Rahab must have sensed this. Any spiritually sensitive soul today can sense the intimation in our own civilization that judgment is near. We are hearing admonitions of this from military men, diplomats, educators and ecclesiastical leaders. Even the scientists are adding their voice to the chorus. Rahab lived in a time of despair rather than a time of faith and hope. Yet, strange to say, in that despairing

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time hope was born within her heart. This is to say that there are times of catastrophe which produce faith. One can never tell in what area faith will arise. Beauty is often found in unexpected places. Friendship sometimes blooms in the midst of hostility. Thus, we understand the startling nature of this faith in Rahab.

THE SURPRISING DEEDS OF FAITH

   Rahab immediately recognized these two Jewish spies as members of the foreign and invading Israelites, yet she received them into her home. This act is called by James a justifying work (James 2:25). It was an act which grew out of her faith and demonstrated her faith. James makes it parallel to Abraham's being justified by his willingness to offer Isaac on the altar. In both cases the works grew out of their faith.

   Rahab's act constituted treason. She immediately recognized the men as those who had come to spy out the land for the purpose of conquest (Josh. 2:2). Had Rahab been discovered harboring, protecting and aiding the escape of these spies, no mercy would have been shown to her by the king of Jericho. Rahab must have immediately sensed the difference between these men who came to seek refuge in her home and those who came for a sinful purpose. They became the messengers of God to her. It was possible for God to convert her without the instrumentality of these spies, but according to the Bible God uses means in order to bring people to a faith in Him. Hence, we may believe that when Rahab made it known to them that she recognized who they were, they preached to her and answered her questions. She was even able to comfort them in their fear of what could happen to them by her faith in the God of Israel who had done wonders, who had made the land to tremble before them, and who is the God of heaven and of earth (Josh. 2:9-11).

   Rahab decided for the God of Israel. She confesses her faith in God over against all the gods of the Amorites. She said, "For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." On this ground, she asked for mercy to be

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extended to herself, to her parents, and to her family, for she believed that the God of the Israelites would deliver Jericho into their hands. Thus, Rahab committed herself to the deliverance of these Israelites at the peril of her own life. She took them to the roof of her house and hid them in the stalks of flax. This flax undoubtedly was used for making linen and occupied Rahab during certain hours of the day and supplemented her income. Rahab then lied unto the emissaries who were sent by the king to discover the men who had been seen to enter her home. It would have been an easy thing for her to inform on these spies, to have them turned over to the king of Jericho, and to have thus participated in their death. However, Rahab took her stand with them and delivered them. Rahab thus illustrates how important it is to act upon the knowledge which one possesses. To wait, to toy with the possibilities, to debate over the knowledge of the Gospel is to lose one's opportunity. She heard the Word, she saw the opportunity and she acted. Her decision was fraught with great consequences and so is the decision of every man who faces the content of the Gospel.

   Rahab's faith was demonstrated by her intercession for her family. This was the first evidence of her changed life (Josh. 2:13). Rahab had been separated from her parents and family probably due to her profession, yet she immediately forgave this separation, and condemnation and sought their salvation. She did not want to be saved alone. She had a burden for her family. This is evidence of a true conversion. When an individual finds the forgiveness of his own sins and his own deliverance, he immediately begins to think of others and the natural thing is to begin with his own family. In this, Rahab is an example of what happens to every saved sinner. A prominent New Testament example of this is the conversion of Matthew after which he immediately gave a dinner to all his former publicans and friends at which he introduced Jesus to them as his Saviour. This was the time when Matthew made his clean break with his former profession and began to follow the Saviour. No one is truly saved who does not immediately

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feel the burden for and desire for the salvation of those with whom he formerly practiced his sin.

   Thus, the covenant made with Rahab by these spies was extended to her family. All who were in her house, marked by the scarlet cord, would be saved. This also is a Biblical truth. Paul said to the Philippians jailer, "Believe  on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). The Lord promises household salvation. The covenant position of believers even includes the unbelieving husband, or the unbelieving wife so that their children are holy (I Cor. 7:14). Hence, when we become converted and enter the covenant, it is our responsibility to get our family under the blood. Rahab went to them and witnessed of Israel's God and of the impending judgment. That she succeeded was evident in the fact that they took refuge within her house while the Israelites were marching around Jericho during the critical week. Her success should be compared with Lot's failure in Sodom. Lot was not able to win his sons-in-law and even members of his own family.

    THE SAVING DESTINY OF FAITH

   Rahab was delivered from judgment. She was secure even in the most dangerous place during the attack of the Israelites upon Jericho. Her house was situated on the wall. The wall was the first structure to collapse at the time of the attack and yet, in the midst of the heat of the battle, Rahab's house was maintained and she was physically delivered by those whom she had harbored. Her family was gathered in that house. This is evidence of what a convincing evangelist she was during those few days between the departure of the spies and the fall of Jericho. These members of her family watched the Israelites through the window out of which the spies had escaped as they marched around the city of Jericho. Each day that multitude followed the priest around the town once. On the seventh day they marched around the town seven times. Possibly some of the members of the family cast mocking, slurring, unbelieving remarks concerning the Israelites, but Rahab's

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faith extended beyond the Israelites unto their God and that faith was exemplified by the red cord that floated from her window. She saw God in those hosts and through her faith came her salvation and the salvation of her family. The people of Jericho were exterminated but Rahab and her family were saved.

   Rahab was also delivered from a sinful past. In the destruction of Jericho, Rahab's house of prostitution tumbled down never to be used again. In this event the career of corruption of Rahab was ended. She was sanctified by a faith which separated her from Jericho and identified her with Israel, the people of God. This was the beginning of a life of identification with the people of God. Rahab began a life of faith and purity which terminated in her marriage to Salmon (Matt. 1:5) who was probably one of the spies whom she had befriended.

   By her faith Rahab was delivered from oblivion. No doubt there were many more virtuous women in Jericho and even in Israel of that generation than was Rahab, and yet they were buried unknown and unsung. However, the memory of Rahab is enshrined in the book of the heroes of the faith. She takes a noble place with Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David. More than this, she became an ancestress of the Lord Jesus Christ by her marriage to Salmon who was the ancestor of Boaz, who was the ancestor of David, who was the ancestor of Christ. Thus, through faith, Rahab experienced the fullness of deliverance.

   Rahab stands as an evidence of salvation, of justification by faith. She believed when others did not. She chose the people of God and the God of Israel as her God. She dedicated her all to God and hazarded her very security upon this faith. She acted on her faith as was symbolized by the scarlet cord. Thus those who put their faith in the promise of salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ will find their security and their deliverance. Quite correctly the scarlet cord had stood for the atoning blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through which a sinner, while yet in his sins, may be forgiven, justified and regenerated

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so that out of that experience he may be a new creature, separated unto God and the people of God. Rahab will forever stand as an illustration and proof of the atonement as the higher morality established by God.

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