The Bible clearly, condemns lying. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, commands forbid it, prophets condemn it, and godly people avoid doing it. (Ex 20:16; Jer. 9:4-9; Zech. 8:16; Eph. 4:25). Behind all these is God Himself, who cannot lie (Num. 23:19). But what about Rehab? She lied to protect the spies of Israel who had come to scout out the city of Jericho. The story of her heroics paint her in a very positive light; Joshua praised her efforts, and both Testaments of the Bible praise and honor Rahab for doing this (Josh. 6:22-25; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25). Her action made her part of God’s people, ultimately placing her in the line of ancestry to David and Jesus. Her lie was also part of the conquest of Canaan, a task that God commissioned and blessed. Does her example mean that lying can sometimes be an acceptable course of action?

In Rahab’s case, there are three possibilities. Either her lie was not a sin, or it was a sin but excusable, or it was a sin and inexcusable. Those who say her lie was not a sin will sometimes say they believe that “the loving thing” is all that matters; a “little lie” told in the name of love is not sin. In fact, it is the right thing to do.

Others have said that Rahab’s sin was excusable because of a greater value –the lives of the spies. Those who hold this view believe that some sins are worse than others, and sometimes a person has to choose among them. In Rahab’s case, the necessity of preserving the lives of the spies had a higher value than the truth. She did the right thing in misdirecting the king’s men because it was more important to save their lives than to tell the king’s men where they were.

The third possibility is that a lie is a lie, and that even Rahab’s action was wrong. In this view, Rahab sinned no matter how noble her intentions. Of course, in her case, her sin is understandable because she lacked a complete knowledge of the living God. That is, what she did was wrong, but she did not know any better.

We must be careful to make a distinction between Rahab’s faith and the way Rahab expressed it. The Bible praises Rahab because of her faith in God, not because of her lying. That is, her actions would have been more noble had she protected the spies in some other fashion; as it is, she did the best she could. The Bible calls Rahab a prostitute, but we are not meant to take that as an endorsement for immorality. Rahab, like the rest of us, had a mixed character, but she believed in God and strove to honor Him and His people. That is what draws her praise.

We should honor Rahab the way the Bible does. She was a great heroine of the faith, who came from the most surprising place. In time, her name would be honored not only for what she did for Israel, but for what she became- a mother in the line of Jesus (Ruth 4:18-22; Matt. 1:5).

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