Why rahab lied

August 25, Rahab is such a fascinating person in history. Her part in helping the Israelite spies scouting out Jericho was full of bravery, discernment, and faith. But genealogies in ancient Mediterranean society were patrilineal, tracing the offspring through the fathers.

Her lie was a result of her faith in these men being from God, her belief that he was going to give them the land, and her own desire to be a part of that as well. Now, if we look at the genealogy of Jesus, we see that it is full of redeemed sinners. Hebrews NASB. Notice why Rahab is an example of faith. She risked her life by disobeying the king of Jericho.

In James she was praised for providing safety to the spies. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? James NASB. Why was she an example of faith?

Joshua answers the question. She was willing to do that because they served God whom she recognized and respected as the true God. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Scripture only affirms her faithfulness and commends her actions for protecting the spies. Again, she might have done a noble deed with deceitful words, or she may have used true words to direct the Jericho police in the wrong direction.

Certainly, this is the kind of activity the faithful midwives performed when they were asked to hand over baby boys to Pharaoh Exodus 1. The words for hidden v. Maybe this ordered usage is coincidental, or maybe these two words suggest a parallel with Moses and his mother. The word for know in verses 4—5 is a word that is often used in sexual relations. If she had slept with the men, she would have known them, known their money, and seen their circumcision, hence she would have had such knowledge.

Though it might have been odd that a prostitute did not know these things with the men in her inn, it also reflects the location of her home. Located in the side of the wall, this inn was likely a place where strangers congregated. Moreover, her family apparently lived there too. So the denial of her services would not be implausible, especially if these men had already come and gone. This denial would also confirm the innocence and purity of these men—a question raised by their lying down in her inn in verse 1.

Confirming this subtle reading are the sexual connotations that flood the first 6 verses of Joshua 2. Perhaps this is reading is too subtle.

In this context, the author of Joshua is showing how a prostitute turned from her wicked ways and found mercy and salvation in the God of Israel. And thus, the sexual innuendos in her words are actually part of her confession of faith — not just double entendres for the sake of being racy.

As the rest of the story goes, we know Rahab became a member of Jesus family Matt , and this would only happen through faith in God and a turning away from sexual sin. Do we find that in the pages of Joshua 2? And certainly, we see how her kind actions, which are the thing remembered in Hebrews , protected the spies and led to the salvation of her own family. Her turning to God and his mercy stands at the center of Joshua 2, and it magnifies a pattern of salvation that runs throughout the Bible.

For all these reasons, I am persuaded that Rahab did not lie, but used her words to reveal her newfound allegiance to God, even as she concealed the whereabouts of the spies.

David Schrock Ph. David and wife, Wendy, have three sons, Titus, Silas, and Cohen. He blogs at Via Emmaus. He suggests that it is the teacher who is at fault here rather than the child by abusing the relationship and the expectation that the truth be told within that relationship.

The teacher exploits the obligation to tell the truth to force the student to reveal his father's weakness in front of the class and to violate his covenanted identity. Consider Rahab. She covenanted to hide the Israelites from the tyrant who threatened to harm them. That same tyrant put her in a position of having either to break that covenant or to tell a lie.

The tyrant was at fault here, not Rahab. A kind of violence had been done here, putting her in a situation of either violating covenant or telling a lie—and her lie, another kind of violence, may be permitted as a form of covenanted self-defense. It is easy, however—and dangerous—to drift too close to Luther's approval of the "good hearty lie.

A lie is parasitic on the expectation that the truth will be told, that it can destroy that expectation of truth telling, and that no community can exist without trust. We must remember our capacity for self-deception when we start justifying our lies as "harmless" or "necessary" or "useful" or "loving. In a broken world, sometimes a lie is justifiable, but every lie, even the justifiable one, is a sad reminder of our brokenness.

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