Rahab went beyond hearing the news. She acted.
by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2026
(Jul. 1, 2026) — Rahab knew Jericho was doomed.
So did her neighbors.
She acted.
They hunkered down.
When the city’s wall collapsed, the scarlet thread in her window fluttered in the dust. Her house stood firm.
Rahab survived.
Her neighbors perished.
What a woman!
Rahab is the pattern of salvation in both the Old and New Testaments.
We meet Rahab in Jericho, find her in the lineage of the Messiah, and honor her in the great Hall of Faith alongside Noah, Abraham, and Moses (Hebrews 11).
It would be easy to leave her in the pages of Scripture—a dusty, ancient hero.
But survivors have stories to tell.
And Rahab was a survivor.
A prostitute who lived the Gospel.
Rahab was a woman who ascended from pleasing men to pleasing God.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe… (Hebrews 11:6, 31).
She experienced God’s promise to Abraham.
I will bless those who bless you.
She was the beatitudes come to life.
Blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
She exhibited Paul’s theology:
God will render to each one according to his deeds… glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good (Romans 2:6, 10).
Rahab was the Gospel in action.
She heard what God had done, believed it, acted on it, and was saved.
“Hold on!” you say. The Gospel is New Testament; she is from the Old. The Gospel is good news; she heard only bad.
True enough, but hear the writer of Hebrews:
Indeed, the gospel was preached to us as well as to them…
Same gospel, different generations.
…but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (Hebrews 4:2).
Everyone in Jericho heard the news; only one took action.
Rahab and her household believed; her neighbors didn’t.
It was just like the multitude in the Exodus. Many came out of Egypt, but not everyone went into Canaan.
The word which they heard did not profit them.
Rahab profited from the Gospel.
Let’s hear her story.
Rahab said to the men, I know… (Joshua 2:9)
Joshua had sent two men to gather intelligence, and they advanced no farther than the city wall, where Rahab took them into her house (2:1, 15).
Their arrival aroused immediate trouble. The king demanded that she hand them over, but Rahab hid them and then sent the king’s messengers on a wild goose chase.
Read the rest here.