Rahab – Penuel Baptist Chapel, Roch

October 12th 2025: Ian Jones

Published on October 23, 2025 by Penuel Baptist RochLeave a comment

Reading: Joshua 2.
Text: Hebrews 11:31.

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Introduction.

The story of Rahab’s salvation is set within the context of the Lord’s conquest of Canaan led by Joshua. In Joshua chapter 2 we find two spies are sent out into Jericho. We should remember that many years before this, twelve spies were sent out to spy Canaan by Moses. Why did Joshua need to spend out more spies? He probably had all the intelligence he needed from the more comprehensive exploration done by the twelve spies under Moses. It seems to me that the main point of Joshua chapter two is to show us the salvation of Rahab, the Jerichoite prostitute. We are reminded of Jesus’ visit to see the woman of Samaria at Jacob’s well in John chapter four. He was determined to go north through that region in order to meet with her, rather than go the normal way which would have avoided travelling through Samaritan lands. It is very likely therefore, that the Holy Spirit wants us to know that the reason for the two spies trip to Jericho was (in the main) to effect the salvation of Rahab.

God had been at work in Rahab’s life. Consider what she confesses, how she helped the spies, and her desire for her family to be saved. Now we shall consider as our text the commentary on Joshua chapter two which we find in Hebrews 11:31.

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wants his readers, (Jewish Christians), to see Rahab’s faith in the midst of great difficulties. See here a woman whose nation and peoples faced imminent death and destruction, but Rahab’s faith saved her! In many ways we too are in the same boat. Jericho was about to be destroyed, but the whole world awaits the coming judgment of God when Christ returns. And here we see Rahab trusting in God. Her faith is very visible. It is not merely an intellectual agreement but something living and active. Now Jericho is the first city that would fall in Canaan, and given what we read of in the opening chapter we might have expected that such would be the focus of chapter two. But what we see instead is the mercy of God! There is no doubt that Jericho deserved God’s judgment, but before we see that we are presented with this historical tale which speaks of God’s grace and mercy! The Lord says in Ezekiel that He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). And then what is even more remarkable is the object of the Lord’s mercy. Whom would we think of rescuing from such a place about to be destroyed? One with great intellect? Or one who shows great promise for the future? Or maybe one who is greatly wealthy or able to make money? Or perhaps someone who might seem to deserve rescuing? A noble or one of royal birth? What we find though is that it is a prostitute (“harlot”) who is rescued. Oh the mercy of God! None is too much of a sinner that cannot be rescued! But are we willing? Are we like Rahab who had heard about Israel and God and was prepared to go against her own folk and trust in the God who judges sin?

As a youngster I remember that children’s chorus: ‘wide, wide as the ocean.’

Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heaven above
Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Saviour’s love
I, though so unworthy, still am a child of His care
For His Word teaches me that His love reaches me everywhere!

The Lord’s love reaches into everywhere, even into the city doomed to destruction! Why did the Lord save me? Of all the people He could have saved – but I need to remember that there is no depth and no height that He could not reach to. Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me! Salvation is of grace and by no means something we can drum up by self effort or earn. Rahab’s saving faith separated her from the rest who were doomed to destruction.

Let us look at four features of Rahab’s faith.

[1] By faith.

Everyone in Jericho knew about Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea, and of the defeat of the two Amorite kings across the other side of the Jordan. Look at what she declares speaking on behalf of all the people of Jericho:

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. (Joshua 2:10).

She also testified to the great terror and fear that the people felt.

I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint hearted because of you. … And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you. (Joshua 2:9,11).

Now Rahab believed and had faith in the God of Israel, whereas all the rest of Jericho did not. Perhaps the others in Jericho thought that the Israelites were never likely to be able to cross the Jordan, or perhaps they thought that the walls of Jericho were impregnable, or maybe they thought they had an unbeatable army? But Rahab had true faith. How do we know that she had true faith? Look at which she personally declares:

I know that the Lord has given you the land … for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. (Joshua 2:9,11).

