The Surprising People God Will Use
When God Uses the Most Unlikely People: The Surprising Story of Rahab
Have you ever been shocked by who God chooses to use? I mean, really shocked? "So tell you a story this morning back in high school. I'll start by saying I love my pastor very, very much." He took me places my parents couldn't, loaded me up in his "1974 Doodle Bug, Volkswagen Bug, and we headed down 65 to Nashville, Tennessee" for my first college visit. This pastor trusted me with incredible responsibilities - I was even "a Bible school director for two years in our church while I was in high school."
But one Sunday changed everything. A woman showed up at church, and after talking with her, "I popped the question. No, didn't ask her for a date or for marriage or anything. I asked her, would you be open to helping us with our youth? I've been praying to God, and this woman showed up." My pastor was pretty upset with me - and rightfully so. But here's what stuck with me: "If I had to do that over again, if I were 16 or 17, I would still ask her. I just would. I prayed to it, and out of the blue, God answered that prayer."
That experience taught me something profound: "It's amazing sometimes the people that God will select to do what he wants done and what he needs done because God works through people." And nowhere is this more shocking than in the story we're about to explore from Joshua chapter 2.
The Most Unlikely Hero in Scripture
"This morning we're going to look at a passage of scripture where if you would have told me that God will use this particular person to do something really significant, I would probably land in your face. No, God's not going to use somebody like that. But he did. He did, and he kept on using her."
Who are we talking about? "Oh, by the way, she was a prostitute."
In Joshua 2:1, we read: "Joshua the son of nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, go view the land, especially Jericho. So they went and came to the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab and lodged there." The Hebrew word translated as "harlot" in some versions and "prostitute" in others - "it's the same thing."
"I come from a very strict upbringing. A little bit of Pentecostalism, a little bit of holiness... there's a whole lot of judging going on when it comes to that." The idea that "God would use a prostitute" seemed impossible. Yet here we find these spies at Rahab's house, and everything changes.
Why Did the Spies Go There?
"So why in the world did the spy stop at the house of Rahab, a prostitute? Why go there?" I wrestled with this question, finding several possibilities in my studies:
First, "maybe it's just a good place to gather information, to have no questions asked in return." Second, "her house was in an ideal location for a quick escape, because it was built into the city wall." Third, "God directed the spies to Rahab's house because he knew her heart was open to him and that she would be instrumental in the Israelite victory over Jericho."
"The more carnal part of me said, hey, there were just a bunch of guys hanging around this place, and these guys just wanted to say, hey, what's going on down there?" But regardless of the reason, God was clearly at work.
When Faith Requires Difficult Choices
Here's where the story gets complicated. When the king of Jericho demanded the spies, Rahab lied. According to Joshua 2:4-5, "The woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from... the men went out, and I don't know where they went."
"Did you catch her lying? Of all people, to lie to the king?... She lied. She just outright lied. So was she justified in doing that? Is it ever right to lie?"
This creates a moral dilemma. Some suggest "God just forgave it... because of her faith." Others point out that "when you're dealing with the enemy or a suspected enemy... lying or not telling the truth is a normal and accepted practice in wartime." Still others argue "she broke the lesser principle that is telling a lie to uphold a higher principle. In other words, she lied in order to save lives."
"Before you're on your high and mighty horse riding off saying she's a liar, not only is she a prostitute, she's a liar... Is there anybody here this morning who has never done anything dishonest?" We need "to show a little bit more humility" when judging Rahab's choices.
A Woman Who Understood God's Power
What's remarkable about Rahab isn't her moral struggles - it's her incredible faith. In Joshua 2:9-11, she demonstrates theological understanding that would impress any seminary student:
"I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two Kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan... For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath."
"What a confession of faith from the lips of a woman whose life had been imprisoned in pagan adultery. She believed in one God, not the multitude of gods that populated the heathen temples." She understood six crucial things:
- "She knew that the Lord had given Israel the land"
- "She knew that she and her people were terribly frightened"
- "She knew the story of how the Lord dried up the Red Sea"
- "She knew of what the Israelites had done to the two Kings of the Amorites"
- "She knew of how she and her people felt when that happened"
- "She knew that God was not only transcendent, but that God was imminent"
From Spectator to Participant
"I think she wanted in on the action... she seemed to be that kind of person that injected herself, complicit, as it were, in what was going on." Rahab wasn't content to just believe - she acted on her faith, even at great personal risk.
"Had those spies been caught, what would have happened? Have been executed? Had Rahab been caught aiding and abetting the enemy, what would have happened? Oh, yeah, she would have been executed. But she still wanted to be a part of that time in history."
"God still needs people who will step up to be a part of today's history... We sit back and we just want to be cozy and... mind our own business... when God is calling us to be what Rahab was... go out there and get involved. Go out there and make a difference."
"Christianity has enough spectators. We don't need any more. What we need are participants."
A Legacy That Spans Millennia
Rahab's story didn't end with the fall of Jericho. "Her story lived long after she did. She left a legacy here. It's been 3400 years now. Can you imagine it? 3400 years and we're still talking about this woman."
She appears in three crucial New Testament passages:
Matthew 1:5 - Right in Jesus' genealogy: "Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab." Imagine - "a pagan harlot becoming a part of the ancestry of Jesus Christ. That's what faith can do."
Hebrews 11:31 - In the faith hall of fame: "By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient after she had welcomed the spies in peace." She's mentioned alongside Sarah - "Here's the wife of Abraham there with a prostitute. But they both had faith in the true and in the living God. That's what mattered."
James 2:25 - As an example of faith in action: "Was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?"
God's Pattern of Using the Unlikely
As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, "God chose the things that the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. He chose the things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important."
"What a silly notion that God would use somebody like Rahab. But God's all about silliness. Why? Because it's in the midst of all that silliness and that nonsense that God's power and his ability to change lives is demonstrated. We wouldn't be reading about Rahab if she were this fine, outstanding woman."
Putting It Into Practice
So what does Rahab's story mean for us today?
Stop Making Excuses "You say, well, I don't know much about the Bible... Well, Rahab, granted, she knew a lot of Bible stories, but do you ever think she knew all about God that she wanted to know or thought she needed to know? No. So just Mark that excuse off your list."
Nobody Is Too Far Gone "You say, well, I'm too bad to be saved... I've got a criminal history. I've got some morals issues that are in my past... if God can deal and change a person like Rahab, God can do that to anybody. You are not so big, you are not so bad, you are not so evil or wicked that you are beyond God's power to change."
Move from Spectator to Participant "What stops you from moving from being a spectator to a participant?" God may be "waiting to hear from you about a particular matter. It doesn't matter your background, it doesn't matter who you are."
Trust God Despite Your Past "There's not a single thing you and I can do about our past. There was not a single thing that Rahab could do about her past. But she saw an opportunity in her life to make a stand for God and to trust God. And she took that opportunity."
The question isn't whether you're qualified - it's whether you're willing. "What did Rahab do that you need to do today? What kind of commitments does Rahab need to make that you need to make today? A commitment of faith. A commitment of showing your faith by what you do."
God is still in the business of using unlikely people to accomplish His purposes. The question is: will you be one of them?