Before You Judge — Make Sure You Know the Whole Story

Two men of God went into the house of a woman known as a harlot.  Now imagine only having that piece of information today. Two men from the church went to the home of a known prostitute and stayed there. What conclusions would people draw?

Would people start talking? Would they question their character? Would they decide they had sinned?  Would they demand that the men be disciplined or even excommunicated?

But what if they didn’t know the whole story?  They wouldn’t know that these men had been sent by Joshua to spy out the land.  They wouldn’t know that Rahab hid them from the king of Jericho. They wouldn’t know what God was accomplishing through that situation.

And there’s another important part of the story. Rahab wasn’t simply a woman who happened to help two spies. She came to worship the God of Israel.

Rahab told the spies in Joshua 2:11 (KJV):  “…for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”

When Jericho fell, Rahab and her family were spared because of the promise made to her.

Hebrews 11:31 (KJV) says: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”

And Rahab’s story didn’t end at Jericho.  Rahab and Salmon were the parents of Boaz (Booz), and she became part of the lineage of King David.  

Matthew 1:5 (KJV) says: “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;” The genealogy continues to David. 

So Rahab was David’s great-great-grandmother. And even more importantly, Rahab became part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Think about that. The woman Scripture identifies as “Rahab the harlot” became an ancestor of King David and ultimately an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

That should make us stop and think before we make judgments about people. 

This isn’t an argument for ignoring sin or refusing to make biblical judgments

If someone makes a claim and can biblically support it, and they actually know all the facts and circumstances involved, that’s different.

The problem is when we take a little bit of information, fill in the rest according to our own beliefs and assumptions, form an opinion, and then treat that opinion as though we know the truth.

We hear one side. We see one thing happen. We don’t know the circumstances. And yet we reach a conclusion.

But Scripture says:

Proverbs 18:13 (KJV): “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.”

And Proverbs 18:17 says: “He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.”

Before we judge someone’s actions, motives, character, or testimony, perhaps we should stop and ask:  

Do I actually know the whole story?

If we know all the facts and can support our conclusion from Scripture, then we should stand on the truth.  But if all we have is a small piece of information, we should be very careful about what we say.  Because we may be judging a situation we don’t actually understand.

Rahab’s story is a powerful reminder: 

Don’t form a judgment from a few facts when God knows the whole story.