Why did God spare Rahab?
Rahab was a Canaanite and a prostitute, doubly outside the covenant, yet she heard what Yahweh did at the Red Sea and confessed Him as God in heaven above and on earth beneath. When Jericho fell under God's judgment, the one household marked by a scarlet cord was spared. Hebrews and James both name her for her faith, and Matthew names her in the family tree of Jesus Himself.
This question arose from studying What does the Exodus show us about God?.
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A Canaanite outsider confesses Yahweh
Rahab is an outsider three times over: a woman, a Canaanite, a prostitute. Yet she tells the spies, 'I know that Yahweh has given you the land,' and gives the clearest confession in the book: 'for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.' All she had was news of the Red Sea, decades old, and she believed it. Faith starts with hearing, not with pedigree.
and she said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.
Her faith showed itself in action
She hid the spies at risk of her life, let them down by a cord through the window, and obeyed the sign they gave: 'She tied the scarlet line in the window.' Belief moved her hands. That is why James can ask whether she was not 'justified by works': her works did not replace faith, they exposed it. The scarlet cord was simply her trust in Yahweh made visible.
The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I didn’t know where they came from.
Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall.
She said, “According to your words, so be it.” She sent them away, and they departed. She tied the scarlet line in the window.
In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
Judgment on sin, mercy for all who flee to Yahweh
Jericho was not destroyed on a whim. Four centuries earlier God told Abraham the delay was deliberate, 'for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full'; now it was full, and the city was devoted. Yet in the middle of judgment a door stood open: 'Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house.' One city, two outcomes, divided by nothing but faith.
In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel.
The New Testament remembers her twice
Hebrews sets her between the Red Sea and the falling walls: 'By faith, Rahab the prostitute, didn't perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.' Her neighbors heard the same reports and hardened; she heard and believed, which is the whole difference. James holds up the same woman to prove that living faith acts. Heaven measures people by their trust in Yahweh, not by nation or record.
By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.
By faith, Rahab the prostitute, didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
Grafted into Israel, then into the Messiah
Joshua records that 'She lived in the midst of Israel to this day': the outsider adopted into the covenant people. Matthew goes further back into the family tree: 'Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab.' The woman from doomed Jericho becomes an ancestor of David, and so of Jesus Christ. The blessing promised to all the families of the earth through Abraham reaches home in His own genealogy.
But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
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What does Ruth teach us about redemption?→“May Yahweh repay your work, and a full reward be given you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.””Why did Israel keep drifting into idolatry?→“He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.””Why did David spare Saul?→“He said to his men, “Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is Yahweh’s anointed.””Why did God promise David an eternal throne?→“Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’””Why was David a man after God's own heart despite his sins?→“But now your kingdom shall not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you.””How do I wait on God's timing when a promise feels delayed?→“Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.”What did the temple add that the tent lacked?→“He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”What modern idols hide in ordinary Christian lives?→“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?”Explore further
Does James contradict Paul? Is it faith or works?→Our Walk with Him trail“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”How does God judge people who never heard of Jesus?→Who We Are trail“For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.
But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
By faith, Rahab the prostitute, didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
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