Okay. So I’m dating myself by referencing a 1980s television show, but I think you get my drift.
Rahab served God faithfully and was rewarded by having her life and the lives of those she loved saved.
What happened to the Bible we know and love? Where are all the pious characters we like to think about when we think of the Bible? Sister Irene Nowell wonderfully captures human nature in Chapter 4 of “Women in the Old Testament.” We have a possible madam in Rahab, a murderess in Jael and a possibly “heartless” wife in Delilah. J.R. Ewing would be proud of this bunch!
As we meet Rahab, Joshua has led the Jewish nation to the shores of the Jordan River and is preparing to enter into Canaan. He is fulfilling his covenant to God and to Moses, to install the Jewish people in the Promised Land. Finding Jericho a formidable fortress, an obstacle to success, Joshua sends spies in to reconnoiter and determine the enemy’s weaknesses and strengths.
Rahab has heard word about this new nation and their devotion to one God and shares her knowledge with Joshua’s spies. Without an argument, Rahab commits to assisting the spies and they promise to spare her. The rest, as they say, is history.
Once again we find ourselves engaged in the story of a less than perfect person serving a crucial role in God’s plan. This is not some throwaway story either. Rahab’s family is listed by Matthew in the genealogy of Jesus. And James refers to Rahab when discussing how works can identify the faith of an individual.
“See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
I don’t want to head down a tangential discussion about faith and works and what James was trying to say here. But it is useful for us to think about what kind of state Rahab was in when she met Joshua’s spies. What James gets at is that a person can only do good works if they are truly in covenant with God. The New American Bible explains the words of Deuteronomy in Rahab’s mouth by stating:
“Through her, the author expresses a theological conviction: the Lord, the God of Israel, is God above all gods; the formation of the people Israel and its success is the Lord’s doing; and all the rulers of the neighboring nations do well to panic at what the Lord is doing.”
Rahab may not be a Jew, but like Hagar and Rachel, and other women we have met, she has some insight inside her that separates God from all the others. She believes.
Jael doesn’t repeat Deuteronomy, but certainly Judge’s author’s blessing upon her at 5:24 gives us a pretty good indication of her standing amongst her biblical peers. She is “blessed among women,” and that reference is not accidental. Once again, a non- or semi-semitic woman steps in at a crucial moment in Jewish history and fulfills God’s needs, eliminating a potential threat to the Jewish people.
Most of the characters of Dallas would not exactly have had the courage or piety to match these ladies.
- What do you think of Sister Nowell’s statement that we are perhaps doubly offended by Sisera’s murder because he falls at a woman’s hand? Given what we know about ancient Israel and the culture of this age, is it offensive to you?
- What do you make of Jephthah’s daughter? Is she a heroine of the bible when she doesn’t take any direct action? Can we be holy simply by being passive to God’s will?
- Who offends you more, Samson and his wives’ families, for placing women in the middle of an untenable situation, or Samson’s wives? Now that you have read the story of Samson in greater detail, how is it different from what you remember? What is the significance to you between what you remembered about Samson, and the full story?
Richard D'Ambrosio
Pathways 
1. I don’t think it is offensive because these are women in other times that saw an opportunity to help the cause and took it. Have I done this in their position? With my modern mind I think I would have alerted someone to do what was necessary.
2. The first time I read the story I was saddened by Jephthah’s vow, it was an unnecessary death wish. Will have God helped him if he hadn’t done a vow? We don’t know her name, strange when for most of the stories we knew the name of the heroine in other stories. Maybe it is a story that may have been changed to be an example? I do think she is a heroine because her action was to obey both her earthly and heavenly fathers. The story for me is teaching us to follow through with our promises and be careful what we ask God for. I can’t imagine the suffering of Jephtath as a father with the realization he most follow through with his vow, even though he accuses her for bringing calamity to him.
3. Based on the times Samson’s story happened, I feel more offended by him and the families because of the women’s position on their society.
I remembered the story differently, the portrait of Samson as a good man that was taken advantage of, not the stubbornness I see in the story. Even though Samson was blessed it seems the bad traits of his personality take over instead of trying reasoning. How many times we through caution to the wind and act selfishly? I guess the lesson is be able to recognize we acted selfishly and ask for forgiveness to those we hurt and to God to give us the power to be stronger the next time.
Lana, You write exquisitely. I love reading your answers. I agree with you regarding Jael. It doesn’t offend me at all.
I struggle a lot with the story of Jephthah’s daughter. How horrible a time that people believed so strongly that God would want them to take a life over something like a vow. I am very glad we have come a lot further than that today, though sometimes, with people who take their religion to an extreme, I wonder how far we have come.
As for Mr. Samson, I grew up thinking he was this strong and righteous savior of the Jewish people. When I first read this story last year, I couldn’t believe it. My image of him was shattered, and I pity the women who were stuck in the middle of this situation due to His choices. Yuk.