Rahab: Who was she?
Rahab was known as a woman described as a harlot and tavern owner who lived in Jericho and who helped several Israelite spies to escape from the king, going against her people. The Israelites were returning from Egypt and approaching the Promised Land as Joshua had just recently been annointed the leader of Israel after the death of Moses. The account is found in the Book of Joshua, where Rahab disobeys orders from the King of Jericho to locate and bring out the Israelite men. Rahab disobeys orders from the Jericho king because she fears the judgement of the God of Israel, and had heard the stories of which God had delivered the Israelites out of occupation and punished those who were against Israel. Rahab hid the men on her rooftop until it was clear and safe for the men to leave. The men escape from a window and down the wall by a hanging rope. James anoints Rahab as "righteous" for her faith for protecting the Israelite men.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:25-26.
In return for protecting the Israelite spies, the spies promise to protect Rahab and her family when Israel invades Jericho. Around 1,400 BC, Jericho was the first city attacked by the Israelites after they miraculously crossed the Jordan River and entered Canaan. God had dried up the river to allow the Israelites to cross over. The Wall of Jericho was destroyed when the Israelites walked around it for seven days carrying the Ark of the Covenant. No one in Jericho was spared except Rahab and her family. Rahab risked her family's life and her own by protecting the Israelite men. If the people of Jericho found out that she was hiding Israelite spies, she and her family could be put to death. However, Rahab was rewarded for her faith and her family was spared.
The Jordan River is important to the Christian faith because it is the site of the most important event of Jesus' life: his baptism and beginning of his ministry. The Jordan River symbolically represents a crossroads or a new beginning just as for the Israelite nation and for the ministry of Jesus Christ.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:25-26.
In return for protecting the Israelite spies, the spies promise to protect Rahab and her family when Israel invades Jericho. Around 1,400 BC, Jericho was the first city attacked by the Israelites after they miraculously crossed the Jordan River and entered Canaan. God had dried up the river to allow the Israelites to cross over. The Wall of Jericho was destroyed when the Israelites walked around it for seven days carrying the Ark of the Covenant. No one in Jericho was spared except Rahab and her family. Rahab risked her family's life and her own by protecting the Israelite men. If the people of Jericho found out that she was hiding Israelite spies, she and her family could be put to death. However, Rahab was rewarded for her faith and her family was spared.
The Jordan River is important to the Christian faith because it is the site of the most important event of Jesus' life: his baptism and beginning of his ministry. The Jordan River symbolically represents a crossroads or a new beginning just as for the Israelite nation and for the ministry of Jesus Christ.
