To Encourage You

Hebrews 11:31 “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m very thankful that there are people like Rahab mentioned in the Bible.   I would note that she’s not just mentioned, but she’s listed in the “Hall of Fame of Faith” that is Hebrews 11. What’s more, she’s listed in Matthew 1 in the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  So often where she is mentioned, we are told that she was a prostitute.  And why are we told this? Why does God bring this unfortunate and ugly detail from her background to our attention? Because He wants us to know that He is a God Who saves sinners!  Although everyone else in the pagan city of Jericho perished, Rahab did not perish with them. I like the way the King James Version renders this verse. It says that “the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not.”  So, what did she believe?  What actually was told to her that convinced her to put her faith in the true God of the Bible rather than in the pagan gods of the rest of the people of Jericho?  Well, if we go back to the account of the fall of Jericho in the early chapters of the book of Joshua, we learn that she had said this to Joshua’s spies to whom she had given refuge: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:9-11). 

Notice that it says that when she had heard about the God of Israel, she knew that “the Lord your God, he is the God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” That’s always the way it is, for “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).  But unlike the rest of those who lived in Jericho, Rahab proved her faith by her actions, i.e., the actions of welcoming and protecting the spies who had come to her.  This is reiterated in James 2:24-26, where it says, “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”  That’s why Rahab didn’t perish with her countrymen. Unlike them, she believed and acted on the basis of that belief.  And it didn’t matter that she was a prostitute!  It didn’t matter the depth of her sin, and that gives the rest of us great hope! 

God will save a terrorist like Paul, a prostitute like Rahab, and a fool, like Samson. He will save a proud king like Nebuchadnezzar and a lowly sick homeless beggar, like the one who sat at the gate of the rich man in Luke 16.  But that salvation is only possible if one will believe. 

So, what about you?  Will you be like the vast majority of those from Jericho who heard the message about the God of Israel but would not believe, or are you like Rahab, the prostitute that did?  Jesus warned us that the way to destruction is very wide, and most people are on that path, but for the relatively few that will believe, there is salvation no matter our past (Matthew 7:13-14).

There’s a hymn that talks about this in a wonderful way.  It’s the hymn “To God be the Glory” by Fanny Crosby. It’s a song that I don’t doubt that the saints are singing in heaven at this very moment!  The third verse goes like this: “O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood! To ev’ry believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.”  Do you hear this? Will you believe it?  Do you see yourself as such a sinner that the gospel is out of reach for you?  Well, if that’s how you see yourself, remember the story of Rahab the prostitute, but a prostitute that believed and was saved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-15v9iworAU