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These instructions supplement the instructions given on pages 119-124 in Bible Research by Ken Malmin. STAGE ONE
Stage one gives pertinent information from the New Naves Topical Bible and at least one Bible dictionary. (Malmin suggests the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, but students may use any Bible dictionary available in Logos.) Specifically, from each of the abovementioned resources students should give the meaning of the character’s name (if given) as well as a summary of the main points shared by each resource.
NOTE:
Do not copy and paste articles! Rather, using your own words, summarize the information or put it into bullet points. STAGE 2
Stage two examines every reference to the character given in Scripture in order to discover various insights into the person being studied. This is best done in a simple three-column chart format, as shown in Bible Research and in the example provided in this course, in which the first column shows the Scripture reference being studied, the second column provides a brief quote and perhaps some other pertinent information and the third column displays the student’s insights about the character.
NOTE:
There are a few methods for discovering all the references to the character of interest:
(1) Performing a Logos Bible Search on the character’s name can be helpful, but it may not give you every reference to that character because the character may have more than one name, or there may be verses that refer to the character but don’t specifically mention his/her name. Also, keep in mind that there may be more than one person with your character’s name and that not every verse containing that name will necessarily pertain to your character.
(2) The New Nave’s Topical Bible should list every major passage that deals with the character, but it may not list every single verse that deals with the character. Therefore, this tool should be used alongside a Logos Bible Search.
THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO SIMPLY READING THROUGH THE ACCOUNTS OF THE CHARACTER IN ORDER TO COMMENT ON EVERY VERSE THAT SPEAKS ABOUT THE PERSON. BIBLE SEARCH & NAVE’S WILL HELP YOU LOCATE THOSE PASSAGES, BUT THEY CANNOT REPLACE THE NEED TO STUDY THOSE PASSAGES LINE BY LINE.
STAGE 3
Stage three organizes the information gathered in the previous stages while tying up the loose ends by answering a few important questions that may have been overlooked up to this point. It also helps the student to discover lessons from the character’s life. To complete this section, answer the questions presented on page 121 of Bible Research by Ken Malmin.
NOTE:
This stage may require additional study using Bible dictionaries. But student’s should not try to formulate an answer if it really doesn’t apply to their character (e.g. if a character only has positive character traits, don’t make up negative ones just to answer the question).
CHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDYHARACTER STUDY EXAMPLEEXAMPLEEXAMPLEEXAMPLEEXAMPLEEXAMPLEEXAMPLE: RAHAB: RAHAB: RAHAB: RAHAB: RAHAB: RAHAB: RAHAB STAGE ONE
New Nave’s Topical Bible:
Name: RAHAB – No answer
Information: A woman of Jericho (Josh 2) Assists the spies of Israel (Josh 2) Is spared at the taking of Jericho (Josh 6:17–25) Ancestor of Jesus on Joseph’s side (Matt 1:5) Her faith is commended (Heb 11:31; Jas. 2:25)
New Bible Dictionary:
Name: RAHAB – Possibly meaning “broad” if connected with the root word rhb.
Information: She was a prostitute Part of her house was formed by Jericho’s city walls Joshua’s two spies lodged with her and she protected them by hiding them on her roof She knew that Jericho was going to fall to Israel, so she asked for protection for herself and her family She helped the spies escape from a window Even though the city of Jericho was destroyed, she and her family were saved
Rahab later joined up with the Israelites The author of Hebrews includes her among the ancient examples of faith in God (Heb 11:31) James quotes her as one who is justified by her works (Jas 2:25) She appears in the genealogy of Christ (Mt 1:5) STAGE TWO
Scripture
Brief Verse Quote
Insights
Jos 2:1
And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.
Rahab was a prostitute. Perhaps this is why the spies came to her—not that they were interested in her services, but maybe they thought that it would look less suspicious for strange men such as themselves to stay with Rahab. Perhaps she ran her business out of her house.
