Today’s guest at Facing the Giants – Interviews with the Heroes of our Faith is one that I am especially excited about interviewing. She has quite a colorful history, so let’s not hesitate. May I introduce you to Rahab?
LA: Welcome to The Point, Rahab. I have to say that you are such an inspiration to me that I wrote about you in my Bible study.
Rahab: Why, thank you. Really it has very little to do with me and everything to do with God.
LA: Tell us more, please.
Rahab: When the two Israelite men came into Jericho that day long ago, I was terrified. We had heard about what God had done on behalf of the Israelites and the entire city was trembling in their sandals. I was not what you would call a high-class citizen of Jericho. I did whatever I had to in order to make a living and that meant selling my body to whoever had money. When the men first appeared at my door, my immediate reaction was that maybe I could ‘charm’ one or both of them and they would protect me. Sex sells, you know, and I was even willing to give it away if it meant safety for me and my family. No one in Jericho cared enough about me to give me a second thought if the Israelites invaded, so I knew it was every prostitute for herself.
LA: Obviously, God had other plans for you, right?
Rahab: Oh, yes. As soon as those men came into my house, it was like a switch flipped in my heart. Immediately I knew that the life I had lived up to that point was certainly not worthy of being saved by the men or their God. I had a decision to make….
LA: Rahab, you had what I call a hinge moment. That point in time where one realizes that what they have been doing is not working and a change is needed in order to experience a different and better outcome.
Rahab: That’s it. A hinge moment. What a wonderful way to describe it.
LA: What happened then?
Rahab: In my heart I knew that the God these men served was so much better than me, yet I very much wanted to be loved and cared for in the same way that He defended and cared for the Israelites. I don’t think I have ever wanted anything more. The two men assured me that their God would help me if only I would trust Him and them and do exactly what they asked. It was strange, but for some reason, I had complete confidence that He would. Even though I had never met these men before and I would not have known their God from Adam, I believed that He could be trusted. I staked my life and that of my family on it.
LA: God rewarded your faith in Him, did He not?
Rahab: Oh, in more ways than I can count. He saved my family and me from death. We were integrated into the Hebrew society and in fact, I married an Israelite. We had a wonderful life and I felt as if my past history had been wiped clean.
LA: That is what faith in Christ does for us, my friend.
Rahab: Yes, but the story does not end there. God so redeemed my past that He allowed me to be a great, great, great plus a few more greats- grandmother of King David and, ooooooooo, it gets even better. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, came from my lineage. I was just an average woman with a horrible past that God saw fit to save, clean up and use to bring forth the Messiah. I had no idea how He would use me. It still causes me such amazement.
LA: Rahab, what an amazing legacy of humility and submission. You truly are a life that was changed by faith in God. Thank you for visiting with us today.
