Women of the Word, February: Rahab #7

Good morning and welcome to the last full day of our Rahab study!  Today we are going to read about the Israelites making their way to the walls and what happens to Rahab and her family! 

The Bible says it was the 10th day of the first month. If we are following the calendar of Rahab's time, it is said this would be equivalent to our month of April. The Israelite's gathered on the East side of the Walls of Jericho.  Rahab and her family would be on the North side. 

Now, the news of the Jordan drying up for the Israelites had moved through all of the neighboring lands.  Everyone was terrified!  I am sure knowledge of this gave Rahab another layer of faith and trust in God. How many started to believe? 

Our main focus here is Rahab, but to understand what she went through, we must speak of how God led the Israelites to conquer Jericho! 

The newer generation of Isrealite men had to be circumcised, right out in the campsite!  Four days after this, they celebrated Passover.  

"13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord[e] have for his servant?”15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so."

God had the Israelites march around the walls of Jericho following behind the Ark once per day for six days.  They were not to make a sound.  Then on the seventh day the Lord told them to march around once and then to give a great shout! And they remembered their promise to Rahab: 

"Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent"

After this great shout the walls of Jericho fell. The Israelites went inside and:

24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

So, what happened to Rahab after Jericho fell??  

This is the best part.  God does NOT disappoint.  

Rahab lived among the Israelites as was accounted in Joshua. She also got married (some scholars believe she married one of the spies!  And that is very romantic, so I think that would be really cool) She also had a son.  And NOT just ANY son.  Boaz.  THE Boaz.  The kinsman redeemer of Naomi and husband of Ruth! 

Please see this document below regarding Rahab as a mother: 

Frances Garcia on Pinterest

Rahab didn't only get the keep her family and those she loved.  She didn't just get a husband and child.  She didn't only receive an entirely new life.  She was given a new identity in God. Gone was her sinful life and ungodly ways. She was made NEW through her faith.  

We will talk more about this in our final post later tonight!  Then we will be moving on to Mary Magdalene! 

Have a blessed day sisters!