Read with Me
James 2:25-26 (HCSB)
And in the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Listen with Me
James continues to provide proof of his thesis that faith, if not accompanied by action, is worthless, dead. And his final exhibit from the history of God’s people is Rahab.
His initial premise, that a prostitute could ever be considered righteous by God might shock some modern sensibilities. But in the process of aligning herself with God and His people, she turned away from the gods she had worshiped in Jericho, as well as her former way of life, and turn to God instead.
Rahab was initially motivated by fear, understanding clearly that God had already given His people the land. She, along with the rest of the citizens of Jericho, had heard about the death and destruction that God had visited on Egypt to free His people, about the parting of the Red Sea, and about how the people of Sihon and Og were completely destroyed east of the Jordan (Joshua 2:8-11).
But, as James points out, that fear alone was not enough to save her. Had she betrayed the spies, or had she simply cowered in fear along with the rest of the people in Jericho, she would have been destroyed along with them. But instead, she aligned herself entirely with God and His people, even as she stayed in Jericho. She helped God’s people, and then trusted that following their instructions would result in her deliverance, and the deliverance of her family as well.
Rahab’s fear led to belief. And that belief led to the obedient trust that is faith. And, as a result, she found that God honored the promise that had been made to her. As the city was completely destroyed, she and her close family alone were saved (Joshua 6:24-25).
And her story didn’t end there. After she was delivered, she married a man named Salmon of the tribe of Judah. Together they had a son, an honorable man of high regard named Boaz, who married Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:13-17, Matthew 1:5-6). Thus, Rahab became the great, great grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus, the Messiah!
James’ conclusion to this portion of his letter is a restatement that just as a body without the spirit is dead, so faith that is unaccompanied by works of faithful obedience is dead, completely worthless, and unable to save anyone.
Pray with Me
Father, Rahab is one of those people who tend to become more of a footnote in a lot of Christians’ minds; a Bible story that seems a little peculiar and hard to get comfortable with. But she was never a footnote to You. Through Your grace she was not only saved from destruction, but she also became a vital link in the lineages of Jesus the Savior, as well as a model of what faithful obedience looks like, cited not just by James, but by the author of Hebrews as well (Hebrews 11: 31). Lord, help me to have a faith as strong as Rahab, not just fear or mere belief, but powerful, obedient action, today and every day. Amen.