The storyline of the Bible is the story of people who by
faith meet God and their lives are forever changed. When we come to Joshua 2,
we meet a very interesting woman named Rahab, and throughout Scripture she is most
often referred to as “Rahab the Harlot”, or the “prostitute”. God choses to
reveal what kind of God He is often by the people He calls and uses to fulfill
His kingdom purposes. When we read the stories of these individuals, we should
find tremendous hope for ourselves as we realize that God is a God of grace,
mercy, and love!
I couldn’t help but think about how we have been studying
about the life of Joshua who was called and prepared by God to take the place
of the great Moses to lead to people into the Promise Land. From being born a
slave in Egypt, redeemed by the blood of a lamb, crossing the Red Sea miraculously,
becoming Moses’ assistant, leading the army of Israel to victory over Amalek, by
faith giving a good report after spying out the land, we see God at work in his
life. He is a godly worshipper. Most of this training took place in the
wilderness outside the Promise Land.
But at the same time God is at work inside the Promise Land,
inside the City of Jericho, the first major obstacle between the people of
Israel and their inheritance. God was revealing Himself to a prostitute that He
was going to use to help the people of Israel conquer this great fortress. And
as we will also find out that God is going to use in another wonderful way! In
one chapter we go from Joshua, a godly worshipper, to Rahab, a pagan, idol
worshipping prostitute. What an amazing story!!!!
Only two women are personally named in Hebrews 11, in the "The
Hall of Fame of Faith": Sarah, the wife of Abraham (v. 11), and Rahab, the
harlot of Jericho (v. 31). Sarah was a godly woman, the wife of the founder of
the Hebrew race; and God used her dedicated body to bring Isaac into the world.
But Rahab was an ungodly Gentile who worshiped pagan gods and sold her body for
money. Humanly speaking, Sarah and Rahab had nothing in common. But from the
divine viewpoint, Sarah and Rahab shared the most important thing in life: They
both had exercised saving faith in the true and living God.
Not only does the Bible associate Rahab with Sarah; but in
James 2:21-26, it also associates her with Abraham. James used both Abraham and
Rahab to illustrate the fact that true saving faith always proves itself by
good works.
But there's more! The Bible associates Rahab with the
Messiah! When you read the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 1, you
find Rahab's name listed there (v. 5), along with Jacob, David, and the other
famous people in the Messianic line. She has certainly come a long way from
being a pagan prostitute to being an ancestress of the Messiah! "But
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom. 5:20).
But keep in mind that the most important thing about Rahab
was her faith. That's the most important thing about any person, for "without
faith it is impossible to please Him [God]" (Heb. 11:6). Not
everything that is called "faith" is really true faith, the kind of
faith that is described in the Bible. For the next few days, we are going to be
looking at Joshua 2 and the kind of faith that Rahab had!
We so often get so accustomed to our “spiritual bubbles”
that we live in, our homes, our church and fellowship groups, that we think
that is the only place God is working! I’m encouraged by the story of Rahab to
know that God is working even in the lives of people that are actively involved
in this wicked evil world, and He is about to change them from a raging “Saul”
to an Apostle Paul, that will turn the world upside down for Jesus!
Remember, God is ready to transform you today by His grace,
mercy, love, and power, to be on mission with Him in changing this sinful world
around us!
God bless!
