Vol.10 No.6
Rahab The Woman Called Harlot
by Barbara Graham
HAR’LOT, noun. 1. a woman who prostitutes her body for hire; 2. a base person;
HAR’LOT, adjective. wanton; lewd; low; base. 1
Harlot is a word we rarely use today, because it would not be considered polite or politically correct. But in the Bible, God‘s concerns are not political. He “tells it like it is.” When we first meet Rahab in Joshua, chapter 2, she is described as a harlot. “And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there” (verse 1).
Although this woman is a harlot and known for this reputation, her character reveals courage. “And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee … And the woman took the two men, and hid them …” (verses 3, 4).
To disobey a king’s orders in Bible times could result in death. Rahab not only disobeys the king, but also takes the two spies and hides them at the risk of her life.
Then she tells the king a blatant lie: “ … There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof” (verses 4–6). We know that God does not condone lying. But, He meets men and women where they are, in their strengths and weaknesses, their faithfulness and sinfulness. He works patiently to correct the weaknesses and eliminate the sins.
Rahab’s lying was probably justified in her mind.
She knew Jericho was in danger of destruction, and the God of Israel, unlike their feeble gods, was not to be trifled with. “ … I know that the Lord hath given you the land,” she told the spies, “and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you … and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” (verses 9–11).
Rahab did not want to perish with the doomed inhabitants of her city. She was not too proud to plead for her life and the lives of her family. “Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” (verses 12, 13).
Rahab the harlot showed kindness. We seldom think about the far-reaching effects of one act of kindness. Kindness is love in action. Amid the multiplicity of horrors in today’s media, kindness rarely makes front page headlines. Or does it? Last spring, this country was dazed by the satanic massacre of students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where two dissident students went on a premeditated shooting and bombing rampage.
It has been said that disasters bring out either the best or worst in people. Writing about the massacre in Time, one reporter commented: “Before we inventory the evil we cannot fathom, consider the reflexes at work among these happy, lucky kids, born to a generation that is thought to know nothing about sacrifice. They had no way of knowing what would be asked of them, what they were capable of. Among the kids who died were the students who stayed behind to open a door, or save a friend, or build an escape route or barricade a closet or guide the descending SWAT teams into the darkness.” 2
Like the sacrifices of those who died in the Columbine massacre, Rahab’s kindness involved life-or-death consequences. The spies promised, “… Our life for yours … And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. … Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.” (verses 14, 18, 19).
For the Christian, kindness is not an option. We are commanded, “And be ye kind one to another … ” (Ephesians 4:32). Writing on the same subject, Christian author Ellen G. White comments, “If we would humble ourselves before God, and be kind and courteous and tenderhearted and pitiful, there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one.” 3
Rahab’s kindness was recognized and rewarded.
As Jericho was being destroyed, Joshua commanded the two spies, “Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire … And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had … because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Joshua 6:22–25).
In the Bible’s “Hall of Faith” Rahab’s act of courage is recorded: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace” (Hebrews 11:31). True, Rahab was a harlot, and she lied. Yet, one act of courageous faith brought her commendation in God’s Word.
Moreover, the Bible record shows that she was further honored by becoming a progenitor of Jesus Christ: “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab …” (Matthew 1:5). It is significant that she is listed, because women were not traditionally included in Jewish genealogies, only the first-born sons. 4
Truly, God is no respecter of persons. In the life of Rahab the harlot, we see the sure fulfillment of His Word: “… and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen … That no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).
References:
- Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd ed.
- Gibbs, Nancy, Time, May 3, 1999, p. 25.
- White, Ellen G., Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 189. Pacific Press Publishing Assoc., 1948.
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 2, p. 182; vol. 5, p. 278. Review and Herald Publishing Assoc., 1953.
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