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!
The spies agreed to Rahab’s request and promised they would deal kindly with her.
And more.
2 What the spies of Israel promised to Rahab
Text, Joshua 2:15-21, KJV: 15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window
Rahab had already proven her dedication to the spies (and Israel in general) by protecting them. Then she expressed her concern for her family members, requesting mercy and protection for them even as she had protected the two spies. Now she gave them a means of escape and some excellent advice—to exit her house by a rope (“cord”, verse 15) hung out a window and down the city walls. And she told them to hide for three days until the pursuers basically gave up the search. After that, they could “go your way”; most likely she wasn’t exactly sure where these two men had come from.
Now the two spies made additional promises to Rahab. They had already agreed to deal “kindly and truly” with her (verse 14) in reply to her request to let her family survive. Here the spies gave her a couple of conditions to follow, to prove her good faith. First they instructed her to leave that “line of scarlet thread” in the window. This was the same cord or rope these men had used, or would use, to escape. Some Bible teachers have commented that this was much like the blood on the Israelites’ doorposts on the night of the Passover—if there was blood on the doorposts, they oldest child would be spared; but that child would die otherwise. No cord or rope in the window—no guarantee of protection. Those were the terms.
Second, they reminded her that only those in her house, physically, would be spared; if they weren’t inside the house—her house and hers alone—they would be responsible for what happened to them. This would be reasonable because how could anyone prove they were related to Rahab if they weren’t in her house? Again, some have seen a parallel to Noah’s ark, in that those who were in the ark (and there was room for plenty of people) were saved from the Great Flood but those who didn’t all died in that Flood. Opportunity leads to responsibility and these spies were giving Rahab both of these.
With these promises in mind, Rahab sent the men on their way.
And she left that scarlet line in the window. My guess is that she wasn’t about to take any risks: the men had said they—Israel—would be coming to Jericho but they didn’t say when.
Rahab wanted to be ready when they did come back.
3 What Rahab received as a result of her deeds.
Text. Joshua 6:22-25, KJV: 22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
The two spies made it back to the Israelite camp and reported to Joshua the most important item: the people of Jericho “ . . .[were] faint because of us (verse 24).” How much more they discovered and reported to Joshua is not known. To Joshua’s credit, he didn’t immediately yell “Charge!” or anything like that. Instead, he prepared the people for another great event, the crossing of the Jordan River once and for all. God had brought them out of Egypt, through the wilderness and desert, and was ready to take them on this last step of their journey, to settle in the Promised Land. Chapters 3-5 of this book give more information as to what Israel did before the Battle of Jericho took place.
Now it was time for the battle to begin! The first part of Joshua chapter 6 describes the strategy used in this battle. Strangely enough, this “battle” used some of the most unusual, most unmilitary operations ever. Joshua was not instructed to use battering rams to knock down the walls, nor was he told to storm the city gates or anything like that. Rather, he was to simply march around the city once a day for six days and then on the seventh day, to march around seven times, to have the priests blow their trumpets, and to have the people shout!
And shout they did, so much “that the wall fell down flat (6:20)”. Once the battle was over, Joshua instructed the two spies to bring out Rahab and those in her house, as they had promised to do. By the way, did you notice the word “house”? Rahab’s house had been on the wall of Jericho but the text doesn’t say her house was destroyed. All those in her house were spared—those who weren’t suffered the consequences. Then the spies escorted Rahab and all her family to outside the camp of Israel before Israel burned Jericho and everything in it with fire. Her story concludes here with a brief mention that she dwelt in Israel, even until the day the story was written. Israel’s conquest of Canaan didn’t stop with Jericho: they were just beginning. Even so, at least one Canaanite found redemption and salvation—because she believed in Israel’s God!
Conclusion: One might think the story ends thee, with Rahab and her family being accepted into Israel because of her faithfulness. She was faithful to the God of Israel, to the spies, and to her family. But she received something even greater: she found a husband, Salmon, son of Amminadab, leader of the people of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:10)! From being a harlot in Jericho, she became one of Judah’s leading ladies!
And even better, her son with Salmon was Boaz, who years later would marry another foreign girl and have a very well-known descendant—his name was David (Ruth 4:17, 22). Many years later, Rahab’s line produced the most important person in history: Jesus, the Messiah!
Isn’t this a story of God’s redemption? He took one Canaanite woman, Tamar, to be the ancestress of Salmon. There is no record that Tamar ever became a believer in the God of Israel but her children and other descendants did. Now God took a Canaanite prostitute, gave her salvation because of her faith, and blessed her with the privilege of being a mother of Jesus, the Messiah and the Savior of the world!
Scripture quotations were taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