Jos 2:3
Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”
How did the king of Jericho so quickly discover that Rahab was housing the spies? V2 says that he was told. Perhaps Rahab was a popular prostitute who was even known and observed by high-up officials who informed the king when they saw Rahab’s strange “customers.” Or it could be that the spies were simply too conspicuous.
Jos 2:4-5
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”
Rahab tells a boldfaced lie. There’s no way to explain this one away—she was simply not truthful. Granted, she is lying for a “good cause” (whatever that means). It shouldn’t surprise us that someone who commits prostitution also might lie; after all, the Bible doesn’t portray Rahab as a model citizen in everything she does. (Even people like David shouldn’t be modeled in all they did!) Rather, she is offered as an example of someone who had faith and who acted on it.
Josh 2:6
But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.
She is innovative in how she hides the spies. This shows thoughtfulness. Also, flax was a useful crop and bundles of flax would have been set on the roof to dry. It says she had laid them in order. The fact that she was working with bundles of flax and drying them out methodically shows that she is industrious and a hard worker.
Jos 2:8-13
…we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you … And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted… for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
These are Rahab’s words. She not only rightfully fears the Lord for what he had done, but she gives a positive confession of faith in God’s ability to give the Israelites the land and she expresses her faith in his greatness, saying, “he is the God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”
Jos 2:12-13
Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters…
Rahab deeply cares for her family. Her actions are partly motivated by her sense of responsibility to keep care of them. It probably wasn’t common for a woman to assume this responsibility. Was it this sense of responsibility to protect and provide that drove her to prostitution?
Jos 2:15
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.
Her house was a part of the wall. These are the very walls that are to fall when the Israelites walk around them! Apparently, the whole wall fell except for her house! Her faith must have been tested as the Israelites were circling and shouting and as the walls were crumbling. At that point, her faith couldn’t rest in the spies to rescue her but in God to protect her!
Jos 2:16
And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or your pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned.
Rahab goes over and above what is required of her. She didn’t even have to hide the men, let alone give them instructions on how to avoid their pursuers. She is smart! She is a woman with a plan and she finds the supplies needed to implement the plan (rope). She knows the likely behavior of the pursuers, which indicates that she is observant.
Jos 2:21
And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
For Rahab and her family to be saved she must be faithful to the agreement she made with the spies. This shows continued faithfulness. Imagine that—a faithful prostitute! Also, the scarlet cord may be symbolic of the blood of Christ—just like the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorpost is symbolic of Christ. Only when the red cord is present will salvation be granted. Therefore, Rahab and her household serve as a prophetic type of the Church: it is the house covered by the blood and the only
place into which people may come to be saved in the last days when destruction comes—everything else will shake and crumble, but not the house of faith!
Jos 6:17
And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.
Rahab was remembered and appreciated. Everything else was destined to destruction but not Rahab. Joshua even calls her a prostitute but assures that she must be spared nonetheless.
Jos 6:22-25
But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, Joshua saved alive…” And she has lived in Israel to this day…
Even though the spies saved her, Joshua is said to have saved her, since he gave the orders. Joshua is a prophetic type of Christ—in fact, Jesus’ name is a form of Joshua’s name and they both mean, “Yahweh is salvation.” Rahab was not only saved, but she was added to the covenant community of Israel led by Joshua. We know this to be true because she becomes the mother of Boaz and an ancestor of Christ.
Mt 1:5
And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse
Since Rahab married an Israelite, we know that she stopped being a prostitute (prostitution would have been forbidden and punished). Also, Rahab became the mother of Boaz, who marries Ruth (from the Book of Ruth), and is the great, great grandmother of David. Her family has a heritage of functioning by faith and coming to God by faith—not ethnicity: (1) She is a gentile but comes to God. (2) Her son marries a gentile. (3) David through his tabernacle shows that we can come to God by faith, not by legalism or even ethnicity.
