The scarlet thread: Rahab

Rahab

Rahab’s place in the genealogy of Jesus is fascinating. She was a Canaanite, so not one of God’s chosen people by blood. She was a foreigner, and would have been brought up to follow the Canaanite gods: Baal and Ashtoreth. She becomes a Jew by virtue of her marriage, having already decided that she had faith in Yahweh after hearing what her Hebrew houseguests had to say about Him.

We don’t know why Rahab chose to make her living as a prostitute. She lived with family members including her parents in a house in the wall of the city of Jericho. It would have been a convenient situation for her trade, as traders visiting the city would be able to find her easily, and to stay with her on arrival or before leaving. It seems that she was well known as a person who entertained foreigners – when looking for foreign spies the city rulers checked on her house and searched it. The King of Jericho (these were the days when every city had a King, and local Kings would work together to oppose outside threats) knew Rahab personally and felt it appropriate to approach her directly. In hiding the Hebrew spies Rahab was taking an enormous personal risk and was betraying her people and her city. The King would have had no hesitation in executing her if she had been caught.

References in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 suggest that Rahab was held in high esteem as a woman who acted on her newly found faith and took risks for God.

Rahab’s place in the genealogy is as wife of Salmon, and mother of Boaz. Perhaps her influence on her son helped him in his turn to be compassionate to another foreign woman who had turned to the God of Israel. It is speculated that Salmon was one of the spies who turned to Rahab for help and then rescued her in  their turn. That is a romantic idea, but there is no evidence for it. Whoever Salmon was, he was able to set aside the prejudices against prostitutes and foreigners that would have been common amongst his countrymen, and to see her as a woman of faith and an adopted member of God’s people.

Read    Joshua 2: 1-21; Joshua 6: 17-25   

Consider

Rahab’s situation was treacherous. Death lay in either direction: if she believed in the spies and their God she risked being killed by her own people; if she chose to be loyal to Jericho then she risked not only her life but that of her family, who would die at the hands of the invading army.

The scarlet thread is a symbol of the decision she made. She protected the spies. One might suggest that this was a decision based on assessing the power of the Hebrew army and shrewdly guessing that her chances of survival were greater if she helped them. If this is the case, do we hold that against her, or assume that there was not also a conversion? As is always the case when looking at historical stories, we can’t know for sure what Rahab was thinking or why she took the actions she did.

James, and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, both saw Rahab as an example of strong faith which passed the test, and they held her up as a model of how to live out faith for their readers. In the days of persecution of Christians by Rome, Rahab’s courage in following Yahweh despite the cultural pressure of her own setting would have been a good one. Rahab was not condemned for the sinful life she had led, but praised for the good life she led once she turned to God.

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Question

1)   Rahab took a stand against the culture in which she lived. What are the cultural pressures on us today which get in the way of us living out our faith? 

2)   In the UK we are not expected to hide our faith or to risk our lives for it. But it can still be difficult to express our faith publicly. How do you cope with this? How do you oppose those anti-faith cultural pressures?

3)   Rahab could be seen to represent people who are in genuine danger of death because of their faith on God. What do you know about people in this situation today? Perhaps you can use the internet to find out more and offer support through prayer, or in other ways.

4)   Rahab moves from being a prostitute to being seen as one of the giants of the faith. Some church members preconceived ideas about people who are ‘sinners’ – especially prostitutes, drug dealers, or gang members – to get in the way of seeing how they could become great? How can we help improve the attitudes of people of faith? And how can we as a church offer support and welcome to those ‘sinners’ and see them with the potential of Rahab?

The Scarlet Thread

The scarlet thread in Rahab’s story is that piece of cord tied into her window frame as a signal to the spies that this is the place to come and rescue her and her family. It becomes a symbol of salvation: in this scarlet thread is the hope of new life and protection for a Canaanite family who are saved from destruction and adopted into God’s family.

The scarlet thread is a reminder of faith that trusts God and is willing to take risks based on that deep trust. Rahab acted on her faith, and those who are baptised are asked to act on their faith too, trusting in God. When you reflect on Rahab, the second of the women Matthew marks out as important in the line that led to Jesus, what do you think marks her out? Why does her presence in Jesus’ story matter? Keep a note of your thoughts and ideas, so that Rahab’s thread can be linked with the other women as we continue to trace their stories.