Legend Post #10 -- Rahab (Guest Post by Wynter Croix)

Since I'm still waiting for an approved picture from Wynter, I'll introduce her in another post. But for now, I'm tired of waiting to post this.

~*~

 

Salmon, the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.

Boaz, the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth.

Obed, the father of Jesse.

And Jesse, the father of King David.

                                                                                ~Matthew 1:5 The Genealogy of Jesus

                At the beginning of the summer, my mother plopped an

intense, twelve week discipleship course called Godly Character

by Vinnie Carafano in front of me. I’d known it was coming for a

month or two, and had picked out who was to be my mentor –

Lindsey, my voice teacher and brand new mommy to baby Eli-, but

that was in May.

I panicked.

                I love being a Christian. I love Jesus Christ, I love

praising Him, and I love my faith with every fiber of my being.

There’s nothing like popping in my Casting Crowns CD or turning

on K-LOVE and singing along, my way of prayer. Or just talking

to God while I clean my room or walk down the little back roads

around my house.

But I am so not a Bible reader.

                This is… less than desirable. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes

I feel the urge to open that really, REALLY big, INTIMIDATING

book and just read. But I also have the urge for structure.

Chaos is cool, if I have structure to go along with it. I’d had

no idea where to begin reading. To me, that was utter chaos.

                Godly Character begins with the New Testament. (There’s the

structure I was looking for!) I opened my book to Matthew and

started reading, prepared to (I’ll be honest) completely skim

over Jesus’s genealogy.

Until I saw the name Rahab.

                Back in the winter, when I actually had time to read, I

came across a book in a mega-church library called Pearl in the

Sand by Tessa Afshar. It was the love story of Rahab, the

prostitute who had been saved because of her faith, and Salmon,

leader of the tribe of Judah. I loved the book. Girls out there,

if you’re fluffy like myself, and love Biblical love stories, go

for this book.

                At the end of the book (No spoilers! I promise!) they

mention Boaz, Rahab and Salmon’s first son and later, husband of

Ruth. When I first finished that lovely piece of romantic

literature, it didn’t quite register. Until I read the first page of Matthew months and months later.

Jesus’s ancestor was a Canaanite prostitute.

                  Ms. Afshar provides some insight to what might have been

Rahab’s past and historical truth. In Jericho and other

Canaanite cities, many fathers sold their daughters into

prostitution when times were rough. Whatever money the daughter

made, a portion of it was given to the family. Sometimes, this

situation was considered an honor. This easily could have been

our heroine’s story.

                The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly how Rahab’s faith came

about. We just know that this was a faith we all should admire

and strive for. She risked her life for two men, whom she had

just met, hid them in her inn, and asked that they spare her.

How could she have done that without faith? For all she knew,

those men could be lying. They would forget about her. Her faith

kept her strong. God showed himself to a prostitute, a Canaanite

prostitute.

And she was richly rewarded. After Jericho was demolished,

Rahab and her family were accepted by the Israelites, and she

became an ancestor of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Let’s switch to Salmon, her husband for a sec. This guy was

the leader of the tribe of Judah. Yet, he married Rahab, whom

everyone knew was a famous prostitute in Jericho. This wasn’t a

marriage to gain wealth. This wasn’t arranged. This marriage

wasn’t for political power. This was love. An unconditional

love. Why else would a great leader, a friend of Joshua, a

commander in the Israelite army, marry a former prostitute? 

Salmon was deeply in love with this woman. 

This wasn’t just love, it was grace. God’s grace long

before Jesus came into the world. The Israelites had incredibly

strict rules about who they associated with, what they touched,

and who touched what they touched.

We think of the God of the Old Testament as strict and

angry and jealous, sometimes forgetting He’s more than just

hellfire and instead, filled with fiery love. Rahab was His

child, just like Salmon was, like Joshua was. And He loved her,

as He did His chosen people. This broken woman was indeed a

pearl in the sand, a lost treasure.

We’re all sort of like that, lost treasure. Pearls in the

sand of the world. Like Rahab, the sand around may be deep and

thick, and it takes drastic measure to dig us out. Some are

blessed with wind to carry away the light grains, allowing them

to be revealed in the sunlight.

We’re all pearls. We’re all in different sand. But it takes

a loving God and his gentle touch to show us there is more than

just sand. It won’t always be a Salmon, or spies, or the

freaking tumbling down of Jericho. But He’s there. He’s digging

us out, even if we sink deeper.

We’re not just any pearls, we’re His pearls.

                ~*~

Dia duit,
~Penny