Rahab. Now there was someone who was known by her job. She was defined by her occupation, what she did. You usually see her name accompanied by two other words: the prostitute. Rahab the prostitute. (Joshua chapters 2 and 6 tell her story.)
Then one day a couple of guys came to her door. But they were different. They weren't the sleazy, shady-looking kind of guys that usually knocked at her door. They didn't want what she was selling. By this she was intrigued. She let them in, listened to their story, and helped them out.
You know the story. The two guys were from Israel, that nomadic people that lived in tents out there in the desert. They were there checking out the city for Joshua, Israel's leader. But then the King got wind of it and would have none of it. When the king's men came to Rahab's house looking for them, she protected them on her roof. (Her unethical means do not condone sin but show that God can use even our sinful mistakes for His purposes.)
Through her experience with these men, and this encounter with the God of Israel, her heart was turned toward God. I think this is the first door-to-door conversion recorded in history! She was convinced that the Lord was behind all of it: "I've heard about your God. I've heard about the things He has done for you, and how He has destroyed entire nations. No wonder we're all terrified of you! Your God is surely the LORD of all. Please, I beg you, promise me that my family and I will be saved from the Lord's destruction of Jericho!"
So she hung a red cord in her window, like the men told her to. It was probably the same rope that she let the spies down from her house by (2:15). It was kind of a strange, almost random thing to do to be saved from destruction, but because of her faith in the Lord, God of Israel, she did it. She left that red rope in her window, and when Jericho fell, she and her entire household were rescued (6:22-23).
The next time we see Rahab, she is in the genealogy listed in Matthew 1! She was in the line of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Rahab was Boaz's Grandma, and Boaz was David's great-grandpa.
Rahab also shows up in the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11. An unlikely place for a prostitute, one might think. Thanks to that simple red cord and Rahab's tireless faith, she landed herself a spot smack-dab in the middle of Hebrews 11. "It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute did not die with all the others in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies" (Hebrews 11:31).
She was saved from physical destruction through a red cord hanging in her window. She was saved from spiritual destruction through a thread of faith strung through her heart. Rahab moved from the Red Light District to the Red Cord District, and as a result ended up in Both Matthew 1 and Hebrews 11. Didn't see that coming!
A simple red cord. Rahab's entire household was saved by a simple red cord and the faith that kept that cord in the window.
How many times are we asked to possess and employ faith that we don't think we have? How often are we asked to do something as simple as hanging a cord from the window of our lives? How often do we obey God when He asks us for simple childlike faith that what God says is true?Sometimes God asks us to do simple things, like Rahab's red cord. Other times we are asked to do strange things, also like that red cord - A seemingly odd way to be saved from destruction.
So, while we may not be living in the Red Light District, we need to pick up and move to the Red Cord District, where simple yet steadfast faith makes a beautiful home.
