August 2, 2026 Reflection

Over the summer I have been telling stories of our faith found in the Old Testament. I’m going to fast forward today, starting with places in the New Testament where the person I’m focusing on is mentioned, and then go back to their original story in the Old Testament. This first mention is from the Epistle to the Hebrews where the writer talks about those who have been saved by faith alone. He talks first about names that might be familiar to you – Abraham, Moses and those who passed through the parting of the Red Sea and then he writes; “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had received the spies in peace.” (Heb 11:31) This next reference is in the book of James, who talks about the importance of faith being accompanied with works. James starts by talking about Abraham as an exemplar of this kind of faith and then he immediately moves to: “Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road?” (James 2:25) And finally in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ genealogy: “…and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab…” (Matt 1:5) Salmon was one of the leaders of Israel who supported Moses when they left Egypt and Rahab and Salmon’s son married Ruth, she of ‘my people will be your people.

            Isn’t it amazing that this woman Rahab is mentioned in the same breath as Moses and Abraham and as an ancestor of Jesus, is held up as a shining example of faithfulness, and of doing the kind of work that accompanies faithfulness, and yet she is very seldom mentioned in Sunday sermons. This exemplar of faith does not show up in the lectionary, or any stained-glass windows or religiously sentimental Christmas cards. Could it be that her identification as a prostitute has completely overshadowed the role she played in the establishment of the early Israelis’ homeland? Overshadowed also her bold declaration of faith in God, even though she was a gentile.

Now I know some of you will have heard of Rahab because the United Church of Canada is a church that likes to name the nameless, that likes to mention the unmentionable. And I know others will never have heard of her because in some circles of our church, we still stick to the old favourites. But as I was researching this sermon I came across things about Rahab that I’d never heard before so if indeed this is a well-worn story for you, stick with me.

            The story of Rahab is told in the book of Joshua, perhaps the most violent book of the Bible. In it we read about Israel’s conquest of the land of Canaan, and not just a conquest but the annihilation of the people of the land. This of course will bring up many feelings for us given the very painful and complex situation in the Middle East. But while I am not minimizing the ongoing heartbreak there, that is not my focus this morning.

Rahab was a prostitute living on the very edge of the city of Jericho, literally and metaphorically. Jericho was a fortified Canaanite city that stood in Israel’s path to the Promised Land. Her house was part of the city’s exterior walls, removed from the main area of commerce and society. It would have served probably several purposes – lodging, food, drink and, sexual favours.

At the time of this story the armies of Joshua were gathered near Jericho, ready to invade. Their leader, Joshua, sent two spies into the city on reconnaissance mission. It is not long before the army of Jericho learns of their presence, and the spies take refuge with Rahab, who offers them hospitality, even sanctuary. When the king of Jericho’s soldierss come looking for them Rahab lies, saying that they left at the time of day when the gates of the city were closing. She suggests that if the soldiers leave and start looking right away, they might still be able to catch them.

But in truth, Rahab had hidden the men on her roof top, under stalks of flax. When the king’s men leave, she makes a deal with the spies. She won’t give away their position if they promise that she and all her household will be spared when Joshua’s army enters the city. The spies agree. Rahab lets them down over the walls of the city with a rope and gives them very specific instructions as to where to go and how long to hide before they return to the army encampment. They in turn tell her that they will recognize and protect her house and household if she hangs a crimson cord from her window during the invasion.

When the spies return to the encampment, they don’t report anything about the readiness of the city for battle other than to repeat what Rahab has told them: that the hearts of the residents of Jericho have ‘melted’ in fear of the approaching army. Joshua takes this to be a sign that there will be little or no resistance, which indeed is the case. The army of some 40,000 combatants crossed over the Jordan which had parted to make way for them, and they surrounded the city. You might remember the story about the walls of Jericho tumbling down when Joshua blew his trumpet. We read in the book of Joshua, “As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep and donkeys.” (Joshua 6:20-21) All the people were slaughtered except, Rahab and her family, who were led out of the city before it was burned to the ground.

