We all have a story. We all have that one moment, or possibly many, that we hope no one remembers and that we would like to forget ourselves. We have all made decisions and choices that, given a chance for a do-over, we would choose differently.
As we continue celebrating Women’s History Month, we appreciate all the women who came before us, enabling us to live our stories. Yet, while those women have done the hard work, on the other side of their accomplishments, they have a story, too. Just like us, they have times they would like to turn around and different paths they would have traveled. Even women in the Bible. Especially women in the Bible.
Rahab had a story. She was a Gentile woman living in Jericho, the Promised Land. Rahab was a businesswoman. She ran an inn, but not the bed-and-breakfast kind. She ran an inn that booked rooms by the hour.
We don’t know why she chose this as her profession. But that’s the work she was doing when two Israelite spies sent by Joshua to spy out the land arrived upon her doorstep. (Joshua 2). God promised the Israelites this land, and the spies were there to scope out the place. Word of their presence got out, and Rahab received notice from the king imploring her to turn in the spies if she encountered them.
Rahab replied to the king that the spies had already left the city. Undeterred, the king sent his men to apprehend the spies at Rahab’s home. Though she had told the king the two spies were gone, they were actually hiding on her roof under stalks of flax. (I did have to Google this and indeed, a person can hide under a stalk of flax.)
Regardless of her business, Rahab knew how to negotiate a deal. Before letting the spies go, she shared that she knew the God they served, the God who cut a dry path through the Red Sea, the God who had brought many victories to the Israelite army. She professed their God to be supreme and then asked a kindness from them in return for the kindness she had shown. She asked that when the Israelite army returned to Jericho to take over the city, the lives of her and her family would be spared.
The spies agreed that her family would be unharmed in return for her helping them escape. Using a scarlet cord, likely a sign of her business, Rahab lowered the two spies out of a window in her home so they could get away into the night unseen. Then, as instructed by the spies, she hung the same cord from her window when the Israelites attacked, serving as a safeguard for her home and her family.
The scarlet cord that represented shame and adultery was also the very cord that represented redemption and safety for Rahab and her family. The scarlet cord that let out the two spies to complete their mission was the same scarlet cord that let in safety and signaled protection to the soldiers marching around Jericho.
Rahab realized she could do Something More with her story. The same woman who had a storied and blemished past is the same woman who recognized the wonder and greatness of God. She chose a Something More action and stepped out in faith, forever changing her life and future. Rahab went on to have a son, Boaz. Boaz married Ruth, who became the great-great-grandmother of King David. Jesus was from the lineage of King David, making Rahab a part of His heritage, too.
No matter your story, there is always time to start a new chapter. In fact, it’s never too late to write a different ending or rewrite the whole thing. And your story doesn’t have to be bad to add a few more paragraphs.
Each day you wake up is a blank page of your story, the ending still unwritten. Write the story you want to live.
Citations
Story of Rahab images from Sweet Publishing https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/joshua-rahab-spies/
Cheryl Read says
Great recap of Rehab’s story. Thanks for sharing!❤️
Julie says
Thanks for reading, Cheryl!