Was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
James 2:25 NIV
You would think that nobody in our civilized world has to fear slavery anymore. Yet the United Nations estimates that about five hundred thousand women have been forced into prostitution in Europe. The business volume is estimated at fifteen billion euros in Germany alone. Girls are lured from eastern countries through the promise of good jobs and money. They end up in the hands of human traffickers who force them into prostitution.
In the Bible, we meet a woman who worked in this trade – Rahab of Jericho. We don’t know how she landed in prostitution. But we do know that she had heard of the God of Israel and His care for His people, the children of Israel. After forty years of desert wandering, the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. So Joshua sent two spies to Jericho. Somebody saw them go into Rahab’s house. In Joshua 2, we read that she hid these men under stalks of flax and refused to reveal their whereabouts to the king of Jericho when pressed to do so. She longed to belong to their God and to give up her old life and start over with a clean slate. She hid the two spies in exchange for their promise to spare her family and herself when Israel attacked Jericho – and they were indeed spared. Rahab became a part of God’s people and ended up married to someone in the lineage of David. Her name is in the genealogy of Jesus!
I have often wondered why Rahab is always identified as a prostitute although the Scriptures speak highly of her: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed” (Hebrews 11:31 NIV). She made it into the gallery of the heroes of faith.
Rahab experienced a total transformation of her life. God does not wait until we are perfect in order to use us. This is a story of hope for every woman. No matter what is in our past, we can turn around and live honorable and upright lives. Rahab’s life story is intended to remind us that God really hurls all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (see Micah 7:19).
No matter where you are in your life or what people call you, there is only one step you should take. Put your faith in Christ Jesus, and your destiny will be changed.
In His Presence©2018 by General Conference Women’s Ministries Department