Rahab as a child of God (a person of faith)
In the second act of our movie, we would flashback to Rahab’s conversation with the two spies. This time we would include her talking about her faith in God when she says, “For the Lord Your God is God of heaven above and earth below” (v. 11). But she doesn’t stop there. She entreats them, “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you” (v. 12).
From these words, it’s obvious that Rahab was more than just a savvy Airbnb owner who wanted to end up on the right side of history—she had a personal faith in God. This is confirmed by the Hebrew writer who tells us, “By faith . . . Rahab . . . welcomed the spies.” Her actions were more than calculating—they were faith based. James joins in as well as he speaks of her being “justified by works” (ESV), which in the context, refers to actions springing from faith.
Rahab wasn’t a pagan—she was a person of faith in the God of Israel. Obviously, her faith was primitive and undeveloped but considering her circumstances (no exposure to the Torah or fellowship with the people of God), she was doing the best she knew how. The New Testament honors this and we should too.
With this new understanding of Rahab, we now need to adjust our understanding of the Jericho story. The Jericho Story is no longer just about Israel taking a first step into the Promised Land of Canaan, it’s about God rescuing a believer in Him who had taken the first steps of faith. It’s about God honoring Rahab’s commitment to Him.
But there’s still more to our story.
Rahab as part of the lineage of Christ (our redemption)
All great stories have a third act, and Rahab is no exception. Her third act is revealed in the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel. Matthew, who is writing to a Jewish audience, begins (not surprisingly) with a genealogy. Of course, it’s not just any genealogy—it’s the genealogy of Jesus! Specifically, he wants to show his audience how Jesus is both a descendant of Abraham and David (1:1). This is exactly what the O.T. Scripture had forecasted (Genesis 12:3/Galatians 3:16; 2 Samuel 7:12ff/Acts 2:29-31). So this is a very natural place for Matthew to begin his gospel.
What catches us by surprise is v. 5 where he tells us that Rahab is part of the ancestry of Jesus! That’s right—a Gentile, a Canaanite in the lineage of Jesus! And the truth is, she’s not the only person, there’s also Ruth the Moabite (v. 5 as well). One of the things Matthew wants his readers to see is that though Jesus was Jewish and came to save Jewish people (note the “His” of v. 21), He came to save all people as evidenced by the inclusion of Ruth and Rahab in His lineage.
With this new information, we need to once again reframe our understanding of the Jericho Story. Yes, the Jericho Story is about Israel taking their first step into the promised land of Canaan. Yes, it’s also about God rescuing a believer who had taken her first step of faith. But as we now see, the Jericho story is also about rescuing the woman God wanted to be part of Jesus’ lineage. And with that, the story can no longer be confined to Rahab and Israel—it’s now includes us as well!
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 