Rahab’s Hope: "For the Lord Your God, He is God..."

​“When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”  Joshua 2:11

Rahab was a Canaanite woman who lived on the city wall of Jericho (Joshua 2:15). In Joshua 2, we are introduced to Rahab as a harlot who helped two Israelite spies by hiding them on the roof as the king of Jericho sent officials to arrest them for entering Jericho to spy the country. As a harlot with her home located on the city wall, Rahab was accustomed to men coming to her house. When the two Israelite men came, she immediately knew this was different and why and for what purpose they came, so she hid them from their pursuers.
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The visit from the two Israelite spies brought Rahab hope for herself and her father’s household, for she knew that the same God who delivered the Israelites countless times could deliver her and her father’s household as well. Unlike the exchanges with men in her practices of harlotry, her exchange with the two Israelite spies was a promise of equal kindness that would mutually spare their lives (Joshua 2:14). Rahab knew of the destruction that was to come to Jericho. She believed that the Israelites’ God was the God in heaven above and on the earth beneath and that God was more than able to deliver her and her father’s household (Joshua 2:11).

​Rahab’s actions in Joshua 2 lead to her inclusion in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) and her recorded example of faith (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25). It demonstrates to us that God can intercept anyone’s life to bring them to salvation not only physically, but spiritually, so that they are saved from the wrath of God and become a child of God. We all can have hope as Rahab did by recognizing when God provides opportunities and creates circumstances and situations to deliver us. We can live in hope, demonstrate our faith, and follow the Lord’s guidance to save and draw us to Himself.