Rahab: A Godly Woman and Mother
Steve Simala Grant, May 11/12, 2002
Intro:
Since it is Mother’s day, I thought I’d share a couple cartoons from my favorite impish cartoon character, Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes):
TEN SIGNS OF A FRUSTRATED MOTHER
1. Your children know how to read HTML code but can’t operate a vacuum cleaner.
2. Your children tell you that you said "yes" and you don’t even remember the question.
3. You go to the grocery store and find yourself having a good time.
4. Your husband asks how your day went and you rate it on a scale of 1-10 repeats of "stop that!" or "no!"
5. You can’t remember the last time you didn’t have to share your drink.
6. You mistakenly tell the kids it’s "sanity" time when you meant to say "bed" time.
7. The laundry seems to have taken on an evil nature and you begin to feel that it’s out to get you.
8. You dread hearing the phone ring because it’s a sure sign there’s about to be trouble amongst the children.
9. It’s finally your turn on the computer and "Touched by an Angel" is just coming on.
10. You go to sleep with "I’m bored" or "I’m hungry" still ringing in your ears.
TEN THINGS A MOM DOESN’T WANT TO HEAR
1. I swallowed a goldfish.
2. Your lipstick works better than crayons.
3. Does grape juice leave a stain???
4. The principal called...
5. But DAD says that word all the time.
6. What’s it cost to fix a window???
7. Has anyone seen my earthworms???
8. I painted your shoes pretty, huh Mommy?
9. The dog doesn’t like dressing up in your clothes.
10. I’m moving out. (Well, maybe some days.)
Context:
Last week we began a new chapter in our history as a church, with a new pastor and in pursuit of a new vision for where God would have us go. We’ve talked about God calling us as a church to become a hospital – a place where the Holy Spirit is bringing people into healthy, whole relationships with God and with each other. We talked about the need for us to be a greenhouse, focusing on Jesus as we grow and become fruitful and equipped to impact our world for the Kingdom of God. And we talked about the need for us to be a festival – a place where we are glorifying the Father and celebrating all that God is and does.
We had a good time last week of celebrating the past things that God has done in our midst, and then confessing and experiencing God’s forgiveness for some areas in our past that were sinful. I’ve been praying about where to go next in terms of a sermon series, and have felt God hinting that we spend a little time in the book of Joshua. The metaphor of Moses/Joshua and taking hold of the promised land has held meaning for us, and so we are going to spend some time in the Old Testament Book of Joshua over the next little while, looking at what it takes for us to take possession of the things God has promised us. There are some great stories of faith in this book, great examples of obedience and disobedience, of God working in amazing ways to accomplish the goals of His Kingdom. Joshua records the story of the Israelite nation emerging from the desert and taking possession of the promised land, and one of the things I hope to accomplish in this series is for us to concentrate on lessons we can learn from the experiences of the Israelites in our pursuit of the things God has in store for us, both personally and as a church family.
Since it is Mother’s day weekend, and since Gail preached on chapter one a few weeks back, I want to start today in chapter 2 and look at the story we find there. It is the story of Rahab, a great woman of faith, a woman who obeyed God when it was difficult and in the face of her entire culture, a woman who holds a very prominent place in the history of the Jewish people. And actually, the way I want to look at the story is from the New Testament perspective – we’ll look at the Joshua account in detail in one of the weeks to come.
The Story:
The basic story of Rahab in Joshua 2 goes like this: Joshua is preparing to obey God and lead the people into the promised land. Knowing full well that they would face military opposition, he sends some spies into the land to scout it out. They arrive at the city of Jericho, and go to the house of a prostitute named Rahab. Somehow the King of Jericho hears about these spies and sends soldiers to arrest them at Rahab’s house, but she hides them and lies to the soldiers, sending them out on a wild goose chase. She then makes an agreement with the spies to spare her and her family when the Israelites come and take the city, and she helps them escape and return to Joshua with their report.
That is a really brief recounting of the story, but enough for us to understand the New Testament references to this woman. And there are 3 of them.
Matt. 1:5
“…Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,…” (Matt 1:5).
At first glance that might look like just a simple list of names that happens to include our OT heroine. But if you look at the rest of Matt. 1, you’ll see that this is actually a list of all of Jesus’ ancestors – Jesus was a direct descendant of Rahab. We need to understand that Matthew’s intention here is to demonstrate the royal lineage of Jesus, and so we see in this list a number of very prominent people in Israel’s history – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; Kings David and Solomon and a bunch more after them. And there, stuck in the middle, is this prostitute from Jericho. She wasn’t even an Israelite by birth, yet here she is in the list of Kings and Patriarchs and wealthy and important people who were Jesus’ ancestors. And by the way, for women to be included at all in a list such as this was completely unheard of in that day, and so we see how counter-cultural early Christianity was in terms of the importance of women. To be included in the lineage of an important person, in this case the Messiah, was an incredible honor. So what we see is that Matthew is honoring Rahab (and four other women) for their important role in the lineage of faith.
