The Bad Girl Who Made Good

Joshua 2:1-9, 12-13 HCSB Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from Acacia Grove, saying, "Go and scout the land, especially Jericho." So they left, and they came to the house of a woman, a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land." 3 Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land." 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, "Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn't know where they were from. 5 At nightfall, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don't know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!" 6 But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. 7 The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the gate was shut. 8 Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given you this land and that dread of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you… 12 Now please swear to me by the LORD that you will also show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death."

Introduction: In the conquest of Canaan, Joshua sent spies to determine the strength of Jericho. Arriving there, the men went to the house of the harlot Rahab, and she received them and made a remarkable confession of faith – that their God was the true God. She made it abundantly clear that she wanted to disassociate herself from the means of helping the spies escape. They told her that if she would tie a scarlet cord through her window, she would be spared during the conquest.

When we come to the New Covenant, we find that Rahab is mentioned three times, which brings a new aspect to the whole story, letting us know that God does indeed work in unusual ways through unusual people to accomplish His eternal purposes. Rahab’s transformation is one of the most remarkable in Scripture.

1. The Factors that Contributed to Her Transformation.

A. The Prudence of Joshua. God had previously told Joshua, in effect, “You’re going into battle and facing an appalling conflict, but you can be certain of one thing – you’ve already won!” Joshua said, “I am a man of God who believes the promises of God, but I’m also a general in the army, responsible for engaging in solid military practice.” So, he sent spies into Jericho to spy out the land. It’s not a contradiction to believe the promises of God while, at the same time, going about in a practical way finding out how the promises of God are to be worked out. God accomplishes ends through means. To ignore the means through which God works out His divine ends is not trusting God but testing God. If it hadn’t been for the prudence of Joshua, the spies would never have met Rahab, there wouldn’t have been a crimson cord in the window, and Rahab would not have been saved.

B. The Providence of Jehovah. The spies had all Jericho before them, yet God knew where there was a hungry heart. This is the overruling outworking of God’s providence. He know the hungry heart, and he is able to send a suitable servant to the hungry heart, and in the process, to accomplish eternal ends. You’ll find many instances of this in Scripture. God say to you and me: “If you’re in a situation of being a suitable servant, I am in the situation of working eternal ends in hungry hearts, and My eternal ends will be worked out through you.”

2. The Facts that Accentuated Her Transformation

A. The Kind of Person She Was. Rahab was a born liar. When soldiers come after the spies, she looked them straight in the eye and they believed her story. In so doing, she became a traitor who sold her city down the drain. She was a prostitute, a born liar, and a traitor.

B. The Kind of People She Belonged To. She was a Canaanite, a people so rotten and mixed up that they were of no redeemable value. God was patient in judgment, even with the wicked Canaanites.

· Genesis 15:16 HCSB In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

However, just how sinful many Canaanite religious practices were is now known from archeological artifacts and from their own literature. Their worship was polytheistic and included child sacrifice.

· Deuteronomy 12:31 HCSB You must not do the same to the LORD your God, because they practice for their gods every detestable thing the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

· Leviticus 18:21 HCSB "You are not to make any of your children pass through the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.

It included idolatry, religious prostitution and divination.

· Deuteronomy 18:9-12 HCSB 9 "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. 10 No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, 11 cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead. 12 Everyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things.

C. The Kind of Profession She Followed. She was a harlot, yet she became an ancestor of our Lord and a New Testament illustration of faith. These are the facts that accentuate her transformation. Maybe you feel your life is a mess. Perhaps you’re a born liar. Perhaps you’ve got such inherent tendencies that you worry yourself sick. The Lord is looking for people like you.

3. The Fame that Followed Her Transformation. Rahab is mentioned three times in the New Testament as:

A. An Illustration of Genuine Faith. In Hebrew 11:31, she comes in the same breath as Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Abraham, and Samuel. Genuine faith is hearing the good news, recognizing it as truth, and responding to it.

B. An Illustration of Gracious Forgiveness. James 2:25 tells us that Rahab was justified, that God looked on her as if she had never sinned at all. God can cleanse us as pure as fresh-fallen snow.

C. An Illustration of God’s Faithfulness. In Matthew 1:5, we find her in Jesus’ genealogy. God knows how to get hold of broken, wasted, sinful lives and use them to work out His eternal ends.

Conclusion: I’m glad Rahab is in Scripture; for, it reminds me that God finds and uses the most unusual people – like you and me.