Rahab the Prostitute: a Rescue Story

Rahab is one of the most famous characters in the Bible.  She is known for hiding the two spies before the conquest of Jericho.  She is one of four women mentioned by Matthew in the genealogy of Jesus.  She is praised for her faith in Hebrews 11:31, one of only two women mentioned in the faith chapter (the other was Sarah).  She is praised for her works in James 2:25 as one of two people who proved their faith by their works (the other was Abraham).  Her story could be made into a movie!

Her Circumstances

The adventures of Rahab can be found in Joshua, chapters 2 and 6.  She was most likely an innkeeper and prostitute, and a Canaanite.  She lived on the outer wall (Jericho had double walls), “the other side of the tracks”, furthest away from the more prestigious city center.  She was among people who were under God’s judgment.

Ancient Jericho, based on excavations at the site

The Spies

Joshua sent spies to Jericho in preparation for their attack.  They came to Rahab’s establishment.  What better place to pick up information than an inn/tavern?  

She hid them on her roof under stalks of flax, because their presence was already known.  With no internet and no electronic media, the word about Israel had gotten out.  They did this thing then called talking with each other.  The spies were strangers coming into town, looking and talking differently, coming to an inn, they must be Israelites!  The king of Jericho sent word to Rahab to turn them in.  She lied to protect them.  Why did she do this, risking her life for these foreigners who were about to destroy her city and home?  

We see why from Rahab’s awesome confession of faith in 2:9-11.  She came up to the roof and told the spies, “I know that the Lord has given you this land …We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, … 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.

Rahab KNEW!  She heard about how God had brought Israel out of Egypt and came to faith in the God of Israel.  The power of testimony!  She heard, and she believed!  And when the spies showed up at her establishment, she was confronted with a choice to act on her belief, and she ACTED.

The spies told her to hang a scarlet cord from her window in the outer wall.  An amazing symbol and foreshadowing of how the blood of Jesus cleanses us and rescues us from our sin!

The Rescue

Rahab appears again in the narrative in chapter 6.  After the city was taken, the two spies went in and rescued Rahab and her family when the walls came down.  She rescued the spies, and they in turn rescued her.

Rahab’s life was spared with her family, but now she was homeless, her business destroyed, and her neighbors and the city were gone.

The Rest of the Story

But her story doesn’t end there.  She stayed with the Israelites as a “sojourner”, and Matthew records that she married Salmon (Rabbinic tradition indicates that he was one of the spies).  She had children, and her descendants included Boaz, Jesse, David, and ultimately, Jesus.  The meaning of her name, “spacious, to become large or wide” was fulfilled in her life.  

Lessons from Rahab

Like so many others in the Bible, God chooses the most unlikely heroes.  He doesn’t see as we see, but he looks at the heart.  It doesn’t matter what we have done.  God doesn’t look at our past, but only what we are and what we are becoming.  Jesus hung out with “sinners”, including prostitutes.  He didn’t reject them but redeemed them!

We are saved by his blood.  Rahab hung the scarlet cord from her window, symbolic of the blood of Christ which saves all of us. 

As Rahab was rescued from the darkness and the condemnation she was under, so are we.

Colossians 1:13-14  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We are integrated into a family, we are not alone.  Rahab was adopted into Israel, just as we are adopted into God’s family.

Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God 

Sometimes when we first discover and accept the grace of God, things don’t immediately get better.  Rahab was broke and homeless after her rescue.  But she stayed with Israel, her new family, lived among them, and God rewarded her with a husband and children.  She remained faithful, and God was faithful to her.

Why, in Hebrews and James, is she still referred to as “Rahab, the prostitute”? Maybe it’s because the authors wanted to highlight the fact that all of us were something less than what God intended for us in our pasts. It’s only by his grace that we are made new.

What About Us?

If Rahab’s life could be turned around to this extent, ours can too.  Whatever you have done, or are still doing, whatever dark place you may be in right now, take the first steps.  Like Rahab, acknowledge that the Lord is God in heaven and on earth, and that He sent Jesus to shed His blood and die for us.  Trust in his work (hang the scarlet cord) so that you can be rescued, made new, and be adopted into His family!