Less Than Perfect—Broken Men & Women Of The BibleSampl

Rahab

Whenever she walks to the market, the women gather in little knots, shutting her out while the children snigger and point. But she just tosses her hair and swings her hips, provoking them all the more.

They are jealous, she thinks, because she makes a living that’s five times better than theirs. Plus their husbands give her looks that tell her they are wondering what it would be like to run their fingers through her thick, curly hair. 

An enterprising woman, she owns a home, an inn really, that fits snugly inside Jericho’s impenetrable walls. Because of its location near the city gate, she misses nothing, sees everyone as they pass through. Travelers from all over the region carry news of the world beyond. No wonder the king sends his emissaries to her from time to time to gather the latest intelligence.

Some of her guests are only looking for a bed, while others want to share hers. 

Visiting merchants are buzzing about the presence of a great horde of people encamped to the east of Jericho on the other side of the Jordan River. Rahab has heard the stories—how the Israelites left Egypt in triumph, and how their God reached down and parted the waves so they could walk across the sea to freedom. 

Though the city’s stout walls have survived every siege, its people still tremble, and great waves of fear assail them as each new story tells of the prowess of Israel’s wonder-working God.

One night Rahab risks her life to save two Israelite spies who have taken shelter beneath her roof. They promise to spare her and anyone who is inside her home on the day the city falls. 

Gathering her family within the inn, she waits for the siege to begin. As the Israelites march around the city seven times, she shudders as the walls of Jericho collapse. Outside is chaos, a great clash of weapons and screams that chill her heart. 

But Rahab and her people are kept safe. Like Noah and his family they escape the destruction that comes upon the land as a consequence of its sins. Rather than a flood of water, it is a deluge of Israelites and rather than a boat it is a tottering house that keeps them safe.  Because Rahab put her faith in Israel’s God and risked her life to help his people, she and her family are spared.

Leaving the ill-fated city behind, Rahab makes a new life with God’s people. One of her descendants will be David, the greatest of Israel’s kings. She will be known to later generations as the great, great, great-beyond-counting grandmother of Jesus, who is the Christ.