Unkindness
Rahab was treated unkindly. Feel free to use your imagination to wonder why prostitution ended up becoming her best professional option. And perhaps at what age she began working. Consider the men who used and abused her. Don’t forget the systems and silent neighbors that supported the unkindness.
We should not be surprised, then, that Rahab responded with unkindness—in the form of lying, obstruction of justice, and treason.
Kindness
Rahab reserved her kindness for a couple of foreigners who came to spy on her city. The rumor was that they were from a powerful and threatening nation. What Rahab knew for certain was that they had never done anything unkind towards her—unlike her own people. So she hid and protected them, in hopes that they would show her kindness in return.
As the story goes, the promise of kindness to Rahab was fulfilled—care, protection, loyalty. Perhaps for the first time in her life—kindness.
This story is not a spy adventure. It’s not a proof text that God loves “our people” more than “those people”. It’s a warning that we will reap what we sow, whether kindness or unkindness.