Rehabbing Rahab

I saw that title somewhere else and decided that it would be perfect for my blog post. So undulated credit goes to the original conceptualiser. So I am trying to plan a study on Joshua for my youth group and suddenly a question pops into my head. Little did I know that that question would lead me here! Alright!!!

Rahab much like Ruth were gentile women. Rahab however was a prostitute who earned an honourable mention in the Bible for housing two Isreali spies.

Such a dishonourable woman for such an honourable task, some may have thought, but God tends to call the pure in heart, despite their outward appearance and shortcomings  (1 Samuel 16:7).  It reminds us of Jesus' ministry of calling the sick and not the healthy because He is the Great Physician. His mission of reconciling sinful man to God, He often used the most unlikely candidates- the underdogs so to speak (Acts 4:13).

So here is a woman who defied all odds by being a working woman in a culture that was hostile towards women, but at the same time she was not in a noble profession. But this was secondary to the task at hand.

Nevertheless, she faced an ultimatum- 'life' or death. If she chose to hide the spies and the officials found out she risked death- not just her death but that of her family. On the other hand, if she chose not to house the spies she would have missed out on the greatest honour and blessing of her life, but she would have her life- for a time

Thanks be to God, that Rahab chose the former. She risked death because she had heard about the God of the Israelites and all that He had done and how He had destroyed all of their enemies and delivered them from Egypt  (Joshua 2:9). In a holy fear of God (which was amazing because her people were not God worshippers), Rahab submitted to the will of God. Her willingness had only one condition that when they came in to possess the land that they would remember her and her family.

They agreed, they made a promise to her and they kept it. She need only tie a scarlet ribbon from her window (scarlet- like the red on the doorpost in Egypt and the blood of Jesus). Not only did they honour that request but God honoured it in a MAJOR way.

What a brave and amazing woman. When the officials came knocking, Rahab said she had not seen them and sent them on a wild goose chase, then she let them down her window (which was near the city gates) and sent them on their way safely. Though, the issue to some here may be the fact that she lied, God is holy and does not condone lying, but one must remember that Rahab had still been of the flesh and thus operated in that- human kind based on our Adamic nature are prone and programmed to sin- that we must not forget. But, thank God for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7).

Anyway, God used this experience to transform Rahab and to show us an example of faith in action- Faith without works is indeed dead. This action of Rahab not only saved her life but God set her in the lineage of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5)! There is another example of a faithful woman from pagan heritage who also made it in the line of the Messiah (Ruth).

All in all, God rehabbed Rahab. He took an unlikely, imperfect candidate and used her in His will. God also does the same with us. He takes us imperfect and unlikely candidates and transforms us and uses us to move mountains and to do His will on earth. He ordained us for extraordinary works before the foundation of the world or before we were conceived (Ephesians 2:10, Jeremiah 1:1-5). Rahab was born for such a time as that! It is when we think of our lives as engineered for God's glory and we seek His will in finding our true purpose we realise that we were born for such a time as this.

God rehab us and let us seek your will instead of ours. Let us seek you and find you and may we seek to know you and power of your resurrection (Philippians 3:10).

Is it time to check into spiritual rehab?