I AM: A Masterpiece Week Five - Day Five: A Narrative of Rahab

By Central Women

People were whispering, and word was spreading. She didn’t get out much, but she did spend a lot of time in the presence of men. Many of whom had a lot to say.

She knew stories were sweeping through the village and fear had fallen on the land.

Could these be “tall tales”? Stories that had grown or exaggerated with time? Miracles, death, and destruction.

Now, it appears, they were coming for Jericho.

Two men approached on foot. They weren’t from around here. She has entertained locals and the drifters alike. But something was different about these two.

They couldn’t stay, at least in her house. They were spies sent from Israel. If anyone had seen them come, it wouldn’t be long before they came for her.

She ushered them, quickly and quietly up to the roof. She helped them hide under stalks of harvest flax and barley.

And then it came, a message from the king of Jericho.

“Bring out the men who came to you and who entered your house, because they have come to spy on the whole land.”

This was it. What would she do? The nation of Israel was upon them and had sent spies into Jericho. If she turned the spies in, surely she would die when Israel attacked. If she kept them hidden from the king but was caught, her action would be a death sentence.

The God of heaven above and the earth below was with them. How could she turn her back on them?

In an instant, before she fully thought through what she’d say, she responded.

“Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”

In a hurry, the pursuers left, hoping to find the spies.

This was her only chance. This was life or death for her, and her family.

She went to the roof and pleaded her case. “I know that the Lord has given this land to you 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.”

She explained what she had heard of their nation, the miracle at the Red Sea, the overthrow of the Amorite kings.

She professed, “The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother and my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death.”

The men made a promise, to keep her safe and to show her the same kindness she showed them.

Next, they made a plan.

She lived in a house that was a part of the city wall. The location of her home made it obvious to others the kind of work she did, and all could see the men who came and went. Her roof was almost level with the ramparts, stairs built into the wall, and a window on the outside wall.

After the spies left Jericho, Rahab would take a scarlet cord and tie it to the same window in which she helped the spies escape. This cord would be the sign, to all of Israel, not to harm anyone in this home.

Did she know the significance of the scarlet cord? How God had Israel use a similar symbol during the Passover in Egypt? A scarlet sign…blood, from a lamb, smeared on the doorframes of their homes. As long as a home had this sign, they would be safe from destruction. This same symbol of scarlet would be her protection as well.

It seemed like time stood still. Days passed. All of Jericho was tightly shut up. Peering out the window she could see, several million people camped outside. It was day seven, and they were at it again. Priests blowing trumpets of ram’s horns and the whole camp marched around the city.

It was peculiar behavior and terrifying. There was an eerie silence as they marched, yet Rahab could feel the trembling of their marching in her bones.

Today was different. They circled again, and again. Seven times they circled the city, the trumpets sounded and in one earth-shattering ring the people shouted.

Instantly the walls of Jericho crumbled. Collapsing on people, destroying everything in sight.

Rahab pulled her family close. She clung to the promise of the spies: “our lives for your lives.”

The spies returned. They gathered Rahab and her family and led them away from the rubble.

Safe.

Foreigners, but Israel would make good on their promise.

___

It would be for some years later when Rahab would look back and see how God weaved her life together. She changed her life and her profession. She settled down with a nice Israelite man, Salmon. She would give birth to a baby boy, a handsome fellow, who would grow to be kind, compassionate, and upstanding. Boaz, her son, would follow the same steps as his father, loving the Lord and loving the foreigner as the Lord instructed. Years later, Boaz would marry a foreigner as well, Ruth.

Rahab went from a “lady of the night” to a foreigner in a new land, to mother of a son, who through him would create a lineage that would one day include King David and Jesus.

Rahab never saw the complete story of her family. God had prepared her for the good works she was to do. She was His handiwork. A sign to the world that God can and will use all things, all situations, redeem all sins and lifestyle choices and turn it into a beautiful masterpiece.