As I prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, I wonder how many are aware that the Bible traces his lineage from Joseph all the way back to Abraham, encompassing over 2,000 years.
Of particular note is Jesus’ ancestor Rahab.
In the Old Testament book of “Joshua,” God shows Joshua the land he promised to the Israelites, including Jericho. Joshua sends two spies to Jericho to look over the land. They end up lodging at Rahab the harlot’s house. When word gets back to the King of Jericho that two Israeli spies are lodging at Rahab’s, he sends men to Rahab requesting she turn over the spies. She tells the King’s men that the Israelites have already left, but she’s actually hidden them. The King’s men take off in hot pursuit of the spies.
Rahab then turns to the Israelites and tells them she has heard of their God who dried up the Red Sea for them to cross over and escape Pharoah’s army who had them cornered, among other great feats. She continues in Joshua 2:11-12: “…for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you….” The Israelites agree to spare her life and the life of her family if she doesn’t tell anyone about them and what they were doing. They instruct her to tie a scarlet rope outside her window, so that when they return to take the land, they will see the rope and all within will be spared. And so it happened just as they promised.
Rahab, the former harlot, now a believer in the God of the Israelites, ends up marrying one of the Israelites named Salmon. They have a son named Boaz, a main character in the Old Testament book of “Ruth.” Boaz marries Ruth and they have a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse. Jesse becomes the father of King David, the notable biblical character who God describes as a man after his own heart.
Because Rahab heard and believed that the Israelites’ God was the one true God, had the courage to spare the lives of the spies and follow their orders, she is transformed from Rahab the harlot to Rahab, the great-great-grandmother of King David. She became a hero for saving the Israeli spies, a “superstar” that helped shape the course of Israeli history. Her lineage, courage, faith and actions are mentioned in the New Testament three times.
Like Rahab, once we turn to Christ, God forgets our past. How much more should we do the same for ourselves and others.
Luke 19:10 says, “For the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” We too are to be like Christ, seeking and saving those who are lost, so that God can rewrite their story. I’m so glad he rewrote mine.
Mary Therese Hutchinson 