Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.
Matthew 1:5–6 nkjv
When Rahab first appears in the biblical account, she is one of the most unsavory characters imaginable. In fact, she is introduced as “a harlot named Rahab” (Josh. 2:1 nkjv). If you had met her before the great turning point of her life, you might have instantly written her off as completely hopeless. She was an immoral woman living in a pagan culture that was fanatically devoted to everything God hates. The culture itself was on the brink of judgment. Their long descent into the abyss of moral and spiritual corruption had been intentional, and now it was irreversible.
As far as we know, Rahab had always been a willing participant in her civilization’s trademark debauchery. She had personally profited from the evil that permeated that whole society. Now that God had called for the complete destruction of the entire culture because of their extreme wickedness, why shouldn’t Rahab also receive the just desserts of her own deliberate sin?
As far as the record of her life is concerned, there were no redeeming qualities whatsoever about Rahab’s life up to this point. On the contrary, she would have been in the very basement of the moral hierarchy in a Gentile culture that was itself as thoroughly degenerate and as grossly pagan as any society in world history. She was a moral bottom-feeder. She made her living off that culture’s insatiable appetite for unbridled debauchery, catering to the most debased appetites of the very dregs of society. It is hard to imagine a more unlikely candidate for divine honor than Rahab.
Yet in Hebrews 11:31 (though identified even there as “the harlot Rahab” [nkjv]), she is specifically singled out by name for the greatness of her faith, and she even appears in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1. Extraordinary? That word is an understatement in Rahab’s case.
AN UNLIKELY BACKGROUND
Rahab lived in Jericho at the time of Joshua. Her house was not in some back alley of town, but perched right on the famous wall (Josh. 2:15). The wall must have been a wide affair, certainly spacious enough on top for buildings and either a walkway or a road. This was almost certainly a prime location in the high-rent business district. It is fair to assume, then, that Rahab had enjoyed phenomenal financial success in her trade.
Unfortunately, her “trade” was prostitution. She regularly sold herself to the most wicked men in that already-wicked city.
Jericho was part of the Amorite kingdom, a grotesquely violent, totally depraved, thoroughly pagan culture so hell-bent on the pursuit of everything evil that God Himself had condemned them and ordered the Israelites to wipe them from the face of the earth (Deut. 20:17). In fact, the Amorite culture had been so completely and maliciously corrupt for so long (going back at least to the time of Abraham), that their evil lifestyle was the very reason God had granted Abraham and his heirs rights to their land in the first place (Deut. 18:12; 1 Kings 21:26). The Lord had promised Abraham that his descendants would begin to possess the land as soon as the wickedness of the Amorites was complete (Gen. 15:16). That time had now come. This evil nation had reached God’s maximum tolerance level.
Rahab therefore epitomized the vileness of the Amorite culture at a point when they had collectively filled the measure of human wickedness to its very brim. Her whole life had been devoted to the profane pursuit of carnal self-gratification. Her livelihood was totally dependent on consensual evil. She was enslaved to the most diabolical kinds of passion, in bondage to her own sin, and held captive by a monstrous society that was itself already under God’s sentence of condemnation—indeed, marked out for eternal destruction. But divine grace redeemed her and liberated her from all of that, plucking her as a brand from the fire.
Here is the historical setting for Rahab’s story: Moses had died (Josh. 1:1–2). The generation of Israelites who had come out of Egypt were all dead too. More than a million Israelites had originally left Egypt under Moses’ leadership (Ex. 12:37). Because of that generation’s collective stubbornness and persistent unbelief, when they first reached the very doorstep of the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea, everyone over twenty years of age was prohibited from entering. An entire generation was doomed to die in the wilderness without even seeing another glimpse of the Promised Land.
There were two significant exceptions (Num. 14:30): Joshua and Caleb. Those two men had scouted the Promised Land together for Moses. They had returned enthusiastic about the prospects of Israel’s new homeland. They affirmed what God had said about the land. But when ten other spies returned with a conflicting report, discouraged, warning of the dangers that lay ahead, the people of Israel balked at entering the land. They listened to the unbelief of the pessimists rather than to the promise of yhwh. Then and there, the entire nation staged a mutiny against Moses and against God (Num. 13–14). That was the final straw. That is why Israel was made to wander for forty years. It was a divine judgment against them because of their unbelief (Num. 14:30–35). In the end, the carcasses of that whole generation (except the two faithful men) were buried in scattered graves in the wilderness, where the harsh elements eventually consumed them (vv. 32–33).
Thirty-eight years had now passed since that rebellion at Kadesh-Barnea. The book of Joshua starts with the Israelites situated again on the doorstep of Canaan—this time near Acacia Grove (Josh. 2:1; 3:1), about seven miles east of the Jordan River, almost directly across the river from Jericho. Joshua had been appointed as leader over the whole nation in Moses’ place. In Joshua 1, the Lord reinforced Joshua’s courage and resolve with a series of promises, and Joshua prepared the people to enter the land. The day this generation had hoped for all their lives was finally here.
Wisely, just as Moses had done years before, Joshua sent spies ahead to gather military and strategic information about what lay on the other side of the Jordan. This time, however, Joshua sent only two men, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho” (2:1 nkjv).
Scripture says simply: “So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there” (2:1 nkjv). Thus Rahab is the very first person Scripture introduces us to in the Promised Land. By God’s gracious providence, she would become one of the linchpins of Israel’s military triumph. Her whole life, her career, and her future would be changed by her surprise encounter with two spies.
It is an unlikely confluence of forces for good: on the one hand, a lone pagan woman whose life up till now had been anything but heroic, and an entire nation of itinerant, lifelong refugees who had lived for the past forty years under the frown of God because of their parents’ disobedience.
But the spies’ collaboration with Rahab was the beginning of the downfall of Jericho. Jericho’s defeat was the first dramatic conquest in one of history’s greatest military campaigns ever.
AN UNEXPECTED ACT OF KINDNESS
Joshua 2:1–7 tells what happened:
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”
So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”
Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
“And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.”
