Rahab: A Token of Change

October 30, 2020
“And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token”

Joshua 2:11–12

Rahab heard what the Lord had done for the Israelites concerning their exodus from Egypt, along with the battles they previously won. As Israel approached, she began to experience fear and conviction in her heart. Rahab was a harlot in the Land of Canaan. She knew she was not right with the Lord and the Judgment of God was at her doorstep. Rahab decided not to turn the spies of Israel over to the King of Jericho, because she wished to know the God of Israel.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Romans 10:17

Faith began stirring in Rahab’s heart from hearing of the Power of God. She placed her faith and trust in the God of Israel and believed in the Lord for Salvation. God will always go to great lengths to honor faith in the hearts of all that desire to know Him.

“Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by.”

Joshua 2:18

The spies of Israel had now given Rahab the token of the scarlet thread hanging from her window. Rahab knew God had come into the land, she felt the Presence of His coming Judgement, and she made the decision to change her destiny through faith in the scarlet thread and what it represented — an emblem of Salvation and the Promise of Grace. She was no longer a Canaanite harlot. By that token, Rahab became a marked, prized possession, protected, and blessed by the God of Israel.

No doubt, the Holy Spirit reminded us that Rahab was a harlot, so you and I will know that whatever we have done, God will forgive us if we come to Him in faith. The Lord took Rahab’s harlotry and turned it into Holiness. He took the curse that was upon her and turned it into a Blessing. God transformed the unknown harlot in the Land of Canaan into a godly wife and mother that would become an ancestress to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). Faith took Rahab to new heights of glory because of her belief in God. What He did for her, He will do for you.

What the scarlet thread meant to Rahab is what the Cross of Jesus Christ means to us today. The Cross is the emblem of our Salvation and the Promise of Grace through faith in the Finished Work of Christ. The outward token of the scarlet thread gave Rahab an inward peace, protection from the Judgement of God, and a new desire to live for the Lord. At this moment, every Born-again Believer in Jesus Christ now enjoys the same privileges as Rahab. The preciousness of the Blood of Jesus and the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures concerning His Blood, is the outward token which brings assurance of Salvation to the heart that fully trusts in Jesus. When we completely trust in the Salvation of the Lord, the Holy Spirit is now given the power to create in us a new life that leads us to a greater eternal purpose.

Jared Gibson

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