Immoral righteousness

There is a woman in the bible that has always both surprised and impressed me. Her name is Rahab.  Do you recall who Rahab was and what she did?

In the Bible in the New Testament we see her used as an example of how righteousness is produced by faith.

Hebrews 11: 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

James 2:25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

Rahab gets listed as righteous along with all the usual suspects: Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. Does this surprise you as it does me? Her vocation for one should surely disqualify her?

The story is found in the Old Testament in the book of Joshua which was probably written between 1400 and 1370 B.C. The story so far up to Chapter 2 has the Israelites hesitantly entering the Promised Land after decades circling Sinai under Moses eating manner and quail. Joshua is Israel’s new leader and just to be on the safe side he orders that spies scope out the land and determine if it is indeed ripe for conquest.

Joshua 2:1-7 1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land." 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

So the spies go to Jericho, a great walled city, to stay with a prostitute called Rahab (as you do). When the king finds out that the spies are in the city he has some of his people quiz Rahab who sends them in the wrong direction.

She’s clever and even devious but would you agree with me that she doesn’t look like the archetype of a righteous woman! Was Rahab a Jew or one of God’s own people? No. Was she morally upright? (she was a prostitute) No. Did she know or practice the law of Moses including the recently published Ten Commandments? (no evidence of this) No.

Let’s read on:

Joshua 2:8-13 8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."

Well this is compelling evidence of faith. Rahab did not know God except by his fearsome reputation but this was enough to risk her life and throw in her lot with the Israelites. She covers for them and if you read on aids their escape by lowering them down the city wall.

What do you think will happen if she is caught? As a prostitute she is unlikely to have any protection under law or any protectors. Her life and perhaps that of her family would be forfeit. It’s a big risk to take but in faith she took it.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us:

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Rahab acted in faith. She could not see God nor did she live among his people or know of his promises. Yet she was sure of what she hoped for and certain enough to act despite the enormous risk.

And because of this faith, she is counted as righteous!  Wow. It was enough for Rahab to believe in the power of God and then to act on this belief (risking her life and betraying her people) by protecting those to whom God had shown favour. This act gets her listed along with Abraham as righteous.

James 2:24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Notice that here we also see that faith and action are always joined: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

If Rahab, in her absolute ignorance of God can be made righteous by faith expressed in action then there is hope for all of us. We have the revelation of Jesus Christ himself. We have the tradition of Christianity spanning two thousand years to point the way. We have the Bible chock full of God’s promises and we have the deposit of the Holy Spirit.

Yet despite all this, we still struggle to trust God and his promises. I put to you that it is as hard today to believe God for the small things in our lives as it was for Rahab the big things because we want to be reassured by seeing with our eyes – we want evidence. The challenge is to believe without evidence.

The righteousness that God desires comes from the action following our faith in his promises. And his promises are trustworthy. He is trustworthy.

John 14:1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."

Jesus promises to go before us so that he might prepare a place for us. All he asks is that we place our trust in God and also in him. If you do so your name will be added along with Rahab’s to the eternal honour roll of those made righteous by faith.