Rahab was all wrong.
The wrong race. The wrong
gender. The wrong profession. She was a Canaanite. She was a woman. She was a whore. She was marginalized, pushed to the
fringes, literally living on the perimeter of her community.
Rahab didn’t grow up in Sunday school, being taught all the
right things to believe about God.
She may not have been able to recite the Ten Commandments or be familiar
with what animal to sacrifice on what day for what sin. But she did know a few things: She knew
that Yahweh had given the Israelites the land and she knew that was a reason to
be scared to death. She knew that
Yahweh had done incredible things already. She knew that there was only one Yahweh. And that he ruled over heaven and earth
and everything else. She knew that
Yahweh valued all things hesed—mercy
and faithfulness and kindness. She
knew enough to chose his side when
two kingdoms knocked on her door.
And so he chose to use her.
Right where she was. In the
midst of her brothel. He used her
to keep his spies safe. He used
her to give Joshua another chance to make the right decision. He used her to remind the Israelites of
his faithfulness. He used her to
conquer Jericho. He used her to
bring the Messiah that would conquer Hades. He used her to encourage Christ-followers across space and
time to remain faithful.
She had been used before. In countless ways by countless men. But that
didn’t stop Yahweh from using her faith to bless His people and fulfill His
promises. He still chose her. He absorbed her into the nation of
Israel. He gave her
significance. He redeemed and
restored her. And he gave her rest
in his land.
The situation of many women (and men, if we're being honest) looks exactly like Rahab’s. Enslaved by their circumstance. Exploited in their weakness. Ignored by society. The situation of others
looks nothing like Rahab’s. They’re not all wrong. In fact, they’re almost all right. Almost. But
they still feel enslaved.
Exploited. Ignored.
Like Rahab, we all mess up. We let the world use us in countless ways. We invite the Enemy in. We sell ourselves over to him. We let him strip us of our identity,
our confidence, our freedom, our value. And
because we believe his lies, we convince ourselves that we belong in the dark
corners of the perimeter.
But we can, like Rahab, confess that Yahweh is sovereign
Lord over all creation. We can
make a choice for radical change.
We can humble ourselves to Yahweh’s will so that he can draw us into
himself. We can we find
redemption, restoration, and rest in him.
