Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”
6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land 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. 10 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. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
12 “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”
14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”
17 Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.
19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”
21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”.
We are studying the Book of Joshua together. Today, we come to one of the greatest stories in the Bible. It is all about Rahab, one of the most famous women in the Bible.
The story has DRAMA. It has a lot of drama and suspense. It is a spy story. There is a dangerous undercover operation in enemy territory.
The story has SECRETS. The spies have secrets. They are on a military reconnaissance mission. Rahab keeps a secret about the spies.
The story has SEX. There is a prostitute in the story. She was perhaps the most famous prostitute in history.
The story has COURAGE. There is courage and bravery in the story for both the spies and for Rahab. There is danger for both of them. The spies go into the land and immediately their mission is compromised. The king finds out about it and is looking for them. Rahab risks her life on some complete strangers that she just met.
The story has FAITH. It is unexpected faith, faith not in Israel but in Jericho in the pagan land of Canaan.
The story has SALVATION. There is a remarkable conversion in this story. It is one of the most incredible salvation stories in Scripture. Rahab gets radically saved. She gets radically transformed.
The Apostle Paul is the chief of sinners in the NT. Rahab is the chief of sinners in the OT. Rahab was an immoral woman.
If Rahab can get saved, anybody can get saved. If Rahab can get saved, we can get saved. There is hope for us. God can forgive the worst sins, even the worst sexual sins.
She is a picture, not of respectable sin but of shameful sin. Rahab was a woman with a past. The Bible does not hide her past but Rahab got saved. We will see Rahab in heaven.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool (Isaiah 1:18).
The story has GRACE. Rahab lived in Jericho. Everyone in Jericho was supposed to be killed: every man, every woman, every child, every animal.
The city was cursed by God. It was targeted for destruction. Jericho was under judgment. The whole city was under judgment, but Rahab was spared.
Only one house in the city was safe. Only one family was spared. It was the family of Rahab. Rahab and her family become the sole survivors of Jericho. They were saved by grace. None of them deserved to be saved but God saved them.
Rahab was the ultimate outsider (racially, geographically, morally, religiously) and yet she was not just delivered from destruction but fully adopted into the community.
They accepted her. She married an Israelite. Did she marry one of the spies? We don’t know. The Bible does not say but she did marry a man from the tribe of Judah.
Thar is significant. She became part of the bloodline of the Messiah. She is in His genealogy. She became King David’s great-great grandmother. David’s great-great grandmother was a prostitute.
Surprising Faith
Today, we want to look at one of the greatest women in the Bible. Her name is Rahab. She lived in Jericho in the 1400s BC before the Conquest of Canaan by Joshua. She is mentioned by name in Hebrews 11. It is one of the great chapters of the Bible.
If you have never read Hebrews 11 from beginning to end, you need to. It mentions sixteen spiritual giants who did amazing acts of faith.
When you are long gone, will people remember you as a great person of faith? Is that what you will be remembered for or will that not be what comes to mind when people think of you?
Faith is important. Hebrews 11 begins with the words “without faith it is impossible to please God.” That is strong language. It is not hard or difficult; it is IMPOSSIBLE. Do we live lives of faith, or do we live lives of unbelief?
Who is on the list? Who made the cut? Abel is on the list, the first martyr and so is Noah. Enoch is on the list. He walked with God. Abraham and Moses are on the list, along with David and Samson, the strongest man in the Bible.
None of these people were perfect. Noah wasn’t perfect. He got drunk. David wasn’t perfect. He committed adultery and murder. Abraham was not perfect. He told a few lies recorded in Scripture. Samson wasn’t perfect. He visited some prostitutes, but they all made it on the list somehow.
Someone who also made it on the list was a woman named Rahah, along with Abraham’s wife Sarah. There are two women on the list.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient (Hebrews 11:31 NIV)
That verse begins with the words, “By faith THE PROSTITUTE Rahab.” That sounds a little odd. She wasn’t a pastor, a preacher or faith healer; just a local prostitute. At the time she did what she did, she was a prostitute, NOT even an ex-prostitute.
Prostitutes are not known for their morality. They are not known for their faith or spirituality and yet this one was.
What is also strange is that a Canaanite is on the list. Rahab was not even an Israelite. She was a Canaanite, living in Jericho. Canaanites are generally not known for their great faith in God. They were known for their unbelief and idolatry, but this Canaanite had amazing faith.
She was a woman of great faith. What is shocking is that she was not even Jewish. She was a Gentile. She was a Canaanite and yet she had greater faith than many Jews of her day.
She had greater faith than many have today. Many of the Israelites were afraid of the Canaanites. Most of the spies who went there before were afraid of them. There were giants in the land. They are taller than we are.
“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large…. We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” … They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:27-28, 30-33 NIV).
Many Israelites had less faith than Rahab did. They experienced the Red Sea and they still did not believe. Rahab was not there when these things happened. She was not an eyewitness. She just had heard about them. She believed them, and she was not even a Jew.
