Fitting into Rahab's Family

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. Hebrews 11:31

Most likely, fitting in was not something Rahab was well known for in Jericho. What do you think her family thought of her job? Did they experience any repercussions from the community because she was a prostitute, or did it just mean that she really did fit into this godless city set for destruction? We know the people there worshipped false gods. Had her profession also become the norm?

It is apparent that Rahab’s family loved her. Her father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belonged to her; they were with her when the Israelites came to defeat Jericho. But, Rahab must have at times still felt set apart from her own community, if not in her role as a prostitute, then certainly from the time between the visit from the two spies to the day that Joshua came knocking down everyone’s door but hers.

I wonder what she thought when Joshua’s spies showed up at her home. She immediately invited them in and acknowledged their God as the God of the heavens and the earth. God had chosen her to protect his people, and she was more than willing to participate in his plan of salvation. My suspicion is too that secrecy, meeting with strange men, and lying to the authorities were not at all foreign to her.

After the fall of Jericho, she went from life as a prostitute and an outsider, to being set apart in a whole new way. Rahab didn’t know it, but she played another important role in God’s plan of eternal salvation; she was a direct descendent of the Son of God himself. She became Boaz’s mother, Ruth’s mother-in-law, and the great-great grandmother of King David.

We all have times when we aren’t convinced that we fit in, whether within our community, among fellow believers at church, or even in our own families. It is at these times when we can read Rahab’s story again. In Joshua chapter 2, God tells us how he used a vile human to do his victorious work. Throw out that nice pretty picture you have in your head of what a woman of God looks like, and remember that Rahab didn’t fit in because of who she was, she fit in because of whose she was. The same can be said of us.

We belong to a God who uses us in spite of ourselves, and has placed us in the family line of the Savior of the World. With the wicked, with the vile, with the faithful, with the forgiven, we fit right in. God’s plan is at work in us, in the depth of our sin, because of the love of our Savior. Rest assured you fit into Rahab’s family. It’s a good thing. Hers is the family of God, and we too are part of his plan of salvation.

God of the Heavens and the Earth,

There are times when I don’t know where I fit into your plan. Give me the peace and contentment that only you can provide, knowing that although I don’t know where, I do in fact fit. Help me to trust in you as you use me in your plan of salvation for my family.

In Jesus Name, Amen.