By: Gabriela Yareliz
Today, I was reading the story of Rahab. It’s funny because we are all familiar with the story. Israel sends spies to Jericho to strategize how they can take the city and conquer it.
Rahab’s home is in the very wall of Jericho. (Joshua 2:15) She is a prostitute who hides the Israelite spies (and she helps them get away safely to plan their takeover). She expresses to the spies that she knows their God is powerful and will give them victory over Jericho. (2:10-11)
She strikes a deal with the spies. The spies tell her to gather her family in her home and to tie a scarlet cord in her window, and they will spare her life to repay her for her kindness and loyalty to them. (2:18)
This is the classic story. We know that Israel in Joshua chapter 6, marches around the city (seven times) and shouts upon the Lord’s instruction. The Lord gives them the city. (6:16)
What I find interesting is that I always thought Rahab and her family were evacuated before the wall falls and the chaos of taking the city ensues. But Scripture does not tell us that. In fact, the wall falls flat. FLAT. (6:20)
Why does this matter? Well, remember that Scripture tells us Rahab’s home was built into the wall. It’s not until Joshua 6:22 that someone says “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her…”
Why did this catch my eye? If Rahab’s house was built into the wall, and the wall fell flat before she was evacuated and saved, that means that before the spies could keep their part of the deal and bring her and her family to safety, God was very much involved and spared this prostitute and her family. The fact that when the wall came down she was not crushed under rubble and dead with her family was a miracle. The wall fell but Rahab and her home were spared. God’s hand was upon her. A gentile prostitute had God’s hand shielding her and all who belonged to her, who gathered by faith in that home.
God deals with us with so much mercy and saves us first. God saved Rahab for her kindness with the Israelite spies before the spies could return the favor. They definitely played a role in evacuating them as they started to burn and pillage the city, but the fact that there was someone to evacuate was God’s doing.
Here we have a gentile prostitute found in the lineage of Jesus. (Matthew 1:5) Rahab believed in the one true God, and God honored her faith. If you believe He is true, His hand is on you.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 