The Rehab of Rahab

Joshua 2:1-21; Hebrews 11.31

God rewards faith with His salvation...even in the guiltiest sinner. This woman went from being a call girl to being converted by just believing. And she went from ‘zero’ to ‘hero’ in nothing flat! Truly this was much more than a rehabilitation. She wasn’t reformed...she was transformed! And as an added benefit she became part of the line of Christ...a Greeeeaaaat Grandmother of the Messiah!

The Story Told:

1. Rahab was a Notorious Sinner in a Condemned City v. 1

2. Rahab had a Great Fear of Judgment v. 9

3. She Believed the Report of God’s Greatness v. 10, 11

4. She Pleaded for Mercy & Showed Faith v. 12-15

5. She asks for and receives a True Token v. 12 & v. 18

6. Her Household’s Safety is Confirmed v. 19, 20

7. She Demonstrates her Faith v. 21

God has a way of working thru very ordinary and very unlikely people. He can save and use anyone who is available to Him. He didn’t give her a scarlet letter, but a scarlet thread!

I just wonder how this worked out for the spies, who had to return home and explain to their wives that they were saved by a prostitute!

Here was a woman, a Canaanite woman, destined for destruction, with the judgment of God hanging heavily over her head. Here was a woman in darkness and depravity living a life of immorality, a harlot and yet she was transformed by the grace of God. Here was a woman whose sins were forgiven, here was a woman who was brought into the commonwealth of Israel. Here was a woman no longer a harlot, but she is married to a prince in Israel. Here is a woman so dramatically changed that she’s brought into the very bloodline of our Savior. And, is an ancestor to the Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh, the great, great grandmother of King David. Here was a woman who when you read the genealogy of Christ you will read her name. And, when you turn to Hebrews chapter 11 and read the roll call of the great saints of all of the ages, who live by faith, you’ll read of Rahab, the harlot. And, the way that she was delivered was by tying a scarlet cord in her window, a rope, a line in her window.

Now, that’s not some fancy interpretation in my estimation, for the ones who told her to do that had also had an experience very similar, they had come out of the land of Egypt. And, the Lord had told them to take the blood of the lamb and put it upon the doorpost and the lentils of their house. And, when that angel of judgment came through the land he would Passover them. And, they said to her, “Now, you tie a scarlet cord in your window and when the instruments of God’s justice comes through Jericho we will pass over your house and you’ll be safe if you’re in that house.” [indeed excavations of Jericho found the walls flat other than in one section] And, I believe, that that scarlet line to her was what the blood of the lamb was to those Egyptians. And, that blood of the lamb to those Israelis and that blood of the lamb pointed toward the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. For the Bible tells us in the book of Corinthians “…Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). And, so tonight it is my intention to show you that all of the Bible is about Christ and about His blood redemption.

The thread began with the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Adam and Eve / Cain and Abel / Noah / Abraham and Isaac / Passover / Temple sacrifices / Crucifixion

God used Rahab – A woman who had three strikes against her.

1. Strike One – Rahab was a Canaanite, not a Jew. - The Canaanites were a wicked people. A people so wicked and so evil that God used Israel as his instrument to judge them. The Canaanites were Idolaters.

2. Strike Two – Rahab was a woman.- Women at that time were often treated as 2nd class people. They had few rights. (Much like in many Islamic countries today) In many instances they were treated as property. Yet God worked through this woman – Rahab. In America today women are treated very well, unless they are a Trump supporter!

3. Strike Three – Rahab was a prostitute. She sold herself for money. – God sees potential in every single one of us. No matter what our past.

Rahab had all this going against her and yet she had one great redeeming factor in her favor – FAITH – She believed God.

She didn’t know righteousness yet. And she lied, as if she was helping God’s will take place. What would you have done? What if you were one of the midwives in Exodus? Or hiding Jews in WWII? God didn’t honor her lie, but her faith!

We know better, as David should have when he played the fool, acting as if he was insane to avoid capture. But what greater miracles might God have done if he didn’t feel he needed to help God keep him safe?

New Testament References:

Hebrews 11.31 & James 2.25 help us understand the right relation of faith and works.

Hebrews 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

Faith came first, when she received the spies; Works then came as the result of faith when she sent them away.

Other Lessons from the Story:

1) The Effect of Faith in a Sinner

(a) She believed the news of God’s wrath

(b) She realized God was a great God

(d) She desired to be saved

(e) Her cry for mercy included her family

(f) She obeyed the instructions

(g) She trusted in the oath given

(h) She received God’s assurance

2) The “True Token” is God’s Assurance of Salvation

3) The Work of Faith was evidenced by. . .