Re:Verse passage – Joshua 2:1-21 (day four)
It is strange enough that women are listed at all in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. But these five women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary) have something else in common – they all have some form of sexual scandal in their history. Rahab herself was an outsider to the people of Israel. That in addition to her profession gave her two reasons to be killed by these men. Yet God found her faithful, and used her to bring about triumph for Israel, and eventually the Messiah himself. Rahab’s story, and Jesus’ family tree, make it clear – God’s plan includes all people.
Rahab saw the majesty and power of God, even with limited knowledge of him, and her faith caused her to act. Later, in the epistle from James, he uses Rahab as an example of faith lived out, “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:25-26).
May our faith always lead us to action, following the example of God’s unexpected servant Rahab.