The stories in the Old Testament are some of the most
interesting the world has ever known. The people described are so treacherous,
evil, thieving, jealous, hateful and selfish, you would think they were our
contemporaries.
The truth is that sin is in everyone’s heart. Different ages and cultures, rather than revealing how different we all are, show instead how much we’re the same. The ancients were no better than us, and we are certainly no better than them. The constant for mankind since the day Adam fell is spiritual death, which causes a relentless search for fulfillment and meaning.
Another thing we see through these narratives is that God proudly displays His purposes in sinful people.
When the Israelites in the book of Joshua wanted to defeat Jericho, the center of idol worship of its day, they sent some spies to check things out. The men were discovered and hid in the house of a harlot, a prostitute, a hooker if you like. The woman’s name was Rahab. She risked her life to save them and asked in return that she and her family be spared from the destruction to come. She said, " Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me [c]a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” Joshua 2:8-13. The spies agreed and she was saved. She and her family, Canaanites all, integrated into the nation of Israel. This woman of disrepute became a believer in the Lord. She was accepted as part of the redeemed of God.
Rahab even got married to an Israelite by the name of Salmon. That fact would just be a small part of history were not the son of Rahab a man named Boaz who married a Moabite convert named Ruth. Why is that important? Ruth and Boaz had a son named Obed who was the grandfather of famous King David. The Messiah would be born from one of David’s descendants.
Some may ask, “How could it be that the lineage to Jesus would be through people so tainted by sin?” The very point of the Bible is to show how redemption is only possible through the saving work of grace. One common denominator with every person involved in Jesus’ line is that they were sinners. Everyone is not just tainted by sin but totally depraved by it.
In the business I used to work in we are called to replace drainage systems below floors in basements. The stones and pipes get “mudded up” over time with sediment and eventually clogs the system. Often when I recommend to the customer that our company needs to remove and replace the system with all new components they say, “No that costs too much, just replace that parts that are leaking water now.” In this case the problem is that even the areas we replace will eventually clog again because they are connected to the parts contaminated with mud. That same mud will eventually pollute the new system because the source of the problem has not been removed. Man in his natural state is completely hopeless and destined to failure without the loving actions of God.
Rahab’s life is a picture of how God saves us, includes us and uses us for His divine purpose in Grace. Why would Matthew mention not just that Boaz was one of Jesus direct ancestors but that Boaz’s mother was Rahab, if it were not to make the point that all who come to Him by faith are accepted?
This is why Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”
The constant nature of man is sin and failure, but the eternal nature of God is love, forgiveness, redemption and inclusion into His family.
The truth is that sin is in everyone’s heart. Different ages and cultures, rather than revealing how different we all are, show instead how much we’re the same. The ancients were no better than us, and we are certainly no better than them. The constant for mankind since the day Adam fell is spiritual death, which causes a relentless search for fulfillment and meaning.
Another thing we see through these narratives is that God proudly displays His purposes in sinful people.
When the Israelites in the book of Joshua wanted to defeat Jericho, the center of idol worship of its day, they sent some spies to check things out. The men were discovered and hid in the house of a harlot, a prostitute, a hooker if you like. The woman’s name was Rahab. She risked her life to save them and asked in return that she and her family be spared from the destruction to come. She said, " Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me [c]a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” Joshua 2:8-13. The spies agreed and she was saved. She and her family, Canaanites all, integrated into the nation of Israel. This woman of disrepute became a believer in the Lord. She was accepted as part of the redeemed of God.
Rahab even got married to an Israelite by the name of Salmon. That fact would just be a small part of history were not the son of Rahab a man named Boaz who married a Moabite convert named Ruth. Why is that important? Ruth and Boaz had a son named Obed who was the grandfather of famous King David. The Messiah would be born from one of David’s descendants.
Some may ask, “How could it be that the lineage to Jesus would be through people so tainted by sin?” The very point of the Bible is to show how redemption is only possible through the saving work of grace. One common denominator with every person involved in Jesus’ line is that they were sinners. Everyone is not just tainted by sin but totally depraved by it.
In the business I used to work in we are called to replace drainage systems below floors in basements. The stones and pipes get “mudded up” over time with sediment and eventually clogs the system. Often when I recommend to the customer that our company needs to remove and replace the system with all new components they say, “No that costs too much, just replace that parts that are leaking water now.” In this case the problem is that even the areas we replace will eventually clog again because they are connected to the parts contaminated with mud. That same mud will eventually pollute the new system because the source of the problem has not been removed. Man in his natural state is completely hopeless and destined to failure without the loving actions of God.
Rahab’s life is a picture of how God saves us, includes us and uses us for His divine purpose in Grace. Why would Matthew mention not just that Boaz was one of Jesus direct ancestors but that Boaz’s mother was Rahab, if it were not to make the point that all who come to Him by faith are accepted?
This is why Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”
The constant nature of man is sin and failure, but the eternal nature of God is love, forgiveness, redemption and inclusion into His family.
