Introduction
Will you keep looking for “peace” the way the world offers it, temporary quiet, a smoother schedule, people finally getting along, or will you surrender to the only peace that can transform your life from the inside out? The central teaching I want to press into your heart is this: God gives a surprising, life-changing peace to anyone who turns from fear of people to faith in Him, no matter their past, and that peace is found under His mercy.
That’s why Rahab is such a shocking and hopeful name in the Advent story. Matthew opens with Jesus’ genealogy to prove He is the promised Messiah (Matthew 1), and right there in the family line we find her: “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab” (Matthew 1:5). Rahab, known in Scripture as a prostitute, becomes part of the lineage that leads to Jesus. If God can bring peace and salvation into her story, He can bring it into yours.
Main Points
Will you keep looking for “peace” the way the world offers it, temporary quiet, a smoother schedule, people finally getting along, or will you surrender to the only peace that can transform your life from the inside out? The central teaching I want to press into your heart is this: God gives a surprising, life-changing peace to anyone who turns from fear of people to faith in Him, no matter their past, and that peace is found under His mercy.
That’s why Rahab is such a shocking and hopeful name in the Advent story. Matthew opens with Jesus’ genealogy to prove He is the promised Messiah (Matthew 1), and right there in the family line we find her: “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab” (Matthew 1:5). Rahab, known in Scripture as a prostitute, becomes part of the lineage that leads to Jesus. If God can bring peace and salvation into her story, He can bring it into yours.
God Steps Into Unpeaceful Lives
Rahab’s life, by any human measure, was not a life of peace. Prostitution is tormenting, physically dangerous, emotionally heavy, spiritually dark. Yet Joshua 2 drops us into her home and shows us that God is not intimidated by the chaos of someone’s past or the mess of their present.
Joshua sends spies into the promised land, “especially Jericho” (Joshua 2:1). They lodge at Rahab’s house. Almost immediately, the king of Jericho learns they are there and commands Rahab to hand them over (Joshua 2:2–3). In that moment, God is setting the stage to show us something we all need: peace is not the absence of danger; peace is the presence of God’s saving mercy.
Allegiance Must Change At Any Cost
Rahab is forced into a decision: Will she obey the king of Jericho, or will she align herself with the God of Israel?
She hides the spies and misdirects the king’s men (Joshua 2:4–6). People often get stuck on the moral tension of her lie. But don’t miss the main thrust of the story: Rahab is changing sides. She is risking her life to move her allegiance from Jericho to the Lord.
Here’s the discipleship challenge for us: when it becomes clear who God is, neutrality is no longer an option. Following the Lord will require realignment, sometimes costly, sometimes misunderstood, sometimes risky. But peace with God always begins with surrender to God.
Simple Faith Sees God’s Power
When Rahab finally speaks to the spies, she explains what’s happening inside her:
- “I know that the LORD has given you the land…” (Joshua 2:9)
- “We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea…” (Joshua 2:10)
- She also recounts Israel’s victories over Sihon and Og (Joshua 2:10).
Rahab’s theology is not academic, but it is real. She believes God is powerful because she has heard what God has done. And that kind of faith is often where lasting peace begins: I remember who God is by remembering what God has done.
This is why I keep calling you back to Scripture. If you want your faith strengthened, rehearse God’s works, from creation (Genesis 1:1) to the Red Sea to the resurrection. We worship a God with power over sin and death, Jesus rose from the grave. The world cannot manufacture that kind of hope or peace.
Fear Of God Replaces Fear Of Man
Rahab gives this stunning confession:
“For the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:11)
This is coming from a woman in a pagan culture. She is declaring the Lord as the supreme God, God over everything, not one local deity among many.
And notice what she reports about Jericho: their hearts melted; courage failed (Joshua 2:11). That’s fascinating when you remember Israel’s earlier spy story under Moses: the spies came back trembling, saying they were like grasshoppers (Numbers 13). Israel feared the people; Jericho feared Israel’s God.
That contrast exposes two paths:
- Fear of man gives people undue authority over you.
- Fear of God gives God His rightful authority in you.
