It’s actually quite amazing throughout the Bible how the hookers and prostitutes eventually come to be heroes of the faith. It’s almost in their deepest brokenness and engaging in the brokenness of others, that their spirit is more sensitive to the things of God, even in their lostness.
And right here is a hero hooker of the faith.
Most Bible believing folk have heard of Rahab, the prostitute. She was the one who hid the Israelite spies when they came to Jericho to scout out the land. Her life was on the line for such an action, yet it opened the door for the Israelites to come in and get the victory.
She is spoken of throughout the Scriptures and even appears in the genealogy of Jesus. Who wouldn’t be proud to have her in your geneaological line?
We must remember that the LORD was utterly destroying the peoples of the land–the Canaanites, Amorites and more. It was a collection of tribal peoples and collectively they had spent the last 400 years practicing unimaginable evil. Think 400 years of Hitler-like behavior–genocide against babies.
People get angry that the LORD would destroy anybody. But they also get angry when he doesn’t take action. We have got to see the picture from Him and realize that there comes a point of so much evil, that the LORD’s justice and anger kicks in. And this is right and good. Just like the world’s sense of justice kicked in during WW2.
Yet here was this prostitute. In a land that little regard for life or for sexual mores. For whatever reason, typically out of desperation, this woman had given herself to prostitution. But what a woman she was!
1) She was a Woman of Fortitude
When the spies came to the land, she welcomed them. I’m sure initially to try to get some services out of them. But when she realized they were spies, she hid them on her roof. And then she gave them instruction on how to escape. She risked her life for them. Had the leaders of the town found the spies on the roof, they wouldn’t have thought twice about killing her.
2) She was a Woman of Faith.
When undoubtedly the people around her were calling upon their gods to deliver them from the Israelites, she recognized that Yahweh was LORD.
“For the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below” (Joshua 2:11).
She knew which God to trust, and it wasn’t the gods of the land. They were empty and like it or not, she did not trust the idols and gods of her people. And when it came down to where to trust with her life, she put her trust in the God of Israel.
3) She was a Woman of Family
I’m sure her family was ashamed of her. Maybe they had nothing to do with her. And why weren’t they helping her out instead of letting her get to such a bad place she had to prostitute herself? Had she dishonored them so much?
And yet when the destruction of Jericho was imminent, she was the one loved them and became their protector. She didn’t just save herself and doom her family to judgment. But she made sure that the Israelites would protect her parents, her siblings, and all those with them such as nephews, nieces and grandchildren. Without her they would have all perished by the hand of Israel.
The Hall of Faith
For her actions this woman was put into the Hall of Faith. She was considered righteous by what she did:
What a woman of faith! And the faith means risking her life to put her trust in the Living God. And because of it, the LORD kept her safe and honored her even to this day.
