RAHAB THE PROSTITUTE: A PRODUCT OF GRACE.

I know this story too well, I grew up hearing and reading about it. It’s the story of the prostitute who helped two men that had come to spy on her native land. Instead of turning them in, she hid them and protected them so when the time came for the destruction and takeover of her land these men whose lives she saved in turn saved her and her family.

Her name is Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho.
I have pondered alot on Rahab's story and I’d like to think that Rahab was handpicked by divine arrangement for that purpose, it was no accident that the men went to her for help. It could have been anyone else, it could have been some decent single girl as I am sure there were virgins in Jericho at that time. What about the responsible housewife who worked hard to care for her husband and children? Or maybe a widow who was solely responsible for the wellbeing of her children? It could been her. The spies could have gone to any ‘responsible’ woman for help. Not a woman of easy virtue. A woman who prized money over her dignity and gave her body to any man willing to pay.

And no this isn’t me judging, I’m just thinking out loud because Rahab clearly wasn’t fit to be a role model. Why would a nation that served a God who detests immorality & adultery spare the life of a woman who according to their laws deserved to be stoned to death? A woman who lured men with her seductive wiles and milked them dry in return for sexual favours. Why Rahab the prostitute?

She wasn’t just saved, she started a family and had a son named Salmon who in turn had Boaz the husband of Ruth. Boaz bore Obed, Obed bore Jesse and Jesse bore King David from whose lineage Jesus was born. You see then that this invariably means that Jesus Christ was a descendant of Rahab the prostitute from Jericho.

Rahab’s single act of bravery gave her life and honour. Did she deserve it? By man’s standards, she ought to have died with her fellow Jerricans – or how do you call someone from Jericho – but God decided otherwise. He didn’t see a prostitute. He saw a woman who despite her shortcomings deserved His love and a second chance at life.

That is ‘GRACE’…God’s grace and unmerited favour. It’s the only reason why a woman considered immoral & irresponsible, a woman who should have been stoned to death received life and had her name etched in the sands of time.

Rahab didn’t fight a battle but the story of the fall of Jericho’s wall would be incomplete without the mention of her name. That’s what grace does a gift from God that no one should live without. Grace raises shepherd boys and makes them Kings (David), it turns slaves to governors (Joseph), orphans to Queens (Esther), commoners to Noble men (Mordecai) and changes wicked men to ambassadors for Christ (Paul). GRACE!

As I pen this piece, I am reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10 ‘But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me’and in Romans 9:15-16  'For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

¹⁶ So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy'.

Like Rahab we are products of grace, we who were once lost and undeserving of love can boldly declare that we are joint heirs with Christ and proclaim our independence. GRACE!