(But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. (nkjv)
Joshua deliberately kept the work of the spies secret. Apparently, even the Israelites did not know of their mission. The scouts were to report back to Joshua, not to the whole nation (vv. 23–24). Joshua wasn’t asking them for feedback so that the people could discuss among themselves whether to go across the Jordan or hold back in fear. He wasn’t about to make that mistake again. Israel had traveled down the dead-end road of popular opinion already, and it cost them almost forty years’ time. Joshua was taking the role of a decisive commander. He would assess the spies’ report personally and decide (with the Lord’s help, not a vote of the populace) how his armies would proceed.
Jericho was in a strategic location, at the openings of two vital pathways through the surrounding mountains, one leading southwest toward Jerusalem, the other leading northwest toward Ai and beyond, toward Bethel. Conquering Jericho would give Israel an important foothold into all the Promised Land. No wonder Jericho was so heavily fortified. The task of the spies was to assess those fortifications and report back to Joshua.
Most likely, the spies began their covert work shortly before dusk. The Jordan River lay seven miles to the west. A two-hour brisk walk would get them to the riverbank. There were fords nearby (v. 7), where the water ran approximately chest high at its deepest point. The men could either wade or easily swim across the Jordan. They would then have another seven-mile journey by foot to Jericho. (Even if they got wet crossing the river, this afforded more than enough time to be suitably dry upon arrival.) Then they would need to enter the walled city by some means and find lodging for the remainder of the night—all without arousing suspicion.
Jericho was a large town, and visitors came and went all the time. The spies managed to get into the city before the gates were closed for the night (v. 5). Scripture doesn’t say how they got in. We assume they were able to find a way without much difficulty. Perhaps they simply mingled with other travelers at rush hour.
Once inside the city, the ideal place for lodging would be an inn or a house on the wall itself. From there they could assess the city’s defenses. A good way to avoid arousing suspicion or attracting undue attention would be to find some seamy district where everyone would understand the need for discretion.
Their search led them to Rahab, a harlot, who was prosperous enough to have a house in a prime spot on the wall. Both she and her business were probably well-known in Jericho. Here was an ideal situation for the spies. She would have opened her door to them without any questions about who they were. In her business, the strictest confidentiality was essential. She would have welcomed them and invited them inside quickly, just as she did all her clients.
The Israelite spies did not seek her out to take advantage of her for immoral purposes, of course. Perhaps that very thing is what first won them her trust. They were obviously not there to use her or abuse her, unlike virtually all the other men she ever saw. They were serious and sober, but they did not seem to have frightened her in any way. Presumably, they treated her with patient dignity and respect while they made their careful reconnaissance. No doubt they explained who they were, which meant they would have almost certainly told her something about yhwh. Mostly, they went about their business, perhaps making measurements of the wall and recording details about the battlements and the landscape.
Rahab’s house was perfect for their purposes. The position afforded a close-up look at the wall, which was the city’s chief defense. But the location also made possible a quick escape if necessary. City walls are designed to keep out intruders, of course. But a person on the wall with a long enough rope can easily get out. By God’s sovereign providence, everything they needed was in place. Also, by God’s sovereign design, Rahab’s heart was ready to believe in yhwh.
Somehow, it appears, the presence of the spies was known almost as soon as they entered Rahab’s house. Of course, everyone in Jericho certainly already knew that the entire Israelite nation was camped across the river, within walking distance. All of Jericho had heard about Israel’s miraculous escape from Pharaoh across the Red Sea and the drowning of the entire Egyptian army (v. 10). The story of Israel’s subsequent wanderings in the wilderness was also well-known throughout the region. Rahab herself tells the spies that all the inhabitants of the land were fainthearted because of what they had heard about Israel and God’s dealings with them. In Rahab’s words, “As soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you” (v. 11 nkjv).
Still, aside from Rahab herself, the people of Jericho do not seem to have been sufficiently fearful of yhwh’s power or Israel’s military might. Perhaps the tales about forty years of aimless wandering had a tendency to counterbalance the Canaanites’ fear over Israel’s military might. Whatever the reason for their complacency, residents of Jericho were obviously too smug in the security of their walled fortress.
They were nonetheless on guard for intruders, and officials had probably given strict orders to report anything suspicious to the king. The “king” functioned like a city mayor, but he had military control. Therefore, he was the one to be notified if intruders were spotted.
Perhaps someone from whom the spies had asked directions turned them in. Or maybe sentries near Rahab’s house spotted them and recognized them as Israelites from their clothing. In any case, their presence was quickly reported to Jericho’s king. The information he received included exact details about where the spies had gone, so the king sent messengers to check out Rahab’s house.
Here’s where Rahab utterly surprises us. Remember, she made her living by selling herself for evil purposes. There was probably a handsome reward in it for her if she had turned in the spies. But she didn’t. She hid them. She misdirected the officials and saved the lives of the two spies, even though this put her at considerable risk. Obviously, the king’s representatives knew the spies had been in her home. When they were unable to find any evidence that the men had really left the city, they would probably be back to question Rahab again. She had put her own life in jeopardy by protecting these strangers. Her sudden expression of faith, therefore, is not only unexpected; it seems to run counter to every instinct that normally would motivate a woman like Rahab.
Rahab’s actions in protecting the spies involved the telling of a lie. Was that justified? By commending her for her faith, is Scripture also condoning her methods? Good men have argued over that question, all the way back to the earliest rabbinical history. Let’s face it. It is not an easy question. Scripture says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Prov. 12:22 nkjv). God Himself cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29), and therefore He cannot condone or sanction a lie. Some have tried to argue that because of the circumstances, this was not, technically, a “lie,” but a military feint, a legitimate stratagem designed to trick or outwit the enemy in warfare. Others argue that even lying is acceptable if the motive is a greater good. Such a situational approach to ethics is fraught with very serious problems.
I see no need to try to justify Rahab’s lie. Was it necessary for a greater good? Certainly not. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego might have escaped punishment by lying too. And they might have argued convincingly that it was for a “greater good.” But there is no greater good than the truth, and the cause of truth can never be served by lying. Shadrach and friends told the truth—in fact they seized the opportunity to glorify God’s name—and God was still able to save them from the furnace. He certainly could have saved Rahab and the spies without a lie.
