For Rahab

Note: Reading Joshua 2 & 6 will give much-needed context for this post.

In some ways, you could argue that Rahab had it all. She lived on her own in a house on the edge of Jericho. She wasn't under the command of a father or husband. She lived a life of unexpected moments, never knowing who may come for her services. She was privy to what men told her as she connected with important leaders of her patriarchal society. She could see the city's gate and knew who was coming and going at any time of day. She had a place to live. She had food to eat. She was better informed than most women because she kept company with those in town (who spilled local gossip) and those traveling (who offered information from regions near and far).

But she was a harlot (a title that is worse than a modern day's understanding of a prostitute). She was unacceptable company for any reputable person to entertain in their home, she was shunned from society. I often wonder if she was simultaneously the most connected and most lonely woman in Jericho.

Yet Rahab shows an understanding that I find to be incredibly rare. She hid the spies and lied to the king - jeopardizing her life in the process. And even with the life she lived, the luxurious house, and the freedom (of a sort) she had, she understood that her life was nothing without God.

No one told her.

No one explained it to her.

She just knew.

She said, "I know that the Lord has given you this land 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... for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below".

Rahab identifies God as being the God above all. A woman who'd never experienced Jewish culture or faith was able to grasp that from hearing what He had done in snippets of gossip from different men seeking her body. She takes steps to follow God, willing to lose it all, by proclaiming His name without even knowing who He is.

What an incredible act of bold faith.

Her boldness continues as she asks to be part of the Israelite community. Her. A woman of ill repute. A woman unacceptable in good company felt called enough by God to say "Let me into the presence of God's people". She didn't hold back saying "I am unworthy". Instead, she says "Take me. Use me. Let me help you and your God".

She knew what people considered her worth to be and she still fought for God. A God, mind you, that she knew nothing about. A God she felt inexplicably drawn to and certain about.

Her story cost her everything. Her home, her pride, her lifestyle. And she willingly gave it away for a minuscule chance of being with God.

Her boldness resulted in her marriage to Salmon and the birth of their son, Boaz, who would be the many-great-grandfather of Jesus.

To consider Rahab means to consider what it means to have blind faith.