Rahab heard the same news that everyone in Jericho had heard, but the difference between her and the rest was that she believed in the God of the Israelites and the rest did not. Rahab asks the spies for some “true token” that will bring salvation to her and to her family (Joshua 2:12). Rahab knew that Jericho was doomed, but she displays faith in God. Consider the thief on the cross who asked the Lord Jesus to remember him when the Lord came into His kingdom. And the Lord replied: “today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Now even today, whoever hears the Lord’s word (as Rahab did) will receive everlasting life (John 3:16,36).

[2] Rahab’s faith is self denying faith.

Rahab dared to risk her whole life. If it had been found out that she had been hiding the spies, there is no doubt that she (and her own family) would have been executed. The Amorites were a wicked people. James points out that Rahab’s faith is observed by the works that she did:

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? (Joshua 2:25).

Maybe we might think that Rahab should have been loyal to the people of Jericho? But these were a wicked people, and Rahab was prepared to give her loyalty to Israel and Israel’s God. She hid the spies, and she sent the king away on a wild goose chase! Her faith is demonstrated by her actions. Moses forsook the pleasures of Egypt because he saw “Him who is invisible” (i.e. The Lord) (Hebrews 11:24-27). Rahab was not moved by fear of the people or by the king of Jericho. She demonstrated her faith in her actions in keeping the spies safe so that they would return.

[3] Rahab’s faith is a sympathising faith.

We also see how Rahab was not just concerned for herself, for she asks for mercy for her whole family too:

12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. (Joshua 2:12,13).

Do we not also want our families to share in the salvation we know? When the Lord opened our eyes and showed us the truth, was it not so wonderful that we wanted our nearest and dearest to come to know it all too? Where true faith is seen, that is, where a person has been brought to true faith, there is also a desire within such a saved person that others might know the same joy of salvation. It is impossible to see the true value of salvation without also wanting others to share in what you have come to know. The gospel accounts show that the Lord Jesus had amazing compassion. Are we not like Him?

There was no guarantee that any would be safe outside Rahab’s house where the red cord was placed. If they remained within Rahab’s house then they would be safe and their blood would be the responsibility of the Israelites. But if they stepped outside their blood was on their own heads. This meant that each member of the family must come into Rahab’s house. Go out and you face judgment, come in and your life is secure. It was the responsibility of each member of Rahab’s family to come into the house where the scarlet cord was found. That scarlet cord represents the blood of the Saviour. In the Exodus the Israelites had to daub the blood of lamb on the lintels and doorposts of their doors to escape the judgment from the angel that was passing over. Are we looking to the shed blood of Christ?

[4] Rahab’s faith is a sanctifying faith.

Scripture refers to Rahab as a harlot. But she was not going to continue in such a profession. Her faith was that which also led to her sanctification. Rahab was given special privilege among Israel after being rescued (Joshua 6:25). And then wonderfully we discover that Rahab becomes mother to Boaz, who married Ruth the Moabitess, from whom came Obed, then Jesse, and then David. Boaz was a godly man as the record in Ruth shows. Where did he gain such godliness? Surely, he would have learned from his mother Rahab who was saved out of Jericho? Rahab features in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 1:5). Rahab, a Gentile prostitute, by faith in the Lord,f comes to feature as an ancestor of the Lord Jesus! How great is our God!

May 14th 2017: Ian Middlemist

Published on May 20, 2017May 20, 2017 by Penuel Baptist RochLeave a comment

Ian - March 17 Joshua 2

What are two men of outstanding reputation doing in a harlot’s house? Our Saviour also had an encounter with a woman of adultery, when she was presented before Him for stoning. Jesus, in a supposedly no-win situation was filled with grace and truth and dealt with this most difficult situation. Her accusers were not prepared for Jesus’ response, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.’ (John 8:7). Was our Saviour reminded of His great, great, great …. grandmother, Rahab – a most unlikely of women brought into the house of God?