Still, that isn’t the point of Rahab’s story. There’s no need for clever rationalization to try to justify her lie. Scripture never commends the lie. Rahab isn’t applauded for her ethics. Rahab is a positive example of faith.
At this moment, her faith was newborn, weak, and in need of nurture and growth. Her knowledge of yhwh was meager. (She makes it clear in Joshua 2:9–11 that she knew something about Him, having developed a keen interest in yhwh from the stories about Israel’s escape from Egypt. But it’s likely she had never met any true yhwh-worshipers before this night.) She most likely had no understanding of the value He put on truthfulness. Meanwhile, she was a product of a corrupt culture where ethics were virtually nonexistent. Lying was a way of life in her society—and especially in her profession. The way she responded is just what we might expect from a brand-new believer under those circumstances.
The point is that Rahab’s faith, undeveloped as it was, immediately bore the fruit of action. She “received the spies with peace” (Heb. 11:31 nkjv)—meaning that she not only hid them, but also implicitly embraced their cause. She thereby entrusted her whole future to their God. And the proof of her faith was not the lie she told, but the fact that “she received the messengers and sent them out another way” (James 2:25 nkjv)—when she might have handed them over for money instead. The lie is not what made her actions commendable. It was the fact that she turned down an easy reward, put herself in jeopardy, and thus staked everything on the God of Israel.
Nothing but faith could have made such a dramatic, instantaneous change in the character of such a woman. She had obviously developed a great curiosity about yhwh from the tales of His dealings with Israel. Now that she had met flesh-and-blood people who knew Him and worshiped Him, she was ready to throw her lot in with them.
AN AMAZING EXPRESSION OF FAITH
Rahab’s quick thinking saved the spies. The narrative suggests that she quickly hid the men after the king’s messengers knocked on her door and inquired about the spies. She heard the request, “then … took the two men and hid them,” before giving an answer (Josh. 2:3–4 nkjv). The speed and ingenuity of her scheme to hide them suggests that she was experienced in this kind of thing. Apparently the stalks of flax, “which she had laid in order on the roof” (v. 6 nkjv), were there for precisely that purpose, in case a jealous wife came looking for a client. Rahab had a long rope handy too (v. 15 nkjv). No doubt she had arranged similar escapes, but for different reasons, in the past.
The hiding place certainly served a high and holy purpose this time. Presumably, the king’s messengers searched Rahab’s house quickly and failed to find the spies before heading off in pursuit of the phony trail—which took them all the way to the fords of the Jordan.
After it was clear that the king’s messengers were gone for the night, Rahab went back up to the roof to speak with the spies. She gave them an explicit testimony of the faith that motivated her. Here is the biblical account:
Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
Then she let them down by a rope through the window. (Josh. 2:8–14 nkjv, emphasis added)
Notice that Rahab’s faith was accompanied by fear. There is nothing wrong with that. Indeed, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10 nkjv). In Rahab’s case, fear is partly what motivated her faith. She had heard powerful evidence of the Lord’s supremacy over Egypt. She understood that it was the Lord’s might (not sheer military skill) that had triumphed over Sihon and Og, two fearsome Amorite kings (Josh. 2:10 nkjv). She probably understood something of yhwh’s sovereign authority over Israel from the tales of their forty years in the wilderness. Hers was a healthy kind of fear. It had convinced her that yhwh was indeed the one true God. The psalmist wrote, “Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness” (Ps. 145:6 nkjv). That is precisely the kind of testimony that had brought Rahab to faith.
The spies swore an oath to deal kindly with her when they conquered her city. But they gave her one condition. She was to hang a scarlet cord from the window where she let them down (Josh. 2:17–18). This would mark her house in the sight of all Israel, and anyone inside the house would be spared when the city was overthrown. The Hebrew word for “cord” in verse 18 is different from the word for “rope” in verse 15. This cord would have been a brightly colored band of woven threads, used for decorative purposes. The color would make it easily visible from beneath the wall. Both its appearance and its function were reminiscent of the crimson sign of the blood sprinkled on the doorposts at the first Passover. Many commentators believe the scarlet color is also a deliberate typological symbol for the blood of the true Paschal Lamb. Perhaps it is. It certainly stands as a fitting symbol of Christ’s blood, which turns away the wrath of God.
From Rahab’s perspective, however, the significance of the scarlet cord was nothing arcane or mystical. It was a simple, expedient emblem suited to mark her window discreetly so that her house would be easily distinguishable from all the rest of the houses in Jericho.
After making their solemn agreement to safeguard Rahab’s household and sealing their pledge with an oath (vv. 17–20), the spies descended under cover of darkness via the rope into the valley outside Jericho’s walls. Rahab had advised them to hide in the mountains for three days until the king gave up the search (v. 16), and they did so. Scripture says, “The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them” (v. 22 nkjv).
When the men finally returned to Joshua, their report contrasted sharply with the report the ten unfaithful spies had brought to Moses nearly forty years before. It was exactly what Joshua hoped to hear: “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us” (v. 24 nkjv).
AN ENDURING LEGACY
Israel’s miraculous victory over Jericho is a familiar account to most people. It is a classic illustration of how spiritual triumph is always obtained: “ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6 nkjv). God does not work exclusively by miracles. In fact, the times are relatively rare when He sets aside normal means in order to accomplish his purposes. Few of Israel’s military battles were ever won solely by the miraculous intervention of God. The armies of Israel had to fight. But by the same token, none of their battles was ever won without the Lord’s power.
In this case, God purposefully intervened in a way that made clear to everyone in Canaan that He was fighting for Israel. He demolished the massive walls of Jericho without any military means whatsoever. This was not a chance earthquake. To prove it, God had the Israelites march around the city with the ark of the covenant once each day for six consecutive days (Josh. 6). On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times, blew a ram’s horn, and shouted. Instantly, the wall of the city fell down flat (Josh. 6:20).
All except one part of the wall, that is. Rahab and her house were spared. “Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, ‘Go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her.’ And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel” (vv. 22–23 nkjv). The writer of Joshua (probably Joshua himself) added, “So she dwells in Israel to this day” (v. 25 nkjv).
