Rahab-the-What: Lesson 5 (Final Lesson)

Rahab-the-What ... Lesson 5

By Patsy Norwood © 2003-2025  All Rights Reserved!

Joshua 2:1-21; 6:17-25; Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25

Joshua 2: 12 - 21

I apologize for leaving you hanging and waiting for the final lesson in our study on Rahab.  If you've read this post, then you will know why.

We are so thankful that hubby is improving and consequently, it's time to get this final lesson in our study posted and find out what happened to Rahab.

In our last lesson, we left her after she had made a deal with the spies ... let's see what happens next ...

In Joshua 6:1, we read … Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.

Can’t you just feel the anticipation, fear and worry in the hearts of the inhabitants of Jericho?  It’s like you can almost ‘feel’ it radiating out from this verse as we read it.

In verses 18—21 we read of the destruction of the city of Jericho save Rahab and her household.

Rahab’s story teaches us about obedience, hers and then later when the Israelites marched around the city of Jericho.  Both had to follow the instructions given them to the ‘T’ in order for them to do what God wanted them to do.

Verse 22—23 … Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” So, the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel.

How hard do you think it was for Rahab to keep her relatives inside her home for ‘an unspecified’ length of time? 

Some of them may not have believed her story of spies and impending doom while some may have grown impatient waiting for whatever was going to happen to begin.

Rahab most likely experienced a great deal of anxiety over the whole situation herself.  That’s one of the things that makes her faith so commendable, in the face of great fear and anxiety she remained true to God.

Let’s notice one more thing before we leave these verses, Rahab and her relatives were not allowed to be a part of the camp.  In fact, they were placed outside the camp of Israel.

What does this mean?  Why were Rahab and her family not allowed into the camp?

Various commentaries I read all pretty much agreed that Rahab and her family, still being in their paganism, were separated from the camp of the Lord for the purposes of protecting His people from being turned away from Him. 

One’s influence is powerful … whether it's good or bad!

In Deuteronomy 7:1-6 God made it pretty plain what He wanted the children of Israel to do with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan (the Israelites Promised Land) and why, when He brought them into the land He had given them.

Verse 24 … And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold , and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.

Everything was destroyed, burned in fact, except the silver, gold, vessels of brass and of iron.  These things went into the house of the Lord.

Can you imagine what Rahab was thinking as she watched the only home she had ever known completely destroyed?  She had to be full of thankfulness that she had chosen well and also a bit apprehensive as to what lie ahead for her and her family.

 Verse 25 … And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

It seems that Rahab didn’t stay outside the camp forever, as this verse plainly says ‘she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day.’

To be able to ‘dwell inside the camp’ would mean that she had converted to believing and worshipping the Hebrew’s God.  Their God became her God.  What about the rest of her family, the Bible doesn’t say, but I find it really easy to believe, after what they had witnessed and experienced, that they too became believers and worshippers of the Hebrew’s God, the one true God.

“Even unto this day” means until the day this account was written.

And now for the rest of the story …

Rahab married Salmon (who is thought to be one of the spies) Matthew 1:5 …

They had a son named Boaz …

Boaz married Ruth and had a son named Obed …

Obed had a son named Jesse …

Jesse had a son named David through whom, as we all know, the lineage of Christ came!  Matthew 1:6

In Hebrews 11:31, we find Rahab mentioned again in that great faith chapter.

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

In James 2:25, we see Rahab mentioned as being justified by her works ‘when she received the messengers and sent them out another way.’

Rahab’s legacy is one filled with redemption, forgiveness and faithfulness.

Yes, this woman  …

Whose profession of choice was taught against in His Word …

Who was full of fear …

Who was manipulative …

Who was a bold face liar …

Who chose to break the law …

Who was a traitor to her countrymen …

Was in the lineage of Christ!

Aren’t you glad God sees the possibility of what we can become?

Aren’t you glad the choices we make today, tomorrow and in the future have the power to change what lies behind us?

Aren’t you glad that choices, not chance, determine our eternal destiny?

… I know I am!

In closing …

Rahab turned her life and world around by her choices … and we can too!

If we follow God and His Word, we can prevent many disasters in our lives.

That’s what Rahab did and in doing so, stood in the gap for her family as well.

I hope you've enjoyed this study, please feel free to share with other ladies whom you feel might benefit from it!

What's next?

I hope you'll join me for our summer study, Hagar, Broken and Alone ... or Was She?  Between now and then I'll be writing the study and may pop in with an occasional post from time to time.

