Rahab: A Woman of Faith

READ: JOSHUA 2; HEBREWS 11:29-31; JAMES 2:25

Rahab is one of my favorite people in the Old Testament of the Bible. We remember her because of her faith in God. Though she was not an Israelite by birth, her faith in the God of Israel prompted her to hide two Israelite spies in her home within the walls of Jericho. As a result of this act of faith, Rahab and her family were spared when the Israelite army conquered Jericho.

The Bible notes that not only was Rahab a Canaanite, but she was also a prostitute. We might be tempted to think of Rahab as “worse of a sinner” than other people—after all, she performed sexual acts for a living, something detestable in the sight of the Lord because He created sex to be shared faithfully by a husband and wife. But the truth is, all sin is heinous in God’s sight. Yet, because of God’s mercy, Rahab was the woman He chose to be the great, great-grandmother of King David, a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ the Messiah (Matthew 1:5).

Rahab became a believer in Yahweh, and this is what set her apart from everyone else in Jericho. They had all heard of the miraculous deeds of Yahweh—how He parted the Red Sea to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and then gave them victory over their enemies in Canaan—but only Rahab had the faith to act on her belief and say to the Israelite spies, “The LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:11). One person in the midst of thousands of pagans put her trust in a God she knew of only through the words of others.

In addition to being honored with a place in Christ’s lineage, Rahab was also included in Hebrews 11, which recounts stories of people who acted in faith, so that her faith could be a testimony to others. And James 2:25 says Rahab was “considered righteous.” Rahab probably had no idea the blessings God would bestow upon her and how she would be remembered by Jews and Gentiles alike for thousands of years to come. Perhaps God includes this story of one woman’s steadfast conviction to show the riches of His grace and point forward to Jesus. Just as Rahab had faith in the one true God and was saved when Jericho fell, so now anyone who has faith in Jesus is saved from sin and death, made righteous in God’s sight, welcomed into His family, and will one day dwell with God and His people forever. • Eliana Canfield

• Have you ever felt disqualified to serve God because of your past? How might Rahab’s story speak into this? (If you want to dig deeper, read Matthew 21:28-32; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:8.)

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Hebrews 11:31 (NIV)