Rahab is a beautiful example of the transforming power of faith. Although she had few spiritual advantages and little knowledge of the truth, her heart was drawn to yhwh. She risked her life, turned her back on a way of life that did not honor God, and walked away from everything but her closest family members (whom she brought into the community of God’s people along with her). From that day on, she lived a completely different kind of life, as a true hero of faith. She has a place of honor in Hebrews 11 alongside some notable names in that “great cloud of witnesses” who testify to the saving power of faith.
After the account of Jericho’s destruction in Joshua 6, Rahab is never again mentioned by name in the Old Testament. Of course, when Joshua noted that Rahab was still living in Israel, this was probably many years after the fall of Jericho. Apparently, she lived out her life in quiet dignity and grace amid the people of God. She was wholly changed from the kind of woman she once had been. She was, and is still, a living symbol of the transforming effect of saving faith. That is the primary message of her life.
In fact, when we do meet Rahab again on the pages of Scripture, it is in the New Testament. Her name is mentioned there three times. Two of those honor her for her remarkable faith (Heb. 11:31; James 2:25). She is held up as an example of faith for both men and women. James, in particular, cites her case to show that faith produces action. Indeed, Rahab’s faith did not lie dormant long. Remember, it was only after she hid the spies that she verbalized to them her belief that yhwh was the one true God. Her faith was seen in the fruit of her works before she even had an opportunity to verbalize it on her tongue. James says genuine faith is always active and fruitful like that. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26 nkjv). Rahab’s faith was anything but dead.
The most amazing occurrence of Rahab’s name, though, in the New Testament is the very first time it appears there, on the very first page, in the very first paragraph of the first gospel. Matthew began his account of Christ’s life with a lengthy genealogy tracing the entire lineage of Jesus from the time of Abraham. Matthew’s goal, of course, was to prove by Jesus’ pedigree that He qualified to be the promised Seed of Abraham, and that He is also rightful heir to the Davidic throne. There, in the list of Jesus’ ancestors, we unexpectedly find Rahab’s name: “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse” (Matt. 1:5 nkjv).
It is highly unusual for women to be named in Hebrew genealogies at all. (Notice that the record of Adam’s offspring in Genesis 5 omits any reference to his daughters.) Yet Matthew mentions five women, and all of them are notable: Tamar (1:3), Rahab (v. 5), Ruth (v. 5), Bathsheba (v. 6), and Mary (v. 16). At least three of them were Gentiles. Three of them were disgraced because of their own sin. In fact, all of them, for various reasons, knew what it was to be an outcast—to have some infamy or stigma attached to their reputations:
• Tamar was a Canaanite woman whose husband had died, leaving her childless. She posed as a prostitute and seduced her own father-in-law, Judah, in order to bear a child. Interestingly enough, a scarlet thread also plays a role in Tamar’s tragic life story (Gen. 38:13–30).
• Rahab we already know about, including the shame of her sordid background.
• Ruth (whom we will soon meet) was from the Moabite nation, a people generally despised in Israel (Ruth 1:3).
• Bathsheba (whom Matthew doesn’t name but refers to simply as “the wife of Uriah”) committed adultery with King David (2 Sam. 11).
• Mary, of course, bore the disgrace of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
Collectively, they illustrate how God is able to work all things together for good. From a human perspective, the whole genealogy is checkered with outcasts and examples of failure. The women, in particular, underscore how scandal colored so much of the messianic line. It was filled with foreigners, outcasts, and those who were pariahs for various reasons. Still, they nevertheless all found a place in the plan of God to bring His Son into the world.
The scandal motif in Christ’s lineage was no accident. In His incarnation, Christ willingly “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant” (Phil. 2:7 nkjv). He became an outcast and a public disgrace, being made a curse on our behalf (Gal. 3:13). He remains even now “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8 nkjv). The gospel message, too, is a public scandal—mere foolishness and shame as far as those who perish are concerned. But to those who are saved, it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).
Then again, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [Christ] did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Mark 2:17 nkjv). Rahab was the very embodiment of that truth. This is why the New Testament repeatedly brings her up as a real-life example of the fruit of saving faith. She is a living reminder that even the worst of sinners can be redeemed by divine grace through faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship” (Eph. 2:8–10 nkjv, emphasis added).
Rahab was redeemed not because of any meritorious works she did. She did not earn God’s favor by any good deeds. Remember, even what she did do right—harboring the spies—was morally tainted because of the way she handled it. She lied. But she is not given to us as an example of the power of human works. She is not a lesson in how to better ourselves through self-improvement. She is a reminder that God by His grace can redeem even the most horrible life.
Some of the scholastic rabbis just prior to Jesus’ time became embarrassed by the fact that a woman with Rahab’s background was spared in the destruction of Jericho and brought into Israel as a proselyte. They proposed a different understanding of the Hebrew word for harlot in Joshua 2:1 (also 6:17, 25). The Hebrew term is similar to a word meaning “to feed,” they claimed. Perhaps Rahab was really just an innkeeper or a hostess, they countered.
The problem is, the actual Hebrew word really can mean only one thing: “harlot.” That was the uncontested understanding of this text for centuries. In fact, there is no ambiguity whatsoever in the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament dating to the second century bc) or in the Greek texts of Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. The Greek word used to describe Rahab is porne, meaning “harlot.” (Notice that the term comes from the same root as the English term pornography and has similar negative moral overtones.)
The idea of sanitizing Rahab’s background was revived by some churchmen with overly delicate sensibilities in the Victorian era. C. H. Spurgeon, the best-known Baptist preacher in late nineteenth-century London, replied, “This woman was no mere hostess, but a real harlot … I am persuaded that nothing but a spirit of distaste for free grace would ever have led any commentator to deny her sin.”
He was exactly right, of course. Remove the stigma of sin, and you remove the need for grace. Rahab is extraordinary precisely because she received extraordinary grace. There’s no need to reinvent her past to try to make her seem less of a sinner. The disturbing fact about what she once was simply magnifies the glory of divine grace, which is what made her the extraordinary woman she became. That, after all, is the whole lesson of her life.
