The great faith chapter, Hebrews 11, is interesting not only because of those heroes of faith who get a mention, but also because of those who do not.
While verse 32 makes it obvious that sufficient illustrations of faith had been given, nevertheless the omissions are interesting. Only two women get a mention: Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and Rahab, the harlot. Notable by their absence are such Old Testament women as Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Esther, to name a few.
Our journey through this chapter brings us to verse 31: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”
Rahab gets two other mentions in the New Testament, Matthew 1:5 and James 2:25. Matthew simply records the fact that she was an ancestress of Jesus Christ through the line of David the king “And Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab…” The fullness of faith — its breadth, length, depth, and height — reaches to the down-and-outs as well as to the up-and-outs! In God’s eyes, every human being has uniqueness and dignity. So this is a rags to riches story — from a harlot to a relative of Jesus Christ!
Joshua chapters 2 and 6 record all that we know about Rahab. The nation of Israel, under the leadership of Joshua, was about to cross the Jordan River and enter the promised land. As any good commander would, Joshua sent two spies to “Go view the land, even Jericho”. They obviously disguised themselves, and found shelter for the night at Rahab’s house. Some scholars say that the word for “harlot” can be translated “innkeeper”, so it is possible she was manager an inn as well as plying her trade. The king of Jericho was told that two strangers had entered the city, so he sent soldiers to check the inns and bring the strangers to him. However, Rahab said that the men had slipped out of town just before the gates closed, while in reality she had hid them on the roof of her inn, which was built right on the city wall.
Rahab said to the two spies, “I know that the Lord hath given you the land… for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” (Joshua 2:9-11). In that statement she turned from the false gods of Canaan to the true God. An agreement was made with the spies that they would protect Rahab and her relatives in the coming battle in appreciation of saving their lives.
The spies were let down from a window over the wall by means of a scarlet cord, and it was agreed that this would be the sign of protection for Rahab and her family. When the nation came into the land, Rahab had to put the cord out of the window and leave it there until the battle was over. Her faith was in the word of the two spies and her affirmation of faith was the scarlet cord, the promise of salvation, for she could not save herself. And as Israel marched around Jericho once a day for six days, and seven times on the seventh day, that cord in the window was an affirmation of the simple faith of one woman!
Joshua’s instructions to his army was that the city was to be destroyed, and “only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent” (Joshua 6:17). The two spies were given the task to go to her house and bring Rahab and her family out before the city was burnt to the ground. Tradition has it that she later married one of the spies — a romantic touch to a great faith story.
What do we learn from this? First, there are beautiful possibilities in every person. Second, a decision to have faith in God leads to your good being manifested, for such a faith is a tremendous force for good. Thirdly, the scarlet cord speaks of faith in the shed blood of Christ, Who died that we may live. There is no other way we can enjoy all of God’s benefits than the way of faith in Christ. If you are up-and-out or down-and-out, join God’s forever family, and get this powerful and practical force of faith at work in your life!
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