Where He Leads I Will Follow: Our Sister the Prostitute

 

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.  Hebrews 11:31

 Who was Rahab? If you read the NIV version of the Bible, it says that she was a prostitute that ran an inn in Jericho that the spies stayed at. Many of the Jewish theologians argued that she was just an inn keeper and not a prostitute, but the term that was used by Joshua when writing it is used over and over throughout the Old Testament with illicit sexual connotations (Genesis 34:31, Exodus 34:15-16, Leviticus 19:29, etc.). I think that the Jewish scholars just didn’t want to have a prostitute in their genealogy.

 Why does it matter? Because I think that Rahab represents so much for us in the Bible, and in order to appreciate that we have to see her for who she was. Rahab was a Canaanite living in Jericho. Her people followed false gods and pagan practices that had made them so abominable in God’s eyes that He was about to wipe them out. As a prostitute, Rahab represents for us those who, whether through desperation or choice, live a life where they sell themselves. They take the image of God that they were created with and exchange it for “a loaf of bread” (Proverbs 6:26). Sadly, this can be seen in many life choices, not just prostitution. We might sell out our morals and values for money or fame or popularity. We exchange the good beauty God imbued in us for worldly commodities. Rahab did this with her life, it’s clearly written about in scripture, but this wasn’t the end of her story. Rahab’s story is one of redemption, one of hope.

 She had heard the stories of the Israelites, how they walked across the Red Sea on dry land and defeated the kings of the Amorites. Running an inn, spending time with men from many different walks of life, she had learned much, and she believed. She believed that the God of the Israelites was real and powerful and was going to hand Jericho over to them. She saw the writing on the wall as it were, and she fully believed that this was her only chance to save her family. This was a wise woman! Boy, I hope her family was grateful.

 We learn in the Bible that Rahab and her family lived on with the Israelites after the fall of Jericho (Joshua 6:25). The way this is written indicates that they were accepted into the community, made a part of it. Furthering this is the fact that she married Salmon, the son of Nashon, the ruler of Judah during their time in the wilderness (1 Chronicles 2:10-11). That’s a pretty big deal! She was both a Canaanite and a prostitute and yet the leader of one of the tribes of Israel allowed his son to marry her. This perspective on including people who came to love God even though they were not born into His people, the Israelites, carried on to their son, Boaz, who married a God-fearing Moabitess, Ruth, and both of these women went on to become part of the lineage of King David and eventually Jesus Himself. That shows me God’s acceptance of it if He was willing to have His Son come from this genealogy.

 So, what can we learn from Rahab, from who she was and who she became? I think my biggest takeaway is that there aren’t certain people who are automatically “in” or “out” of God’s kingdom. There were plenty of Israelites over the years who saw their cultural heritage as a safety net and didn’t invest in a personal relationship with God who ended up tragically apart from Him, and there were notable people throughout the Bible who were not born into Israel, the people of God, and yet loved and honored God with their lives and gained relationship with Him as a result. A Canaanite prostitute. If there was anyone unworthy of God’s love, forgiveness, relationship, it was her. She stood for everything God was not, and yet, He loved her and drew her to Himself.

Here’s the Thing: If I’m being completely honest, I’m not that different from Rahab. I made a lot of bad choices in my life and ran from God in my youth in dark and terrible ways. But, like Rahab, God loved me. He saw me. He didn’t leave me there. He made a way for me to come to know Him and opened my heart to love Him, and I am so very grateful for that!