Rahab’s Faith:

The two spies went to a harlot’s house – a place they wouldn’t be expected at. Rahab was to give the spies two things: shelter and key information for their report to go home with. Rahab was not a gentle woman, she was a prostitute in a heathen land surrounded by godless men. How could anything good come from there? She had no husband, no children. Her request was for those of her father’s household; none of her family lived with her. But look at what the Lord had brought to her in His grace and mercy. He had done great things for the Hebrew people by His almighty hand. She has two representatives of the Lord in her house.

The Lord of the Church has granted to us to be ambassadors, just as the spies. Our great mission, our greatest privilege, is to bring the message of the greatest Saviour – the Saviour’s blood shed on the cross for us, to set us free. Tell others! What a privilege Rahab had to have the two of God’s men visit her. What a privilege Roch has to have Penuel here. The church is still existing, thriving, in this world.

Surrounding Rahab was a hostile environment. Jericho had stood for hundreds of years. It was thought ridiculous that it could fall. But nations rise and fall at the Almighty’s finger. Surrounded by her way of life, her walls, her culture, Rahab found God, ‘I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.’ (Joshua 2:9). How could she have thought that? It is quite staggering. She states God is universal. How did she know? We’re not told. It’s 100% against her nature, her culture. She believes in a new God, one who is diametrically opposed to the gods of Jericho. She is not just changing her perspective, she is doing something way more profound – she is passing from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Jesus. Faith is the pivotal thing which changes everything. Rahab didn’t perish, ‘By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.’ (Hebrews 11:31).

Faith Works:

‘And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied a scarlet cord in the window.’ (Joshua 2:21). Rahab demonstrated her faith by her works. She didn’t go with the spies, she had to remain where she was after she declared her allegiance to God. She lived in Jericho. It was a dangerous time. The king of Jericho was setting himself up against God (verse 3). How many times in history have men done that? Rahab is the only person in the New Testament who is paralleled with Abraham, ‘Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? (James 2:21).

A person is justified by works, not faith alone. In James, Abraham had faith and it was demonstrated. Rahab had faith and it was demonstrated. Faith comes at a cost. We live in a world that stands against Biblical teaching in so many ways. Rahab stood alone in faith against the culture she lived in. How does our culture influence us? Daniel is another example of an Israelite living in a godless land. Rahab stood for the unseen against the seen. Her culture was materialistic, all about walls. But she tied the scarlet cord to the window the second the spies left. She was standing for Christ. Just as the scarlet blood of the lamb was painted on doorposts in Egypt. Trust in the unseen God. To be a member of the city of light requires faith. The oppressor of our souls is not our master anymore but he is not far away. Now he is our enemy. We will be attacked because we’re living in enemy territory. But Christ is our master, He is our Saviour. We must resist the enemy. Our identity is in the kingdom of light.

The New Testament is not embarrassed by Rahab. She is an ancestor of Christ.
Joshua tells us that Rahab lives in Israel to this day. She lived then as a citizen, now she is one of the Israelites. She married among the people, just as Ruth did.

In the Gospel of Matthew we read of the royal line of the Saviour (Matthew 1:4-6). Scripture is not ashamed of Rahab. In having been unfaithful to the creator, is not the whole human race a harlot? Jesus Christ did not come from a sinless human line. We all need a Saviour. Even Mary needed a Saviour, ‘My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.’ (Luke 1:47). All the men and women of the ancestral line of Jesus needed a Saviour. Rahab didn’t stand with the people of God as an unclean harlot, she was a harlot cleansed. Is she any worse than you and me? Not at all. With the little she had she believed against all the odds, against everything she knew, her culture. We have so much – testimonies, churches, books – and yet people still do not believe. We all deserve the terrible judgement of the walls crashing down on us. Jesus stood against the walls of Jericho, as judge. But He also stood mighty to save Rahab. We should ask God that we can stand fast. We’re thankful for the faith of Rahab. She proved her faith. It’s hazardous to trust in Jesus in an age like ours, but if we believe, even surrounded by threats from the evil one, we have the Lord with us.

