Rahab

Joshua 2:1-14

Joshua sends two men into the promised land to spy out Jericho. They stay at Rahab’s house, and the king of Jericho hears about it and sends men there to capture them. Rahab protects the spies by hiding them on the roof, while misleading the king’s men.

Rahab makes an agreement with the spies that she will keep their whereabouts a secret, if they will guarantee her and her family’s safety when Israel attacks Jericho. The spies agree on the condition that Rahab tie a crimson cord in her window and keep everyone inside once the attack starts. Rahab agrees.

Scholars wonder why this story of Rahab is inserted here. The narrative flows smoothly from Joshua 1 to Joshua 3.  The reason might be to highlight early how Israel will implement the command in Deuteronomy 20 where it directs to completely annihilate the people of the towns that the LORD is giving them as their inheritance. Even though the people of Jericho will be destroyed, Rahab and her family will be spared. So, there will be room for people to be saved who profess faith in the LORD.

We see the perfect planning of the LORD at work. All the big show of power that took place during the Exodus – The ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army – They were meant to drive fear into the hearts of all the people in the region. It was so effective that Rahab and the inhabitants of Jericho are still familiar with what the LORD did some forty years later.

So why did Rahab risk herself in protecting the spies? Rahab’s belief that the God of Israel is the one that rules heaven and earth is the starting point. Further, she believes that the LORD will give the land into Israel’s hands. She believes that the destruction of Jericho is imminent.  Her focus is the wellbeing of her family. To protect her and her family, she is willing to put herself at risk with the king’s men, while protecting Joshua’s spies. She is hoping that by protecting the spies, she can earn protection for her family.

It can be said that Rahab’s is an act of faith. Even though she knows little about the LORD except for His actions in the Exodus, she stakes her and her family’s life on her belief that the LORD is the God over heaven and earth and that He will keep His promise to the Israelites. She also believes that the LORD can act in mercy and spare her and her family.

So, she is willing to bet their lives on the future mercy of God, at the risk of the anger of her own earthly king.

We can see some parallels to Rahab’s story with the Passover. The Israelites locked themselves inside their homes with blood on the door frames. When the angel of death came, the households with the blood on the door were spared. In Rahab’s case, the crimson cord on the window would be the sign for the Israelite army to spare them from death.

It is also of note that according to the Gospel according to Matthew, Rahab is the mother of Boaz, who marries Ruth. This makes Rahab the great-grandmother of King David. The letter to the Hebrews mentions Ruth among the heroes of faith for her actions. And the letter of James mentions Rahab as an example of one who acted in faith, just before his famous words, “. . . faith without works is also dead.”

Back in Numbers, when Moses sent out the spies into the promised land, he did so because he was following the command from the LORD. There is no indication that the LORD commanded Joshua to send in the two spies. So, it seems that Joshua did this on his own initiative. It is puzzling as to the reason for doing this, right after the LORD directly assured him that He will bring victory and success in the conquest of the land. Moreover, all the two spies did were go to a brothel, hide for three days, and report to Joshua what they heard from Rahab. Not necessarily a successful espionage trip.

Although this story of Rahab seems like an insignificant narrative which does not really advance the narrative, it ends up being an important one. An example of an ordinary woman who acts according to her strong belief in the power and mercy of the LORD to save herself and her family stands as an example to all of us. Through Rahab’s act of faith in the LORD, she is saved from death and is allowed to live as part of the nation of Israel. She ends up being an ancestor to Jesus Christ. And she is such a good example that two separate books of the New Testament use her as a positive illustration of faith.

Rahab was able to act in faith, even though she had no guarantees that the LORD and the Israelites would spare her and her family. But through the Bible, we have guarantees. If we repent of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are guaranteed to have our sins forgiven, guaranteed to being accepted into the family of God as daughters and sons, and guaranteed that the final death will pass over us into eternal life with our Lord. And we are given a vocation from the LORD – To be witnesses to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

So, when the time comes to act in faith, let our faith move us into action, like it did for Rahab.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship service on January 12, 2025.)