Rahab: A Whore in Heaven

“You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified. Rahab the whore, was she not justified by her deeds because she welcomed the messengers and showed them a different way to leave? As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.” [James 2:24-25]

Rahab was made righteous through her actions. She had inner faith in Yahweh [the Divine Father], and her faith was outwardly manifested through her actions.

In Joshua chapters 2 and 6, the woman called Rahab is mentioned. She is known as a zanaw, which in Hebrew generally means ‘harlot’ or ‘whore’. [Sometimes it was used to designate an ‘innkeeper’ or ‘hostess’.] She was an unmarried woman who ran an inn that was situated atop the walls of Jericho. At the time of the story, her parents were still living, and we know she had siblings and perhaps other close family.

The meaning of the word ‘Rahab’ is ‘broad’ or ‘wide’. Sometimes the names used in Scripture are not the name a person was given as an infant, but instead a descriptive label. It is possible that Rahab was a plus-size woman. Thousands of years of Hebrew tradition declare that Rahab was on of the four most beautiful women in ancient Israel.

She was from Jericho, in the land of Canaan. She was a Gentile [a non-Israelite] who had developed faith in Yahweh as the result of hearing the miracles that had been performed in the exodus of Israel from Egypt. Rahab was a convert to the religion of Israel.

Rahab is mentioned three times in the New Testament. She is included as an example of how an individual puts faith into action, in the 2^nd chapter of James. "Rahab received the approval of God because of what she did." She is listed in the 11^th chapter of Hebrews as an illustration of a person who demonstrated unusually great faith. "Faith led the whore Rahab to welcome the Israelite spies as friends. Therefore, she was not killed with those who refused to obey God." And she is listed in Matthew 1:5 as an ancestor of the Messiah. Rahab was Boaz’s mother, and King David’s great-grandmother.

            This woman who was raised as a heathen, and who may have been a [plus-sized and exceptionally pretty] whore, is a timeless example of the effects of faith combined with works. Rahab had not been raised in a home where the Scriptures were studied. She was a woman of questionable virtue, probably never having been taught morality. Whether she was a veteran prostitute or a chaste innkeeper, pretty or plain, thin or thick, she converted her faith into action. She displayed her faith through her deeds.

She became an ancestress of King David, and of the Messiah. Rahab she is mentioned in the New Testament as a woman of outstanding faith. She is a role model – for others like herself, as well as for people, in general.

The story of Rahab is a reminder that the Gates of Heaven are opened wide to receive all who will exercise faith in the Holy One of Israel, and who put their faith into action.

Yahshua [Jesus] was talking to a group of pious religious leaders, and told them this parable. “A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, ‘My boy, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not go,’ but afterwards thought better of it, and went. Then man went and said the same thing to the second who answered, ‘Certainly, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?” They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘In truth I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the Kingdom of God ahead of you.” [Matthew 21:28-31]

The faith and deeds of Rahab made her more righteous than many – including many who are ultra-religious but who do no good works.

Church-going people sometimes get very involved in the fine points of the Word – which is good – as long as it is not to the exclusion of good deeds.