Rahab

Rahab

Joshua 2v1-3 (BSB)
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.  And it was reported to the king of Jericho: “Behold, some men of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.”  So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.”

Joshua 2v8-11 (BSB)
Before the spies lay down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.  When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

Joshua 6v15-17 (BSB)
Then on the seventh day, they got up at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same manner.  That was the only day they circled the city seven times.  After the seventh time around, the priests blew the horns, and Joshua commanded the people, “Shout!  For the LORD has given you the city! Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction.  Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live because she hid the spies we sent.”

Joshua 6v22-23 (BSB)
Meanwhile, Joshua told the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who are with her, just as you promised her.”  So the young spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers, and all who belonged to her.  They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

Hebrews 11v31 (BSB)
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.

James 2v25 (BSB)
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?

“The providence of God directed the spies to the house of Rahab.  God knew where there was one that would be true to them, though they did not.  It was by faith that Rahab received those with peace, against whom her king and country had war.  We are sure this was a good work; it is so spoken of by the apostle (James 2:25), and she did it by faith, such a faith as set her above the fear of man.”

Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible

“The mercy of our God does not measure us by what we were.  It would be wide with the best of us if the eye of God should look backward to our former estate; there He should see Abraham an idolater, Paul a persecutor, Manasseh a necromancer, Mary Magdalene a courtesan, and the best vile enough to be ashamed of himself.  Who can despair of mercy that sees even Rahab fetched into the blood of Israel and line of Christ?”

Joseph Hall, Contemplations

(BSB Berean Study Bible)