Bold Rahab
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
Do you remember the song, “Joshuah Fought the Battle of Jericho”? I think this spiritual, with vivid words and upbeat music, is memorable.
The first verse goes:
“Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho
and the walls came a-tumbling down.”[1]
As well as a lively song, it is a great teaching aid. Anyone who knows it is not likely to forget the story of the fall of Jericho to the Israelites from Joshua 5:13-6:27. In my imagination the entirety of the wall around the Canaanite city of Jericho lay flat on the ground after the Israelites shouted them down. But the Biblical account makes it clear that was not true, at least for one section of the wall containing the home of a Canaanite woman named Rahab. Joshua 2 gives us the account of the reasons for the preservation of that section of the Jericho wall. In it we find the story of a woman, identified as a prostitute, who became a collaborator with Israel when she encountered the spies Joshua had sent into Jericho before Israel attacked it.
The people of Jericho knew Israel was coming. They had heard the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea on dry land. Then there were the successful battles Israel fought as they wondered in the wilderness. As Rahab says, “When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Josh. 2:11). Thus, their leaders were on edge, keeping watch, ready for anything…including spies. And the spies came just as the Canaanites feared. They took up lodging in the house of a woman named Rahab who lived in the city wall (Josh. 2:15).
Rahab was convinced of the ultimate victory of Israel and Israel’s God. Not only did she lodge the strangers, she worked to protect them and prosper their mission. She hid them from the king’s men when they came demanding she surrender the strangers staying with her. In fact, she sent them on a “wild spy chase” out of the city,
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”(But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut (Josh. 2:4-7).
That night she went to the spies and made her case for the rescue of herself and her family from the coming invasion and certain fall of her city and land. She and the spies struck a deal. If she kept her side of the bargain, she and her family would be saved. That night she helped them escape the city by a rope through the window on the outside of the city wall.
Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”
“Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”
So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window” (Josh. 2:17-21).
When the walls fell, Joshua kept the bargain his spies had made with the woman.
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. 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 (Josh. 6:24-25).
While the story of Rahab is not directly related to prayer, it is a shining example of bold faith (James 2:20-26). She is commended as an example of works proving her faith unto righteousness acceptable to God. Rahab’s faith led to bold action, and her bold action is counted to her, just as to Abraham in James’s example, as righteousness. And these are the prerequisites to come before the throne of grace. The writer of Hebrews puts bold faith this way:
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:13-16).
In James 5 we find a stirring call to “the prayer of faith.” While it specifically speaks to healing the sick in reference to faith and prayer, it contains a wider application. Even its exemplar of the power of prayer, Elijah, is a reminder that this is for regular people and ordinary situations as much as the extraordinary.
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (James 5:13-18).
To come boldly in faith before the throne of grace is our right and our duty. As Sinclair Ferguson wrote:[2]
Truly “righteous” men and women of faith know the value of their heavenly Father’s promises. They go to Him, as children do to a loving human father. They know that if they can say to an earthly father, “But, father, you promised . . . ,” they can both persist in asking and be confident that he will keep his word. How much more our heavenly Father, who has given His Son for our salvation! We have no other grounds of confidence that He hears our prayers. We need none.
Rahab’s bold faith in the God of Israel did more than save her life and the life of her family. It placed her in the lineage of Jesus. Matthew introduces his Gospel with a stylized genealogy from Abraham to Jesus. In addition to the 41 male ancestors, he included five women…one of whom was Rahab. That sounds like a resounding recommendation to step out boldly in faith as we pray.
Reflection Questions:
- Can you think of other Biblical characters whose boldness brought them favor before God? How does their story or stories relate to prayer?
- What are some of your experiences in praying boldly? How did God answer you?
- Matthew included five women in his genealogy of Jesus. Beside Rahab and her example of bold faith, who were the other four? Why do you think each of these women were included?[3]
(Photo description and credit: Much prayer and a deep desire to serve people went into Phil Yates’s trip to Viet Nam in January of 2026, as part of Sam’s Furniture partnering with American Wheelchair Mission Serve Team. As James reminds us, faith comes with an expectation that works follow naturally. Photo credit: Phil Yates.)
[1] Lyrics for Joshua Fought The Battle Of Jericho by Traditional – Songfacts
[2] What Is the Prayer of Faith? [3] The four other women, with the attribute I thought of, are Tama (justice), Ruth (devotion), Bathsheba (receiving love), and Mary, His mother (obedience).