            It occurred to me as I was looking at some of the photos that Jocelyne sent me for the Power Point this morning that Rahab is a bit like these flowers. Like the rose, she was both beautiful and had thorns that could draw blood. Like the foxglove, legend has it she was stately and graceful, and she was poisonous, contributing to the destruction of her nation. Like the thistle she may have appeared delicate but was surrounded with protective prickles. And finally, she lives on in a city burned to the ground, and with a people who were not her people.

For the most part Rahab is considered a hero of our Biblical story because she enabled the establishment of the nation promised to God’s people, and, she saved her family. She is equated to Abraham in her faithfulness – but there is a significant difference between her faith and that of Abraham. His faith was tested when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac, and Abraham was willing to comply. Rahab had to put her very own life on the line, and that of all her family. She had to trust in this God she had heard of and gamble that He was indeed all that people said. She forsakes the doomed world around her to entrust her uncertain future to God. (The Significance of Exemplars for the Interpretation of the Letter of James, Robert Foster, 127)

            The works that accompany her faith, praised in the book of James, include some dubious ethical behaviour including lying, deception, treachery and blackmail. Sometimes the vulnerability of the most marginal people calls on whatever means possible to survive. And sometimes their survival, and that behaviour, contribute to the fulfillment of God’s promises.

            A lot of what is written about Rahab focuses on God’s grace, on how God will work through whoever is available, even a gentile (not a Hebrew), woman (not a man) prostitute (not a virtuous woman). (Foster) But I see Rahab in a completely different way – with the initiative coming not from a gracious God, but from a courageous Rahab. This gentile, female prostitute recognized the nature of God and aligned herself with that God. Before anyone else outside of the Israelite people she recognized God as the Lord of heaven and earth, and she counted on Him being all that she had heard. And she threw her lot in with Him.

You may often hear that Rahab was a prostitute who helped the spies of Joshua, with an emphasis on her profession and her offer of hospitality and grace. The insinuation is that she was somehow an agent of God in spite of her being a prostitute.  What you seldom hear about is her full-on confession of faith in God, her fulsome declaration, as clear as that of any of the more famous prophets, about the nature of God. Hear again the words of Rahab as she speaks to the spies: “The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.” Her confession is similar to that of Moses, who in Deuteronomy declares “…the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath;” (Deut 4:39) Indeed much of what she says to the spies is an echo of the words of God in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Her words, “The terror of you has fallen on us” (Josh 2:9b) compare to God’s words voiced by Moses, “I will send my terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people of Exodus.” (Exod. 23:27). Rahab declares, “All the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you,” (Josh 2:9c) echoing words written earlier in Exodus, “All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.” (Exod. 15:15c)

In her words to the spies Rahab testifies to the fulfillment of the promises of God, as prophesized earlier in the Old Testament. (The Woman Who Fulfilled the Word of YHWH, David Merling, Andrews University, p. 37

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2800&context=auss)

This is what Scripture wants us to know about Rahab – not so much that she had faith but that she gave witness to the faithfulness of God. There is a reason that the ‘Book of the Wars of the Lord’ opens at her house. There is a reason that Rahab is named and not the spies. There is a reason that only Rahab is named, other than Joshua who is mentioned in the background. Rahab serves as evidence that even some people other than the Israelites were aware of the powers of God, (Merling) and she proclaims the truth of God’s faithfulness loud and clear. And over time she and her descendants in Christ would be included in the family of God. God is working through Rahab, and as such she is pivotal in the fulfillment of God’s history.

            Rahab gives witness to the truth that all God’s people, even those on the edges of the city, are capable of collaborating with God, of being sources of great bravery, creative subterfuge, and prophetic insights. All God’s people can and do serve God and point us towards the way of God in Christ.

I wonder whose witness we miss in the confines of our ordered lives. Who is crying out to us about the nearness of the Kindom of God that we can’t hear because it’s a voice we don’t expect? Who is warning us of the ways we have wandered from the Way of God, who we dismiss because they make us uncomfortable? I wonder how often we feel inadequate to be an agent of God in the world, and how much we need to hear Rahab’s encouragement?

A gentile woman of ill repute stands alongside Abraham and Moses and with the ancestors of Jesus, inviting us to notice the presence of God, and our capacity to align our lives with God’s dream for creation. May we notice the crimson rope and seize it with all we have.

Amen