So what's this doing in the Bible? The chosen people taking help from a prostitute? Well, for starters, it's a cliché, but no less true, that but the grace of God goes every sinner from Rahab's day to our own. Who knows what circumstances put Rahab in the position of feeling she had no choice but to sell her sexuality for far less than what it was actually worth in the eyes of God.
But Rahab, whom the local residents of Jericho can only see as the local whore, recognizes what they don't: "I know that the LORD has given you this land…for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." That LORD is Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, whom Rahab recognized as the God of the entire universe. For this, Rahab is recognized in the New Testament as a hero of faith, along with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses.
And look at Jesus's family tree in the Gospel of Matthew. There you will find Rahab listed as the great-great-great grandmother of King David. Ultimately, she is the ancestor of Joseph, and by adoption, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We would do well to imitate Rahab's trust, rather than be offended by her.
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