Have you ever been called something other than your given name? Or even had a description added to your name?
Rahab the harlot knows exactly what you are feeling. Her name throughout history has had a description added to it but not always for the reason you think.
Let’s first see what the Bible has to say about her.
Biblical Ground Work
Joshua 2, 6; Matthew 1:5-6; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25
Harlot defined in Hebrew and Greek
Strong’s H2181 Zanah (zaw-naw) – to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot (forced or voluntary).
Strong’s G4204 Pornē (par-nah) – any woman indulging in unlawful sexual intercourse, whether for gain or for lust (voluntary).
Rahab lives with her family in Jericho, the first city our warring Israelites come to. This is a most peculiar story but very note worthy. To get a better picture of why they are at Jericho read Joshua 1.
The Israelite’s have been responsible for bringing, along with their presence, great fear in the Canaanites. The Lord had already done some pretty awesome stuff up until this point but more awesome miracles were about to come and everyone knew it.
Joshua sent some spies into Jericho to check the temperature of the people. Rahab the “Zanah” hides them and tells them how freezing cold all the people are. They are shaking in their boots with fear because of the Israelite’s. They know it is the powerful God they worshipped doing all of this. When they see the Israelite’s coming they know the awesome God who calls them His children is coming with them.
Rahab is also called to this God, so she hides the spies and lies to the kings people to protect them. She sneaks the spies out but not before she gets a promise from them that her, and her family, will be saved. They give her a scarlet cord to put on her window and tell her to bring her family into her house. She immediately puts the cord out and is obedience with her silence.
They are successful at returning to Joshua with their report because of Rahab and indeed she is collected by those same men before they burned down the city. She is absorbed by the Israelites and marries a man named Salmon.
Rahab is in the family tree of the tribe of Judah resulting in the long awaited birth of Jesus the Christ. She is honoured for risking her life to save the spies by James, the brother of Jesus. She is, my lovelies, forever immortalized by the Bible, just for us to see.
Biblical Life Lesson
You never have to overcome the names people call you, you always have to overcome the names YOU call yourself.
The adjective to describe Rahab in the Old Testament was probably used to shame her and remembered by the Jews as a blot in their history. But by the time Matthew mentions Rahab he is telling us that our history only proves one thing – IT DOES NOT STOP GOD’S PLAN FROM GOING FORWARD.
Jesus is the result of this union between Salmon and Rahab the “Pornē”. The writer of Hebrews and James, add this description to her because they are encouraging you to overcome your past names and shape your future into God’s plan for your life.
A name used to shame you can be turned into an encouragement for you and for others.
I have been called shame invoking names, but the Lord will changed my name to suit who I am in Christ. Revelation 2:17 say “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
As you conquer the shame of those names, He gives you a new name, that only you will know. He will grow you into that name as you deepen your relationship with Him. The shame and the name will fall off of you and your new name will cover you.
As I deepened my relationship with Jesus He revealed to me what my given name actually means. Kathleen means pure and Victoria means victory. My name is Pure Victory. Not Icky Vicky, ugly, dumb, stupid, lazy, liar or any other name people have called me. I have a new name.
In the comments on Facebook tell me what your name means and if you believe it.