And the fruit of the fear of God is not bondage, it is strength. Scripture says, “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence” (Proverbs 14:26), and it becomes “a fountain of life” (Proverbs 14:27). Rahab had courage to defy her king because she had come to fear the true King.
If you want peace, I’m discipling you toward this: stop granting final authority to people’s opinions, threats, or expectations. Let God be God over you. Peace grows where reverence grows.
Mercy Is Received And Shared
Rahab’s fear of God turns into a plea for mercy:
“Now therefore, I beg you… show kindness to my father’s house… and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:12–13)
This is one of the most important spiritual turning points a person can have: the realization that I need saving mercy. The gospel will never taste sweet until you admit you cannot rescue yourself. Rahab is not bargaining as an equal; she is begging as someone who knows judgment is coming and she cannot stop it.
And I love that she reaches for more than herself, she pleads for her family. That is family evangelism in its rawest form: “Lord, have mercy on me, and please, bring my household with me.” Psalm 33:18 says, “the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.” Hope in His mercy is not weakness; it is wisdom.
So let me say this directly to you: if you’re praying for your spouse, your child, your parents, your siblings, don’t stop. Keep bringing them to the Lord. Keep inviting them toward refuge.
The Scarlet Cord Marks Saving Peace
The spies promise kindness and protection, but they give Rahab a specific sign and a specific instruction:
- Bind a scarlet cord in the window (Joshua 2:18).
- Bring your whole family into the house (Joshua 2:18).
- Safety is inside; outside is destruction (Joshua 2:19–20).
This is a powerful picture of salvation. Rahab’s hope is not her performance. It is not her reputation. It is not the strength of her home. Her hope is that her house is marked, identified, as belonging to mercy.
The scarlet cord is a vivid sign: there is a covering, a banner of grace. And it is exclusive in the same way the gospel is exclusive, not because God is stingy, but because God is merciful and truthful about where safety is found. Jesus says it plainly: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). There is real refuge, but it is found where God provides it.
And this is where peace becomes “not as the world gives” (John 14:27). It is not temporary calm; it is rescue. It is being brought from impending judgment into covenant mercy.
Conclusion
Rahab’s story moves from turmoil to peace through a clear progression: she hears of God’s power, she fears God rightly, she changes allegiance, she pleads for mercy, and she shelters under the scarlet-marked promise. And then, astonishingly, she becomes woven into the family line of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).
So I want to disciple you into one simple response: come under God’s mercy and bring others with you. If your past feels too broken, Rahab tells you it’s not. If your present feels threatened, Rahab tells you God is stronger than kings. If your soul feels restless, Rahab tells you peace is found when you stop fearing man and start trusting the Lord.
Lord God, You are God in heaven above and on earth beneath. We confess Your power, and we confess our need for Your mercy. Replace our fear of people with the fear of the Lord that brings strong confidence and life. Give us faith like Rahab, simple, real, obedient faith that changes our allegiance fully to You. Mark our lives by the grace of Jesus, and bring our households into the refuge You provide. Give us Your peace, not as the world gives, but the peace that saves, guards, and transforms. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Rahab’s story moves from turmoil to peace through a clear progression: she hears of God’s power, she fears God rightly, she changes allegiance, she pleads for mercy, and she shelters under the scarlet-marked promise. And then, astonishingly, she becomes woven into the family line of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).
So I want to disciple you into one simple response: come under God’s mercy and bring others with you. If your past feels too broken, Rahab tells you it’s not. If your present feels threatened, Rahab tells you God is stronger than kings. If your soul feels restless, Rahab tells you peace is found when you stop fearing man and start trusting the Lord.
Closing Prayer
Lord God, You are God in heaven above and on earth beneath. We confess Your power, and we confess our need for Your mercy. Replace our fear of people with the fear of the Lord that brings strong confidence and life. Give us faith like Rahab, simple, real, obedient faith that changes our allegiance fully to You. Mark our lives by the grace of Jesus, and bring our households into the refuge You provide. Give us Your peace, not as the world gives, but the peace that saves, guards, and transforms. In Jesus’ name, amen.