Until the next post ...

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley 

It's a Blessing to be a Child of God!

I realize this post is not the final lesson in our Rahab study, but an event has happened in our lives that I need to share ... call it a testimony if you like ... I hope you are blessed by what you read ...

It’s a Blessing to be a Child of God!

We knew hubby was in afib, not because he could feel it, but because his Fitbit showed him to be so.  He couldn’t feel it, but his Fitbit showed heartbeats ranging from 34 – 186 beats per minute.  He had seen his primary care doctor two days earlier and she was going to try to get his already scheduled cardiac appointment moved up.  She didn’t have any success and consequently told hubby to go to the emergency room.  We opted to go to the ER in the town where his cardiologist was, which was an hour and a half away.  As soon as we walked into the ER, the security guard took one look at hubby, asked if he was having chest pains and then promptly sent him to the front of the line to get checked in and registered.  They took one look at him and ushered him to an ER room where he received immediate attention.  Three hours later he was lying in a bed in the cardiac short-term unit hooked up to monitors and an IV.

Hubby spent 7 days in that bed with around the clock monitoring.  They tried medication to get his heart back in rhythm, but it didn’t work.  They did a cardioversion on him and it lasted 14 hours before it went back out.  Then he started having pressure in the chest, more tests followed, and decisions had to be made.

We were given two options, and we opted for the one that increased a couple of the medications he was already taking.  After a few hours it was plain that it wasn’t going to work either, so we agreed to let the doctor start him on heart rhythmic medication which would be followed by another cardioversion 2 days later.  (Praise God, the second cardioversion was never needed, the rhythmic meds worked, and his heart returned to normal beating … and stayed.)

I stayed by my hubby’s side the whole time in a 3-sided cubicle with a curtain for a door.  What little sleep I got was in a chair, hubby didn’t get much more in bed as they were constantly taking his vitals, drawing blood, giving him multiple medications and checking numerous other things around the clock.

We have never been treated so kindly as we were in that cardiac short term stay unit!  Every single nurse, cna, doctor, specialist, etc went out of their way to answer our questions, meet our needs, make us as comfortable as possible and most importantly left no stone unturned in their efforts to help my hubby.  He was monitored so closely that if one of the leads attached to his chest came lose, they were in the room in seconds to see why his alarm was going off.  The doctor who was overseeing hubby’s case was monitoring him from his office and on more than one occasion would call the unit as soon as an alarm would go off to find out what was happening.  Hubby’s meals were of course provided, mine weren’t.  On more than one occasion they provided ‘sack lunches’ for me and late-night snacks for hubby.  Another time, they had an extra tray of food that was no longer needed for the person it was intended for, and they brought it to me.  The rest of the time I ate out of a little sandwich shop there in the hospital which one of the nurses walked me to, so that I would know where to go.

After a couple of nights of me trying to sleep in a chair, they rounded up one that would recline and moved it into ‘our’ room!  Let me tell you, that was a welcome chair!

As word got out of what was going on, we were inundated with calls, text messages and messages checking on hubby and offering to do anything they could to help.  My answer was always the same, we need you to pray. 

Little did we know how much danger hubby was in until we met with the doctor for the last time before hubby was discharged.  He told us that there was a good chance that hubby wouldn’t have made it to his scheduled appointment with his cardiologist, which was for the middle of February, without having had a major heart related/stroke event.  We had no idea!

So, why am I sharing all of this?  I want you to know that being a Christian has it’s perks here on earth (in addition to eternal ones) and one of those is the instant rallying around of each other during major events in life.  I ached for my children to be by our sides, but it wasn’t possible, so God provided the next best thing, His children.

I believe with all my heart that God went before us and prepared the way.  The doctor told us that if we had stopped at one of the smaller hospitals near where we live that they would have transported my hubby to the hospital we took him too.  That was scary, but God knew that and steered us to go straight to the bigger hospital even though it was further away.

When we got to the ER, there was literally a line of people waiting to register to be seen with the sitting area overflowing with people who had registered and were waiting to be called.  We were ushered to the head of the line and into a room immediately.  I believe that God used that security guard to make the decision to move hubby to the head of the line, to get him in and seen asap.

I believe that God maneuvered my hubby to the cardiac short stay unit, too.  The unit had a total of 14 beds and was fully staffed with the best of the best.  Normally, hubby would have been taken to the cardiac unit, but because the only available beds were in the cardiac short stay unit that’s where he was taken, and that’s where he got swift and excellent care.  We later learned that he would not have gotten that care on the cardiac unit floor because of staffing shortages.  In addition to excellent care for my hubby, the staff in the cardiac short stay unit showered us with care and concern.  I can’t say enough good about those people, I believe that God used them to save my hubby’s life.

