The Story of Rahab
By Joyce Webb 2017
The story of Rahab begins in the Old Testament book of Joshua.
Joshua Chapter 2
Joshua was the leader now of the group of people known as the Hebrews or the Israelites, or the children of God, or the Jews.
This group of people was called by all of these names in the Bible.
Moses had been their leader for many years. He has died and now Joshua is the leader.
The Hebrew people had been to this part of the land before. When Moses was the leader, Moses led the people from Egypt to this part of the country.
God wanted them to go into the land and conquer or win over the people of that land and take over the land and live in it.
But the people were too afraid to go into this new land and fight against the people living there. God had promised to help them so that they would win, but they were too afraid and would not go in.
God was very angry that they did not trust him and believe that he would help them.
So he told Moses to lead the people back to the desert area and they would have to live there for the next 40 years.
At the end of 40 years, almost all the older men who had been afraid had died. Now the younger men were grown up.
God spoke to them again and told them to go up to the land he had shown them
and they were to go into the land and God would help them win and take over the land.
So Joshua who is the leader now led the people up to the land near the Jordan River and near the town of Jericho.
The people had to cross over the river first. The Jordan River is not very deep most of the time. But it was now spring time and the river was at flood level. So it would be over their heads.
The river is not usually very wide, but in some places it can be 60 feet across and at flood level it would be much wider.
God made a miracle happen for the people just like he did when they left Egypt
many years before when God made a path through the Red Sea for them.
Again God made a path for them through the Jordan River so that the people walked through the river on a dry path. The waters stood up and stopped.
After the river, the people were to go into Jericho and take it over. God was going to do a miracle for them.
Joshua sent out 2 men as spies to see and hear what the people were saying and doing in the city of Jericho.
The Bible tells us that all the kings and people on both sides of the river had heard how God stopped the river for them and they all walked through a path in the river. They were all talking about it. Chp. 5
These 2 men went into Jericho. They stayed at the house of Rahab. Rahab was the name of the woman who lived there.
She was a harlot or we would say a prostitute. The Bible does not tell much about this place where she lived except it was a house built against the city wall.
Maybe it was an inn. Maybe it was just place where she did her business of having men. The Bible does not say.
I would think that if these Hebrew men were obeying God that they would not be there to be having sex with Rahab. God does not honor those who sin and disobey.
So -o-o-o we do not know what kind of rooms she had. So we will guess that it is also and inn.
Anyway, she began to talk to the men. In a small town, people would know a stranger had come. In small towns everyone knows everyone else. A stranger would be noticed.
The people saw and knew that these 2 men had come to town and that they went to Rahab’s place.
The king of Jericho heard that 2 men Hebrew men had come. The king sent some men to Rahab’s place to get the men and bring them to the king.
Rahab must have seen who was at the door and she told the Hebrew men to hide themselves on the flat roof top of the house and to hide under stacks of flax.
She told the men from the king that 2 men had come to her place but when evening came and it was time to close the city gates that they had left. She said she did not know who they were but if the king’s men would hurry maybe they could catch them.
The king’s men left to chase after them.
Rahab went up to the roof to speak to the men as they were hiding.
She said I know that the Lord your God has given our land into your hands. We are all afraid of you. We have heard about how God dried up the Red Sea in Egypt for you long ago. We heard of the battles you have fought with kings and you won.
When we heard of these things our hearts “melted” in us we were so afraid.
Your God is the God of heaven and of the earth.
Think about what she said..
The Red Sea crossing was 40 years ago! Rahab was probably only a child when that happened, and maybe not even born yet.
But the story of what happened was still being told for 40 years!
Rahab believed that the God of the Hebrews was much stronger than any other god or idol. The people of Rahab’s town in Jericho worshipped idols.
But because of what she had heard she believed that the Hebrew’s God was the God of all gods.
And she fully believed that God would let them take over the land.
She was a better believer than many of the Hebrew people! She was more of a believer in God than the first group of Hebrews who came!
So she said to the man I have saved your lives this night. Now promise me and give me something as a sign that you will save my life and my family’s lives when you come into our city.
So they promised her that they would save her when they came to take the city.
Her house was built against the city wall, so she let them out a window using a red cord or rope to let them down to the ground on the outside of the wall.
They told her to use that red cord/rope and wrap it around in the window to show it was her house so when they would come to the city to take over they would know which place was hers.
