“By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace,” Hebrews 11:31.
RAHAB’S WONDERFUL FAITH
Please note that God’s servants with the message of peace are pictured for us here as spies. The world treats God servant as aliens! But by faith Rahab sided with them against her former friends and fellow Jericho citizens. She undoubtedly endangered her life by so doing.
1. Rehab’s faith delivered her from perishing under God’s judgment. That is what faith does, girls and boys. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” John 3:36.
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Romans 5:1.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” Romans 8:1.
God’s wrath has gone and we are no longer condemned for our sins as was the case with Rahab.
2. Her faith was born of what she had heard of the wonders God did for His people. “And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath,” Joshua 2:9-11.
Her faith enabled her to look to the Lord for mercy. “Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death,” Joshua 2:12-13.
She looked to the Lord for salvation. “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David,” Isaiah 55:3.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Matthew 11:28.
“ Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink,” John 7:37.
3. The evidence of her faith. She treated the spies, not as enemies but as those who could help her. “She had received the spies with peace,” verse 31. ‘Peace - no animosity, no enmity’!
4. She entered into the blessing God had for Israel. Became part of the ancestry of the Lord Jesus. “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king,” Matthew 1:5-6.
The Lord Jesus asked: “Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother,” Matthew 12:48-50. Are you related to the Lord today by faith? Have you believed the gospel and thus been ‘born again’ into the family of God?