Rahab, the harlot, risked her life because she believed God's promises.

He catches a pass in the most important game of the year. They call him a hero. Others might have a higher standard. He runs into a burning building to pull out a baby. He would be called a hero.

What do heroes look like? Can you tell a hero by looking at one? In our look at the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, we have seen some unlikely heroes. Consider Moses, who killed an Egyptian, and Jacob, who deceived his father. But none is quite as unlikely as the woman who is our hero of faith for this article—Rahab, the harlot.

AN UNLIKELY HERO

It's never a good sign when nearly every time your name is mentioned in the Bible, "the harlot" is attached to it, but that is the distinction that Rahab has. Certainly being a harlot would ordinarily make her an unlikely hero. But it becomes even more unlikely when you consider that her act of heroism involved lying. So let's see what made her a hero.

The Israelites were finally ready to enter the Promised Land. They sent spies ahead to get the lay of the land. Rahab had rooms to rent. The two spies went there, but they did not go unnoticed. The king of Jericho sent a message to Rahab demanding her to turn over the two spies. But she hid the spies and told the king's men that the two men who came to her house had escaped to the river. That was a lie. Rahab knew that the Lord was with the Israelites. These spies were representing him. She risked her life to protect them. The spies escaped Jericho when Rahab let them out through the window by a scarlet rope. The spies promised not to destroy her or anyone in her house. The Israelite soldiers would know which house it was by the same scarlet rope that Rahab would hang from her window (Joshua 2). That is what made her a hero of faith.

HEROES IN UNLIKELY PLACES

Some have tried to change her job. They do not want to call her a harlot. Instead they want to call her an innkeeper. But the text does not support that. I think that some want to change her job because they can't imagine God calling a harlot a hero of faith. They question that this "woman of the evening" should be in the same company as Abraham and Moses. But maybe that is because they fail to notice the one thing that all these heroes of faith have in common: they are all sinners who trust God's promises. Even though all the heroes of faith are sinners, they demonstrate their faith in God in a variety of ways, none greater than Rahab, the harlot, who risked her life to do the right thing.