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Matthew 1:5–6 nkjv
When Rahab first appears in the biblical account, she is one of the most unsavory characters imaginable. In fact, she is introduced as “a harlot named Rahab” (Josh. 2:1 nkjv). If you had met her before the great turning point of her life, you might have instantly written her off as completely hopeless. She was an immoral woman living in a pagan culture that was fanatically devoted to everything God hates. The culture itself was on the brink of judgment. Their long descent into the abyss of moral and spiritual corruption had been intentional, and now it was irreversible.
As far as we know, Rahab had always been a willing participant in her civilization’s trademark debauchery. She had personally profited from the evil that permeated that whole society. Now that God had called for the complete destruction of the entire culture because of their extreme wickedness, why shouldn’t Rahab also receive the just desserts of her own deliberate sin?
As far as the record of her life is concerned, there were no redeeming qualities whatsoever about Rahab’s life up to this point. On the contrary, she would have been in the very basement of the moral hierarchy in a Gentile culture that was itself as thoroughly degenerate and as grossly pagan as any society in world history. She was a moral bottom-feeder. She made her living off that culture’s insatiable appetite for unbridled debauchery, catering to the most debased appetites of the very dregs of society. It is hard to imagine a more unlikely candidate for divine honor than Rahab.
Yet in Hebrews 11:31 (though identified even there as “the harlot Rahab” [nkjv]), she is specifically singled out by name for the greatness of her faith, and she even appears in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1. Extraordinary? That word is an understatement in Rahab’s case.
AN UNLIKELY BACKGROUND
Rahab lived in Jericho at the time of Joshua. Her house was not in some back alley of town, but perched right on the famous wall (Josh. 2:15). The wall must have been a wide affair, certainly spacious enough on top for buildings and either a walkway or a road. This was almost certainly a prime location in the high-rent business district. It is fair to assume, then, that Rahab had enjoyed phenomenal financial success in her trade.
Unfortunately, her “trade” was prostitution. She regularly sold herself to the most wicked men in that already-wicked city.
Jericho was part of the Amorite kingdom, a grotesquely violent, totally depraved, thoroughly pagan culture so hell-bent on the pursuit of everything evil that God Himself had condemned them and ordered the Israelites to wipe them from the face of the earth (Deut. 20:17). In fact, the Amorite culture had been so completely and maliciously corrupt for so long (going back at least to the time of Abraham), that their evil lifestyle was the very reason God had granted Abraham and his heirs rights to their land in the first place (Deut. 18:12; 1 Kings 21:26). The Lord had promised Abraham that his descendants would begin to possess the land as soon as the wickedness of the Amorites was complete (Gen. 15:16). That time had now come. This evil nation had reached God’s maximum tolerance level.
Rahab therefore epitomized the vileness of the Amorite culture at a point when they had collectively filled the measure of human wickedness to its very brim. Her whole life had been devoted to the profane pursuit of carnal self-gratification. Her livelihood was totally dependent on consensual evil. She was enslaved to the most diabolical kinds of passion, in bondage to her own sin, and held captive by a monstrous society that was itself already under God’s sentence of condemnation—indeed, marked out for eternal destruction. But divine grace redeemed her and liberated her from all of that, plucking her as a brand from the fire.
Here is the historical setting for Rahab’s story: Moses had died (Josh. 1:1–2). The generation of Israelites who had come out of Egypt were all dead too. More than a million Israelites had originally left Egypt under Moses’ leadership (Ex. 12:37). Because of that generation’s collective stubbornness and persistent unbelief, when they first reached the very doorstep of the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea, everyone over twenty years of age was prohibited from entering. An entire generation was doomed to die in the wilderness without even seeing another glimpse of the Promised Land.
There were two significant exceptions (Num. 14:30): Joshua and Caleb. Those two men had scouted the Promised Land together for Moses. They had returned enthusiastic about the prospects of Israel’s new homeland. They affirmed what God had said about the land. But when ten other spies returned with a conflicting report, discouraged, warning of the dangers that lay ahead, the people of Israel balked at entering the land. They listened to the unbelief of the pessimists rather than to the promise of yhwh. Then and there, the entire nation staged a mutiny against Moses and against God (Num. 13–14). That was the final straw. That is why Israel was made to wander for forty years. It was a divine judgment against them because of their unbelief (Num. 14:30–35). In the end, the carcasses of that whole generation (except the two faithful men) were buried in scattered graves in the wilderness, where the harsh elements eventually consumed them (vv. 32–33).
Thirty-eight years had now passed since that rebellion at Kadesh-Barnea. The book of Joshua starts with the Israelites situated again on the doorstep of Canaan—this time near Acacia Grove (Josh. 2:1; 3:1), about seven miles east of the Jordan River, almost directly across the river from Jericho. Joshua had been appointed as leader over the whole nation in Moses’ place. In Joshua 1, the Lord reinforced Joshua’s courage and resolve with a series of promises, and Joshua prepared the people to enter the land. The day this generation had hoped for all their lives was finally here.
Wisely, just as Moses had done years before, Joshua sent spies ahead to gather military and strategic information about what lay on the other side of the Jordan. This time, however, Joshua sent only two men, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho” (2:1 nkjv).
Scripture says simply: “So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there” (2:1 nkjv). Thus Rahab is the very first person Scripture introduces us to in the Promised Land. By God’s gracious providence, she would become one of the linchpins of Israel’s military triumph. Her whole life, her career, and her future would be changed by her surprise encounter with two spies.
It is an unlikely confluence of forces for good: on the one hand, a lone pagan woman whose life up till now had been anything but heroic, and an entire nation of itinerant, lifelong refugees who had lived for the past forty years under the frown of God because of their parents’ disobedience.
But the spies’ collaboration with Rahab was the beginning of the downfall of Jericho. Jericho’s defeat was the first dramatic conquest in one of history’s greatest military campaigns ever.
AN UNEXPECTED ACT OF KINDNESS
Joshua 2:1–7 tells what happened:
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”
So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”
Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
“And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.”
