Women of the Bible Lesson 20 Rahab: A Story of Faith and Redemption

Today we will be diving into the life of Rahab. I want us the see the beauty of God’s grace and love through her beautiful story of faith and redemption.   

Rahab was a Canaanite, a woman, and a harlot.  Any one of these three “titles” should have disqualified her from being used by God in that time in history.  However, God looks on the heart rather than on the outward appearance.  1 Samuel 16:7b, “For the Lord sees not as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (MEV) 

As we will see in this study, God can and will use those who seem unlikely candidates if they put their faith in Him.  He is no respecter of people.  Romans 12:11, For God judges all people in the same way. (ICB) 

Rahab had a fear of God and chose to put her faith in Him.  She not only believed but she put her faith into action. 

James 2:14 and 17, What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? 17So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective]. (AMP) 

Rahab believed God and stepped out in faith.  I will touch briefly on five actions Rahab took that showed her fear of God and faith in God.   

First, she hid the spies.  Joshua 2:4 and 6, Now the woman had taken the two men and had hidden them. 6 Yet she had brought them up to the roof. She hid them in the stalks of flax that she had spread out on the roof. (MEV) 

In hiding the spies, Rahab committed an act of treason.  Merriam Webster online dictionary defines treason as: the betrayal of a trust. Rahab knowingly harbored the enemies of the city of Jericho.  She did this with the full realization that if she were caught, she would die along with the spies, yet her fear of and faith in God sustained her.   

Secondly, she told the spies that she knew God had given Jericho into their hands.   

Joshua 2:9 and 11, She said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, for dread from you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land melt in terror before you.” 11 “Our hearts melted when we heard these things, and no man had any breath in him because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.” (MEV) 

Here Rahab was heralding the victory of Israel and God!  She boldly declared her faith in and allegiance to God.  She declared God to be the God of heaven and earth!!  

Third, Rahab lowered the spies out her window in the city wall and told them where to hide.   

Joshua 2:15-16, Then Rahab lowered them by a rope through the window, for her home was set into the wall where she lived. She said to them, “Go to the hill country so that the pursuers do not find you. Hide there three days until the pursuers return. After that, you can go on your way.” (MEV) 

Fourth, she tied the scarlet chord outside her window as the spies instructed.   

Joshua 2:17-18 and 21, The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath that you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this red cord to the window through which you let us down. 21 She said, “Let it be so, according to your words.” Then she sent them off, and they departed. Then she tied the red cord in the window. (MEV) 

Finally, she gathered her family inside her house and stayed there until the spies came for her. 

Joshua 2:18b-19, “You must bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all who belong to your father’s household into your home. Anyone who comes out of the doors of your house into the street is responsible for his own blood, and we will be innocent. Yet for anyone who stays with you inside the house, we are responsible for his blood if someone should lay a hand on him.” (MEV) 

Joshua 6:22-23, Yet to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Enter the prostitute’s house, and bring out the woman and everyone who belongs to her, as you swore to her.” So the young men who had been spies entered and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, everyone who belonged to her, and her whole extended family. They brought them out and placed them outside of the camp of Israel. (MEV) 

I want now to draw our attention to a few things in this story and how they apply to our lives today.  

First, it is important to note that Rahab’s faith was based on hearing, not on sight.  She had only heard the stories of God’s miracles. She had not seen them firsthand.  

Romans 10:17, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (NASB)  

John 20:29, Jesus *said to him, “Because you have see Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed. (NASB)  

When we are in situations that seem grim or difficult, do we look at our circumstances and allow them to dictate our actions and attitudes, or do we look at the Word and see what God has to say about it?  What are we placing our faith in?  How are we walking?  

2 Corinthians 5:7, for we walk by faith, not by sight— (NASB) 

Second, Rahab both feared and believed in a God she did not know over a King and nation that she did know based upon the reports she had heard over the years.  Her fear of God and faith in Him outweighed her fear of the King and prompted her to action.   

Matthew 10:26-28, “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.  What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! 

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (NLT) 

How often do we consider the opinion of men rather than the opinion of God?  I’ve heard it asked and I have even asked myself, “What will they think if I....?”  You fill in the blank.   

Do we fail to walk in obedience because we fear repercussions from man, or do we walk in obedience trusting our God to be faithful to His Word? 

Romans 8:31, What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? (NLT) 

Finally, Rahab made a choice for the future.  She based her choice to protect the spies on faith in what she believed would be rather than in what she could see in her present situation.   

We, like Rahab, must live in the moment but not for the moment.  We must always be looking at what lies ahead.  As kingdom heirs we must take our places of leadership and authority here on earth.  However, we must also remember that this is not our home, we are citizens of heaven!! 

As a result of her fear, faith, and obedience to God, Rahab and her household were saved.  However, her story does not end here.  After leaving Jericho, Rahab and her family joined the Israelites and became one with them.  Rahab married a Hebrew man named Salmon.  In Matthew 1 we find the genealogy of Jesus Christ.  Matthew 1:5, Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.  

In conclusion, it is interesting to note that Rahab was the mother-in-law of Ruth. Because of her faith, she became the mother of Ruth’s kinsman redeemer. Rahab and Ruth, both from pagan nations, found their way into the genealogy of Christ by putting their faith in a God they did not know, based on what they heard about Him.  They both then put actions to their faith and walked in obedience and submission to His leadership.  As I stated at the beginning of this study, God can and will use those who seem unlikely candidates if they put their faith in Him.  

As I studied for this lesson, I felt the Lord prompting me to do a mini-series on our Kingdom authority.  So, beginning next week, we will do a spin-off of Rahab’s story and look at our place in the Kingdom of God.  Like the last “mini-series”, I am not sure how long this will go but if God is in it, we know it will be good!