Rahab the prostitute who helped

Joshua Chapter 2

Joshua sent out to spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia. He told them to spy on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho. So the two spies set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night. But someone told the king of Jericho that some Israelites had come to spy out the land. So the king send orders to Rehab to bring out the men who have come into her house.

Rahab, had hidden the two men and told the king that the men were there earlier, but had gone from the city at dusk as the city gates were about to close. She suggested if the king’s men hurried, maybe they could catch up with them. (But she had taken the Israelites up to the roof and hidden them beneath piles of flax).

Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab told them that she believed the Lord had given them the land. She told them, that Jericho was afraid of the Israelites because the people had heard how the Lord made a dry path through the Red Sea for them when they left Egypt. And they knew what the Israelites did to Sihon and Org and the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, whose people were destroyed. She told them she knew their Lord God was the supreme God of the heavens and earth. Then she asked the Israelite spies to swear to her by their Lord that they would be kind to her and her family, since she helped them. She asked for a guarantee that when Jericho was conquered, she would be let live, along with her whole family and their families.

The Israelite spies agreed to Rahab’s guarantee of safety, if she did not betray them. They vowed to keep their promise when the Lord gave them the land.

Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the city wall, she let them down by a rope through the window and told them to escape to the hill country, hide there for 3 days until the searchers gave up and returned to Jericho.

Before they left, the men told her that they could guarantee her safety “only if you leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window. And all your relatives must be here inside the house. If they go out into the street, they will be killed. But no one in the house would be killed. If you betray us, we are not bound by this oath, they said”. And Rahab agreed to their terms and hung the scarlet rope in the window.

The spies stayed in the hill country for three days while the king’s men searched for them and returned to Jericho. Then they crossed the river and repeated to Joshua all that had happened and that they were confident the Lord will give the Israelites the whole land because the people in Jericho were terrified of the Israelites.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: Rahab was a woman who was commended for her faith in God. Her lie is not mentioned, possibly because God forgave her, or she was simply deceiving the enemy which was normal behavior in wartime, or because she was not a Jew and not held responsible for keeping moral standards of God’s law, or because she broke a lesser principle (telling the truth) to uphold a high principle- protecting God’s people. Under the pressure of the moment, Rahab made a choice. A choice that God did not judge her for, but commended her.
Many find it hard to believe that God chose a prostitute, a pagan to save the Israelite spies. But God found in her heart the ability to recognize that God is not an ordinary god. Clearly Rahab is an interesting woman of the Bible, supporting her family the only way she could. In Joshua’s time, many cities had two city walls and houses were built by laying wooden logs across the tops of the two walls. She may have had a window in the house to look out over the outside wall.

How does this chapter relate to us today? God used a prostitute to help his people, how extraordinary is that? We have learned how our powerful Lord can destroy whole armies and yet save a prostitute’s family from death. God uses all kinds of people to get his message across. He might be using you right now. I like to think Rahab was a female warrior for God. I like to think he has a role for all of us, even today, just think of us as warriors ALL. Carrying God’s message to the world. What a great idea though one as old as time; we carry the good news to everyone in the world. This chapter shows it can be done by even the most humble of servants. Praise be to God!

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:
Health: Gabe, Wanda, Janice Long’s parents, Teli’s family, Logan and the newly born Stella who is taking mother’s milk now and Lori and her family.
Spiritual Uplifting: Gail, Mary
Restoration of faith: Al, John
Love and support for: Claire, Hunter
Support: Haiti, Chile, those cleaning up the gulf coast oil spill and those who lost their livelihood there. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.