_RAHAB SAVED._
JOSHUA vi. 17, 22-25.
It has not been the lot of Rahab to share the devout interest which
has been lavished on Mary Magdalene. Our Correggios, Titians, and
Carlo Dolcis have not attempted to represent the spirit of contrition
and devotion transfiguring the face of the Canaanite girl. And this is
not surprising. Rahab had never seen the human face of Jesus, nor
heard the words that dropped like honey from His lips. She had never
come under that inexpressible charm which lay in the bearing of the
living Jesus, the charm that made so remarkable a change not only on
the "woman that was a sinner," but on Zaccheus, on Peter in the high
priest's hall, on the penitent thief, and on Saul of Tarsus on the way
to Damascus. For there was a wonderful power in the very looks and
tones of Jesus to touch the heart, and thereby to throw a new light on
all one's past life, making sin look black and odious, and inspiring
an intense desire for resemblance to Him who was so much fairer than
all the children of men. Rahab had never seen the Divine image in any
purer form than it appeared in Joshua and men and women like-minded
with him.
But though she was not one of those whose contrite and holy love
painters delight to represent, she belonged to the same order, and in
some respects is more remarkable than any of the New Testament
penitents. For her light was much dimmer than theirs who lived in the
days of the Son of man. She was utterly without support or sympathy
from those among whom she lived, for with the exception of her own
relations, who seem to have been influenced by herself, not a creature
in Jericho shared her faith, or showed the slightest regard for the
God of Israel.
But the time has now come for her to reap the reward of her faith and
its works. In her case there was but a short interval between the
sowing and the reaping. And God showed Himself able to do in her
exceeding abundantly above what she could ask or think. For she was
not only protected when Jericho and all its people were destroyed, but
incorporated with the children of Israel. She became an heir of
Abraham's blessing; she came among those "to whom pertained the
adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law,
and the service of God, and the promises." An old tradition made her
the wife of Joshua, but, according to the genealogies she married
Salmon (Matt. i. 5), prince of the imperial tribe of Judah,
great-grandfather of David, and ancestor of the Messiah. In the golden
roll of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, she is the only woman who
shares with Sarah, the great mother of the nation, the honour of a
place among the heroes of the faith. Such honours could not have been
attained by her had she not been a changed character,--one of those
who erewhile "had lain among the pots, but who became like the wings
of a dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold."
Very special mention is made of her in the narrative of the
destruction of Jericho. In the first place, before the overthrow of
the city, Joshua gives particular instructions regarding her,
accepting very readily the promise that had been made to her by the
two spies. If Joshua had been a man of unreasonable temper, he might
have refused to ratify their action in her case. He might have said
that God had doomed the whole inhabitants of the city to destruction,
and as no instructions had been given by Him to spare Rahab, she must
share the doom of the rest. But Joshua at once recognised the
propriety of an exception in favour of one who had shown such faith,
and who had rendered such service to the spies and to the nation; and,
moreover, he looked on the promise made by the spies as reasonable,
for it would have been gross tyranny to send them on such an errand
without power to make fair compensation for any assistance they might
receive. Yet how often have promises made in danger been broken when
the danger was past! Rahab must have known that had it been some
Canaanite chief and not Joshua that had to decide her fate, he would
have scorned the promise of the spies, and consigned her to the
general doom. She must have been impressed with the honourable conduct
of Joshua in so cordially endorsing the promise of the spies, and
thought well of his religion on that account. Honour and religion go
well together; meanness and religion breed contempt. We see meanness
with a religious profession culminating in the treachery of Judas. We
see honour in alliance with religion culminating in the Garden of
Gethsemane, when the bleeding Sufferer rallied His fainting courage
and stood firm to His undertaking--"The cup which My Father hath given
Me, shall I not drink it?"
No doubt the scarlet cord was hung from her window, as had been
arranged with the spies, and the Israelites, when they saw it, would
be reminded of the blood of the lamb sprinkled on their door posts and
lintels when the destroying angel passed through Egypt. It was the two
men who had acted as spies that Joshua instructed to enter her house,
and bring out the woman and all that she had. And a happy woman she no
doubt was when she saw the faces of her old guests, and under their
protection was brought out with all her kindred and all that she had
and led to a place of safety. It is a blessed time, after you have
stood fast to duty while many have failed, when the hour comes that
brings you peace and blessing, while it carries confusion and misery
to the faithless. How thankful one is at such a moment for the grace
that enabled one to choose the right! With what awe one looks into the
gulf on whose edge one stood, and thanks God for the grace that
brought the victory! And how often is the welfare of a lifetime
secured in some crisis by the firm attitude of an hour. What do we not
gain by patience when we do the right and wait for the reward? One of
the pictures in the Interpreter's House is that of "a little room
where sat two little children, each in his chair. The name of the
eldest was Passion, and of the other Patience. Passion seemed much
discontent, but Patience was very quiet. Then asked Christian, What is
the reason of the discontent of Passion? The Interpreter answered, The
Governor of them would have them stay for his best things till the
beginning of the next year; but he will have them all now; but
Patience is willing to wait." How invaluable is the spirit that can
wait till the beginning of the next year! And especially with
reference to the awards of eternity. The rush for good things now,
the desire at all hazards to gratify inclination as it rises, the
impatience that will not wait till next year--how many lives they
wreck, what misery they gender for eternity! But when you do choose
that good part that shall not be taken away, and count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, what
ecstatic bliss you make sure of in that solemn hour when the dead,
small and great, shall stand before God; and, amid weeping and wailing
inexpressible on the left hand, the Judge shall pronounce the words,
"Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world."
