Mothers Of Messiah-Rahab Of Jericho Series

Introduction: she was one of the most unlikely candidates to ever be in the Messiah’s family tree. She lived in a wicked city in a wicked land, and did not have a very good reputation. But somehow she became a believer in the God of a foreign country and had the privilege of being one of the mothers of the Messiah.

Her name is Rahab, and she was from Jericho.

1 What Rahab did for the spies of Israel

Text, Joshua 2:1-7, KJV: 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. 6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. 7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

Rahab’s story begins as Israel is ready to cross the Jordan River and start living in the Promised Land. Joshua, the leader of Israel at this time, sent a pair of spies to see what they could find out about Jericho and the land. While there, they find Rahab’s house—and her occupation.

Why these two spies came to Rahab’s house is not specified at this time, as well as how soon these two men found out what she did for a living. But it didn’t take long for word to reach the king of Jericho, and he promptly ordered her to turn these two men over to him. He guessed why the spies were in Jericho—they were in town to spy out the city and surrounding area,

Now what was Rahab going to do? Was she going to betray them to the king, or would she do something else?

Rahab decided she would honor the spies who came to her house. That was good, but she lied to the people who came to question her. She said in so many words, “Yes, there were some men who came to me (she was a prostitute, so that could have been an understatement) but I don’t know anything about them. They left about the time the city gates are shut for the night but I don’t know where they were going. If you hurry, you might be able to find them.” Amazingly, the people who were sent believed this, pursuing the spies (they thought) all the way to the fords or crossing points of the Jordan River.

But what the officers didn’t know is that Rahab had already hidden the spies on her rooftop under some stalks of flax. She had already become aware of Israel and Israel’s God. Now she was going to put her faith or belief into action.

The next several verses (8-11) describe some of the reasons Rahab had become a believer in the God of Israel. She mentioned the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground, and what Israel had done to Og and Sihon, kings on the other side of Jordan. She further related that for the people of Jericho, their hearts had melted and nobody had any more courage. This could be verified because there is no record of any military action by Jericho against Israel.

And the thing that seems to indicate she had become a believer is her statement in verse 11 that Jehovah, the God of Israel (usually written as “the LORD” in the KJV) is “God in heaven above and in earth beneath.” No matter when or by what words, her heart knew something was different about the God of Israel and she became a believer in that God!

Even more, she proved her concern for her family. She asked for “a true token (verse 12, KJV)”, also translated as “sign” or “pledge” in other versions that Israel would show kindness to her family, including her parents and siblings. Most people, then as now, seem to be concerned only for themselves but this concern of Rahab for her family speaks volumes. May all of us desire to see our family members taken care of—and even better, prepared to meet the Lord!