Rahab’s Plausible ‘Truth' (8/6/23)

It sounds like the plot of a TV drama: the heroine is a prostitute who tells lies. (Check out Joshua 2:1 and Joshua 2:3-5). This mixture hardly seems like the account of someone faithful to God.
Nevertheless, Rahab is one of the few women mentioned in Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). Nevertheless, Rahab is celebrated as an example of faith (Hebrews 11:31). Nevertheless, James uses Rahab as an example of good works (James 2:25).  It seems that Rahab spoke Truth, even though she did not speak truth! 
I am remembering the stories of German citizens who saved their Jewish neighbors during the Second World War. These citizens would hide their Jewish neighbors in the trunk of their car and when asked by Nazi police “What do you have in your trunk?”, they would reply “Just the usual groceries.” It was a lie, but it was love, dangerous love.
Some scholars think the Rahab mentioned in Matthew 1:5 is a different Rahab from the one in this story in Joshua. Even so, the name “Rahab” is one honored in our faith tradition. We remember the name “Rahab” because of this harlot who believed in Yahweh (Joshua 2:11). In that culture, it was uncommon for a woman to be honored, much less one who had made her living as a prostitute. What an encouragement it is to realize that God is able to use our lesser selves!
These verses in Joshua are not intended to convince us that it does not matter about our moral choices (prostitution?), but they do assure us that even when we make wrong choices, God does not let go of us and God still can use us. In those days, a woman who was not supported by the males in her family was left to desperate decisions for survival. But notice that Rahab, when asking for safety from the invading Israelite army, she includes the men (father, brothers) in her family (Joshua 2:13). The customs of that time would suggest that they had abandoned her, but she had not abandoned them. I dare not limit God to using only holy people for God’s work.
What Someone Else Has Said: In A Theology for Our Times (Wethington Family Foundation), L. Elbert Wethington is quoted from one of his sermons: “(Humans) need God’s grace, need faith to act where they can’t see the possible outcome; and power from an eternal, indestructible Source.”
Prayer: As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Grace-giving God, take my frail self and use it for love...”