The case of Rahab was one of those where whole families were saved on
account of the faith of one member. Such was the case of Noah, whose
faith secured the exemption of himself and all his family from the
flood. Such, hypothetically, was the case of Lot, whose whole family
would have been preserved from the fire and brimstone, if only they
had received his warning and left Sodom with him. On the other hand,
there were cases, like that of Korah in the wilderness, and of Achan,
near this very place, Jericho, where the sin of the father involved
the death of the whole family. In the case of Rahab, we find a family
saved, not through the faith of the head of the house, but of a member
of it, and that member a woman. The head of a Hebrew house was
eminently a representative man, and by a well-understood and
recognised law his family were implicated in his acts, whether for
good or for evil. But in this case the protector of the family, the
member of it that determines the fate of the whole, is not the one
whom the law recognises, but his child, his daughter. A woman occupies
here a higher and more influential place, in relation to the rest of
the family, than she has ever held at any previous time. The incident
comes in as a kind of foreshadow of what was to be abundantly verified
in after times. For it is in Christian times that woman has most
conspicuously attained that position of high influence on the welfare
of the family, and especially its eternal welfare, which Rahab showed
in delivering her house from the destruction of Jericho.
At a very early period in the history of the Christian Church, the
great influence of godly women on the welfare of their male relations
began to be seen. About the fourth century we can hardly peruse the
biography of any eminent Christian father, without being struck with
the share which the prayers and efforts of some pious female relative
had in his conversion. Monica, the mother of Augustine, is held in
reverence all over Christendom for her tears and wrestling prayers on
behalf of her son; and the name of Anthusa, the mother of Chrysostom,
is hardly less venerable. Nonna, the mother of Gregory Nazianzen;
Macrina and Emmelia, the mother and the grandmother of Basil the Great
and Gregory of Nyssa, as well as their sister, also called Macrina;
Theosebia too, the wife of Gregory, and Marallina, the sister of
Ambrose, all share a similar renown. And in more recent times, how
many are the cases where sisters and daughters have exercised a
blessed influence on brothers and fathers! Every right-hearted sister
has a peculiarly warm and tender interest in the welfare of her
brothers. It is a feeling not to be neglected, but carefully nursed
and deepened. This narrative shows it to be in the line of God's
providence that sisters and daughters shall prove instruments of
deliverance to their relations. It is blessed when they are so even in
earthly things, but far more glorious when, through faith and prayer
and unwearied interest, they are enabled to win them to Christ, and
turn them into living epistles for Him.
It can hardly be necessary to dwell at length on the commentary which
we find in the Epistle of James on the faith of Rahab. For it is not
so much anything personal to her that he handles, but an important
quality of all true faith, and of her faith as being true. "Was not
Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the
messengers, and had sent them out another way?" No intelligent person
needs to be told that the view of justification here given is in no
wise at variance with that of St. Paul. Paul's doctrine was propounded
in the early years of the Church, when, in opposition to the notion
prevalent among the Gentiles, it was necessary to show clearly that
there was no justifying merit in works. The doctrine of James was
propounded at a later period, when men, presuming on free grace, were
beginning to get lax in their practice, and it was necessary to insist
that faith could not be true faith if it was not accompanied by
corresponding works. The case of Rahab is employed by St. James to
illustrate this latter position. If Rahab had merely professed belief
in the God of Israel as the only true God, and in the certainty that
Israel would possess the land, according to God's promise, her faith
would have been a barren or dead faith; in other words, it would have
been no true faith at all. It was her taking up the cause of the
spies, protecting them, endangering her life for them, and then
devising and executing a scheme for their safety, that showed her
faith to be living, and therefore real. Let it be true that faith is
only the instrument of justification, that it possesses no merit, and
that its value lies solely in its uniting us to Christ, so that we
get justification and all other blessings from Him; still that which
really unites us to Christ must be living. Dr. Chalmers used to sum up
the whole doctrine in the formula, "We are justified by faith alone,
but not by a faith which is alone."
But let us now advert to the reception of Rahab into the nation and
church of the Israelites. "They brought out all her kindred, and left
them without the camp of Israel.... 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." First, they left them without
the camp. At first they could be treated only as unclean until the
rites of purification should be performed. In the case of Rahab this
was doubly necessary--owing to her race, and owing to her life.
