FAITH OF RAHAB

The faith of Rahab

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men out of Shitim two men to spy secretly saying, “Go view the land, even Jericho”. And they went, and came into a woman’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, “Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house; for they be come to search out the country”.

And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, “There camec men unto me, but I wish not whence they were”.

And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the man went out; whither the men went I wot not; pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them”.

But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

And the men pursued after them the way to Jordon unto the fords and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

And before they laid down, she came up upon them upon the roof.

And she said unto the men, “I know the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you”.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the amorites , that were on the other side Jordon, Sihan and Og, whom ye destroyed.

And as soon as we have heard these things, our hearts did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Noe therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed your kindness, that you will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:

And ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

And the men answered her. Our life for yours, if ye utter this our business. And it shall be, When the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

And she said unto them. Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers be returned, and afterward may ye go your way.

And the men said unto her. We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

Behold when we come into the land, thou shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by; and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household home into them.

And it shall be, that whoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless; and whoever shall be with thee in thy house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hath made us swear.

And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned; and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

COMMENT.- Again Joshua sent men out to reconnoire. During the forty years that the Israelites had spent in the wilderness, a king of Egypt, whose ensign was the hornet, had entered Palastine by the more direct way, overrun the country, and broken the strength of the Amorites, so that the cities might ber strong in themselves, but the nations who held them, especially in the south, were much enfeebled. Israel had been led this long way round by the east of the Dead Sea, that they might fall upon the country in their once conquered, the whole l;and might be in their grasp.

Here then lay the host, with Jordon before them, and Jericho, a strong walled city, enclosed by lovely groves of palm-trees, guarding the passage of the strong deep river, just where it flows into the sluggish sea.

The two men safely passed the river and entered the city at eventide. The great camp had been lying in the neighborhood for a full year, and though the host did not maraud like Amalekkites or Midanites, it was known that there was a more serious purpose of conquest than was ever entertained by those wanderers, and it was jealously watched. On the first report that two men from thence had entered the town and gone to Rahab’s house, which seems to have been a place of entertainment for travellers she was summoned to give them up. Then she began to show her faith. She was different from her fellow citizens, in that, though all alike saw that Divine power must have led the Israelites through such a course of miracles, they tried to fight against that will, while she bent to it.

She hid the spies under the stalks of flax which were laid out to dry on the flat roof of her house, which was built against the city walls, which she gave a false direction to the men who were in search of them; and before letting down her guests over the walls, she advised them to hide for three days in the hills of Abarim, lest they should meet their enemies returning from their pursuit. Then she besought that she and her family might be spared, and the spies bade her mark her house with the scarlet cord by which she was about to let them down. That cord would be her safeguard, as the blood of the Passover had been to the first born of Israel. The red streak would secure safely to those within. So does the red streak of our Blessed Lord’s precious Blood mark the truly faithful for salvation, when this sinful world shall be destroyed.

RAHAB’S FUTURE

References to Rahab in other parts of the Bible show that she gained a unique place in Jewish history. She and her family alone survived the battle of Jericho. The authors of James (2:25) and Hebrews (11:31) describe Rahab as woman of faith.

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