Rahab... the Loved

Once upon a time, in a big city named Jericho there lived a beautiful woman. She was very popular in Jericho, and wealthy as well. Her name was beautiful. Actually, you might be familiar with this woman. Maybe you heard her story in Sunday School a long time ago, or you might even have read her story. You see, this woman's name was Rahab. Rahab had one problem, however. There was more to Rahab's name, an ending you might say. An ending that no one seemed to ever forget. Ever. Even hundreds of years later when she is mentioned in the book of Hebrews, she is called Rahab the harlot, or prostitute.
Oh! you say. I've heard of her! Do you know Rahab's story? Her incredible, amazing story? Well, I'll give you a refresher just in case.
Way back in the sixth book of the Bible, Joshua, is where we first meet Rahab the harlot. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites after Moses' death, sent two spies into Jericho to get the lay of the land. You see, the Israelites had finally ended their sentence of forty years of wandering after their lack of faith at Jericho so many years before. Now, they were making their way to the Promised Land. Jericho was in the way, so Jericho had to go. Well, when the spies went into Jericho they happened upon the home of Rahab and decided to ask if they could spend the night in her house before going their own merry way in the morning. Unfortunately, someone had seen them come to her door. Late in the night a group of angry men knocked on her door. They demanded to see the men that had come to her home, the spies, they said. At this moment I can just imagine Rahab shrugging her shoulders and hugging herself tighter, appearing to be trying to keep out the cold desert night air, but really warring with herself. Betraying her people, or maybe finally receiving the answers to questions she's always asked from a God she's never known? When she made her decision, there was no changing her mind. The next thing she does is the craziest thing she had ever done. "They already left, you missed them. I didn't know who they were and I don't know where they went. If you hurry you might be able to catch up to them." With that, she closed her door and held her breath until she heard the men running towards the gate. She crept to her closet, her heart beating out of her chest. She opened the door and whispered "the Lord is God." Out crawled two brawny, sun-tanned men who looked like they would rather face a hundred Philistine soldiers than this one woman. "Follow me," she whispered. The men followed her to a pile of straw on top of her roof. They immediately began brushing the straw away so they could lie down underneath it. Rahab stopped them. Basically she said, "I know your God is a powerful God, and He is God over everything. I've heard of what he has done for your people. I know that your God will destroy this city, so please, I have helped you, please help me. Promise me that my family and I will be saved." The men swore on their lives that anyone that was in her house when they attacked would be safe. Then she let them out of her window with a rope. They told her to hang that same rope out her window when they came again so that everyone would know that her family was to be saved. Then the men left Rahab the harlot and returned to Joshua. -Joshua 2, slightly revised :)
Rahab acted in a truly courageous way. Because of her actions, the spies were able to report, so Israel could attack (or walk around the wall a lot... I have to think that when Rahab saw that all they were doing was walking around the wall she just face-palmed!) Because Israel attacked, they could proceed to the Promised Land where most of the Old Testament happened. There is one result of Rahab's actions that are greater than all of these others put together. Because Rahab trusted in a God she had never encountered, that same God rewarded her with one of the greatest honors possible. Look up Matthew 1:1-6 and read it carefully, very carefully. Shocked? Rahab the harlot, Rahab the prostitute, was the great-great grandmother of King David. What?! Rahab is in the lineage of Christ!! So when she fled Jericho, she married a good, righteous, Israelite man and had a son named Boaz who, if you remember your Old Testament stories, was the husband of Ruth.
Rahab had a huge impact on the world as we know it today and yet, she was still remembered as a harlot in the book of Hebrews. Have you ever felt that way? Like no matter what you do right, you will be remembered for what you did wrong. Another beautiful example of this principle is Jean Valjean from Les Miserables. Though he had improved the lives of hundreds through his hard work as mayor of a city, and had lived for years as an honest, upright man, when people found out he was an ex-con, they shunned him, persecuted him, and hated him. He had lived decades of his life doing everything right and still the world chose only to remember what he did wrong. The world does this to every single person to walk this earth. We do this to each other, we do this to ourselves. We label people and then we identify them by their label, not who they really are.
What label are you wearing right now? Which bags are you lugging around with you today? Do you want to get rid of them?
Jesus is a master label remover. When we come to Him, our bags get taken from us, our labels drop away. He gives us a new name. The world may not know this new name, but Jesus does. And He is all that matters.
Maybe one day God whispered to Rahab, "Rahab. I have a new name for you." Rahab sighs. She's heard them all. There can't possibly be a name she hasn't heard. "Rahab the loved. Rahab the redeemed. Rahab the saved. Rahab the righteous. Rahab the courageous. Rahab, My child. My beloved, beautiful, wonderful child whom I love. That's your new name Rahab. Loved." And from then on, Rahab no longer defined herself by what she had been or what she had done. That was all in the past. She stood in the knowledge that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had chosen her to help fulfill the prophecies of His Son. Jehovah chose her, who was not born as part of His chosen people, to be His. What the world said about her didn't matter any more.
Jesus longs to give you a new name. He aches for you to hide yourself in Him. For you to wear His label. Just ask Him and He will do the rest.
~Michaela