Rahab Part 1, Bible Bad Girls Gone Good

*She entered into a blood covenant to save her family's life. She was a wise woman, a prosperous woman, and she was a prostitute who became a woman of faith. Her name is Rahab and through her bloodline was descended the only One who could fulfill a blood covenant to save all mankind. His name is Jesus, the Son of God.

In this series, Bible Bad Girls Gone Good, we are expounding on truths and destroying myths about so-called bad girls of the Bible who were transformed into godly women memorialized in Holy Scripture. Thank you for joining us today.

Scriptures: Joshua 2, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:35, Matthew 5:1, Luke 8:21

Stephanie Wright is the media coordinator for Charles George Missions, Inc. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, attorney, pilot and podcaster. To learn more about Stephanie visit CGM’s website at https://www.cgmissions.com/meet-the-media-director/

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Transcript

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She entered into a blood covenant to save her family's life. She was a wise woman, a prosperous woman, and she was a prostitute who became a woman of faith. Her name is Rahab and through her bloodline was descended the only One who could fulfill a blood covenant to save all mankind. His name is Jesus. The Son of God. In this series,"Bible Bad Girls Gone Good" we expound on truths and destroy myths about so-called bad girls of the Bible who were transformed into godly women memorialized in Holy scripture. This is Stephanie Wright. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get started. Bear with me because I did say that we're going to talk about family today and it's going to be closer to the end. We're going to press on with today's message"Bible Bad Girls Gone Good." So two weeks ago we discussed Mary Magdalene, the most devoted follower of Jesus, man or woman.

