Rahab has been accounted for a few times in the Holy Bible, but did you know that she appears in the ancestry of Jesus?
She is first made known to us in the book of Joshua (Joshua 2), where she shows favor to the two spies that were sent out by Joshua to spy the land of Jericho. She puts her personal safety on line and lies not once, but twice, to the messengers sent by the King of Jericho. The first time she tells them she does not know where these men (Israelite spies) came from (Joshua 2:4), although she knew where they were from (Joshua 2:9-11) and the she tells them that she did not know where they went (Joshua 2:5) while she had hidden them on her rooftop (Joshua 2:6).
She is then mentioned in the book of Hebrew (Hebrew 11:31) along with Joshua and commended for her faith (in action).
Then she is mentioned in the book of James (James 2:25) in the same echelon as Abraham, who is deemed to be the Father of Faith. Faith according to the writer of the Hebrews is defined as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Breen and Kallestad in their book, A Passionate Life, state that Faith is a Four Letter Word. It is not spelled ‘r-i-s-k’, but is spelled ‘s-u-r-e’.
Abraham, a Jew was justified by Faith because of his belief. He knew that he and his son would return as he informs his servants, wait here, I am the lad (Isaac, his son) will go and worship and “We“, not “I” will come back (Genesis 22:5). Though he believed he expressed it in his actions. So did Rahab, a gentile, prostitute (harlot) who proselytized of the victory that the Israelite army (army of God) will have the land of Jericho as she expresses, “I know that the Lord has given you this land” (Joshua 2:9). To make the long story short, in due course of time, she and her family was saved when the Israelites took over the land of Jericho. In a sense, you can say if Abraham was deemed the father of Faith, Rahab can be deemed to be the Mother of Faith.
Matthew 1:5 lists Rahab to be in the ancestry of Jesus Christ himself. Wow, what a testimony.
Point(s) to ponder:
- When we believe, let us act. First we must believe (Hebrews 11:31 says Rahab believed and so she acted)
- Putting our personal safety/comfort/etc on the line in the hands of men for God is not really paying the cost and God promises to be our shield and bulwark.
- Jew (Abraham) or Gentile (Rahab), it does not matter, as long as we ACT on our faith
- Faith is a four letter word; it is spelled ‘s-u-r-e’, not ‘r-i-s-k’
- Can someone call us the father/mother/brother/sister of Faith? Think about it.