Some of the Israelites were afraid of what the Canaanites would do to them. Rahab was afraid of what God would do to them. She uttered one of the greatest confessions of faith in Scripture. It is one of the clearest confessions of faith in the Bible by a Gentile.
“I know that the Lord has given you this land 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. 10 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.11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS GOD IN HEAVEN ABOVE AND ON THE EARTH BELOW.” (Joshua 2:9-11 NIV)
Rahab was not surrounded by believers. She did not live in a Christian country. She lived in a pagan country. Her parents were not believers. They were idol worshipers.
She did not grow up in church. She never went to church. She never heard a Christian sermon. She never heard a preacher. She had never read the Bible.
There were five books of the Bible written but she had never read any one of them. She had not read a single verse and yet somehow, she had faith. She knew who God was. She knew who the true God was.
She knew something about this God. He is everywhere present. She knew that He is God in heaven above and on earth below. (Joshua 2:11 NIV)
She knew that this God could do miracles. She knew He was powerful. Some Christians today still have trouble believing that. They think He no longer does miracles. He only did them in biblical times.
Rahab knew about the Red Sea miracle forty years earlier and what God had done since then. He did not stop doing things at the Dead Sea miracle.
She knew something about the plan of God. She knew that God gave the Jews the land of Canaan without reading Scripture. She said, “I know that the Lord has given you this land.” (Joshua 2:9 NIV)
She did NOT say, “I think He has given you this land” or “I believe He has given you this land” but “I KNOW that her has given you this land.”
She was certain about it.She said that before they had even taken the land. They had not received it yet and she knew it was theirs.
That is amazing. In our own day, there is a big debate about who owns the land. Some on the political left hate the Jews. Some are anti-Semitic. Many are Pro-Palestinian. They think that the land does not belong to the Jews and they took it from the Palestinians.
Rahab was living in Cannan BEFORE the conquest and even she knew that God gave the Jews the Promise Land. The land was theirs. They were just squatters. God created the world. He was a right to give land to whoever He wants to.
She had a fear of God. She said, not just a fear but “a GREAT FEAR of you has fallen on us” (Joshua 2:9 NIV). She said, “our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed” (Joshua 2:11 NIV)
Rahab had amazing faith. She went from being a harlot to being a hero. She went from the Hall of Shame to the Hall of Fame. She is the hero of the story, not the spies.
Jewish tradition says that Rahab was around fifty when these spies came to her house. That is what the Talmud says (Zevachim 116b).
She was NOT a hero just because of what she BELIEVED but because of what she DID. Her faith led to actions.
If all you have is faith on the inside, but it does not change anything on the outside, you do not have real faith. Her faith led to actions. What were her actions? What did she do?
Faith in Action
1. She took in the spies
Joshua sent two spies into the land, and they headed right to the red-light district. They went to a brothel and spent a night with a local prostitute.
They really did not have any other option. There was no Holiday Inn at Jericho for the spies to lodge in. Jericho did not have a Best Western.
Rahab took everybody. She was used to taking in strangers. It would be easy for them to blend in. She happened to be the one person in the city who believed in the one true God.
Her house happened to be on the wall of the city (Joshua 2:15). That gave an easy entrance and an easy exit for the spies. Her house had a strategic location in the city.
2. She protected the spies
When she found out who they were, she could have turned them in but she protected them. She hid them. She helped them escape out of her window by a rope.
She gave them survival tips before they left. She told them to run to the hills and hide there for three days. She saved their lives.
3. She lied to the king
She dared to defy a king. She lied to the king’s men. She used lies and deception to protect them. She told, not one, not two but three lies (Joshua 2:4-5). She sent them on a wild goose chase in the wrong direction.
3. She negotiated a covenant
She was the one who initiated tis covenant. She bargained for her family’s survival. She made a covenant with the two spies and saved her entire family.
The spies said, “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land. (Joshua 2:14 NIV)
This was a LIFE-SAVING COVENANT. She saved her father, her mother, her mother, her brothers, her sisters and their children (Joshua 2:13).
It was a CONDITIONAL COVENANT. She had to do some things to get the benefits of the covenant. She had to put the red cord in the window of her house and bring her family to her house.
Role Model for Today?
Is Rahab a role model for today? She disobeyed the king. She was not submissive to her government. She broke the law. Should we do that?
Rahab was unpatriotic. She aligned with a foreign nation, rather than her own people. Is that something that we should do today?
Rahab used lies and deception. She deceived government officials. She broke the law. Should we do that? Should we lie today? Should we deceive the IRS?
Rahab was a prostitute. Should we live immoral lives?
The Bible does not praise her sins. It praises her faith. She is not considered righteous because she lied but she did have real faith and that faith led to actions, however imperfect.
Do you have real faith? Does your faith produce actions, or does it just produce an empty profession of faith? Do you live a different life because of it?
The Bible says that faith without works is dead. It is not even real faith. James says that this kind of faith does not even save.