Rahab, Woman of Faith

Joshua 2

It isn't common to hear women mentioned in the scriptures, much less have stories told about them. Here is a story of a woman of faith, Rahab. Jacob sends in two spies to determine if they can take the city. Jericho is terrified of the Israelites and their God; their legend precedes them--and Rahab gives them refuge.

She asks for a “true token” (vs 12) that the Israelites will spare her family when they come to destroy Jericho, because of the kindness she has given these two spies. There are similarities in this token with what was required of the children of Israel to ward off the angel of death in Egypt.

Joshua 2:18-19

Rahab	Children of Israel
Bind the line of scarlet thread in the window	Paint blood on lintels and posts of doors
Bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee	Stay inside but be prepared to leave, the angel of death will pass over
Whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head	Those who didn’t follow the instructions, wouldn’t be spared.

We know that Rahab and her family followed these instructions and that Joshua held up the part of the token made by the two spies. We read about this in Joshua 6.

17 ¶ And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

…

21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

  22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

  23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

…

  25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Not only did he spare Rahab and her family, Joshua spared “all that she had.” This, to me, is a type of mercy the Lord has.

By being a woman of faith who believed in God, Rahab was able to save her family and “all that she had.” Her city faced utter destruction and she found the way to make it through. This is a powerful witness to us as we are living in the latter-days.