(But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. (nkjv)
Joshua deliberately kept the work of the spies secret. Apparently, even the Israelites did not know of their mission. The scouts were to report back to Joshua, not to the whole nation (vv. 23–24). Joshua wasn’t asking them for feedback so that the people could discuss among themselves whether to go across the Jordan or hold back in fear. He wasn’t about to make that mistake again. Israel had traveled down the dead-end road of popular opinion already, and it cost them almost forty years’ time. Joshua was taking the role of a decisive commander. He would assess the spies’ report personally and decide (with the Lord’s help, not a vote of the populace) how his armies would proceed.
Jericho was in a strategic location, at the openings of two vital pathways through the surrounding mountains, one leading southwest toward Jerusalem, the other leading northwest toward Ai and beyond, toward Bethel. Conquering Jericho would give Israel an important foothold into all the Promised Land. No wonder Jericho was so heavily fortified. The task of the spies was to assess those fortifications and report back to Joshua.
Most likely, the spies began their covert work shortly before dusk. The Jordan River lay seven miles to the west. A two-hour brisk walk would get them to the riverbank. There were fords nearby (v. 7), where the water ran approximately chest high at its deepest point. The men could either wade or easily swim across the Jordan. They would then have another seven-mile journey by foot to Jericho. (Even if they got wet crossing the river, this afforded more than enough time to be suitably dry upon arrival.) Then they would need to enter the walled city by some means and find lodging for the remainder of the night—all without arousing suspicion.
Jericho was a large town, and visitors came and went all the time. The spies managed to get into the city before the gates were closed for the night (v. 5). Scripture doesn’t say how they got in. We assume they were able to find a way without much difficulty. Perhaps they simply mingled with other travelers at rush hour.
Once inside the city, the ideal place for lodging would be an inn or a house on the wall itself. From there they could assess the city’s defenses. A good way to avoid arousing suspicion or attracting undue attention would be to find some seamy district where everyone would understand the need for discretion.
Their search led them to Rahab, a harlot, who was prosperous enough to have a house in a prime spot on the wall. Both she and her business were probably well-known in Jericho. Here was an ideal situation for the spies. She would have opened her door to them without any questions about who they were. In her business, the strictest confidentiality was essential. She would have welcomed them and invited them inside quickly, just as she did all her clients.
The Israelite spies did not seek her out to take advantage of her for immoral purposes, of course. Perhaps that very thing is what first won them her trust. They were obviously not there to use her or abuse her, unlike virtually all the other men she ever saw. They were serious and sober, but they did not seem to have frightened her in any way. Presumably, they treated her with patient dignity and respect while they made their careful reconnaissance. No doubt they explained who they were, which meant they would have almost certainly told her something about yhwh. Mostly, they went about their business, perhaps making measurements of the wall and recording details about the battlements and the landscape.
Rahab’s house was perfect for their purposes. The position afforded a close-up look at the wall, which was the city’s chief defense. But the location also made possible a quick escape if necessary. City walls are designed to keep out intruders, of course. But a person on the wall with a long enough rope can easily get out. By God’s sovereign providence, everything they needed was in place. Also, by God’s sovereign design, Rahab’s heart was ready to believe in yhwh.
Somehow, it appears, the presence of the spies was known almost as soon as they entered Rahab’s house. Of course, everyone in Jericho certainly already knew that the entire Israelite nation was camped across the river, within walking distance. All of Jericho had heard about Israel’s miraculous escape from Pharaoh across the Red Sea and the drowning of the entire Egyptian army (v. 10). The story of Israel’s subsequent wanderings in the wilderness was also well-known throughout the region. Rahab herself tells the spies that all the inhabitants of the land were fainthearted because of what they had heard about Israel and God’s dealings with them. In Rahab’s words, “As soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you” (v. 11 nkjv).
Still, aside from Rahab herself, the people of Jericho do not seem to have been sufficiently fearful of yhwh’s power or Israel’s military might. Perhaps the tales about forty years of aimless wandering had a tendency to counterbalance the Canaanites’ fear over Israel’s military might. Whatever the reason for their complacency, residents of Jericho were obviously too smug in the security of their walled fortress.
They were nonetheless on guard for intruders, and officials had probably given strict orders to report anything suspicious to the king. The “king” functioned like a city mayor, but he had military control. Therefore, he was the one to be notified if intruders were spotted.
Perhaps someone from whom the spies had asked directions turned them in. Or maybe sentries near Rahab’s house spotted them and recognized them as Israelites from their clothing. In any case, their presence was quickly reported to Jericho’s king. The information he received included exact details about where the spies had gone, so the king sent messengers to check out Rahab’s house.
Here’s where Rahab utterly surprises us. Remember, she made her living by selling herself for evil purposes. There was probably a handsome reward in it for her if she had turned in the spies. But she didn’t. She hid them. She misdirected the officials and saved the lives of the two spies, even though this put her at considerable risk. Obviously, the king’s representatives knew the spies had been in her home. When they were unable to find any evidence that the men had really left the city, they would probably be back to question Rahab again. She had put her own life in jeopardy by protecting these strangers. Her sudden expression of faith, therefore, is not only unexpected; it seems to run counter to every instinct that normally would motivate a woman like Rahab.
Rahab’s actions in protecting the spies involved the telling of a lie. Was that justified? By commending her for her faith, is Scripture also condoning her methods? Good men have argued over that question, all the way back to the earliest rabbinical history. Let’s face it. It is not an easy question. Scripture says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Prov. 12:22 nkjv). God Himself cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29), and therefore He cannot condone or sanction a lie. Some have tried to argue that because of the circumstances, this was not, technically, a “lie,” but a military feint, a legitimate stratagem designed to trick or outwit the enemy in warfare. Others argue that even lying is acceptable if the motive is a greater good. Such a situational approach to ethics is fraught with very serious problems.
I see no need to try to justify Rahab’s lie. Was it necessary for a greater good? Certainly not. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego might have escaped punishment by lying too. And they might have argued convincingly that it was for a “greater good.” But there is no greater good than the truth, and the cause of truth can never be served by lying. Shadrach and friends told the truth—in fact they seized the opportunity to glorify God’s name—and God was still able to save them from the furnace. He certainly could have saved Rahab and the spies without a lie.
