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.

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.”

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. 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.”  (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 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.

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof  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. 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. 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.

“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 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.”

“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.”

So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 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.”

Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 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. 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. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

“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.

A prostitute. Amongst the names of men who are considered righteous or Fathers of the faith, we find a prostitute. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is also the God of Rahab. The God who deemed Noah the only righteous person of his day, the God who called Moses his friend, is now the God who shares company with a prostitute. A woman of ill repute.

Not only does she share his company, but the reason she gets included in this series is because she is part of Jesus’ family line. Amongst the patriarchs listed in Matthew 1, we find the names of just four women, of whom Rahab is one. The great- many times over- grandmother of Jesus, was a prostitute.

Rahab also gets mentioned by James, “In the same way, was not Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” (James 2:25) And it comes right before one of his famous phrases, “faith without deeds is dead.” (2:26)

She also gets named in the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 11. David, considered Israel’s greatest king and a man after God’s own heart, gets mentioned in passing, but Rahab gets a verse all to herself. “By faith, the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” (Hebrews 11:31)

Rahab, a woman deemed at the bottom of society, was deemed by God a righteous woman of faith.

It doesn’t matter what we did in the distant past, or what we did yesterday. What matters is what we do in this moment. Do we act out of faith or do we turn away from God? What we have done nor who we are judged by society has no bearing on how God sees us. He looks at our heart. He knows what is there. He knows who we really are. That’s what matters. Outside appearances can be deceiving.

Let us pray.

Thank you God that our past doesn’t hold us back from you. Thank you that by your grace you forgive us all things and deem us righteous in your eyes. Thank you that you see in us things that even we don’t see ourselves. Thank for the gift of grace and salvation that you give us. Amen.

Questions

Is there anything in your past, whether distant or this morning, that brings you shame? Bring it to the light and share it with God. Ask him to help you release the shame.

Have you judged others by their position in society or outside appearances? Confess this to God and ask him to help you see others as he sees them.

Read through the list of Old Testament saints listed alongside Rahab in Hebrews 11. How do you want to be remembered?