“It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies” (Hebrews 11:31 NLT).
Rahab lived in the ancient city of Jericho. She was a business woman who ran a house that offered meals, lodging and other entertainments. Both here in Hebrews 11 and in Joshua 2:1 and Joshua 6:22-25, Rahab was called a harlot. However, that identity did not prevent her from confessing her faith in God. For she hid the Israelite spies when they lodged with her and helped them escape unharmed when the Jericho king sought them. She did this because she was convinced that Jericho would fall to the Israelites because their God was truly God.
Listen to her confession of faith: “For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11). Having made her confession of faith, she begged the spies to swear to her that they would spare her and her father’s family and deliver them from death. The spies promised to spare her just as she asked.
And so, when Jericho perished, Rahab’s family was saved. Not only that, but she was included into the tribe of Judah. For she married a Judahite named Salmon and later settled in Bethlehem. She bore him a son named Boaz, who married another non-Israelite named Ruth. Both women are listed in the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1:5. Both were outsiders that were included in the family of faith, even the family of God. Both were women of faith in God.
We are all sinners and outsiders from God’s family, yet through faith in Christ Jesus, we are made righteous and adopted as children of God. Faith in Christ changes our identity and our future.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You for the testimony of Rahab. For it shows Your mercy and forgiveness towards those who would repent and confess their faith in You. It doesn’t matter where or who we’ve been in the past, You stand ready to give us a new identity and future through faith in Christ Jesus. Help us to walk in the new identity today through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.