Heb 11:31
By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
The author of Hebrews still mentions her prostitution. It seems like he wants to make it obvious that her salvation wasn’t by her own righteousness, but by faith. Note, however, that her faith is inseparable from her actions. The author calls her generation disobedient, implying that Rahab was contrastingly obedient. Her works were not just works; they were an expression of an obedient heart.
Jas 2:25
And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when
“In the same way” = the same way that Abraham was justified by works. But we know
she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Abraham was justified by faith when he “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Yet after Abraham’s initial trust in God, he was tested and proven willing to offer Isaac and it was when he was willing to obey God in this that the righteousness given by faith was “fulfilled.” In other words, our faith-righteousness must be proven by a faithfully righteous lifestyle. Likewise, Rahab, “in the same way” was justified by her faith in God; and this faith was expressed by her works of hiding the messengers and directing them. Her faith was proven by works. It therefore can be said that she was “justified by works”—but only when we understand that the works were an expression of her faith. As the next verse says, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (v26).
STAGE THREE
1. What is the person’s name?
Rahab
2. What is the interpretation of the person’s name?
Wide
3. What is the ancestral background?
She is a Canaanite gentile from Jericho in Palestine. She is eventually made a citizen of Israel and marries an Israelite.
4. What is the political, religious, or cultural background?
Jericho is one of the oldest cities on earth. It is a thriving center by the time of Joshua’s invasion. It was a city-state, ruled by a king as were many major cities of the day (Jos 2:3). The political environment is described by Rahab to the spies—the Israelites were successfully invading the Canaanite cities and peoples and this created a proper fear of Yahweh of Israel. As for the religion of Jericho, it may have been the center for the worship of the moon-god yerah (which is probably the root word for the name Jericho); and the gravesites preserved there from ancient times may indicate a deep respect for dead
ancestors and a belief in some sort of afterlife (New Bible Dictionary and Harper’s Bible Dictionary, articles on Jericho).
5. What character traits does the person reveal?
a. Negative:
1) Immorality, prostitution (Jos 2:1)
2) Willing to lie (Jos 2:4-6)
b. Positive:
1) Creative and innovative (Jos 2:6, 15)
2) Loves and cares for her family (Jos 2:12-13)
3) Industrious and a hard worker (Jos 2:6)
4) Intelligent and observant (Jos 2:10-11, 16)
5) Able to come up with a good plan and execute it (Jos 2:6, 15-16)
6) Fears the Lord (Jos 2:9-11)
7) Has faith in God and his greatness (Jos 2:9, 11)
8) Has faith in God’s ability to preserve her (Jos 2:21; 6:23)
9) Interested in more than simply salvation, but becomes a part of God’s covenant community (Jos 6:25)
10) Passes on a heritage of faith to her descendents (Mt 1:5)
11) Is obedient (Heb 11:31)
12) Does good deeds as an expression and proof of her faith (Heb 11:31; Jas 2:25)
6. What prominent events transpired in the person’s life?
The conquest of Canaan by the Israelites and the events of the Book of Joshua, including the fall of Jericho.
7. What spiritual and practical lessons can be applied to the life of the believer from this character study?
a. We can trust in God to save us—in fact, in order to be saved we must trust in God!
b. Our own righteousness does not earn our salvation, nor does our natural heritage—rather God’s salvation is received by faith in him.
c. The faith by which we receive God’s salvation is proven authentic when it compels us to live holy lives that produce the fruit of obedience, displaying good works.
d. Even when the situations of our lives are discouraging, we must maintain our faith; we must remember that God is faithful and he will prove himself faithful.
e. We should desire the salvation of our family—it must go beyond a personal, private experience.
f. Even when the world around us crumbles, the blood-bought Church of Christ is a refuge in which we will find spiritual safety.
g. We should desire to be more than rescued by Jesus (our Joshua); we should desire to be added to his covenant community where we receive a heritage and pass on a legacy.
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