Jos 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
Rahab is one of my favorite Bible characters, God's mercy, forgiveness, and redemption from the depths of sin are seen in full color. Not only does God extend mercy to a member of the enemy, but the lowest of their society, not only is she set free but marries an Israelite and the story doesn't end there! In the opening of the New Testament, we find out that she was part of the lineage of our Lord Jesus. She came from the Lowest of the low, a harlot in enemy territory to the lineage of the God-Man Jesus Christ. That is the greatest rags-to-riches story ever told, from the rags of prostitution to the riches of heaven! O What salvation! O What a Savior is Mine!
Our verse today is where this story begins, it doesn't start with Rahab but 2 spies, 2 members of God's nation crossing over into enemy territory, and them and their message finding lodging in this harlot's house. What a beautiful picture of gospel witnesses, all of our salvation stories start with someone who brought the Good News to us. I want to be a witness for my Lord, and may we never turn up our noses at the harlot's houses, many times it is in the hearts of the lowly that the Gospel finds a lodging place. Like Christ was not welcome in the inns and more respectable places in Bethelem and so he was born in the the stable that had a place for him. If Christ was born in a stable and the spies found lodging in a harlot's house then we shouldn't despise taking the gospel to these sorts of places or these sorts of people, many times Christ has entered and turned the harlot's house into a church house.
I am thinking of a little house in the village of Namiganda, here in Uganda. There was a drunkard who lived there, Me and his cousin went to visit him one day and take the good news to him. We found a man who was considered by his family the worst among them and in his society he was of the lowest sects. He welcomed us into his home which was obviously the home of a man who had nothing to live for. He heard the gospel message and thanked us for coming to see him. That's where Peter's story begins but today there is a church in that very same house and the Pastor is that drunkard, many of his neighbors have come to trust IN Christ, his children are with him and He, like Rahab, is gathering all that he can in before the fall of this current world.
As I read this morning my heart left the rooftop of Rahab's house and traveled to Fincher's trailer park where my salvation story began. Our family was on the lower rungs of society, but the gospel had been sowed and watered by my grandmother and others. It took root in the hearts of my mother and father and eventually in me. Our little family who was on the brink of destruction was not only rescued but has been espoused to the King of kings. We haven't just the hope of a better life here, and let me tell you, a life lived for him is far greater than the life we lived before, but we have eternal life! What a salvation, What a Savior is ours!
Dear reader, it matters not that your heart is more like a harlot's house than a mansion. The King of kings will come in. He will rescue you from the destruction of sin, espouse you to himself, and give you an inheritance that fadeth not away. Open up your heart, let him in, he will come in and sup with you.
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