By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Hebrews 11:30-31.
This past weekend, I spoke at a women’s retreat for a church from Lewiston, Idaho.
Fifty years ago, I spent a summer in that area, and over the course of the summer made a decision that would affect my life first for the worse, ultimately for the best.
Fortunately, what began a downhill slide, quickly changed course after living (& surviving) a nightmarish experience as the result of my bad choices.
…but, following the nightmare, another turn of events and a “better choice,” brought me into relationship with Jesus…and a life change I will NEVER REGRET!
However, for years, I wrestled with my worthiness…and, my identity in Christ.
With that intro, I now turn to an unlikely woman of faith whose story drove home to me the basis for settling both those issue: the story of Rahab, the harlot.
Every time Rahab is mentioned in the Scriptures, the word prostitute is used to identify her.
However, Rahab is also the only woman mentioned in the Hebrews passage that we refer to as God’s Hall of Faith (her complete story is told in Joshua 2 and 4 – please take a minute to re-read her story); and, she shows up in Matthews lineage of Jesus!
Rahab’s portrait hangs next to some prominent folk: Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses… Her story is always told in connection with the battle of Jericho, where the walls “came-a tumbling down.”
Rahab’s life was spared because she gave safe haven to Joshua’s spies, then helped them escape over the walls of Jericho.
What did I learn from her that I can pass on to you?
Because if you’re like me, the battle for our identity in Christ rises up randomly and often.
First, Rahab’s story reminds me that no one is beyond the long arm of God’s reach. We don’t know her entire story. We read nothing of what happened to bring her to the place of prostitution, but I know one thing: No one grows up hoping to become one.
I, thankfully, don’t hear any of my little grand-daughters’ saying, “I sure hope one day I’ll be a pretty prostitute.” They do, however, want to be Cinderella, or more likely, Elsa:
When we’re little we all want to be beautiful princesses and marry the handsome prince, living happily ever after. Rahab had a happy ever-after-ending, but she didn’t have a great beginning.
As a speaker at women’s events, I’m often reminded that desperation typically brings a woman to the place Rahab found herself when the spies stayed in her home.
Now, don’t think that the spies were looking for something other than information about the city. Rahab lived “on the city wall.” The wall housed the hub of activity in every ancient city. We can speculate how Rahab got such a prominent home, but all we really know is that her house was open for the multiple businesses that kept her surviving: a bed and breakfast, a flax business, and her other business. Rahab’s home was simply a convenient location for gathering information.
Every good story has a problem. Rahab had a big one. Looking out over the wall across the river, she could see the Israelites on the move. They were almost on her doorstep. The stories about them had tumbled down over the years from one generation to the next. Rahab believed those stories. She’d heard about their God – about what he had done for them at the Red Sea. She knew how he’d provided and cared for them over the 40 years of caravanning through the wilderness. She was no dumb woman. She understood they were coming back to take their land – the same land that Abraham had been promised. If that unseen God could obliterate the army of the great Pharaoh, what would he do in her little community?
Rahab believed in a BIG GOD.
That belief gave her courage and conviction, and the hope that her life could be saved.
When we believe in a BIG GOD, we act on the faith we have.
Our convictions have feet….and it changes how we look at God, His Word (especially what He declares to be true of those of us who are in Christ), and most of all we live out of what we are assured!!!
Here is the baton of faith I believe Rahab desires to pass on to us:
If God is small, I will always fear people. That will lead to approval addiction, and people pleasing. But, when God is big – nothing matters but pleasing him. My identity will be connected to my God (even if at one time I was a prostitute).
If God is small, I will always be the center of my universe. But, when God is big, others become more important and my life becomes one of service.
If God is small, I will always try to seek my agenda for life, to manipulate things to make them what I want them to be like. But, when God is big, I will walk in his ways – for his ways are always right (Hos 14:7), and I will find fulfillment, peace and joy.
It’s your turn. You make application: If God is small, I will _________________________ (you fill in the blank); but, when God is big, I will _____________________.
There’s one other lesson from Rahab –
That one’s next week. ?
For now…ponder this one thought with me. ?