EXPLORE THE TEXT
Following God often requires leaving one’s comfort zone and stepping out in faith.
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them.
So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from.
5 At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close,
the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going.
Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!”
6 But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax
that she had arranged on the roof.
7 The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan,
and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut.
Discuss ways Rahab demonstrated courage in these verses.
The spies were not immoral for visiting Rahab’s house.
Her home would have been similar to a tavern or inn, a place where people of the town would gather.
As result, it was a place where the spies could learn a lot about Jericho and its vulnerabilities.
Highlight Rahab’s actions and why the roof was an effective hiding place:
Rahab apparently expected the king’s men to come,
understood the spies’ mission, and
was sympathetic to their cause. .In anticipation of the arrival of the king’s men,
Rahab had hidden the spies from the king’s men. .The flat roofs on houses in ancient Canaan enabled people to expose things to the sun-
like fruit that needed to ripen and wet grain and laundry that needed drying. .[Rahab’s] drying stalks of flax provided a perfect place
under which Rahab could hide the spies because of the size of the stalks
and because the king’s agents would have been accustomed to seeing them on rooftops. (PSG, pp. 21-22)
Rahab stepped out of her comfort zone to help the Israelite spies.
Share where they need prayer related to stepping out of their comfort zone in faith.
Pray for boldness to follow God’s leading.
Scripture does not justify Rahab’s lying any more
than it justifies her life as a prostitute.
However, in His omnipotence, the Lord could save the spies any way He chose.
As we will see, what is commended in Scripture is Rahab’s faith in God.