Still, that isn’t the point of Rahab’s story. There’s no need for clever rationalization to try to justify her lie. Scripture never commends the lie. Rahab isn’t applauded for her ethics. Rahab is a positive example of faith.
At this moment, her faith was newborn, weak, and in need of nurture and growth. Her knowledge of yhwh was meager. (She makes it clear in Joshua 2:9–11 that she knew something about Him, having developed a keen interest in yhwh from the stories about Israel’s escape from Egypt. But it’s likely she had never met any true yhwh-worshipers before this night.) She most likely had no understanding of the value He put on truthfulness. Meanwhile, she was a product of a corrupt culture where ethics were virtually nonexistent. Lying was a way of life in her society—and especially in her profession. The way she responded is just what we might expect from a brand-new believer under those circumstances.
The point is that Rahab’s faith, undeveloped as it was, immediately bore the fruit of action. She “received the spies with peace” (Heb. 11:31 nkjv)—meaning that she not only hid them, but also implicitly embraced their cause. She thereby entrusted her whole future to their God. And the proof of her faith was not the lie she told, but the fact that “she received the messengers and sent them out another way” (James 2:25 nkjv)—when she might have handed them over for money instead. The lie is not what made her actions commendable. It was the fact that she turned down an easy reward, put herself in jeopardy, and thus staked everything on the God of Israel.
Nothing but faith could have made such a dramatic, instantaneous change in the character of such a woman. She had obviously developed a great curiosity about yhwh from the tales of His dealings with Israel. Now that she had met flesh-and-blood people who knew Him and worshiped Him, she was ready to throw her lot in with them.
AN AMAZING EXPRESSION OF FAITH
Rahab’s quick thinking saved the spies. The narrative suggests that she quickly hid the men after the king’s messengers knocked on her door and inquired about the spies. She heard the request, “then … took the two men and hid them,” before giving an answer (Josh. 2:3–4 nkjv). The speed and ingenuity of her scheme to hide them suggests that she was experienced in this kind of thing. Apparently the stalks of flax, “which she had laid in order on the roof” (v. 6 nkjv), were there for precisely that purpose, in case a jealous wife came looking for a client. Rahab had a long rope handy too (v. 15 nkjv). No doubt she had arranged similar escapes, but for different reasons, in the past.
The hiding place certainly served a high and holy purpose this time. Presumably, the king’s messengers searched Rahab’s house quickly and failed to find the spies before heading off in pursuit of the phony trail—which took them all the way to the fords of the Jordan.
After it was clear that the king’s messengers were gone for the night, Rahab went back up to the roof to speak with the spies. She gave them an explicit testimony of the faith that motivated her. Here is the biblical account:
Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
Then she let them down by a rope through the window. (Josh. 2:8–14 nkjv, emphasis added)
Notice that Rahab’s faith was accompanied by fear. There is nothing wrong with that. Indeed, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10 nkjv). In Rahab’s case, fear is partly what motivated her faith. She had heard powerful evidence of the Lord’s supremacy over Egypt. She understood that it was the Lord’s might (not sheer military skill) that had triumphed over Sihon and Og, two fearsome Amorite kings (Josh. 2:10 nkjv). She probably understood something of yhwh’s sovereign authority over Israel from the tales of their forty years in the wilderness. Hers was a healthy kind of fear. It had convinced her that yhwh was indeed the one true God. The psalmist wrote, “Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness” (Ps. 145:6 nkjv). That is precisely the kind of testimony that had brought Rahab to faith.
The spies swore an oath to deal kindly with her when they conquered her city. But they gave her one condition. She was to hang a scarlet cord from the window where she let them down (Josh. 2:17–18). This would mark her house in the sight of all Israel, and anyone inside the house would be spared when the city was overthrown. The Hebrew word for “cord” in verse 18 is different from the word for “rope” in verse 15. This cord would have been a brightly colored band of woven threads, used for decorative purposes. The color would make it easily visible from beneath the wall. Both its appearance and its function were reminiscent of the crimson sign of the blood sprinkled on the doorposts at the first Passover. Many commentators believe the scarlet color is also a deliberate typological symbol for the blood of the true Paschal Lamb. Perhaps it is. It certainly stands as a fitting symbol of Christ’s blood, which turns away the wrath of God.
From Rahab’s perspective, however, the significance of the scarlet cord was nothing arcane or mystical. It was a simple, expedient emblem suited to mark her window discreetly so that her house would be easily distinguishable from all the rest of the houses in Jericho.
After making their solemn agreement to safeguard Rahab’s household and sealing their pledge with an oath (vv. 17–20), the spies descended under cover of darkness via the rope into the valley outside Jericho’s walls. Rahab had advised them to hide in the mountains for three days until the king gave up the search (v. 16), and they did so. Scripture says, “The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them” (v. 22 nkjv).
When the men finally returned to Joshua, their report contrasted sharply with the report the ten unfaithful spies had brought to Moses nearly forty years before. It was exactly what Joshua hoped to hear: “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us” (v. 24 nkjv).
AN ENDURING LEGACY
Israel’s miraculous victory over Jericho is a familiar account to most people. It is a classic illustration of how spiritual triumph is always obtained: “ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6 nkjv). God does not work exclusively by miracles. In fact, the times are relatively rare when He sets aside normal means in order to accomplish his purposes. Few of Israel’s military battles were ever won solely by the miraculous intervention of God. The armies of Israel had to fight. But by the same token, none of their battles was ever won without the Lord’s power.
In this case, God purposefully intervened in a way that made clear to everyone in Canaan that He was fighting for Israel. He demolished the massive walls of Jericho without any military means whatsoever. This was not a chance earthquake. To prove it, God had the Israelites march around the city with the ark of the covenant once each day for six consecutive days (Josh. 6). On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times, blew a ram’s horn, and shouted. Instantly, the wall of the city fell down flat (Josh. 6:20).
All except one part of the wall, that is. Rahab and her house were spared. “Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, ‘Go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her.’ And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel” (vv. 22–23 nkjv). The writer of Joshua (probably Joshua himself) added, “So she dwells in Israel to this day” (v. 25 nkjv).