We praise God and give Him the glory for going ahead of us and preparing the way.

We praise God and give Him the glory for having the right people in place at just the right time that could help my hubby.

We praise God and give Him the glory for the opportunity to talk about Him to several of the staff.  We pray the seeds that were planted will encourage and help those whose ears heard them.  We were in that unit for 7 days and grew close to the staff, we pray that God’s reasons for placing us there were fulfilled.

We praise God for all the people who reached out to us with offers of help and prayers, some were Christians, some were not. God used both to help us during this difficult time.

The next time you have an opportunity to help someone, in word or deed, please do it.  You don’t know that God didn’t place you in that person’s life at that exact place and time for just such a time.

Our hearts are overflowing with love and gratitude for each person along the way that got us to that hospital and through this difficult time.

Yes, it is truly a blessing to be a child of God.

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Rahab-the-What!: Lesson 4

Rahab, the What! … Lesson 4

By Patsy Norwood © 2003-2025  All Rights Reserved!

Joshua 2:1-21; 6:17-25; Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25

Joshua 2: 12 - 21

In last week’s lesson, we saw Rahab acknowledging the Hebrews God as the one true God to the spies.   This week we’re going to see her do some wheeling and dealing …

Verses 12 - 13 … Now therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.

Rahab is not a selfish person, notice who else she pled for … her father’s household (father, mother brothers, sisters and all who belonged to them).

Rahab seemingly knows that they will all die unless she can convince the spies to spare them.

Verse 14 … So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

Rahab was given a condition that she must fulfill in order for her and her household to be saved, ‘if you do not tell this business of ours …’

Rahab was also given a promise!  An if/then kind of promise … ‘if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will  deal kindly and faithfully with you.’

Verse 15 … Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.

 Rahab’s house, being located on the inner and outer walls, allowed her to help the spies       escape unnoticed by letting them down the outer wall at night when the city was locked up.

Verse 16 … She said to them, “Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.”

Rahab had some final instructions for the spies. She knew enough about the direction the king’s men were going (verse 7) to give them instructions to go in the opposite direction from ‘the hill country.’

Verses 17-20 … the men said to her, “We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come not the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household.  It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on is own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in this house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him  But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.

The spies had some very specific final instructions for Rahab and her family as well.

Instructions are given for a reason and in this case if the cord had been in another window instead of the one she was told to put it in, the Hebrew fighters wouldn’t have found it when they went to look for it and Rahab and her family would have been destroyed along with the rest of Jericho.

If Rahab had told of the men’s business Jericho would have prepared for the battle and likely there would have been scarlet cords hanging from most every window.

The element of surprise and secrecy was most important.

Verse 21 … She said, “According to your words, so be it.”  So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

The deal has been made and she, keeping her end of the deal, tied the scarlet cord in her window!

The spies went out and hid in the mountains 3 days after Rahab helped them escape before rejoining the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan River.

Once the spies were back, the Israelites moved to the Jordan River and camped 3 days.

Next, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and camped at Gilgal 7 days.

Then the men were circumcised.

A significant period of time elapses from the time the spies leave Rahab until they begin marching around the city of Jericho.

Fast forward to the time when Joshua and the Hebrew warriors and priests have arrived at the city of Jericho and are getting their instructions for the battle in Joshua 6: 1-16. 

Notice what or should we say ‘who’ was included in those instructions ...

Joshua 6:17 … The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

What does ‘under the ban’ mean?  The word ‘ban’ in this instance, according to the Lexicon, means ‘devoted thing, devotion, ban.’

The ESV translate this verse this way ‘and the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction” …

‘devoted to the Lord for destruction,’ what does that mean?  It means Jericho and all that was in it was to be destroyed as a sacrifice to the Lord.

Among the instructions given, Rahab and all her household’s rescue was included.  The spies had kept their word and Rahab had too!

Next week, we’ll wrap up this study on Rahab and answer the question we started out asking …

Could God use someone …

Whose profession of choice (harlotry/prostitution) was taught against in His Word …

Who was full of fear …

Who was manipulative …

Who was a bold face liar …

Who chose to break the law and …

Who was a traitor to her countrymen ...

Until the next class …

Please feel free to share with other ladies whom you feel might benefit from this study!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley