If I was to ask you to name any of the great confessions of faith in the bible, I wonder which you might recall? Perhaps it would be Solomon’s great prayer at the dedication of the Temple; or David’s poetic psalms; or Isaiah’s encounter with the living God; or Peter’s and Thomas’ impassioned recognitions of Jesus’ identity; or Paul’s erudite sermons and beautiful phrasing?
Not many of us would mention this passage: and yet here, tucked away in this chapter, is one of the great confessions of faith. And even more wonderfully, it comes from a most unlikely source.
Rahab is one of the forgotten heroes of the Old Testament, whose actions here pave the way for what follows. As a prostitute she was considered the lowest of the low, not least by the standards of Israel’s law. I suspect she was visited by Joshua’s spies, not because she was expected to be helpful, but as the easiest ‘cover story’: who would raise an eyebrow at two young male travellers visiting a prostitute?
But when called upon, she acts with extraordinary bravery: risking her own life to hide them, and sending the King of Jericho’s soldiers off in the wrong direction. Even more amazingly, she gives her reasons for her courageous – you might say foolhardy – behaviour: ‘I know the Lord has given this land to you…’ (v9). What she says next (v11) is astounding: ‘the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.’
The wording of this confession of faith is matched in only two other places in the Old Testament: by Moses and Solomon. It is unprecedented among those considered to be outside God’s people. And yet Rahab, this ‘woman of the world’, says something which puts her on a par with Moses the friend of God, and Solomon the wisest king.
Truly the kingdom of God is like that mustard seed, which grows in the most extraordinary ways and among the most unlikely people. Rahab had eyes to see what so many others missed, and in doing so, not only saved the spies but her family too – more on that in a few days’ time.
We are, all of us human beings, born with a ‘God-shaped hole’, that desire to seek something – or Someone – beyond ourselves; and ‘our hearts are not at rest until they find their rest in You’ (St Augustine). Let’s be inspired by the example of Rahab to pray with renewed hope for that God-shaped hole to bear fruit in those we love, and in others we didn’t expect. And – praise be to God – in us, too!