A Biblical portrait of Rahab, Who was purified by faith
Bienhome Muivah *
A Biblical portrait of Rahab, Who was purified by faith
It may seem strange to select a harlot from Jericho to illustrate Paul's exhortation to Titus to teach the older women in Crete to train the younger women to be pure, when we consider the culture and moral values on this island in the Mediterranean Sea, it's very likely that some of the women who put their faith in Christ in this first-century setting may very well have been engaging in the world's oldest profession, particularly as temple prostitutes. One thing is for sure, all of these women who were converted from paganism had not been trained in their families and in the culture at large to be morally pure as this quality of life is defined in the Holy Scripture.
Consider, for example, the city of Corinth. More than 1000 women served as priestesses in the Temple of Aphrodite. After the gospel penetrated this licentious city, Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, outlining a spectrum of immoral activities that characterized these people before they came to faith in Christ.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral nor idolater nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God… (I Cor. 6:9-11)
Rahab's statement of faith
Centuries earlier, Joshua sent spies to investigate Jericho, another very pagan and immoral city. The Biblical record clearly states that these men "entered the house of a prostitute named Rehab" (Joshua 2:1). Shortly after they had settled in, a surveillance team sent out by the King of Jericho also arrived on the scene. Anticipating this investigation, Rahab had already hidden these men on her roof under stalks of flax.
Rahab's action poses several questions. Why was she so eager to protect these men of Israel? Why was she willing to risk her own life, should the spies be discovered? We believe these questions point to one basic answer. Though Rahab is still identified as a prostitute in the Biblical text, she had already turned away from idolatry and prostitution and had put her faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Note the certainty inherent in Rahab's testimony to the spies after the men from Jericho left her home: "I know that the Lord has given this land to you" (v.9). For 40 years Rahab had observed the concerns and fear of her own people in Jericho and of the other inhabitants of the land, all of whom were left breathless by the miracles that God had performed for Israel: the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army. And more recently, the people of Jericho was awestruck by Israel's great victories over the Amorites on the other side of Jordan (see 2:9-11).
They also knew that this God of Israel had revealed that Canaan was the land that He had chosen for these nomadic people who had been wondering in the wilderness for 40 years. And now, Israel was on the march!
But there was a great difference between Rahab and the other Canaanites: She acted on what she knew-she acknowledged that God was the one true God. Her statement of faith was very simple but very specific when she said, "For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth blows" (2:11).
Rahab's work of faith
When James wrote this epistle centuries later, he wanted his readers to know that "faith without deeds is dead" (2:26). In other words, faith that does not result in good works reflects no real faith at all. He used Rahab, an Old Testament believer, as an illustration:
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? (V.25)
Please understand that James was not teaching that either Rahab or we are saved by works. Rather he was explaining the same Biblical truth that the apostle Paul taught after Paul had emphasized that we are saved by grace through faith-not works-because salvation is God's gift (Eph. 2:8-9). Paul went on to clarify that "we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (v.10).
The radical changes in Rahab's life illustrated that this woman had truly came to know God through faith, just as Abraham had done years before when he believed God, and God counted it as righteous (Rom. 4:3). Abraham, an Old Testament man of faith, then went on to demonstrate the reality of that faith when he obeyed God and was willing to sacrifice the life of his son Isaac (James 2:21).
Reflect for a moment on the additional evidence that Rahab was a true believer and had already changed her profession, maybe years before. How else can we explain the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof of her home (Joshua 2:6).
Industrious women of noble character would spend hours gathering these stalks to make clothes (Pro. 31:13). If Rahab had still been practicing her old profession, she would not be gathering flax. Since she had gathered enough to cover up two grown men, she apparently had been in the cloth business for a significant period of time.
Consider also the scarlet cord (Josh. 2:17-21). Since it was difficult to store liquid dye for ready use to create various colored fabrics, cloth makers would put lengthy ropes into the various vats of colored dye to absorb the dye. Usually a very small piece of colored rope-six inches or so-would dye a large quantity of cloth. Note that Rahab had accumulated enough rope of only one color to hung over a wall that may have been as high as 30 feet (V. 15). For a cloth maker in Jericho, that was a great inventory to support a thriving business.
God's grace
The greatest lesson that emerges from this fascinating event is that God is no respecter of persons. Otherwise, why would he give so much space in the midst of divine history to record Rehab's story? Cleary, God wants all people to know that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world. There's no individual outside the sphere of his love and grace (John 3:16). This is also why the author of Hebrews still identified Rahab in Ch. 11, the New Testament Hall of Faith, as a prostitute (v.31). All men and women everywhere, regardless of their moral condition, can call on the Lord and be saved (Rom. 10:13).
One final question: Why is Rahab included in the genealogy of Jesus (Mt. 1:5)? This demonstrates in a profound and dynamic way that even though Jesus Christ was the perfect Son of God, in His Humanity He can identify with all people-no matter how sordid their lifestyles! He had extended His saving grace to all human beings, including those who are blatantly immoral. But once we become Christians, we are cleansed from all sin (I John 1:9) and it's God's will that from that moment onward, we be taught God's moral standard, a standard of purity.
Lead a pure life of faith!
* Bienhome Muivah wrote this article for Hueiyen Lanpao
The writer is a Church Ministry Promoter at MBC Centre Church, Imphal
This article was posted on March 30, 2014.
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