Hebrews 11:31 - Exposition

By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, when she had received the spies with peace. Rahab is instanced also by St. James ( James 2:25 ) as having shown her faith by works. Such special notice of her is accounted for by her being so remarkable an instance of a heathen, an alien, one of the very doomed Canaanite race, being through faith adopted into the commonwealth of Israel, so as even to become an ancestress of the Messiah ( Matthew 1:5 ). Faith is thus exhibited as the acceptable principle of religious action, not in Israel only, but in all races, as in all times. Rahab's faith was in the omnipotence and supremacy of the God of Israel, induced by evidence of which she could not resist the force ( Joshua 2:9-12 ). Her consequent action was to protect the spies, of course with great risk to herself, lest she should oppose the Divine will as she believed it. Her fellow-countrymen had the same evidence before them; but it caused them only to lose courage and faint, not to act on faith at all, either in their own gods or in the LORD ; hence they are hero called "those who were disobedient ( τοῖς ἀπειθήσασι ) , " i.e. resisted God's will—the same expression as is used of the Israelites who fell in the wilderness ( Hebrews 3:18 ), and of the contemporaries of Noah ( 1 Peter 3:20 ; cf. Acts 19:9 ). That Rahab was, at the time when she thus evinced her faith, a harlot (such is certainly the meaning of πόρνη ); that she lied to the King of Jericho's messengers ( Joshua 2:4 , Joshua 2:5 ); and that she treacherously aided the invaders of her country;—have been felt as difficulties with regard to the position assigned her among the faithful. In reply to such aspersions on her character, it is usual to allege as follows: As to her harlotry, there is no reason to suppose that her profession was held in any disrepute among the Canaanites, or that she was aware of there being any harm in it; and that, at any rate after her conversion, she became the honorable wife of a chief in Israel. As to her lying, strict truthfulness in all circumstances was not likely to be known to her as a necessary virtue; Michal, not to mention others, lied to Saul's messengers in order to save David's live, and even some Christian casuists allow falsehood in such cases. As to her treachery, what she held to be her religious duty properly took precedence of any sentiment of hopeless patriotism; and, after all, what she did was only to save the spies from a cruel death, not to correspond with the enemy or open the gates of her city to them. Such excuses for what might seem amiss in her are valid. But the main point to be observed is this—that, whatever her enlightenment, as a heathen, in principles of morality familiar to us Christians, she stands out in the sacred record as having been saved and admitted into Israel on account of her faith in the one true God, and action in accordance with her faith. What is said of Jael (Dr. Arnold's 'Sermons on Interpretation of Scripture') may be still more said of her: "They who serve him honestly up to the measure of their knowledge are according to the general course of his providence encouraged and blessed; they whose eyes and hearts are still fixed upwards, on duty, not on self, are precisely that smoking flax which he will not quench, but cherish rather, till the smoke be blown into a flame." Be it observed, however, that Jael's murderous deed—much less easily defensible than Rahab's conduct—is nowhere adduced in the New Testament as an instance of faith. Among the names that follow here Barak is mentioned, but not Jael. The only ground for supposing her to be approved in Scripture is her being called "blessed" in Deborah's triumphal song, uttered in the flush of victory. But we are not bound to accept that "prophetess," however inspired for her peculiar mission, as an oracle on questions of morality.