Tags
bordello, faith, God, God's will, hooker, James 2:25, Jericho, Jesus Christ, Joshua, lady of the evening, Lord, prostitute, Rahab, righteous, true God
James 2:25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous when she received the messengers as her guests and then sent them on by another road?
As if the example of Abraham wasn’t enough, here you have a second example in Rahab. She wasn’t a pious woman by any stretch of the imagination. She was a prostitute, a hooker, a lady of the evening.
When the Israelite spies sent by Joshua went to Jericho, they took refuge in a bordello of all places. Although Rahab was a woman of ill-repute, she did have faith in God. She told the spies: “the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.” (Joshua 2:11) She had faith and acted upon it despite the danger she faced from the government of Jericho.
She lied to the officials and hid the men in the roof of her house then gave them instructions on how to escape.
Rahab’s questionable life didn’t stop her from submitting to God’s will, believing in Him as the one true God, and accepting His authority over her life. She put her past behind her.
Rahab committed treason on her own country because she had faith in something larger than the government. This act could have cost her freedom and her life yet she had faith that Israel would conquer Jericho and so she acted upon it.
This act alone made her noteworthy in scripture and history making her a patriot for Israel and for God. The story of Rahab teaches us that no matter what your past is, you can be made righteous by God if you have faith and put it into practice.
No matter what your past is, you can turn to God and begin a new relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. If you haven’t done so yet, put your past behind you and step out in faith.