Examples of Witness Stories in the Bible- Rahab

Rahab- One of my all time favorite ladies in the bible is Ms. Rahab. She was a traitor to her people, a woman of questionable occupation, and a liar. Yet, God heard her declaration of faith and gave her a new life. Her story can be found in Joshua Chapter 2 :

1 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and rested there. 2 But it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to spy out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 It came about, when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan, to the crossing places; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate. 8 Now before the spies lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 When we heard these reports, our hearts melted and no courage remained in anyone any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, 13 and spare my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all who belong to them, and save our lives from death.” 14 So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not encounter you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” 17 And the men said to her, “We shall be exempt from this oath to you which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19 And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house outside will have his blood on his own head, and we will be innocent; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be exempt from the oath which you have made us swear.” 21 She then said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

22 So they departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days, until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched for them [n]all along the road, but had not found them. 23 Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. Then they reported to him all that had happened to them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.”

And Joshua Chap 6:22-25

22 And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, just as you have sworn to her.” 23 So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives, and placed them outside the camp of Israel. 24 Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25 However, Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Rahab makes this amazing declaration of faith in Joshua 2:9-11 proclaiming God’s sovereignty.  This foreigner, this outsider, she tells the Hebrew spies that their God, He is the God of heaven above and earth below. We know from Joshua 6 that her family and her were spared and went to live with God’s people in Israel. We also get a cool insight of her future because of the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.

Side note: In case you ever wondered why there are so many lists of people in the Bible, this is one of the reasons.

Matthew 1:5 says

“Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth…”

That means Rahab was redeemed and able to marry an Hebrew man named Salmon. She not only went to live with God’s people but became one. Then we see that her son, marries Ruth. The story of Ruth comes alive for us as well.

She is listed as a prostitute in Joshua. The definition of that in blueletterbible.com is to “commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot”. We don’t hold these women in high regard even in our societies today. I doubt she had it much easier then either. We can only speculate as to how this woman came to be in this place. We don’t know what circumstances and choices got her to this point in her story. The point though, is how she stepped into God’s light, saw a chance for redemption, and acted on it. Our salvation, though we really don’t understand how it all works, is a gift. We don’t earn it, we don’t receive it through a points system, it isn’t karma.

I have a few friends that are excellent teachers and speakers and one of them described Rahab like this, “The gospel turns adultering enemies into a faithful bride”. The gospel, our God in heaven and on earth below, saw Rahab. He didn’t dismiss her based on her life circumstances but saw her heart and welcomed her into His family. She is in the blood line of Jesus Christ! Even though she didn’t see that in her lifetime on earth, I believe, in heaven, she knows. What a gift! She witnessed hearsay, gossip. She didn’t see the miracles. She heard about God and believed. God saw her belief and saved her through it.

Have you ever felt unworthy?

Have you ever thought that if God really knew you, He would reject you?

What are you willing to sacrifice to follow God? Your nationality? Your comfort?

Rahab knows how you feel and so did her daughter in law, Ruth.