A highly unlikely story of faith and hope

People of hope Part 3 - Rahab
Monday devotions @ Work 30 March 2020

Read Joshua 2

Rahab was a sex worker and owned a guesthouse with a view – on the wall of Jericho. It was a troubling time in the history of Jericho. The dark clouds of war were looming over the land. It was a time where Rahab could easily have succumbed to fear and hopelessness because everything in the natural pointed to a bleak hopeless future. It was politically hopeless – state capture was imminent. Economically hopeless – Jericho was about to be reduced to junk status. Morally Rahab was hopeless. I can imagine that she had given up on any dreams of getting married. Religiously she had no hope or faith left in the gods she was familiar with. If you were in Rahab's shoes, how much hope would you have had for a bright and blessed future?

Spies came and lodged in Rahab’s guesthouse. A perfect place to hide, it was a public place, many travelers came and gone so they would not attract a lot of attention on the one side, but on the other side would it not have been the first place the King’s soldiers would come to look for them? Whichever way, they were tipped of by someone that Rahab had visitors that seemed to be out of the ordinary, and it was not long before the King of Jericho’s men were on the doorstep of Rahab’s guesthouse. However, Rahab was not only a woman with a plan – apparently, she had an unlikely faith and an equally unlikely hope. Rahab believed in the God of the spies.  She did not even have a Name for this God she just called Him the “God in heaven above and on earth beneath” vs 11. She says we have heard of your God and all that He has done for you in the wilderness. How He parted the seas, brought you out of Egypt and gave you victory over your enemies – and our hearts melted and there is no more courage left in us. What an extraordinary thing to say. What really stands out for me here is that she does not give Israel as a nation any honour for their skill ability and courage to have moved out of Egypt, nor does she give any honour to their strong army that won the victory over their enemies or give Moses any honour for his exemplary leadership. No – she attributes all the glory to their God, the “God in heaven above and on earth beneath” what an extraordinary statement to make. 

I believe it was that faith and hope against all odds that made all the difference in her and her family’s life. The spies had no reason to want to save her and her family. They would in general not have smiled on her profession. She was not a person of influence in government nor did she had anything substantial to give them. However, Rahab knew she had one chance, one moment to reach out to this God she believed in. One moment to change history for her and her family. And she took it. She defied the odds, abandoned the gods she must have grown up with and took the chance of a lifetime. She hid the spies from the King’s soldiers and helped them to escape. She brokered a deal with them that she had no idea whether they would really honour. They could as well have not. But they did. The deal was, she should gather all her family into her house, hang the red scarlet rope down the wall from her house – and wait. Should any of her family be on the street they would not be protected. It must have been a long wait. A wait of uncertainty. It’s a all or nothing call. It’s a life and death moment. Rahab prevailed and her faith paid off. Joshua honoured her for sparing the spies lives and brought her and her family and all they had safely out of the city. (Joshua 6:25) 

What became of Rahab after that is an even more triumphant story, not only did she and her family dwell in Israel all their lives. Lo and behold against all odds, despite her history, where she came from and in who’s bed she had been, Rahab got married to an Israelite called Salmon. Salmon was Boaz’s father. Yes, the same Boaz that was Ruth’s husband, the Moabite we learned about last week. Thus, if we backtrack to last week’s story, we see that Boaz married Ruth. (Math 1:5) Their Son was Obed, their grandson Jesse and their great grandson King David. Many generations later Jesus Christ was born from this generational line. It truly is a story of unlikely, unexpected, faith and hope against all odds. Like Ruth, Rahab had no way of knowing this while they were alive on earth, but their reward for their extraordinary, unlikely faith and hope is a testimony of the grace and mercy of the “God in heaven above and on earth beneath” 

May we in this time focus on God the Father, Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit to give us unlikely faith and hope in these extraordinary circumstances that can easily generate a lot of fear and look hopeless in our own eyes. He still is the God of heaven above and on earth beneath.

© Copyright - All rights reserved.  March 2020.  HG Venter

Listen to this song from Don Francisco - "I don't care where you have been sleeping"