I love God's grace, and it's available for everyone.

 

A Treasure of God’s Grace: Rahab.

How was your week? Did you experience God's grace? He's amazing! 

 Boaz’s mother must have told him how the spies rescued her from Jericho. Do you realize she is Ruth’s second mother-in-law? Although Naomi was her first through her marriage to Mahlon, Ruth later married Boaz. We don’t know if Ruth and Rahab met, but it’s likely she’d died by the time Boaz married. He was much older than Ruth. By then, Bethlehem was an established town.

 

 

As Israel entered Canaan, God promised they’d conquer Jericho, and Rahab’s role was vital.

The Lord chose a prostitute and a liar to protect the spies. Are you surprised? An odd negotiator for a military campaign? No-one in Jericho cared whether she lived or died. She knew how they felt about her, and she lived by her wits, a streetwise prostitute whose only value was the sale of her body.

 

 Rahab was aware of God’s power before the Israelites invaded Jericho. Her house was on the city wall, convenient for men who wanted her services. When the spies entered her house, someone told the king of Jericho, and he sent Rahab a message.

 

“Bring out those men from your house. Don’t you know they’re spies?”

 

“Yes, I know, but they left before dusk. Go after them before they escape from Jericho.”

 

She’d hidden the spies under flax stalks on the roof, while the Jericho men headed for the hills. Why would she deceive the king and risk her death? Before the spies slept that night, she met with them to explain her reasons.

 

“I know the Lord has given you the entire city and surrounding countryside. We’re afraid of your people because we know how the Lord parted the Red Sea as you left Egypt and how you annihilated Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings. The Lord your God is God in heaven and on earth. Since I’ve been kind to you, show kindness to me and my family. Preserve our lives before you destroy Jericho.”

 

“Our lives for yours! If you’re silent about us, we’ll deliver you when God gives us the land.”

 

“Excellent. Hide in the hills for three days until your pursuers return home and then you can leave.”           

 

“We need a sign, or the agreement will become void. Place a scarlet cord on your window on the wall and gather your entire family inside your home. If they go into the street, we aren’t responsible for their safety.”

 

Rahab accepted the conditions, and she helped them escape through the window.

 

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After the spies left, Rahab resumed her duties, but Jericho quivered in lockdown, dreading the Israelites would storm the city. They had marched around the walls for six days and left, their pounding footsteps striking a mounting terror in Jericho’s citizens. Bar one, Rahab. God would protect her, and she trusted in his power. As the city quivered in suspense, the optimists breathed a sigh of relief whilst pessimists scoffed.

 

“They’ll be back, you’ll see,” they warned.

 

And as Rahab watched from behind the curtain on the seventh day, a tremendous trumpet blast erupted, an intensifying fanfare sweeping past her window before receding into the distance. Once, twice, three times until she’d almost lost count.

 

“That’s seven times. How much longer before they storm the gates?”

 

And then it happened. Rahab heard a deafening shout, and the house rocked on its foundations. I imagine her brothers grabbing her arm and pleading with her to leave.

 

“Leap back from the window! We should flee before the house collapses on us.”

“No, I promised the spies we’d remain inside. If you go into the street, I can’t vouch for your safety. We have to wait for the spies.” 

 

To their relief, Joshua’s men arrived and led Rahab and her family outside the city to the Israelite camp. The Israelites ransacked Jericho and burned it to the ground.

 

 

 Under Old Testament law, God exercised his right to judge Jericho’s sin, a hotbed of idol worship and perversion.

Why did he rescue the prostitute Rahab? Because she’d received and helped the Israelite spies? Indeed, but most of all because she feared the Lord and knew he was her single hope to survive.

 

  Since her name appears in Matthew as part of Christ’s genealogy, we know she married Salmon, who was Boaz’s father. She joined the clan of Judah, from which Jesus descends.

 

Hebrews includes her in the faithful’s parade beside Samuel, David, and the prophets. That’s a privilege and testimony of his boundless grace. While she was discreet, courageous, and intelligent, God chose this Jericho woman because of her simple faith. Abraham and David, the patriarchs of his grace, sinned and when they repented, God forgave them. Regardless of our past, whether we’re a prostitute, a princess, or a patriarch, we’ve sinned. God suffered the pain of sacrificing Jesus to pay for our sins, and he offers us new life as members of his family. If we trust him like Rahab, he accepts us, forgives us, and forgets our past.

 

For by grace, God saves us. It’s his gift to us. Ephesians 2:8.9. Do you think God is too holy to forgive you, or are you too insignificant for God to be his servant? Take comfort from Rahab. If God could rescue Rahab, conquer a city, and include her in his son’s family tree, he can rescue you and offer you a new life. Sin separates everyone from God, but his gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

 

Rahab hung the scarlet cord in the window so the spies could rescue her. When the Israelites left Egypt, God saw the blood on the doorpost, and he passed over them. Both are examples of Christ’s blood because when God sees our trust in Jesus’ cleansing blood, he forgives us.

 

 It’s amazing news. He offers his grace to you because he loves you. Will you trust him and be his precious child? I’m praying you do!