Adapted from Joshua 2-6
My name is Rahab, I am a Canaanite from Jericho and a former prostitute. I want to share my story with you because I want you to know that no matter how “bad” you may think you are, God loves you and will do everything in His power to save you.
Here is my story…
My Early Beginnings
My mother and father did the best they could for me when I was a child. They raised me to believe in the many gods everyone in my town believed in, but also told me about the God who freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. They told me how their God parted the Red Sea, so the Israelites could escape from the Egyptians who were pursuing them. (Exodus 14). I know some of you reading this may not believe it, but it did happen. I am a witness. I lived in Jericho and saw how the God of the Israelites saved them and fought for them over and over again. I often wondered secretly, how it would have felt to be loved and cared for by a God like that.
You see as a teenager, I felt as if no one loved me. I am not sure why, but maybe it was because my dad wasn’t around a lot. He was always working or hanging out with the other men in town, so I never really saw him. I remember this was particularly painful for me because I wanted him to make time for me, but he never did.
I was also trying to figure out who I really was and did everything I could to fit in with the kids my age. When someone paid me the least bit of attention, I felt love and appreciated and in turn gave them anything they wanted. And yes, you guessed it, I got most of the attention from the teenage boys and some of the older men in Jericho. So, by the time I was 14, I had lost my virginity and by 18, I had slept with so many men, I lost count.
This was the unhappiest time of my life. Each day I woke up, I felt empty and tried to fill my emptiness with anyone who paid me the slightest attention. I tried over and over again to find fulfillment by sleeping with all those men but was disappointed every single time. I felt horrible, but I was addicted to the attention I was getting and kept going back for more, desperately hoping to find what I was looking for in the next encounter.
My Adult Life
By the time I was in my early twenties, everyone in town knew what I was doing because I was making a living from these encounters. As you can well imagine, my parents were not happy with what I was doing, and their pleas fell on deaf ears. After some time, they kicked me out of the house.
I left home alone and afraid, but I was determined to make it without them. So, I got an apartment within the city walls since it made it easier for my “clients” to gain access to my services. I entertained almost all the men who came in and out of the city and got paid for the only thing I felt I was good for.
Years went by and my business was doing well. But often my mind would go back to the stories I had heard from my parents about the God of the Israelites. I secretly wished I was loved and cared for just like the Israelites were, because we were still hearing about all that their God was doing for them. We heard how God helped the Israelites conquer the land and people and kings of the Ammorites and Bashan. And because of this, the men were scared to death because they knew Jericho would be next.
Strange Men
One day while looking through my window, I saw two men coming toward Jericho. They did not look like the men I was used to seeing around the city wall. They looked different, and after looking closely I finally realized they were the Israelites. I knew our time had come. Since I knew the inevitable would happen, I invited them into my home and told them everything they wanted to know about our city. I even told them how scared the men of Jericho were of the Israelites.
Unfortunately, someone told the King of Jericho that the Israelites were in my home, and he sent his men to look for them. When they arrived, I told them the Israelites left and implored them to go after them quickly before they got away.
I lied. The truth was I had taken the Israelites to the roof of my home and told them to hide until it was safe for them to leave without being seen. After the king’s men left, I went to the roof and told the men it was safe. They thanked me, and as they were leaving, I pleaded with them to spare my life and the lives of my family members when they came back to conquer the city of Jericho.
They promised they would and told that if I hung a red cord from my window everyone in my home would be spared. I thanked them and advised them to stay in the nearby mountains for three days before they traveled back to their home.
God’s Love for Me
Finally, the day came. The Israelites marched around our city wall for seven days, and on the seventh day we heard them shout, which somehow, caused the city wall to collapse. The men of our city were so afraid they didn’t even put up a fight. So, the Israelites just walked in and took over.
Their God did it again.
The Israelite men who I helped, kept their word and my family and I were spared, and we lived with them and learned about their God. It took us a while to give up our gods, but one day it happened. Through their kindness, love, and compassion, they gave me a glimpse of what their God is like. I finally gave up the gods of stone and wood and surrendered my life to the God of the Israelites. And you know what, the emptiness I had was no more. I finally found what I was looking for and I have been full ever since then.
But my story doesn’t end there. I married one of them, a man named Salmon, and we had a son named Boaz. Yes, he is the same Boaz who later married Ruth. And it is through MY family that Jesus was born. Can you imagine, that God chose me, a former prostitute and liar, to be a direct ancestor of Jesus, the Savior of the World? Me?
Final Thoughts
My friend, I hope you can see God’s love through my story. I hope you also see how much he values me and understand that he feels the same way about you. God never “writes off” anyone, no matter what they have done. He is always working on our hearts and giving us experiences so we can see how much He loves and cares for us.
If you have done something wrong or “bad”, don’t ever think for a second that God has abandoned you. He will never give up on you. Never, ever! Unless, of course, you consistently tell Him to leave you alone, then He will honor your choice because He will never force Himself on you.
So, remember you are never too “bad” for God, His love is unconditional. He will always love you and care for you. And the proof of that is in my story and in the stories of countless individuals who have taken the step toward opening their hearts to God.
