I've been thinking about Rahab, reading about her in James 2 and also in Joshua 2. James only used two examples from history to illustrate faith and deeds, one being Abraham, the father of the Israelites and at the other end of the spectrum in every way, this woman. Rahab had three strikes against her: she was a woman in a patriarchal society, she was a prostitute, and she was an enemy of the Chosen People. But because she saw the power of God as He saved His people time and again, Rahab acted on her faith and was saved from the annihilation of Jericho. She was spared, she and all her family because she believed and she acted. "Acted", by the way, is an action word, which may seem self-evident, but think about it--she DID something in response to her faith. Not only was Rahab saved but she became part of lineage of Jesus, one of only two women mentioned in His genealogy in Matthew 1. Can you imagine? In a patriarchal society, the only two women listed in Jesus' genealogy were Ruth and Rahab, neither of whom were born Israelites. Rahab was rewarded in the most awesome way possible even though she had no way of knowing it all because she put her faith in the unseen God. She was not concerned with self-promotion, only with obedience to God, a God who she only knew about through the stories that had spread through the land. Makes you want to be more proactive in your faith, now doesn't it?**Many thanks to Pastor Scott for his great series, "What Jim Said", a study of the book of James.
