Voices of the Past

Unshakeable

Rahab: From Prostitute to Heroine of the Faith

God is a God of Transformation. He delivered Rahab from a scarlet past to the Faith Hall of Fame. What can He do with us?

“The Lord looks upon the heart…” 1 Samuel 16:7  That’s what God told Samuel as he searched through the line-up of Jesse’s sons looking for the one God was calling to be the next king of Israel. The Lord had made this loud and clear years before in the life of David’s great-great grandmother: Rahab, a harlot.

The inhabitants of Jericho were in an uproar. The Children of Israel, with Joshua as their leader, were camped on the other side of the Jordan. It was only a matter of time before they crossed. The land was ripe with rumors of the armies and kings they’d already defeated.

The king of Jericho needed a plan, and when he heard that two Israelite spies had sneaked into his city and were staying at the house of Rahab the prostitute, he wanted to get his hands on them.

But Rahab had other plans. God had revealed to her heart that He was the all-powerful “God of Heaven above and earth below” (Joshua 2:11). She couldn’t let the king or anyone else in the city get their hands on God’s followers. So she took the two spies upon the roof and hid them beneath piles of soggy, wet flax.

Then, she lied to the king’s officials who showed up at her door. She told them the men had already left, and if the officials wanted to catch them, they’d better hurry out the city gate after them. In other words, she sent them on a wild goose chase that lasted for days.

She risked her life. If her lies or the men had been discovered, the king very likely would have executed her for harboring and assisting enemies of the state. But her faith told her that the kingdom was in its last days. In her heart, she knew that “The Lord had given this land to” the Israelites (Joshua 2:9).

Rahab decided to put her faith in the Lord, not in stone walls or earthly armies. She helped the men escape the city by using a rope to lower them down from her window on the outside of the wall, but not before extracting a promise from them. She asked them to spare her life and the lives of her family members when the Lord handed the city over to the Israelites. They agreed and told her to gather all of her family in her house and to hang a scarlet cord out of her window as a sign.

Hanging the scarlet cord was a sign of faith. She was putting her trust in the Lord,  that He would watch over her and her family.

Weeks passed. She had to wonder if she’d been wrong or mistaken. The army of the Children of Israel came. Forty thousand or more marched around the city day after day for six days, in silence except for the priests blowing their trumpets.  Then, on the seventh, they blew their trumpets, and the whole force gave a mighty shout.

The walls started to shake and break apart. Rahab’s house was in those walls. She’d gathered her whole family there. The floor jarring beneath her, cracks ripping through her stone surroundings, she probably huddled and hugged her family close, wondering if this was the end. Would God remember her and honor her faithfulness?

Rahab had to keep her “focus on the window with the scarlet cord as her world shook around her; otherwise fear would have overcome her.”*

What kind of walls are we surrounded by and dependent upon? When our world, or daily lives, or dreams are shaken, we need to keep our eyes on our Lord and His promises.

In the keynote address at the Royal Writers Conference, Author Karen Witemeyer stated, “God can use anybody at any time if they have the courage to stand up and do what God is calling them to do. A humble prostitute from a non-Jewish background came to be in the lineage of Christ because of her faith, courage, and ability to stand firm.”*

We have no idea of the amazing ways God can use us or the plans He has for us, if only we will stand firm and keep our eyes and hearts focused on Him!

*Quotes from Karen Witemeyer’s keynote on “Unshakeable Faith” at ACFW Virginia’s Royal Writers Conference 2022.

Other Sources:

Higgs, Liz Curtis. “Bad Girls of the Bible: Rahab.” https://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/bad-girls-of-the-bible-rahab/

NIV Study Bible.