The Harlot Rahab’s Unique Faith (Joshua 2/Hebrews 11:31/James 2:25)
by: Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
In the whole Bible, the name Rahab appeared eight times. Five times, she was called Rahab the prostitute. This is an unpleasant name. Prostitution was what she did for a living, a very lowly and disgraceful occupation. But the Bible in referring to her as such was not belittling her, on the contrary, the Bible tells us that even a prostitute, a woman looked down upon by others, may be saved by the grace of God as long as she has faith. The identity, position, occupation of a person has nothing to do with his becoming saved by grace. While Jesus was on earth, he was called the friends of sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes; because Jesus did not reject any sinner, tax collector or prostitute who came to him. Jesus accepted and saved each one of them.
Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho. We do not know what kind of person she had been, why she became a prostitute, whether it because of circumstances or economics, we do not know. We only know that she was a prostitute who had faith. Because of her faith, her whole family was saved.
Later, she married Salmon, and they had a son, Boaz, who with Ruth had Obed, who in turn was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David. Thus, Rahab became the great, great grandmother of King David. A Gentile prostitute from Jericho eventually became the great, great grandmother of Israel’s greatest king, David. Of course, Rahab became a grandmother of David because of the grace of God. But we have to ask, why was it in the whole city of Jericho, she was the only one who was saved?
I. She had a perspective different from the rest of the people
Although Rahab was a prostitute, she had a perspective different from all the rest of the people. In the city of Jericho, only she realized that the God Israel worships is God in heaven above and the earth below. Only she saw that the Lord is the only true God who created heaven and earth. Only she saw that no nation can fight against Israel and win, that this was not a battle between men, but between men and God. She saw that the only way to be saved was to seek refuge in the true and living God. In fact, she seemed to have betrayed her country and helped the enemy’s spies, but she was not helping the Israelites, she was seeking refuge in God. That is because she already realized that the Lord is the true God and that all those she had worshipped before were false gods. She was not betraying her country, she was turning to the true God. We must let people who worship other gods know that we are not asking them to betray their gods, we are telling them to turn to the true God. For, if we seek to worship, then, why not simply worship the only true God?
Each of us has a pair of eyes, but not every one of us has perspective. Our eyes allow us to see, while perspective allows us to make the right decisions. Our Lord Jesus had such kind of perspective. When Andrew brought Peter to him, Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John, you will be called Peter.” Simon means ‘heard’, while, Peter means rock. You are… You will be. The Lord Jesus looked at Simon, which in the original text meant he looked at him intently, and then said, “You will be called Peter, a rock. The Lord Jesus saw that Simon will one day become the rock of the church, and true enough, Peter became the rock of the church.
Moses sent the 12 spies to Canaan. Ten of them came back and said, “That land truly flowed with milk and honey, but the people there are giants, we are like grasshoppers in their eyes. We cannot enter that land.” Joshua and Caleb said, “Do not be afraid. We may enter the land, their protection is gone, but as long as the Lord is with us, we can go in and take possession of the land.” Twelve people went in together to explore the land, yet they came out with two totally different opinion, why? The ten saw the circumstances, while Joshua and Caleb saw the sovereign Lord. Joshua and Caleb did not see the Canaanites as giants, they saw them as their food, they were siomai, siao long pao, peking duck… for them to devour. May the Lord grant us perspective, that we may see God’s sovereignty in all things, that way, we can make right decisions.
II. She had a faith different from the rest of the people
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.” James used the story of Rahab giving lodging to the spies as a testimony that true faith must be coupled by deeds. Rahab proved her faith by her actions. She had a faith different from the rest of the people. God will never fail his people. Isaiah 51:2 “When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many.”
When Abraham was still in Ur in Chaldea, everyone there worshipped idols, only he sought the true God. At the time, God called him, Abraham did not know yet the name of the true God. The first time the name `The Lord’ appeared was during Moses’ time. At that time, Moses asked God, “What is your name?” and God answered, “I am the Lord.” Before Moses, no one knew the name of God as the Lord. In Genesis 14, when Abraham returned from fighting the four kings, the priest of God Most High, Melchizedek came to meet him and told him, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.” Then, Abram gave him a tenth of everything. The God Abram believed in was the God of heaven and earth, Most High God. Although Abram lived in an idol-worshipping land, he worshipped the God of heaven and earth. Although Rahab lived in idol-worshipping Jericho, she sought the God of heaven and earth. As a result, she and her whole household were saved. Both Abram and Rahab had a faith different from the rest – while everyone worshipped idols, they sought the true and living God.
In verse 9, Rahab told the two spies, “I know that the Lord has given this land to you”, and in verses 10 -11, “We have heard how the Lord dried up 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 God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” We find out here that Rahab’s faith came from hearing about the works of God. But we must note that, Rahab was not the only one who heard about this, the people in Jericho, the Canaanites all heard, that is why their hearts melted in fear. But only Rahab decided to seek the God of heaven and earth. Why? Because the others only heard, but they did not do anything with what they heard.
Rahab however acted on what she heard. Hebrews 4:2 “ For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did, but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.” The only way hearing the Truth will benefit us is when we combine it with faith. Today, if any word or statement I preached touched you, you must apply that word with faith into your life, only in this way will our spiritual life grow. Do we combine faith with hearing the word? We have heard countless testimonies of God’s works, but how much of them have we applied into our lives? Do you desire a faith that is different from the rest? Then, live out your faith with action!
III. She had a love different from the rest of the people
When Rahab helped the two spies, she made a request. She asked that the lives of her parents, brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them be spared. The two spies agreed but with one condition – her parents, brothers and sisters and all who belonged to them must be brought into her house; they will not be responsible for anyone who goes outside into the street. Joshua 6:23 “So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.” We do not know how many people were there in Rahab’s house; but we are certain there were many as her parents, brothers and sisters and relatives were there, the whole clan seemed to be there! She had brought the whole clan to the Lord!
Is it easy to bring one’s relatives to the Lord? We know that it is not easy, because they do not want to listen to us, what they do is look at our lives, how we live. If you say, “When you believe in the Lord, your life will be transformed.” They will ask,” How about you?” You try to say, “When you believe in the Lord you will have peace and joy.” They will ask, “How about you?”
But we have reason to believe that Rahab had shared the gospel to her whole clan (parents, siblings, relatives). She must have told them about the true and living God Israel worships, that ‘we must believe in Him or else we will be destroyed.’ Then she must have invited them to go to her house, because the two spies agreed to spare only those who were inside her house. Rahab was the first missionary of the city of Jericho, her whole clan believed her and went to her house. Have you ever considered, that if only one of them refused to believe her, that person could have gone to the authorities in Jericho and told on them, about the spies and Rahab’s involvement and that would be the end of them! Had Rahab not been afraid? She must have certainly been afraid, but love is not selfish. Rahab was willing to risk her life in sharing the gospel to her family.
From Rahab, we can learn three things:
1. Do not reject the Lord’s grace just because you had done shameful things before. But after believing in the Lord, then turn from those shameful deeds.
2. We must not only have eyes, more so, we must have perspective. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by only what the eyes can see.
3. We must have faith and love. We must exercise our faith in God and our love for our fellowmen. May the Lord be gracious to us as He was with Rahab.