Common Thread

 When one ponders Abraham's faithfulness, friendship with God, and unquestioning obedience, they usually don’t jump to Rahab the harlot and consider her actions in the same breath. Here, you have two people who couldn’t have been any further apart, yet a common thread connects them.

Abraham was the first Hebrew patriarch, one of four, and a man called a friend of God whose faith was such that he was willing to sacrifice anything for Him. To this day, Abraham is revered by no less than three monotheistic religions, Christianity chief among them. He was also the father of Isaac, who in turn was the father of Jacob, whose four wives sired twelve sons who would come to be known as the twelve sons of Israel, or as we know them today, the twelve tribes of Israel.

Rahab was a wholly unknown, unremarkable woman of ill repute who lived in Jericho and earned a few extra shekels by providing lodging for strangers, yet they are both remembered in the same breath and raised up as an example of what to do when called upon to act.

James 2:25-26, “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

In reading the story of Rahab, one can readily gloss over why she was justified by works since many conclude that it was because she hid the two messengers. Although that may have played a part, it went deeper than that.

The woman either lied or obfuscated a handful of times, misdirecting the king’s men and sending them on a wild goose chase while the spies hid on her roof. Neither the lies nor the actions themselves justified Rahab because she could have done what she did for various reasons other than pure intentions. What justified her were her own words explaining why she had chosen to protect the spies rather than serve them up to the king’s men.

Joshua 2:8-11, “Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Shon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

Rahab had only heard of the God of Israel and the exploits of His people, yet she came to believe that their God is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. This woman had believed from before the two spies showed up at her door, and she acted on her faith once she had the opportunity to do so. Now, as she went up to them on the roof, she made a profession of faith in the God of Israel, declaring He is God in heaven and on earth.

She acted on her faith and risked everything to help perfect strangers because of the God they served. She could just as easily have failed in hiding the spies and would likely have lost her life for harboring the sworn enemies of Jericho, but in the moment, she chose to protect and hide them.

What saved Rahab’s life was believing that the God of Israel is God in heaven and on earth, but her faith was made manifest in that she protected the two spies from the king and his men. Had she surrendered them, had she pointed to the roof and whispered, “They are there,” though she may have believed all she’d heard about the God of Israel, neither her life nor the life of her family would have been saved.

It’s one thing to believe. It’s another to act on those beliefs. If you believe you cannot remain passive or indifferent to the will of God in your life. You cannot read His word and then summarily ignore the instructions therein. You cannot possess full faith and confidence that you have been forgiven, understand what it took to wash you clean, and then go back to rolling in the mud as though Jesus hadn’t bled and died on the cross to accomplish your reconciliation.

No, you could never do it on your own. That’s why Jesus had to come, that’s why Jesus had to suffer, and that’s why Jesus had to die. It was all so His blood would wash our filthiness and make us clean, but once clean, we have a duty and a responsibility to avoid the things that would make us dirty anew. We have a duty and a commitment to walk humbly with our Lord, ever thankful for what He has done, vigilant in our walk that we might not trample the Son of God underfoot, count the blood of the covenant by which we were sanctified a common thing, and insult the Spirit of grace.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.