Speaker 1: 1:22

She was the most devoted follower. And we said that scripture does not support that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. And last week we discussed the Woman at the Well and we discussed that there were in that time, many legitimate reasons that a woman might be married multiple times and we further said because a woman is married multiple times does not make her a bad person. So today we are going to talk about a woman who entered into a blood covenant that saved the lives of all of her family and a woman whose reputation was that of a prostitute. In fact, this woman is called a prostitute. The other two people we talked about, really, were not bad people, if you want to put it that way. But this woman, of course, is Rahab. The scriptures are from Joshua chapters 2 and 6. Our anchor scripture is Joshua, chapter 2, verses 18 and 19. And this is how they read,"Behold when we come into the land," and this is, this is the spy talking to Rahab, giving her the instruction and we'll to talk about this a little more,"Behold, when we come into the land, thou shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou did let us down by, and thou shalt bring back thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house and to the street, his blood shall be upon his head and we will be guiltless and whosoever shall be with you in the house his blood shall be on our head if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business,"- in other words, if you break this agreement that we have- then we are free of th e o ath that you made us swear to. And she bound the scarlet line in the window." I want to address this because we have already seen and we know that we have to study to show ourselves approved workmen that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So I just want you to know that a lot of times when you go on the internet and you're reading and studying, there's a lot of misinformation out there. So that's why you need to go to Bible study. This why you need to be in Bible study. That's why you need to be in prayer. That's why you need to read the Word and let the Holy Spirit give you an understanding and an interpretation and be sure it's the Holy Ghost. Let's deal with the fact that many people try to say Rahab was not a prostitute despite what the scriptures say. It's funny that over the past two lessons that we have studied, we were led to believe that Mary Magdalene and the woman at the well were, quote"bad girls" with scandalous lives, even though scripture did not support that yet we have scripture in the Old Testament and New Testament stating that Rahab was a prostitute. Some would try to dispute that. Let's first look at scripture that supports that she was a prostitute who turned her life around. Let's not forget that. Let's not just talk about the fact that she was a prostitute because so often we want to just focus on that. This is a woman who turned her life around, amen, and she was truly one of our Bible bad girls that went good. After we address this misconception that she wasn't a prostitute, we're going to talk about why commentators don't want to say she was a prostitute, and then stay with me because we're talking about family today. Let's talk about what the Bible says about Rahab in Hebrews 11 and 31, Rahab is a woman of faith."By faith Rahab," and I'll say Hebrews 11:31, let me say that again, Hebrews 11:31, for those of you who want to go and study, Rahab is a woman of faith."By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given friendly welcome to the spies." Okay. That was Hebrews 11:31. James, chapter 2, verse 25, says Rahab is recognized for saving the spies and later, in other words subsequently, finding justification through what she did because of God. It says, quote,"and in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?" Why are there some folks, commentators and others, who want to say Rahab was not a prostitute? Because they do not want to believe that Jesus was descended from a prostitute. That's Matthew, chapter 1, verse 5, says Rahab became the wife of Salmon"S-A-L-M-O-N" and the son of Naasson and the ancestress of Boaz, who was Jesse's grandfather and David's great-great grandfather. Now it's believed that Rahab married one of the spies. Now that cannot definitely be confirmed. They want to say, you know, they will say that Salmon was one of the spies who married Rahab, but be that as it may, nevertheless, she is still in Jesus's bloodline. So commentaries, they don't want to recognize that Jesus would be descended from a prostitute or commentaries would try to say the Rahab Jesus was descended from was a different Rahab, not a prostitute. So you're free to believe what you want to believe. I choose to believe the scriptures as previously mentioned. What I also do believe though, from the research is that Rahab was a prostitute, but she was also very industrious. She was a successful business woman. I believe it is possible that her house, which the scriptures say was located on the edge of the city, Jericho, had many people to stop there for whatever reasons. Her name is associated with"innkeeper." The scriptures point to the fact that there was flax used in making clothing. That's what flax was for, and that's mentioned in the scriptures. In fact, Rahab hid the spies under this flax. As a prostitute, as an innkeeper, as a business woman, people would naturally travel to her house, home, place of business and would make purchases and sell goods. So this is how she knew as much as she did about the Israelites. Travelers stopped at her business, her inn, if you will. This is how she learned about the Israelites from these travelers or customers. Joshua, chapter 2, verses 9 through 11, says,"And she said, unto the men, I know,"(she's talking to the spies)"I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you." Verse 10,"For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you and when you came out of Egypt and what you did unto the two Kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, whom you utterly destroyed." Verse 11."And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you for the Lord, your God, he is God in heaven above and in the earth beneath." Now this is the prostitute talking. This is a smart woman. Hear me? She hadn't come over into accepting God yet, but she was on her way. Rahab knew all these things because her house and the place of business she was located in, on the wall at the edge of the city- that's how she knew all of these things about the Israelites. She had talked to people. I always wondered how did this woman know all this stuff? And it does make sense that that would be the answer. So going back to the discussion of why commentators did not want to associate Jesus's bloodline with a prostitute, let us remember that Jesus came to save people like Rahab. Jesus came and gave his life. His blood was shed for people like Rahab, for us. People will try to condemn those whose past has been viewed by society, as being marred or shameful. But it is those people, we are those people, whose life was in a mess who have a message. If your life is in a mess, I can guarantee you, you got a message. And if your life was in a mess and you are trying to hide behind what you know you should be professing, first of all, shame on you because that may be your calling. Your testimony can be your calling. You cannot be somebody else. You have to be yourself. Each of us is unique as far as what God has given us to say, to draw people into the kingdom. So don't allow people to shame you into not speaking what God has brought you out of, because that may be the very thing that will bring salvation to somebody. Okay? So Jesus died so that all of us can be saved. All the Rahab s, all the Davids, you know. Amen. I said, we were going to talk about family and a blood covenant. Rahab asked the spies to show kindness to her father's house and to save her mother, brothers, sisters, and all they have and deliver them from death. We're still in Joshua, chapter 2, that's verses 12 and 13. This was a wise woman. Don't judge a person by their reputation necessarily. That does not mean that they are not smart and they are not wise. Okay. She had sense enough to know,"Oh boy, something is going to happen up in here. So I'm going to be sure that I protect my family, that I save my sisters, brothers, mother, all of them." The spies agree, but they tell her what we said in our anchor scripture that"when we come into the land, you've got to drop that scarlet thread in the window, the one that you let us down by, and then you shall be sure that all of your family is in the household with you but if any of them go out, we are not responsible for the blood that would be shed. And if they stay in, then they will be protected." Okay? And then they also said,"If you utter this, then we will be free of the oath that we made to you." So, this woman Rahab sought to save her whole family. She risked her life. They told her that if you break this oath, if you don't drop that scarlet line, or if you go and tell, if you go and reveal what we are about to do-because we're getting ready to leave- but if you break the covenant, then we are no longer responsible for whatever happens to you and your family. So she made a covenant, not just a covenant, it was a blood covenant, because blood was going to be shed if her family did not stay within the confines, within the protection of that house. Amen. She risked her life. She risked her life for her family. Let's address this now, come on, I know people are gonna say, well, she didn't really lie. Yes, she lied. When they came to her house, when the king's men came to her house looking for those spies, she lied. She said that the spies had left. Okay, I just want to address that because she did lie, but she didn't lie to God. Okay? She did lie to the king's men. But I just got to point that out because a liar will not tarry in God's sight. So don't let anybody walk away from here talking about, you know, well Rahab, you know-, no, no, no, no, a lie is a lie and God does not like a liar. Okay? I just want to throw that in. Nevertheless, this woman became a woman of faith who is memorialized in the New Testament. This is my question to you today. After this little brief introduction to Rahab who risked her life for her family in essence. This is my question. Who is your family? Who is your mother? Who is your father? Who are your sisters and brothers, and what would you do for them? What are you doing for them? Jesus was approached once and told that his mother and his brother were outside, Luke, chapter 8, verse 21. I t's also in Matthew and in Mark. And Jesus said to them,"My mother and brother are these who hear the word of God and do it." So who is in your house today? Your spiritual house. Now I know you've got your loved ones, you know, your biological blood relatives, but we also have others in o ur house too. What kind of covenant h ave you made for those in your family, your biological family, your adopted family, your Christian family, what kind of sacrifices are we making for our families, quote, unquote"families." We are the only ones, some of us, who can make the right sacrifices. Some of us, those of us who really know the Lord, those of us who really know how to fight the warfare, we are the only ones who can go into the very belly of hell and deliver through prayer and fasting those who are afflicted. God speaks to us and tells us to go on a fast and we just kind of, you know, set it aside. We think we're doing all right because we pray and because we read our Bible. We are in a warfare people and the only way that you're going to really crush the devil's head is not only through prayer and Bible study. We need to fast too. We need quit pittypatting around with this devil and we need to really put him under our foot. There are some things that are not going to go out- the word of God tells us- it's not going out but by prayer and fasting. We are the only ones who are going to be able to go in to the belly of hell and deliver folks so that so many of our young men and young women are not being caught up in these drugs, being killed and murdered on the streets. It's fasting time. I mean, serious fasting. And that's not to say anything negative about a consecration. Consecrations are good. When we set aside things that we do we set aside the television. We set aside the little things that make us feel good. But, a true fast is going to be a fast where you are going without food. Now, a dry fast is one where you're going without food or water. I remember when the saints used to fast and we would have shut-ins, weekend shut-ins. I mean fast all weekend. And you know what I'm talking about cause when you go into church on a Sunday morning after a weekend fast, I tell you spirits were broken. Things happen in church that you've never seen happen. Playtime is over. We need to go back to the old way when it comes to fasting and praying. We've gotten so relaxed. You know people, we used to be in church like three and four times a week. Now we whine because we e nd up in church on Sunday and it's a little bit too long. You know, we'd be in church on Tuesday night. We'd be in church on Wednesday night, even if it was choir rehearsal, we'd be i n church on Friday night and y outh night was Saturday night. We've just gotten too lax. So, I'm asking, who is your family? And do you really care about them? Amen. Are we going to be obedient to God when he says fast, when he says do whatever it is he asks you to do. Are you going to do it? When he tells you to keep your mouth shut, are you going to keep your mouth shut? When he tells you to forgive? And let me tell you something, you better be"QTF," quick to forgive, QTF, quick to forgive, because I got news for you. God ain't hearing nothing you got to say when you have unforgiveness in your heart. And the worst kind of person is the one who thinks they ain't holding nothing. Every time you hear somebody talking about, they don't need to forgive anybody, those are the worst ones. Let's think about that this week. What is going on in your family? What kind of prayer life is God calling you to. We are in a warfare, a spiritual warfare for the lives of our loved ones and for our own lives. Amen. So we thank God for this message on today. God bless you. And I hope you will take to heart the questions that I have asked you to consider: Who is your family and what sacrifices are you making to bring them into the kingdom and to deliverance as Rahab did, from whatever has them bound. God bless you everyone. Next time we will conclude our study on Rahab, the Bible Bad Girl who became known as a Woman of Faith. This i s Stephanie Wright. Thank you for joining us today.[ inaudible].