I would like to share with you the story of a woman whose life choices changed her life forever. The story of this woman will make you sit at the edge of your chair and examine the Life Choices you make. I pray you are as blessed by this story as I have been preparing it.

1. Life Choices
Rahab – From Rags to Riches
Empowered Bible Study Ministries

2. Life Choices – Rahab (From Rags to Riches)
Welcome to Empowered Bible Study Ministries. We all have choices to make in
life no matter who we are. Today I would like to share with you the story of a
woman whose life choices changed her life forever. The story of this woman will
make you sit at the edge of your chair and examine the Life Choices you make. I
pray you are as blessed by this story as I have been preparing it.
To begin our story we see in the book of Joshua 1:1 that Joshua was appointed
leader of the Israelites after Moses died. At this time the Israelites were camped
in the plains of Moab, close by the Jordan River, across from the great city of
Jericho. As military commander, Joshua had just given orders to his officers to
break camp and prepare the people to cross the Jordan River. Within Three
days, they were to cross the Jordan and begin their military conquest of the
Promised Land, which leads us to our study today.
Prior to all the Israelites crossing the Jordon River, Joshua sent two spies into
Jericho to evaluate the situation. Now when the spies entered the city of Jericho
there was a since of fear throughout the city because they had heard of the
Israelites coming. The spies made their way to the house of a woman named
Rahab where they ended up taking refuge.
Rahab was a prostitute and as a prostitute she lived on the edge of life. But
Rahab made a life choice that would change her life forever. While she shared
the general mood of fear with the rest of Jericho’s population, she alone turned
to the Lord for her salvation. The king heard the spies were in the city and sent
his guards to find them. Rahab’s faith gave her the courage to hide the spies
and lie to the king’s guard. She knew her position was dangerous – she was
committing treason by hiding and helping the spies; she could have been killed if
she was caught, but she feared God more than she did the king.
Rahab made a courageous decision to turn away from the evil and corruption of
the Canaanites, to turn away from prostitution. She made a courageous
decision to turn to God and become identified with the people of God. Not only
did Rahab hide the spies but she helped them escape and even advised them
where to find refuge in the mountains. She put her faith into action.
Before the spies left, Rahab thought about her family. She asked the spies to
save and rescue her and her family from the military conquest.
The spies instructed Rahab to tie a scarlet cord in the window to identify her
house as a house of safety. This way the soldiers would know to pass over her
house and not harm them.
Now Jericho was surrounded by a great wall. A wall around a city in those days
was fortification; it was to protect the citizens within. Jericho’s wall was so
strong as we read in Joshua 2:15 that Rahab’s house was in the wall of the city.
Joshua 2:15 (NIV) “…for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.”

3. Now get this picture, here we have a fortified city where the houses are built
within the city wall, and the Israelites arrive and begin marching around the
walls for seven days, then they were given orders to sound their horns which
was different from what they had been doing – and the Israelites shouted and
immediately the walls fell. All the walls fell except for Rahab’s house with the
scarlet cord in the window. This opened Jericho up to the invasion of the
Israelite soldiers and Rahab and her family were saved. Rahab demonstrated a
strong faith in the Lord, and her faith saved the lives of the spies, herself, and
her family.
There are some strong lessons for us to learn here. We see three main points in
Rahab’s life.
1. She believed in the testimony she had heard about God.
2. She was willing to help others at great cost to herself
3. She did not let fear affect her faith in God’s ability to deliver
My friend, our faith must reach out to help others, to bear a strong testimony and
witness so that others will be saved because of our faith
Rahab went on to live her life for God and there is one more amazing fact about
Rahab’s changed life; did you know that she is one of the women that are listed
in Jesus Christ’s lineage. Rahab was the mother of Boaz thus an ancestor of
David and Jesus.
You know, no matter what we have done in our past, remember that Rahab rose
above her situation through her trust in God and we can do the same.
Rahab heard of God’s miraculous care for his people, was convinced of the
supremacy of Jehovah, and so believed. Her actions from that day showed a
changed life.
James 2:17 “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is
dead.” We cannot earn our salvation by serving and obeying God. But such
actions show that our commitment to God is real. Deeds of loving service are not
a substitute for, but rather a verification of our faith in Christ.
Remember my friend; God will use us in our daily lives if we are willing to be
available to Him.
We all have choices to make and we all have room for improvement…it is never
too late to start living for Christ every moment of every day.
Empowered Bible Study Ministries