Bible in a Year - Women’s Thematic Reading Plan | Day 28 

JANUARY 28 / Day 28

Rahab: Receiving the Spies by Faith 

📖  Joshua Chapter 2 

A Minute of Grace

Joshua Chapter 2 records how Joshua sent two spies secretly to view the land, especially Jericho. The spies came to Rahab’s house, and when the king of Jericho heard about them, he sent men to search for them. Rahab hid the spies and answered the pursuers with wisdom. Afterward, she told the spies what she knew about the LORD: she had heard that God had given the land to Israel, and that the LORD had dried up the Red Sea and done mighty works beyond Jordan. Because of this, the hearts of the people of Jericho had melted with fear.

Rahab’s faith is remarkable. She had not grown up in the camp of Israel. She had not been raised with the law, the tabernacle, or the worship of the covenant people. She was a Gentile woman living in a city soon to face judgment. Yet when she heard of the works of the LORD, she did not remain merely afraid like the people around her. She chose to believe that the God of Israel was the true God, and she acted on that faith.

Her receiving of the spies was not just a risky act of kindness. It was a response of faith. Rahab asked the spies to swear that when Jericho was taken, they would save her and her father’s house. The spies gave her a sign: she was to bind a scarlet cord in the window and gather her family inside the house. Later, that scarlet cord became the sign of deliverance for her household.

Rahab’s story reminds us that faith is not determined by a person’s background, but revealed by a person’s response to God. Her past did not stop God’s grace. Her Gentile identity did not exclude her from God’s redemption. By faith, she received the spies; by faith, she held onto the promise of deliverance for her family. Later in the New Testament, Rahab is remembered among the witnesses of faith and is also included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. God not only saved her; He also rewrote her identity and future.

Today’s theme, “Rahab: Receiving the Spies by Faith,” invites us to reflect: Do we believe that God’s grace can cross human labels, past failures, and visible limitations? Are we willing, like Rahab, not only to hear of God’s works, but also to respond with faith and bring ourselves and those we love under His sign of salvation?

Whispers for the Heart

1 Rahab’s background was not admired by others, yet when she heard of God’s works, she chose to believe that the LORD was the true God. Have you ever felt far from God because of your past, weakness, identity, family background, or the labels others have placed on you? How does Rahab’s story remind you that God’s grace can reach anyone who turns to Him?

2 Rahab did not only feel fear or know information about God. She acted by receiving the spies and choosing to stand with God’s plan. Is your faith currently staying only at the level of knowledge, emotion, or inspiration? Is God inviting you to respond to Him with a concrete step of obedience?

3 Rahab asked for deliverance not only for herself, but also for her family, and she tied the scarlet cord in her window. Are there family members, friends, or people close to you whom you need to bring before God in prayer? How can you watch over them in faith and ask God’s grace to reach them?

As you read Joshua Chapter 2 today, do not only see the danger surrounding Jericho. Also see the door of grace opened in the middle of judgment. Do not only see Rahab’s past. See how she was received, renamed, and brought into God’s redemptive story by faith.

Take a quiet breath before you begin. Bring your shame over the past, your fear about the future, your burden for your family, and your longing for grace before the Lord, and let His Word meet you there.

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Joshua Chapter 2 (KJV) 

2 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.

2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.

4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.

6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

9 And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:

13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.

19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:

24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

💡 Closing Thought · Grace Beneath the Scarlet Cord 

After reading Joshua Chapter 2, we see that Rahab’s story is not about a perfect past being rewarded by God. It is the story of a Gentile woman who, as judgment drew near, laid hold of God’s grace by faith. She heard of God’s works and believed. She believed and acted. She acted, and she also sought deliverance for her family.

As we close this page and return to our real lives, perhaps there are still parts of your past you do not want to mention. Perhaps you have been trapped by certain labels, or you feel unqualified to be used by God. But remember this: Rahab’s story tells us that God’s grace can enter the most unexpected life and open a door of salvation even on the wall of a doomed city.

May today’s Scripture remind you not to let your past become a wall between you and God. Faith may begin by hearing of God’s works, and today it can become a real response. May you hold fast to the salvation in Christ, a sign far deeper than the scarlet cord, and continue to watch in faith for those you love.

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