"I'm a shrewd businesswoman, and I never miss an opportunity. So when I saw my chance to escape from filthy Jericho, I grabbed it."
Hello, I'm Rahab. In the old days, decent people like yourselves wouldn't have spoken to me and I wouldn't have cared. I had money to spare. The judge and hangman were all clients of mine--no one could touch me. My name was feared, which meant power in my city.
So, in some sense, you could say I had respect. But a woman wants more than a business. No one thought of me as a person with a heart--it was all commodities and deals.
It had seemed so exciting in the beginning...I always believed that I'd meet someone who would sweep me away from the filth and degradation...someone who would see my heart.
As time passed, I hardened to reality and even hired some girls so that I wouldn't have to do the entertaining. Our customers were such filthy users and losers. Everything about what we did became tainted, although I can't tell you why. In our culture, prostitution was even part of worship of the gods, not a shameful practice. But I began to wonder what it would be like to get out of the routine. I felt dirty, although we hired washer-women, cooks, and servants to clean the place as fresh as any noble household. It all reeked.
One evening, two strangers scuttled in. Foreigners can be the biggest buffoons. But these were different. Sure, their appearance was unusual--but they weren't there for entertainment. They didn't even glance at my pretties all arranged for their seduction.
They warned me that their God was going to give them victory over our city. At first, I laughed. But by the time the patrol came knocking at the door, I had these men hidden in the thatch of my roof.
I'm a shrewd businesswoman, and I never miss an opportunity. So when I saw my chance to escape from filthy Jericho, I grabbed it.
I was sick and tired of my old life. When I heard that God was going to destroy my city, it didn't bother me a bit. Apart from my beloved family, I saw the whole town as a bunch of murdering, theiving pagans. When these Israelite men described their just and holy God, my heart filled with hope.
The Israelites told me that if I'd put a red string in my window, they'd come back for me. They would have mercy on my household when they conquered Jericho. How many skeins of scarlet thread do you think I bought? I decorated every window in the house, on the outside of the wall and inside, with festoons of red. Everyone thought it was part of the decor.
My deliverance unfolded in the strangest way. The silent Jewish army came and circled the city for seven days in a row. All the while they were marching, my neighbors were trembling, and my heart was dancing in anticipation of escape. But how would it happen? Would the spies remember me? Surely they could see my red ropes and cords. Would they take my family, too?
The seventh day, a loud collective cheer arose from the enemy army. An eerie thing commence. All the solid stone of Jericho's defensive walls became soft, like dough. The very ground seemed to soften into a treacherous rotten surface, so that the Iraelites easily destroyed my people as we fell to the ground in terrified, helpless dismay.
My family, huddled to me like so many sheep found a circle of soldiers surrounding us and extricated from the massacre. We were passed to women waiting, who took us back to their encampment.
How would they treat us? What would they think of my past? These women, they were so wise! They had been a captive people. Years of roaming the barren wasteland had taught them the miraculous mercy of their wondrous God. They assured me that, though my sins were many, He would take me to Himself. Belief was the key. He didn't want my money, my sacrifice, he wanted my whole imperfect self.
What a wonder! What salvation! I learned to believe, to trust...first God, and then His people. I met a decent man. We had a family together. Our descendents became a dynasty.
Jericho stands no more; in fact, God cursed anyone who dared to rebuild its condemned walls.
By the way, my name made it into the most famous lineage of all. Look me up in Matthew, chapter 1. Because of God's great mercy, I was the great-great grandmother of King David. Skit about
We have been told from the pulpit that only men have been called to the leadership positions of the church. Uncovered truths and new translations have changed this perspective.
We have been told from the pulpit that only men have been called to the leadership positions of the church. Uncovered truths and new translations have changed this perspective.
