Do you know someone or some situation that you believe to be "irredeemable", unfixable, hopelessly broken? As I said in the last post, "If you've lived long enough, you've experienced this."
Today we are going to examine the life of a woman whom the Jews, the "people of God" would not have given any attention (much less respect), under ordinary circumstances. Yet, she is named in a list of people who had tremendous faith in Jehovah God.
Let's look at Hebrews 11:31.
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Yes, Rahab was her name. She was not only a whore; she was the owner/operator of a whorehouse, which was built into the wall of a great city, Jericho (Joshua 2:15).
The story, which took place nearly 1500 years before Jesus was born, is recorded in Joshua 2 and Joshua 6. Here is what was happening.
The Hebrew nation, the Jews, had already begun to claim the Land promised to them by God. They had conquered a couple of kingdoms on the east side of the Jordan River. The city of Jericho lay on the west side of the Jordan. Jericho was a key city in the land of Canaan. Its location was such that, if Jericho was conquered, there would be easy access to other strategic cities in the Promised Land.
However, Jericho was a heavily fortified city. It was surrounded by a stone wall that was very tall and very thick. Houses were built into the inside of the wall in order to make it stronger. Rahab's house of prostitution was one of those houses. The outside wall of her house was the actual outside wall of the city. Do you get the picture?
The people of Jericho were part of the Amorite kingdom, a group of very violent, evil, pagan people who had existed back to the time of Abraham, over 2000 years earlier. These people were so bad that God had ordered them to be totally exterminated in Deuteronomy 20:17. These folks were the reason God had given Abraham and his descendants rights to The Promised Land of Canaan in the first place.
The Hebrew commander, Joshua, sent two young men into Jericho to gather information that would be useful to the army's general and would help him plan the attack (Joshua 2:1). Where did they choose to get lodging for the night? At Rahab's whorehouse. Why do you think they did that?
Well, I don't know much about whorehouses, but I do know this: the people who operate them would have to be good at keeping secrets. Right? So, that was one reason, and the other was the fact that Rahab's house was in such a great location, should they need to escape quickly.
Imagine Rahab's surprise when she discovered these two men were not at her business to use her women! That must have come as a shock! We read in Joshua 2:11 Rahab telling the two spies that the people of Jericho were terrified of the Hebrews, because of their battle victories on the other side of the Jordan.
Soon, Rahab found herself in a terrible predicament. The ruler of Jericho found out that the two spies were at her house. She had two choices: she could either turn the men over to the police; or, she could help them escape. There was probably a huge financial reward offered to her if she turned them in. At that moment, Rahab made a decision that would not only change her life, but would change the course of human history forever. She decided to protect the Hebrew spies. She hid them under "stalks of flax". Have you ever seen flax growing? I have not. I imagine that these would be like cornstalks. It has been suggested that Rahab kept these on the roof of her house for the very purpose of hiding men when jealous wives came looking for them. And, this came in handy when she made the decision to hide the Hebrew spies.
When the police asked her where the men were, she misdirected them. Basically, she lied. Lying was her way of life at that time; so, she thought nothing about it. We are not admiring Rahab's lying, but instead her faith in the Lord God Almighty. When the police went off in the wrong direction to look for the men, Rahab tossed the two spies out the window of her house.
No, not really...what she did was to help them escape down the wall of the city (which was part of her house) through a window. (Again, no doubt, she had had to do that in the past.)
By deciding to protect the spies, Rahab turned her back on the life she had known. She knew that her decision could cost her everything. This is why she asked that, in exchange for her help, her family be spared when the Hebrews attacked Jericho. She must have learned a lot from the spies about their God, and God's Spirit must have touched her, because she decided to put her life and everything she owned into His mighty hands.
Rahab turned to Jehovah God out of fear, but that is okay. We read in Psalm 111:10 that the reverence, respect, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Let's read Joshua 2:17-21.
17 So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be thatwhoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.”
21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
When the angel of death was sent to Egypt to kill all the firstborn children, it "passed over" the Hebrew homes because they had the blood of the Passover lambs painted on the doors. The Hebrews in Joshua's day "passed over" Rahab's house, sparing her family's lives, because the red cord hung from her window (Joshua 2:22-23). God forgives our sin when the blood of Jesus, God's own Passover Lamb, is painted on our hearts. (Did you realize that Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebration?)
So, what happened to Rahab after she and her family were spared while the city of Jericho was destroyed all around her? It appears from Joshua 6:25 that she lived out the rest of her life a heroine among the Hebrew people. She is not mentioned again in the Old Testament.
But, look at this: Rahab, that pagan whore, is mentioned on the first page of the New Testament. Look at Matthew 1:5 (NKJV) -- -
Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse...
And, Jesse was the father of King David!What??!! Yes, Rahab is in the ancestral line, the "family tree" of Jesus Christ. The author John MacArthur1 points out that there are 5 women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus. "Three of them were Gentiles. Three of them were disgraced because of their own sin." All of them had experienced what it was like to be an outcast, to have some sort of notoriety attached to their reputations.
1. Tamar (Genesis 38:13-30)
2. Rahab (Joshua 2 and 6)
3. Ruth (Ruth 1:3)
4. Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)
5. Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ (Luke 1 and 2)
They were women the world would have called "unfixable", "irredeemable", hopelessly broken. Yet, the grace of God was poured out on each of them . Because they trusted in Him, had faith in Him He was able to do amazing things through their lives.
So, the next time you are tempted to devalue yourself or someone else, remember this: Jesus did not come to save "the good people". He can only save those who realize their utter sinfulness. In Mark 2:17, we read that Jesus Christ "did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance". The stink of Rahab's sin, and the stink of our own, merely magnifies and glorifies the divine grace of our mighty God and Savior, who transformed her by His amazing grace.
Precious Father, "not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to Your mercy You have saved us." (Titus 3:5) None of us is every beyond the reach of your marvelous grace! Every day we are confronted with making choices, seemingly little choices, whether to side with You or to walk our own way. May we choose You, always, Father! Please give us the faith to choose You, and even though they are not fun times, we will thank you for those circumstances that exercise and strengthen our faith. In Jesus' name, amen.
Source:
MacArthur, John. "Rahab: A Horrible Life Redeemed." Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You. Nashville, TN: Nelson, 2005. 51-67. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment