Rahab was a young Canaanite prostitute lived in the famous city of Jericho. Jericho was full of wickedness and sin that everyone in it was condemned under God’s sentence of destruction .This city was one of the principal seats of idol worship. Rahab and her family lived within the outer city wall. Her house was apparently part of the wall. This must be prime location for her trade. She was a wicked woman at one time but later she changed to be god fearing woman. Her story can be found in book of Joshua in chapter two.

Rahab’s story came into chapter two when Joshua, son of Nun send two men as spies secretly for Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” ( Joshua 2:1) .The reason he sent these two spies was because God spoke to Joshua and told him to lead the Israelites into the land of Canaan. He sent the spies in order to explore Canaan. They were collecting information that would help the Israelite army. As soon as the spies entered to Jericho city, the spies choose to go to Rahab house and lodged there. This is where they first met Rahab . It was written in the Bible that she was a prostitute at that time . Even Rahab was not doing the right thing but she was a woman who feared God and she knew that the spies who came to her house were not from her city. She invited them into her home and asked them some questions. She realized that they were God’s people. She knew that God was powerful and faithful and she decided to protect these two men and told them that they could hide in her house for safety. She found a secret hiding place for them up on top of her flat roof. She covered them with flax seed so that no one would see them. Suddenly, there was King of Jericho came to Rahab house and asked her about the spice . Rahab quickly told him that they were gone. She was so relieved when they left. She ran back up to the roof and talked to the spies. She knew that God was about to let His people

have the city. Rahab told the spies that all the people were scared of Joshua and God’s people in addition to that she also told them how people had told her about God helped the Israelites during their journey to Canaan. So she believed that their God is the real God. He rules heaven and earth. Rahab had shown kindness to the Israelite men, and she asked them to be kind to her, too. .”Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death” ( Joshua 2:12). Because of Rahab’s acts of faith and obedience to God , she and her family was saved when the Israelites attacked Jericho. Rahab and her family was saved by grace, because the other inhabitants of the city were marked out for death. God in His mercy and grace permitted Rahab and her family to live. Her true faith has showed itself in good works. She protected the spies, put the cord in the window as directed (Joshua. 2:15-21), apparently won her family to the true faith (Joshua. 2:13; 6:25), and in every way obeyed the Lord.

The story of Rahab does not end here in the book of Joshua only. In New Testament , Apostle Paul highly commends Rahab for her energetic faith and gives her a place on the illustrious roll of the Old Testament of those who triumphed by faith. “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she received the spies with peace” (Hebrews 11:31). There was not only faith in her heart that God would be victorious, but also an assured peace when she hid the spies that her deliverance from destruction would be taken care of. She knew the rest of faith. In fact, Rahab is the only woman besides Sarah who is designated as an example of faith in the great cloud of witnesses. Apart from that we also learned that she was married to Salmon, the tribe of Judah. His father Nahshon was the leader of that tribe during the

earlier wilderness wanderings (Num. 1:7; 2:3). and from book of Ruth 4:21 we learn that her son was Boaz who married Ruth. So she became a respectable woman. But more than that, we learn from the genealogy in Matthew 1:5 that Rahab the harlot was the great-great-many times great-grandmother of Jesus, who came to the world to bring sinners into the kingdom of God. It doesn’t matter what is our family and background is. God can and will do great things for and through us if we turn to Him and enter into covenant with Him. God used Rahab as part of the bloodline of his son, the Messiah. If God can use Rahab, he can use us too.
These are the key verse that we need to look into in Rahab’s . Not only reading the verse but we must exercise our faith in God as how Rahab did.

1) 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 earth beneath. (Joshua 2:11)

2) 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)

3) By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.( Hebrews 11:31)