And really, that is what Mother’s day is supposed to be about – honoring our mothers. And honestly, the flowers and cards and presents can all be a part of that, but they aren’t the important part. The important part is the feelings expressed – whether they are by words, deeds, or gifts. I didn’t buy my wife a Mother’s Day present; my wife would much rather have gifts of time and attention and kind words from the heart. So instead of buying a present, I … (fill in here…)
Heb. 11:31
Rahab is honored by Matthew by being included in this list. But who was she and what did she do that brought her such honor? Let’s look at the second mention of Rahab in the NT: Hebrews 11:31. “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”
Do you remember this chapter in the Bible? It is often called the “Faith Hall of Fame,” listing and recounting the stories of faithful men and women of the OT. It retells some of these stories to be an inspiration for us to be people of faith.
This verse points out a very important characteristic of Rahab, for which she was held in extremely high honor – her faith in God. What is especially astounding about this is that remembering back to the original story, we are told that Rahab was not even a part of God’s chosen nation of Israel – she was a resident of Jericho. She should have looked at these spies as the enemy – she should have turned them over to the authorities. But instead, in Joshua 2 we hear her words: “I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” (vs. 9-11). We hear Rahab’s profession of faith – “the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.” She turns from the beliefs of her culture and embraces God as the true Lord and God.
I love the honesty in Rahab. She heard about what God had done, and responds in faith. At this point, she hadn’t yet experienced any of that herself. She didn’t have first-hand knowledge of the God of Israel – of His power and might and holiness. She only had heard the reports. And yet she recognized the truth, and embraced it. I think that is why she is listed in this faith hall of fame in Hebrews 11 – because she believed first and then experienced God’s deliverance. To me that is real honesty – it is responding to the truth. Rahab tells us that everyone else believed the reports, and as a result were terrified. But they fought anyways. See the difference? Rahab believed, and sided with God. The others believed, were terrified, but fought (and lost) anyway.
And looking at that, I want to throw that out as a challenge to us. Where do you need to take a leap? We often want God to act first and then we’ll trust Him, don’t we? It’s like we say, “ok God, you work out all the details and then I’ll trust the situation to you…” Well that’s simply not trust, it’s not faith. Faith is saying, “ok God, I don’t know what is going to happen next but I leave it to you because I know who You are.” Sometimes we know who He is because of our own experience, sometimes it’s just by the reports of others as it was for Rahab. She believed, then God delivered. That’s the step for us also – believe and trust first, then watch with joy and excitement to see what God does.
James 2:25
The final mention we have in the NT of Rahab is in James 2:25. “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?”
I love this balance. Hebrews praises her faith, James praises her actions. The argument that James is building here in chapter 2 is that faith which is not accompanied by action is , to quote vs. 26, “dead.” James gives two examples, Abraham first, and then Rahab as the second. He points out that she was considered righteous because of her actions.
Do you see? Rahab believed, she had the words right, she understood who God is. And then, secondly, she acted in accordance with her belief. She hid the spies, gave them inside information and then sent them off to the enemy of her people equipped to come back and have a mighty military victory. She acted on her belief. I think there is a lesson here for all of us, not just for mothers though it certainly applies to you as well – our lives need to match our words.
There is a story about four preachers discussing the merits of the various translations of the Bible. One liked the King James Version best because of its simple, beautiful English. Another liked the American Revised Version best because it was closer to the original Hebrew and Greek. Still another liked a contemporary version because of its up-to-date vocabulary. The fourth minister was silent for a moment, then said, “I like my mother’s translation best.” Surprised, the other three men said they didn’t know his mother had translated the Bible. “Yes,” he replied. “She translated it into life, and it was the most convincing translation I ever saw.”
There is one final thing I want to point out, which James highlights. Rahab had been a prostitute. And this is the woman God chose to use in enabling His people to come into the Promised Land. This is the woman whom God held up for us as a woman to be honored in the lineage of Jesus. This is the woman Hebrews praises as an example of faith, and whom James uses as an example of living faith demonstrated by action. She had been a prostitute. We know from Jewish history that the Jews held her in extremely high regard – she embraced the God of Israel and became an important and respected member of the nation of Israel – in fact the Jewish Encyclopedia reports an ancient tradition that holds that Rahab married Joshua himself!
And isn’t that just like our God? To use the lowly, the despised, the abused, to glorify His Kingdom? To exalt them to places of honor as they respond in faith to Him? I find that so encouraging – if God can use someone with that kind of past for the glory of His Kingdom, then there truly are no limits to whom He can use today. All of the things in your past and my past are irrelevant once we make that step of responding in faith to God.
I know Mother’s day is hard for some of you – either because your relationship with your mother isn’t the greatest, or maybe because you haven’t had your dream of becoming a mother fulfilled. I find here in Rahab a wonderful example of a woman of faith, and I also find hope in a God who can change things. Who can forgive and heal wounds from the past, and can turn around and create something beautiful in the present. And that is the God I proclaim to you today – a God of forgiveness and re-creation. A God who is faithful, and whom many of us came to know first and foremost through the living, active faith of our mothers.
I want to encourage you to respond in faith to Him; put that faith into action. And I want to encourage you to take the time today, as you celebrate Mother’s day, to express your heart to your mother and/or your spouse, to thank them for their faith and to honor them.
