רָחָב

It must be done

“Go get mamma and papa” My sister ran into our home and told me frantically.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“You have to come live with me for a little while.” She told me moving past the front entrance calling our other siblings names as she went. “It must be done.”

“I’m not coming with you.” I told her. I hated when my parents even made me take things to her hotel. There were always drunken men and women. It was no secret what kind of dirty business went on there. I knew that my sister was a shady “lady of the night”. I knew she was a whore. I knew she was a prostitute and I didn’t want to live with her anymore than I wanted to live with these other terrible people.

My mamma started yelling at me. “Get our bowls, get our vases. Get our things! We must go at once!” I rolled my eyes, but obeyed.

When we were in my sister’s inn she sat me down.

“Things are changing little one.” She told me, her tone was very serious, so serious it sent a shiver down my spine. I pulled my cloak tighter to me.

“I am going to tell you my secret, but it must stay with you.” As she said this I leaned in to listen for she was whispering. “It must be done.”

“When they knocked on my door I knew who they were immediately.” She was telling me quietly. “Their leader Joshua had sent them to spy out our city. Jericho especially. I could read it on their faces that they needed help. I let them stay here.”

I wasn’t surprised by her letting even our enemies stay, because anyone who could pay enough could stay at her house.

“I knew that the governor would hear about them coming in, you know how gossip spreads here,” she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one could hear and continued, “So that night I told the spies to hide, I even took them to the flat roof and covered them up.”

“Did the governor’s men find them?” I asked curiously.

“No, they came in and told me that they knew the spies had been here. They said they knew that these foreigners were going to try to take our land and destroy anyone who stands in their way.”

“Is that true? Is that why they came? Why would they do that to us?” I asked frightened. My sister took my hands in her own, I could feel them trembling.

“It is because we are wicked, little one.” I could see tears in her eyes. “We have done wicked and terrible things. But their God is good and He is giving them what He promised them, all they have to do is obey Him. They must obey Him and someone must pay for our sins”

My sister had been doing terrible things all her life, but she had never once acknowledged that they were bad. Our parents had never told her deeds were wrong either. None of us had ever been taught that what was done here was bad, but as the stories spread about the outsiders and their God calling for purity there were whispers in the streets about how wicked we were and how we would be defeated. “You believe in their God?” I asked in amazement.

“I do. Which is why I told the government men that the spies had come but that I did not know where they were anymore. I told them that I didn’t know where they went, but that if they hurried they may be able to catch up with them.”

“Did it work?”

“Yes, they believed the story I told them.”

“Ray, you could be killed for this! You hid outsiders, spies, our enemies! Why would you do that? Why have you brought us here? We could be killed too now!”

“I brought you here because I want you to be saved!” My sister explained pulling me back to the floor before I drew attention to myself.

“Before the spies left I spoke with them. I said, ‘I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.’”

The Story Being Told

She was right, everyone in town was terrified as we saw them moving closer and closer each day. We had heard what happened to the Egyptians decades ago, how the outsiders were released from slavery and how as they escaped the Red Sea dried up for them and swallowed the Egyptians who followed them. We had heard what happened to the other cities like us, who tried to keep the outsiders out, they had been destroyed. It wasn’t because these people were bloodthirsty animals, but because of how wicked the cities were. Our city was terrified because we knew we didn’t stand a chance against them.

My sister started speaking again.

“Little one, their God is the God over nature and nations, of heaven and of earth. There is nothing He cannot do. That is why I made an agreement with the men.” She finally smiled. Her smile was peaceful and made me feel courageous. “They have sworn that they will show kindness, a loving faithfulness to our family here and save us from death, because of how I protected them.”

“We are saved then?” I asked with a smile breaking upon my face.

Their answer was this “‘Our lives for your lives! If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land’.”

This was the story being told in the city, that we were going to lose our city to the outsiders, but when Ray told it, it sounded like a good thing. If their God really was the one true God then I wanted to live in a city with His people. I continued pondering the story Ray told me even after she finished.

He is Faithful

I saw the scarlet ribbon she tied on the window as a sign to the spies that this house would be protected in any battle that may come through. The scarlet cord was in place of where she had let the rope down and let them go up to the hills and hide out so that they would not be found.

That evening Rahab called our whole family together and warned us to stay inside if anything began. We would be kept safe here. The outsiders would be faithful to us as she was faithful to them.

“How do you know that they will keep their promise?” Our brother asked.

“Because I know their God is faithful to them and as He is now my God too, I believe He will be faithful to me.”

Rahab was right, when the marching, trumpeting, and shouting started, our family was safe. As our city walls tumbled down, we were delivered from the danger. As the Israelites took over our city we were welcomed into their people group as if we were their own. They did not care about our family’s reputation, they only cared about telling us more about their great one true God. The God who brought them out of slavery, through the Red Sea and who was giving them their promised land. Just as they said and just as Rahab had believed, the one true God was faithful in his promises.

Epilogue

This is what we are called to as believers: an active obedience. Which is why James uses Rahab as an example of faithful living saying

“In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” (James 2:25).

Rahab acted out of obedience to God because she heard the testimony, the stories of God and his might and it changed her life. She gave up her old way of living in sin and pursued the one true God. In fact, she later married one of those “outsiders” and became the mother of Boaz, and because of this she is included in the lineage of Jesus.

It was not because Rahab was a good woman, in fact it is clear that she was not, it is because God chose to use her and she responded in obedience. God remained faithful to His people and used Rahab to show His faithfulness.

We as believers are called to active obedience, sharing His testimony, and trusting His faithfulness.