Thereafter they were admitted to the commonwealth of Israel, and had
an interest in the covenants of promise. The ceremonial purification
and the formal admission signified little, except in so far as they
represented the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy
Ghost. Whether this vital change took place we are not told, but we
seem justified in inferring it both from what we read in Hebrews and
from the fact that Rahab was one of the ancestors of our Lord. It is
interesting and instructive to think of her as exemplifying that law
of grace by which the door of heaven is flung open even to the vilest
sinner. "Where sin abounded grace did much more abound." When the
enemy ensnares a woman, wiles her into the filthiest chambers of sin,
and so enchains her there that she cannot escape, but must sink deeper
and deeper in the mire, the case is truly hopeless. More rapidly and
more thoroughly than in the case of a man, the leprosy spreads till
every virtuous principle is rooted out, and every womanly feeling is
displaced by the passions of a sensual reprobate. "Son of man, can
these bones live?" Is there any art to breathe the breath of purity
and pure love into that defiled soul? Can such a woman ever find her
home on the mountains of spices, and hear a loving bridegroom say, "My
love, my undefiled is but one"? It is just here that the religion of
the Bible achieves its highest triumphs. We say the religion of the
Bible, but we should rather say, that gracious Being whose grace the
Bible unfolds. "The things that are impossible with men are possible
with God." Jesus Christ is the prince of life. Experience of His
saving grace, living fellowship with Him, can so change "fornicators
and idolaters, and adulterers and effeminate and abusers of themselves
with mankind, and thieves and covetous and drunkards and revilers and
extortioners," that it may be said of them, "But ye are washed, but ye
are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God." Living faith in a living and loving
Saviour can do all things.
Ten thousand times has this truth been illustrated in evangelistic
addresses, in sermons, and in tracts innumerable from the case of the
prodigal son. And what imagination can estimate the good which that
parable has done? In this point of view it is strange that little use
has been made of an Old Testament passage, in which the same truth is
unfolded with touching beauty from the case of a faithless woman. We
refer to the second chapter of Hosea. It is the case of a guilty and
apparently shameless wife. Impelled by greed, meanest of all motives,
she has gone after this lover and that, because they seemed able to
gratify her love of finery and luxury, and all the vain show of the
world. But the time comes when her eyes are opened, her lovers are
brought to desolation, she sees that they have all been a lie and a
deception, and that no real good has ever come to her save from the
husband whom she has forsaken and insulted. And now when she turns to
him she is simply overwhelmed by his graciousness and generosity. He
does all that can be done to make her forget her past miseries, all
her past life, and he succeeds. The valley of Achor becomes a door of
hope; she is so transformed inwardly, and her outward surroundings are
so changed, that "she sings as in the days of her youth." The happy
feelings of her unpolluted childhood return to her, as if she had
drunk the waters of Lethe, and she sings like a light-hearted girl
once more. The allegory is hardly an allegory,--it is Divine love that
has effected the change; that love that many waters cannot quench and
floods cannot drown.
We wonder whether Rahab obtained much help in her new life from the
fellowship of those among whom she came when she joined the Church. If
the Church then was what the Church ever ought to be, if its
outstanding members were like the three fair damsels, Prudence, Piety
and Charity, in the Palace Beautiful, no doubt she would be helped
greatly. But it is not very often that that emblem is realized. And
strange to say, among the members of our Churches now, we usually find
a very imperfect sense of the duty which they owe to those who come
among them from without, and especially out of great wickedness. It is
quite possible that Rahab was chilled by the coldness of some of her
Hebrew sisters, looking on her as an intruder, looking on her as a
reprobate, and grieved because their select society was broken in upon
by this outlandish woman. And it is quite possible that she was
disappointed to find that, though they were nominally the people of
God, there was very little of what was divine or heavenly about them.
So it often happens that what ought to be the greatest attraction in a
Church, the character of its members, is the greatest repellant. If
all sin-worn and world-worn souls, weary of the world's ways, and
longing for a society more loving, more generous, more pure, more
noble, could find in the Christian Church their ideal fulfilled, could
find in the fellowship of Christians the reality of their dreams, how
blessed would be the result! Alas, in too many cases they find the
world's bitterness and meanness and selfishness reproduced under the
flag of Christ! If all so-called Christians, it has been said, should
live for but one year in accordance with the thirteenth chapter of 1st
Corinthians, unbelief would vanish. Will the day ever be when every
one that names the name of Christ shall be a living epistle, known and
read of all men?
But, however she may have been affected by the spirit of those among
whom she came, Rahab undoubtedly attained to a good degree before God,
and a place of high honour in the Hebrew community. It was well for
her that what at first arrested and impressed her was not anything in
the people of Israel; it was the glorious attributes of their God. For
this would preserve her substantially from disappointment. Men might
change, or they might pass away, but God remained the same yesterday
and to-day and for ever. If she kept looking to Him, admiring His
grace and power, and drawing from His inexhaustible fulness, she
would be able to verify one at least of the prophet's pictures:
"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and
whose heart departeth from the Lord: for he shall be like the heath in
the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the
parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord
is: for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that
spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the
year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."