The Courage of Rahab: The Gentile Woman and the Thread of Redemption
The story of Rahab of Jericho, found primarily in Joshua 2 and Joshua 6, is a powerful narrative of faith and redemption that stands out because of her background: she was a Gentile and a harlot. Her actions of sheltering the Israelite spies were credited to her as righteousness, securing her and her family’s deliverance from destruction.
1. The Faith: Receiving the Spies (Joshua 2:1-7)
As the Israelites prepared to enter the Promised Land, Joshua sent two spies to scout the fortress city of Jericho. Their mission was compromised immediately, and they sought refuge in the house of Rahab, whose home was built into the city wall.
When the king of Jericho sent soldiers to find the spies, Rahab acted decisively and courageously, demonstrating a profound, saving faith in the God of Israel:
“And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And she brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.” (Joshua 2:4, 6, KJV).
She risked her life, choosing allegiance to the unseen God of a foreign people over her own king and city.
2. The Confession: The Power of Israel’s God (Joshua 2:8-13)
Rahab’s faith was not blind; it was based on the undeniable evidence of God’s miraculous power in the Exodus and the recent defeat of the Amorite kings. She confessed her belief to the spies, acknowledging God’s absolute sovereignty:
“And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you… for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”
— Joshua 2:9, 11 (KJV)
Based on this confession, she requested a covenant of salvation for her entire family, a request the spies granted in the name of the LORD.
3. The Sign: The Scarlet Thread (Joshua 2:17-21)
The spies gave Rahab a specific, visible sign by which her house would be identified and spared during the coming judgment:
“Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.” (Joshua 2:18, KJV).
The scarlet thread hung from the window of Rahab’s house, built into the wall of Jericho, became the sole sign of redemption. It is a powerful Prophetic Hotspot, pointing to the blood that marks the faithful for salvation when judgment passes over (Exodus 12).
4. The Redemption: Inheritance and Covenant (Joshua 6:22-25)
When the walls of Jericho fell, the two spies returned to Rahab’s house, which was miraculously preserved within the collapsed city wall, to bring her and her family out to safety.
“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.” (Joshua 6:25, KJV).
The New Testament confirms her greatness of faith, placing her in the “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11:31, KJV) and listing her among the ancestors of Jesus Christ, as she married Salmon and became the mother of Boaz (Matthew 1:5, KJV). Her story confirms that true righteousness is by faith and is available to all, regardless of past life or lineage.
The Return Question: The Mark of Salvation
The Lord’s Return will execute final judgment upon the “Jericho” of the world (Revelation 18). How does the story of Rahab—a Gentile woman spared from judgment because she demonstrated her faith through action and marked her house with a scarlet thread—assure the faithful that their deliverance in the last days is secured solely by clinging to the visible mark of the covenant (the blood of Christ) and not by their own merits or national identity?
Rahab’s narrative provides a hopeful answer to The Return Question: the mark of salvation is universal and accessible to all who confess the true God and act upon that faith. Her experience demonstrates that those who separate themselves from the world’s coming judgment and trust in the Redeemer will be preserved and brought into the eternal inheritance alongside the King’s people.