Rahab

In Joshua 2, before the Israelites colonized Jericho, Joshua sent two spies to scope out the land. These spies found protection in the unlikely form of a woman called Rahab. Engaged in the oldest profession and the head of her household, Rahab shrewdly made a deal with the Israelite spies to spare herself and her family in exchange for her aid. Additionally, she prophesied, as Deborah did before her, the Israelites’ victory over Canaanite territory. Rahab’s unique geolocation on the outskirts of the city, reserved for the lowborn and outcasts, positioned her perfectly to aid the Israelite spies. As someone with a disreputable occupation and no way to rise above her station, this brokered deal brought safety and security for herself and her extended family in a time and place when few things could. Her belief in the God of Israel led her to risk everything with this treasonous act, and when Israel did conquer Jericho, her female-led household is grafted into the new sociopolitical order of Israel.* A Canaanite woman engaged in prostitution (a triple deficit) is the fearless mouthpiece of what’s to come for Israel and a matriarch named in the lineage of Jesus (see Matt. 1:5). Her actions were motivated not by meritocracy or a lick of girl-boss energy but by a fierce commitment to care for herself and her family in a place that did not.

Within our commitment to follow the Creator is a measure of self-denial, but this is not at odds with our actualized self-care. These two things work together to forge an embodied life of deep trust in the Divine and wise decision-making that centers the flourishing of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. If we’re to love our neighbor as ourselves, as Jesus told his followers in Mark 12, the implied command is to care for ourselves. Rahab knew caring for herself meant bucking societal standards and refusing to honor unjust systems. We aren’t promised everything will bend our way because we take care of ourselves and others, and we’ll likely never be in a position to broker a deal with foreign spies, but the woman we become along the way—noble and humble, unapologetic and empathetic—that’s the woman the world has been waiting for.

*Tikva Frymer-Kensky, “Rahab: Bible,” Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women, Jewish Women’s Archive, last updated June 23, 2021, https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rahab-bible.

Tiffany Bluhm, The Women We’ve Been Waiting For, Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group, September 24, 2024. Used by permission.