However, Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy our Jericho.                Joshua 6: 25 NASB

“Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumblin’ down.” Negro spiritual

When her story begins in Joshua 2, Rahab is just your typical big-city pagan harlot, living in one of the most depraved and idolatrous cultures in recorded history. The city was Jericho of the Canaanites and these were not their best days. Jericho’s nervous residents knew that the upstart Israelites were headed their way with conquest on their minds. That partly explains why Rahab was not surprised to see the two Hebrew spies doing reconnaissance, then agreed to hide them from the king’s men.   

Rahab’s resume might seem a little thin to the rule-following Hebrews, but from the point of view of their God, she had what counted most. Rahab was a seeker. She had heard about the miracles He had performed that allowed His people to conquer their enemies, and she believed them, but she then took the next step of faith  “ …for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” 

Because of this faith, she was willing to throw in her lot with the Hebrew army, asking only that when (not if) they conquered Jericho, she and her family would be rescued. The spies agreed, then returned to Israel’s camp to give their report, fleeing Canaanite pursuers as they went.

How the Hebrew army, following God’s explicit instructions conquered mighty Jericho is one of the great moments in Old Testament history (see Joshua 6). When the city was captured, before it was destroyed by fire, the spies were sent back in to rescue Rahab and her family and bring them to a place of safety where “she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day” …   happily ever after. The End. 

But wait, there’s more! Much more. In multiple places, Scripture records that Rahab married a Hebrew named Salmon (Matthew 1:4.5). There is a consensus among some Bible scholars that Salmon was one of the two spies whom Rahab hid. If that is true, then Salmon, who was of a noble family, was also a man who saw up- close what was in the heart of Rahab.

Rahab and Salmon had a son named Boaz, and it is he who marries Ruth, the stranger from a pagan land who came to Israel with her mother-in-law. Boaz, like his father, valued a righteousness that was greater than the Law. 

Then, as now, God is building His kingdom from all places and all backgrounds, And He sees what no man can, the faith-filled heart of a seeker.

Nancy Shirah