What strikes me about the story of Rahab is how simple and strong her faith in God was. She hid two enemy spies in her house and then let them escape without saying a word to the king at the risk of her own life. She had heard of the things that God had done for the Israelites and she saw the discouragement and paralysis that the fear of God had brought upon Jericho. Because of this she knew in her heart that the land her people lived in would soon belong to God's people, the Israelites. God used the report of His mighty deeds to speak into the heart of that little woman and change her view on the situation at hand. She didn't curse the Israelite's God and live in fear like everyone else in Jericho, instead she considered the facts and figured that a God who could lead an entire nation out of Egypt, part the Red Sea and bring down two Amorite kings would be 1) worth fearing and following and 2) someone she could entrust her life to even in the face of death. Thus Rahab started rooting for God's people and was used by Him to protect the two spies and give them the news that would encourage the Israelites to conquer Jericho.
But why Rahab? What made her so special? She was but an Amorite woman, a pagan idolater with a lewd profession to top it off. She would have had a pretty terrible reputation and I doubt that people who weren't otherwise seeking her services would have wanted anything to do with her. And yet God, the One she claimed to be "the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below," wanted something to do with her. He drew close to Rahab, used her in His extraordinary plan to return His people to Canaan and for her obedience and faith He not only saved her and her family from destruction, but also gave them a home among His people. She even married an Israelite man, leaving her old life behind, and became the great-great grandmother of King David and an ancestor of the King of Heaven, Jesus Christ.
No one can take credit for the things that happened in this story except God. It was God who spoke life into Rahab's heart and it was God who lead the spies to her house and gave them the faith to trust Rahab and make the oath with her that would save her life and the lives of those in her house. It was God who gave Rahab the faith to risk her life by saving the spies and to wait on Him to save her family by following the simple instructions of the spies: don't tell the king about us, keep your family in your house and hang this red cord we used to escape from your window when we come to destroy Jericho. The safety of her and her family was literally hanging by a rope and it would have taken a lot of faith to trust that God would honour the oath she made with the spies when the end of Jericho came.
What does this story say to me? My God seeks the hearts of all people whatever their social standing, whatever their past and uses them in His great plan. He not only gives people a second chance at life but He makes their lives full and purposeful when they put their trust in Him. He gives them boldness and confidence and great hope in dire circumstances.
The hope of God's great love not only changes people's perspectives on life but also changes their attitude of heart and priorities. We can this plainly when Rahab asks the spies to spare not only herself but her family too. When we truly follow God He opens our eyes to the needs of those around us and gives us the desire to see them saved too. I imagine Rahab's family would have been deeply touched when they saw the results of her faith in God after she'd ushered them all into her house and told them to wait for her God to act and save them all from death.
I want to have faith as strong and bold as Rahab and the passion that she had to see the people she loved saved. I want to be humbled every day by the great things God does and let His love change my heart and my attitude towards life and the people around me. God did it with Rahab and He did it with millions of other people throughout the Bible and I know He can do it in me the moment I put my faith in Him alone.
