God's People: Rahab

Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.” But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.” She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” The men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.” ~ Joshua 2:1-14

Rahab is one of the inconvenient women of the Bible when we try to look at the Bible to address our conceptions of morality.

She was a prostitute. Let that sink in. Really sink in.

There has been a tendency by some Christians to try to whitewash her career. Maybe she was simply an innkeeper, or a concubine.

But most likely she was exactly what the text says. A prostitute. 

What is most remarkable about Rahab - and likely this is why some wish to sweep her career under the carpet - is that she shows up another time in the New Testament.

In Matthew's genealogy of Jesus.

She isn't the only woman with a questionable past to show up there. So do Tamar and Bathsheba, both of whom had scandalous histories, as well as Ruth, an alien to the Israelites.

Imagine the most scandalous or outcast women you can think of. That would be like some of Jesus' female ancestors.

Like Tamar, Ruth, and Bathsheba, Rahab was smart. She was a survivor. She knew which way the wind was blowing.

And she also know enough to trust the stories she had heard of the God of Israel. So she took a gamble and ended up being one of the many great-grandmothers of Jesus.

So who was she really? What name do we assign her? Prostitute?

What names are we known for that we wish we could overcome? Cheat? Liar? Philanderer? Alcoholic? Depressive? Victim? Bully? Spendthrift? Loner?

Do we let those define us?

Like Rahab (and for that matter, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, etc), we are more than our negative traits. We are more than our brokenness. More than our sin.

Matthew including Rahab in Jesus' genealogy is a sign that there is nothing the Messiah of his gospel cannot overcome: that all the past will be wiped clear.

That our own courage can come even when it feels as if our brokenness is overwhelming. 

Even when the brokenness of others is overwhelming (or even simply annoying!)

A God who includes a prostitute in his own family tree is one that can overcome anything and can name anyone "Child of God," even those we find the least deserving ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, help me to know my name: Child of God, and to shed the negative names I give myself. And help me to do that with others as well. Amen.

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