Joshua 2:12-13 (BSB)
“Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will deliver us from death.”
When the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River, the people of Jericho were terrified. Although they worshipped idols that could not hear or speak, Rahab and her people had heard about how Israel’s God had made the waters of the Jordan stand up on its side, and they knew that their gods were no match for the God of heaven. Thus, when the Israelite men came to spy out the land and thought they could blend in better at the house of a harlot, Rahab immediately knew why they were there and hid them from the soldiers who were looking for them.
With nothing but the word of two strangers, she cast her lot with an unknown people and hung a red cord from her window. This woman never offered to change anything about her life, nor does the Bible speak of any great deeds performed by her or her family after they were saved on the day that the Israelites conquered her country. Nevertheless, God saved her and her entire family because she recognized that a God who could part rivers and seas was bigger than anything she had experienced in her life.
While the Bible doesn’t say much more about Rahab, she reappears again in the first chapter of Matthew, listed as being in the genealogy of Christ. Rahab married Salmon, who was the father of Boaz, who was the great-grandfather of David. It is no wonder that Christ was a friend to sinners, having come through a line of frail people who accomplished great things because they were willing to follow the God who accepted them, warts and all.