They told her Chp2 verse19 whoever in in this house will be saved. But if they go out of this house they will not be safe, and will be killed.
This reminds us of when the people left Egypt. God told them to use the blood of the lamb that they killed and to paint the top of the door and the sides of the door with the blood.
God told them to stay in the house until morning because that night the death angel would be passing by any house that had the blood over the door the angel would pass by and no one would die. But any house that did not have the blood on the door the oldest son would die.
Stay in the house under the blood. If you go out from under the blood you will die.
For Rahab it was the same. The red cord or rope was like the blood of the lamb.
Stay under the blood stay under the red rope and you will be saved. If you go out from under the red rope you will die.
The spiritual lesson here is Salvation eternal life life is by Jesus’ blood from the cross Stay under the blood and you will be saved.
Stay in fellowship with Jesus. Stay with Jesus. If you go away from Jesus if you break fellowship with Jesus you are in danger. You will die.
Jesus is the only one who can give us eternal life. We must have a open and right relationship and fellowship with Jesus to have eternal life.
Many things in life can make you discouraged and give up. People start to follow Jesus then some bad things happen they blame God they get mad at God they do not talk to God any more. They pull away from God.
They go “out of the house” they go out from under the blood.
There are many things along our way as Christians that can make us have doubts, make us discouraged, make us question God, make us angry and upset and disappointed that God has not made our way like we wanted it to be.
The “bottom line” is we have to have Jesus if we want eternal life.
Nothing else is so important. Nothing else should take us away from Jesus.
We have to determine that we will stay with Jesus no matter what happens.
We have to learn to bring all the bad things and give them to Jesus in prayer.
Tell him I am so angry I do not know how to stop being angry about this help me.
Tell him I am so upset and hurt by this that has happened I do not know how to think. I can not think about it because it hurts too much it is too heavy for me.
Leave it at Jesus’ feet. Bring all the hurt and leave at his feet asking him to help you with your feelings and thinking.
As time goes along the Holy Spirit will show you some things. He will help you.
To give up Jesus is to give up eternal life.
Do not let anything no matter how bad make you give up Jesus and eternal life.
Stay under the blood. Stay in the house.
Hold on to Jesus. When you are weak say Jesus hold on to me.
When the Hebrews went to the city of Jericho, God told them that he was going to do the work for them.
The people were to walk around the city outside the walls. They were to walk around it one time every day for 6 days. On the 7th day they were to walk around it 7 times. On the 7th time around they were to make a loud shout and blow horns.
So easy. So simple. So silly. Imagine what the people inside Jericho thought as they watched the people walk around their town.
For 6 days nothing happened. Then on the 7th day when they shouted and blew the horns God made the walls all around the city to fall down.
Except for one small part of the wall Rahab’s house against the wall it stood standing.
With the wall down the Hebrew men went in and killed the people and animals.
They took the city. Only Rahab and her family was saved.
Can you imagine how it was for Rahab before the Hebrews came. Rahab went to her family to tell them to come to her house and stay with her until the Hebrews came because they would be safe only in her house.
I wonder if it was hard for them to believe her?
Noah preached to the people for many years when he was building the ark. He told the people that it was going to rain and flood, so they needed to come and get in the ark with him.
No one believed him! No one! After all those years of preaching to them.
Lot tried to get his married daughters and their husbands to come with him to leave the city of Sodom, but they would not come. So Lot took the 2 daughters that were in his home and his wife and left.
Getting family to believe and receive Jesus and to take the warning is hard sometimes. It breaks our hearts when they will not make their hearts ready and accept Jesus’ forgiveness and get in fellowship with Jesus. But we keep praying and trying to get them to believe.
After the Hebrews took over Jericho Rahab became part of the group of the Hebrews. She and her family lived among them.
She married a Hebrew man named Salmon see Matthew Chp. 1 verse 5 They had a son named Boaz. Boaz married Ruth and they had a son Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David who became the King of Israel.
From King David’s family line came Mary and Joseph Mary was Jesus’ mother and Joseph his earthly father.
Rahab a harlot who worshipped idols because she believed God was saved from death married a Hebrew man and became part of the family that Jesus was born into. What an honor for Rahab!
God honors those who honor and believe in him.
Stay “under the blood” “in the house”. Stay with Jesus.