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No Good Choices

Rahab was an amazing woman. She abandoned her society and all that she knew to risk her life to save two strangers who were spying for a foreign nation. She chose to take a daring stand with God and His people. Yet because of her method, Christian leaders have harshly criticized her for the last 2,000 years.

There is no escaping the fact - she lied. She had no good choices, so she chose to lie. Although the New Testament praises her without criticizing her methods, writers have ill-treated her ever since. Some condemn her outright. Others try to explain away her lie by saying she was a new believer coming from a corrupt society and didn’t realize lying was wrong. Or her heart was in the right place, but her methods were wrong. The majority conclusion seems to be that she should have told the soldiers the truth [or said nothing, which would have had the same effect] and trusted God to handle the results.

Rahab was placed in a difficult situation by evil men, with no good choices. If she told the truth, it is almost certain the spies would have been executed, and she would have lost her opportunity of joining the people of God. To keep silent would be to admit involvement; the spies most likely would have been found, and she certainly would have been arrested, if not executed on the spot. The third choice was deception, which involved lying.

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No Good Choices

To say that God would have supernaturally intervened if Rahab had chosen to tell the truth is to make a very big assumption. Supernatural intervention is the exception, not the rule. It is to fall into the same error as the medieval Trial by Combat or Trial by Ordeal. The idea behind these “trials” was that God [or nature] would allow the innocent person to be victorious [Combat] or escape harm [Ordeal]. Needless to say, this is not a Biblical concept. God expects His people to stand for what they know is true, right and according to the will of God.

Our choices are rarely black-and-white ones; we rarely have the luxury of an absolute choice. But we do have the continual opportunity to make decisions in terms of an absolute faith, however gray the immediate situation. R.J. Rushdoony

Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. Deut. 16:20, NIV

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Is. 1:17, NIV

In this place, Rahab had no good choices. In the absence of a direct word from God, she had to evaluate what was most likely to happen from each decision. Then she had to choose the one that would likely have a result pleasing to God and a positive impact on the Kingdom of God.

To some, this may sound like “the end justifies the means” or situational ethics. That is not the case. Rahab did not choose to lie because it was the easy, fast, or painless way to achieve “the end” goal. She made it because it was the only choice available that would not involve a greater evil. Nor was she saying that something that is normally wrong was right just because of the situation. [We discuss whether lying was a sin in this situation in our article: Responsible Lying.] She looked at the available options and chose the one most likely to have God-honouring results.

Rahab chose to accept responsibility for her actions. She chose to risk her life. She chose to deceive evil men bent on an evil purpose in order to protect Godly men operating in the will of God. The fact that she is commended in both the Old and New Testaments without criticism of her deception, which was a necessary part of her actions, shows God’s approval. Self-righteous Christians who refuse to make difficult choices to help innocent and oppressed people because “God will intervene if He wants to” are acting irresponsibly. They avoid their own discomfort and blame God for the results.

Living in a sin-filled world, there may be times when we are placed in evil circumstances where there are no good choices. Sometimes, even in political voting, we are making the least bad choice because no good choices exist. If we find ourselves placed in bad situations - whether by evil governments, abusive spouses, criminals, or others - we have to carefully consider the Word of God and which “bad” choice will result in honouring God, expanding the Kingdom of God and/or protecting the innocent from injustice and harm.

“For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Is. 61:8, NIV

Rahab took responsibility and great risk to see justice done, and God did indeed reward her. She joined the Israelite community, married a Godly man, and became an ancestor of both King David and Jesus Christ Himself. Plus, her actions - which were a result of her faith - are held up as an example of Godly action for all time.

Glenn Davis is a Christian author and Bible teacher whose work draws on more than 40 years of study, writing, and teaching in local churches. He has written 700+ articles, created five Bible courses, published three books, and shared 300+ Bible videos on YouTube. Readers can find his books on Amazon, follow his teaching on YouTube or visit Glenn Davis Books. Away from the keyboard, he enjoys time with family, reading, walking, and board or card games.

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