Redeemed Failures, Day 6: Rahab — When Your Past Seems Too Damaged
Rahab’s story shows how God’s grace can reach even the most unlikely person, transforming a Canaanite prostitute into a woman of faith, a mother in Israel, and part of the lineage of Christ.

Joshua 2; Joshua 6:22–25; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25; Matthew 1:5
A Life at the Wall's Edge
She lived on the edge of Jericho, literally and figuratively. Rahab's house was built into the city wall itself, a precarious position between belonging and exposure that perfectly mirrored her social standing. Scripture identifies her profession without euphemism: she was a prostitute. Her name and occupation appear together in nearly every biblical reference, as if her past were permanently fused to her identity.
When two Israelite spies entered Jericho on a reconnaissance mission, they came to her house. Whether seeking concealment in a place frequented by strangers or simply finding convenient lodging near the city's edge, the text doesn't specify. What matters is Rahab's response. She didn't see opportunity for profit; she saw men in danger and chose protection over self-preservation.
Her motivation reveals the story's true depth. Rahab had been listening. She'd heard reports of Israel's God: how He parted the Red Sea, how He delivered His people from Egypt, how He gave them victory over the Amorite kings east of the Jordan. These weren't mere tales to her; they were testimonies that stirred something deeper than fear.
"The LORD your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" (Joshua 2:11).
Her confession cuts through centuries with startling clarity. This Canaanite woman, living under divine judgment, made a declaration many Israelites struggled to fully embrace. She didn't bargain from a position of worthiness. She believed from a place of desperate faith.
A Red Cord of Mercy
Rahab's faith proved costly and clever. She hid the spies beneath stalks of flax on her roof and sent the king's soldiers on a fruitless chase toward the Jordan. Her deception saved lives, both theirs and, as it turned out, her own family's.
In return for her protection, she negotiated a covenant. The spies promised that when Jericho fell, she should hang a scarlet cord from her window and gather her household inside. Everyone under her roof would be spared.
When Joshua's army circled the city and the walls came tumbling down, divine judgment swept through Jericho like fire. Yet one house remained untouched: the dwelling built into the wall that should have crumbled first. Rahab's red cord fluttered in the aftermath, a quiet banner of mercy amid devastation.
The irony is profound: the most vulnerable structure in the city became the only place of safety, protected not by stone but by covenant.
From Dark Stigma to the Light of Scripture
Rahab's rescue, however, was only the beginning of God's work in her life.
The text notes that "she has lived in Israel to this day" (Joshua 6:25), not as a tolerated outsider, but as a full member of the covenant community. According to Jewish tradition and Matthew's Gospel, she married Salmon of the tribe of Judah. Their son Boaz would later become the kinsman-redeemer who married Ruth, creating a lineage that reached directly to King David.
Consider what this means: a Canaanite prostitute became the great-great-grandmother of Israel's greatest king! When Matthew traced Jesus's genealogy, he included only five women, and Rahab was among them (Matthew 1:5). In an ancient culture where women rarely appeared in genealogical records, her inclusion was both intentional and remarkable.
The New Testament elevates her further. Hebrews 11:31 places her in the hall of faith alongside Abraham, Moses, and other spiritual giants. James 2:25 cites her as the premier example of faith that acts, one that risks everything on God's promises.
The God Who Rewrites Stories
Notice that Scripture never sanitizes Rahab's identity. She remains "Rahab the prostitute" throughout biblical history, not as a badge of shame, but as a testament to transformation. Her past wasn't erased; it was redeemed and repurposed.
God didn't wait for her to clean up her act before writing her into His story. He wrote her in and then made her part of something infinitely greater than she could have imagined. From the margins of a doomed city to the center of salvation history. This is grace operating at full strength.
An Encouragement
Perhaps you know the weight of a past that feels disqualifying. Maybe your identity seems forever linked to choices you made or circumstances you endured. Maybe you've found yourself living on the margins, uncertain of your place and uninvited to the center.
Rahab's story speaks directly to that isolation. God sees faith where others see only failure. He welcomes those whom the world pushes to the margins. And His work in our lives extends far beyond forgiveness. He doesn't merely pardon our past; He weaves it into His purposes.
Your history may speak loudly, but grace speaks louder still with ultimate authority. The same God who hung salvation on a scarlet cord in an ancient window still specializes in making the broken whole and the outcast central to His kingdom story.
Enjoy all 31 devotionals in the Redeemed Failures series here —stories of grace, second chances, and the God who still restores.