March 17th 2017: Ian Middlemist

Published on March 26, 2017March 26, 2017 by Penuel Baptist RochLeave a comment

Ian - March 17 Joshua 6: The ‘Battle’ of Jericho

The gospel message can be summed up in the words, ‘In my place condemned He stood; sealed my pardon with His blood.’ He’s done it all for us! We find that in the history of God’s people, from Adam and Eve being provided with garments, the provision of the Ark for Noah, the rescue of Lot, God providing for Joseph, Jacob and family, to the land given to the Israelites, as promised.

The amazing thing in Joshua 6, the Battle of Jericho, is that there was no battle! God gave Jericho into Joshua’s hands. In the New Testament, in Hebrews, we read the wall of Jericho fell down by faith, it was the Lord who did it all, ‘By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.’ (Hebrews 11:30).

Joshua 6 is a wonderful narrative of a great victory – the grace of God working and the powerful judgement of the Lord. Jericho was not a particularly large city, about 7 acres in total. It was a strong fortress. It was shut up, secure, no-one could go in or out, ‘Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in.’ (Joshua 6:1).

This was a classic siege. Jericho was on the road to the mountains. It geographically affected the tactics; if Israel was to capture the hill country, it needed to defeat Jericho. Joshua’s strategy began and ended with the Lord. Yes, there were armed men, but they were followed by priests carrying huge trumpets, not swords. The trumpets were the ones used to announce the year of Jubilee throughout the land – the presence of God’s kingdom. The Ark of the Covenant was prominent as they were marching, behind which were armed men and the people. The people’s whole focus was centred on the power and presence of God.

When we think of the cross of Jesus Christ, how could a man, bleeding and dying, destroy the dark powers of Satan? How could the cross destroy sin and death? In Joshua 6 we see an example in what God does again and again in the history of redemption. Our weapons are not swords, it is our humble Christian testimony of our broken and fragmented lives lived in unity with Christ. Our great weapon is prayer. God takes the foolish things of this world and confounds the mighty and strong.

The salvation of Rahab. How was Rahab delivered? ‘But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.’ (Joshua 6:25). She was saved because she hid the men who Joshua had sent. She didn’t merit salvation, ‘You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way.’ (James 2:24-25). Rahab demonstrated her faith in the amazing promise the spies had brought her. She was brought out with her faith (Joshua 6:23).

Because she was unclean she was set outside the camp, then brought back in because she was now clean, fully part of the people of God. In chapter 2 it seems as if the spies knocked on a door and there, by chance, stood Rahab. Rahab herself explained that this wasn’t the situation (Joshua 2:10). She had heard of Yahweh, the eternal God of great deeds. The citizens of Jericho had heard of what the Lord had done but only Rahab believed and wanted a sure sign. She pleaded for God to have mercy on her.

David, in Psalm 51, also pleads for mercy, ‘Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!’ (Psalm 51:1-2). Rahab’s family was the only family to turn in faith, that He might show mercy on them. If you appeal to God’s grace you can be saved, the arms of the Lord will welcome you. Rahab received mercy from a gracious God.

There is something deeply disturbing about what happened to the city of Jericho. The people were slaughtered – women and children. Only gold and silver were taken out for the treasury of the Lord. The scriptures have set this up – it’s not covered up, it’s spelt out in detail. It’s a totally righteous judgement. Jericho was ‘shut up’ (Joshua 6:1). If the city opened up its gates and pleaded for mercy, then mercy it would have received. But the people’s hearts were hardened and would have nothing to do with God. The worst judgement – hell’s eternal agony for all who reject Him. When we see our Saviour crying out, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46), we begin to appreciate the depth of the righteousness of God.

When Christ comes, this is how it will be: when Jesus heals He restores. He will utterly destroy everything that stands in His way. The wall of sin is broken down by the cross. We live in gospel days. Today is the day of salvation. But death is near. People are interested in the materialistic things of this world, but the judgement of God is coming, there is no escape. We long for our friends to take hold of the promises of God. We must pray that they might be rescued from the coming judgement.