Hebrews 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not, etc. What did Rahab believe? What does the Bible teach us concerning her faith? She exercised: 1. Faith in Jehovah as the true and supreme God. She believed in him not simply as a superior and powerful local or national deity, but as supreme over all beings universally. This is her confession, "Jehovah your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" (Joshua 2:11). 2. Faith in the fidelity and power of Jehovah to fulfill his purposes in relation to his people. "She said unto the men, I know that Jehovah hath given you the land" (Joshua 2:9); and therefore she was confident that they would actually come into possession of it. 3. Faith in the fidelity of the worshippers of Jehovah. She showed kindness to the spies, entered into an important agreement with them, and fulfilled her part of the agreement, evidently expecting them to fulfill their part (Joshua 2:12, 13, 21). Three aspects of the faith of Rahab are suggested by our text. I. FAITH IN AN UNLIKELY PERSON. 1. Rahab was an idolatrous Canaanite. She had not been blessed with parental instructions and home influences inclining her heart to faith in the true and holy God; but the reverse. She was the daughter of heathen parents, instructed in a loathsome and degrading idolatry, and belonged to a people whose "abominations and iniquities had become full, so that the land spued out its inhabitants, and the Lord could deal with them only in sheer destruction." Yet she believed sincerely and strongly in the living and true God. 2. Rahab was a known harlot. Whether she was such at the time she received the spies we know not, probably she was not; but if not then, she had been formerly, and was still known by the disgraceful title of "Rahab the harlot." But, as Bishop Hervey remarks, "it is very possible that to a woman of her country and religion such a calling may have implied a far less deviation from the standard of morality than it does with us; and, moreover, with a purer faith she seems to have entered upon a pure life." We should not have expected true religious faith in such a woman, much less conspicuous faith; but such faith she exemplified. Learn that the outwardly moral and respectable may be further from the kingdom of God than the openly disreputable. "A woman which was in the city, a sinner," was accepted by the blessed Savior much more than the prosperous, respectable Pharisee, Simon (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus said unto "the chief priests and the elders of the people... Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you," etc. (Matthew 21:23, 31, 32). II. FAITH CLEARLY ENVINCED. Rahab manifested the reality of her faith: 1. In receiving the spies. She would not have shown courteous hospitality to any of the Israelites, who were dreaded and detested by her countrymen, but for her faith. "By faith Rahab received the spies with peace. 2. In concealing and delivering the imperiled spies at her own risk. (Joshua 2:2-7, 15, 16, 22.) Grave objection has been raised to the conduct of Rahab in telling a lie in order to conceal and protect the spies. We have no wish to apologize for falsehood; but the objection is not a reasonable one. Strict truth," says Bishop Hervey, "either in Jew or heathen, was a virtue so utterly unknown before the promulgation of the gospel, that, as far as Rahab is concerned, the discussion" of her conduct in deceiving the King of Jericho's messengers with a false tale is quite superfluous. The objection also overlooks a very precious truth as to the relations and dealings of God with man. "God demands not of the feeble at the beginning the great works of consummate faith; he beholds even in the imperfect act the faith which prompts it, if faith is actually operating in its performance." St. James inquires, "Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?" (James 2:25). 3. In entering into a solemn contract with the spies and carrying out the terms of that contract. The compact she agreed to was a thing of life or death to her; and she kept her part of the compact, and exhibited even to the end steady confidence in the fidelity of the two spies to their engagement. Her actions proved the reality and strength of her faith. III. FAITH RICHLY REWARDED. 1. In the preservation of herself and her kindred when her fellow-citizens were destroyed. (Joshua 6:22, 23, 25.) "By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient." Her fellow-citizens had heard the reports of what God had done for Israel, and of the remarkable victories which the Israelites had achieved, but they believed not in the God of Israel. "They believed not that Israel's God was the true God, and that Israel was the peculiar people of God, though they had evidence sufficient of it." Or, as Alford expresses it, "The inhabitants of Jericho were disobedient to the will of God manifested by the signs and wonders which he had wrought for Israel; as is implied by Rahab's speech (Joshua 2:9-12)." And they perished. But Rahab and her family were saved. 2. In the honorable distinction to which she attained. She is exhibited in this Epistle as an example of distinguished faith, and by St. James (James 2:25) as an example of conduct consistent with her faith. And, far higher than these commendations, as the wife of Salmon and the mother of Boaz she became an ancestress of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our subject is full of encouragement for sinners to turn (o God by faith in Jesus Christ. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord," etc. (Isaiah 55:6, 7). - W.J. Parallel Verses KJV: By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. |
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