Who was Rahab?

Joshua 2:1-14 (NRSV)

Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.” But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.” She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” The men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.”

Rahab: one of the inconvenient women of the Bible.

Rahab was a prostitute.  Let that sink in.  Really sink in.  

There has been a tendency in some Christian circles to try to whitewash her career.  Maybe really she was an inn-keeper. Or perhaps a concubine.  

But most likely she was exactly what the text says.  A prostitute.

The most remarkable part about this - and this is probably the reason why many want to whitewash her career - is that she shows up another time in the New Testament.  In Matthew's genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter.

She is not the only woman with a questionable past to show up in Jesus' genealogy.  So also do Tamar and Bathsheba, two women also with scandals in their histories, as well as Ruth, who was herself rather forward with in her manner of finding a husband.

Rahab, Tamar, and Bathsheba all had in common that they were used by men.  They all had in common a strong survival instinct as well.

Rahab was smart.  She knew which way the wind was blowing and she knew enough to trust the stories she heard of the God of Israel.

And so she took a gamble.  A brave gamble that ended up putting her in the genealogy of Jesus.

So who was Rahab really?  A prostitute? A woman whose word could be counted on.  Someone who knew and lived hospitality. 

Ancestress of David and Jesus.

What names are we known by that we wish we could overcome?  Cheat? Liar? Philanderer? Alcoholic? Depressive? Bully? Spendthrift?

Do we let those define us?

We all have many parts to us. Like Rahab, we are more than our negative qualities.  We are more than our brokenness.  More than our Sin.

Matthew including Rahab in Jesus genealogy is, I think, a clear sign by the author that there is nothing the Messiah in his gospel cannot overcome.  That all the past will be wiped clean.

That our own courage can come even when it feels as if that brokenness is overwhelming.  And with a God who includes a prostitute in his own family tree, the possibilities are limitless!

God of love and hope, help me know my real name.  My true self.  Who I am in you, and help me to shed the negative names I have allowed others and myself to use to define me.  Amen.