CAROLINE Colin led the café church service at Crediton Methodist Church on Sunday, March 2.

Her theme was Rahab – a woman of easy virtue.

We watched a short video of lesser-known characters in Scripture, one of whom was Rahab who can be found in two chapters of Joshua.

The story of Rahab is very important as part of God’s perfect plan of salvation.

Caroline put the story in context. It comes at the beginning of God’s instructions to Joshua to lead his people into the promised land in 1250BC.

Jericho was a fortified city built five miles west of the Jordan river. The city was ruled by a king. In order for Joshua to gain insight of the city, he sent two spies into the city and they went to the house of Rahab, a prostitute.

The king was on high alert and sent a message to Rahab demanding to know where the spies were. She told the messenger that the spies had left, although she had hidden them on the roof. She must have had a reputation as her word was accepted and her house was not searched.

Even though she was a Gentile, she told the spies she knew the Lord their God was the one true God, the Lord of Heaven and Earth and she gave remarkable information to the spies.

Her price for this information and help was the safety of her entire family. She was told to put a red cord in the window of her house and all her household and family would be saved.

Subsequently, Joshua destroyed the walls of Jericho and entered the city and killed the king and all the inhabitants apart from Rahab and her entire family, who were led out of the city to safety.

The pact she made with the two spies saved her entire family and God’s name was honoured as the promise was kept.

In various New Testament books, we hear that Rahab married and had a son, Boaz. She became the great-great-grandmother of King David, and subsequently she was woven into the bloodline of Jesus himself – all part of God’s eternal plan.

Rahab was brave in defying the king of Jericho and God deemed her worthy of being brought out of obscurity into His family.

What matters is our faith and the assurance of things hoped for.

Bronwyn Nott

Crediton Methodist Church