Rahab is a beautiful example of the transforming power of faith. Although she had few spiritual advantages and little knowledge of the truth, her heart was drawn to yhwh. She risked her life, turned her back on a way of life that did not honor God, and walked away from everything but her closest family members (whom she brought into the community of God’s people along with her). From that day on, she lived a completely different kind of life, as a true hero of faith. She has a place of honor in Hebrews 11 alongside some notable names in that “great cloud of witnesses” who testify to the saving power of faith.
After the account of Jericho’s destruction in Joshua 6, Rahab is never again mentioned by name in the Old Testament. Of course, when Joshua noted that Rahab was still living in Israel, this was probably many years after the fall of Jericho. Apparently, she lived out her life in quiet dignity and grace amid the people of God. She was wholly changed from the kind of woman she once had been. She was, and is still, a living symbol of the transforming effect of saving faith. That is the primary message of her life.
In fact, when we do meet Rahab again on the pages of Scripture, it is in the New Testament. Her name is mentioned there three times. Two of those honor her for her remarkable faith (Heb. 11:31; James 2:25). She is held up as an example of faith for both men and women. James, in particular, cites her case to show that faith produces action. Indeed, Rahab’s faith did not lie dormant long. Remember, it was only after she hid the spies that she verbalized to them her belief that yhwh was the one true God. Her faith was seen in the fruit of her works before she even had an opportunity to verbalize it on her tongue. James says genuine faith is always active and fruitful like that. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26 nkjv). Rahab’s faith was anything but dead.
The most amazing occurrence of Rahab’s name, though, in the New Testament is the very first time it appears there, on the very first page, in the very first paragraph of the first gospel. Matthew began his account of Christ’s life with a lengthy genealogy tracing the entire lineage of Jesus from the time of Abraham. Matthew’s goal, of course, was to prove by Jesus’ pedigree that He qualified to be the promised Seed of Abraham, and that He is also rightful heir to the Davidic throne. There, in the list of Jesus’ ancestors, we unexpectedly find Rahab’s name: “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse” (Matt. 1:5 nkjv).
It is highly unusual for women to be named in Hebrew genealogies at all. (Notice that the record of Adam’s offspring in Genesis 5 omits any reference to his daughters.) Yet Matthew mentions five women, and all of them are notable: Tamar (1:3), Rahab (v. 5), Ruth (v. 5), Bathsheba (v. 6), and Mary (v. 16). At least three of them were Gentiles. Three of them were disgraced because of their own sin. In fact, all of them, for various reasons, knew what it was to be an outcast—to have some infamy or stigma attached to their reputations:
• Tamar was a Canaanite woman whose husband had died, leaving her childless. She posed as a prostitute and seduced her own father-in-law, Judah, in order to bear a child. Interestingly enough, a scarlet thread also plays a role in Tamar’s tragic life story (Gen. 38:13–30).
• Rahab we already know about, including the shame of her sordid background.
• Ruth (whom we will soon meet) was from the Moabite nation, a people generally despised in Israel (Ruth 1:3).
• Bathsheba (whom Matthew doesn’t name but refers to simply as “the wife of Uriah”) committed adultery with King David (2 Sam. 11).
• Mary, of course, bore the disgrace of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
Collectively, they illustrate how God is able to work all things together for good. From a human perspective, the whole genealogy is checkered with outcasts and examples of failure. The women, in particular, underscore how scandal colored so much of the messianic line. It was filled with foreigners, outcasts, and those who were pariahs for various reasons. Still, they nevertheless all found a place in the plan of God to bring His Son into the world.
The scandal motif in Christ’s lineage was no accident. In His incarnation, Christ willingly “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant” (Phil. 2:7 nkjv). He became an outcast and a public disgrace, being made a curse on our behalf (Gal. 3:13). He remains even now “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8 nkjv). The gospel message, too, is a public scandal—mere foolishness and shame as far as those who perish are concerned. But to those who are saved, it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).
Then again, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [Christ] did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Mark 2:17 nkjv). Rahab was the very embodiment of that truth. This is why the New Testament repeatedly brings her up as a real-life example of the fruit of saving faith. She is a living reminder that even the worst of sinners can be redeemed by divine grace through faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship” (Eph. 2:8–10 nkjv, emphasis added).
Rahab was redeemed not because of any meritorious works she did. She did not earn God’s favor by any good deeds. Remember, even what she did do right—harboring the spies—was morally tainted because of the way she handled it. She lied. But she is not given to us as an example of the power of human works. She is not a lesson in how to better ourselves through self-improvement. She is a reminder that God by His grace can redeem even the most horrible life.
Some of the scholastic rabbis just prior to Jesus’ time became embarrassed by the fact that a woman with Rahab’s background was spared in the destruction of Jericho and brought into Israel as a proselyte. They proposed a different understanding of the Hebrew word for harlot in Joshua 2:1 (also 6:17, 25). The Hebrew term is similar to a word meaning “to feed,” they claimed. Perhaps Rahab was really just an innkeeper or a hostess, they countered.
The problem is, the actual Hebrew word really can mean only one thing: “harlot.” That was the uncontested understanding of this text for centuries. In fact, there is no ambiguity whatsoever in the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament dating to the second century bc) or in the Greek texts of Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. The Greek word used to describe Rahab is porne, meaning “harlot.” (Notice that the term comes from the same root as the English term pornography and has similar negative moral overtones.)
The idea of sanitizing Rahab’s background was revived by some churchmen with overly delicate sensibilities in the Victorian era. C. H. Spurgeon, the best-known Baptist preacher in late nineteenth-century London, replied, “This woman was no mere hostess, but a real harlot … I am persuaded that nothing but a spirit of distaste for free grace would ever have led any commentator to deny her sin.”
He was exactly right, of course. Remove the stigma of sin, and you remove the need for grace. Rahab is extraordinary precisely because she received extraordinary grace. There’s no need to reinvent her past to try to make her seem less of a sinner. The disturbing fact about what she once was simply magnifies the glory of divine grace, which is what made her the extraordinary woman she became. That, after all, is the whole lesson of her life.
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