In this series, I am looking at moms from the Bible and what their stories have to teach us about motherhood today. Though the Bible was written over thousands of years, the book of Ecclesiastes tells us that nothing is new under the sun. Basically this means that human nature hasn’t changed, and that the issues people dealt with back then are still the same issues that people deal with today, though they may have a different appearance today. Last time we examined Eve and how she teaches us that our decisions make lasting impact on our lives, the lives of our children, and even beyond our great grand children. Along similar lines, we will see how one decision can positively change our future, regardless of our past. Today, we will look at the life of Rahab and what she has to teach us about motherhood.
Rahab. So… who was she? Well…. to be polite about it, when we are first introduced to her, she was a woman of the night A.K.A. a prostitute. She was also a resident of the city of Jericho in the land of Canaan. She lived independently, at a time when single women lived with their parents until marriage, and her home was located on the city wall. According to All the Women of the Bible, Rahab was an Amonite and Jericho was the most wicked city of the Amonites, which is why God wanted the entire city destroyed (including all the people and all the livestock). You can find her story in Joshua Chapter 1-6.
At the beginning of the book of Joshua, the Israelites have begun to take hold of the land that God had promised Abraham that his decedents would own (Genesis 13:14-17). Forty years prior to this, the Israelites journeyed through the desert (Exodus), like nomads, after leaving Egypt where they had been enslaved for 400 years. I have heard some speculate that they had to wander through the desert for that long so that the generation of people who had a slavery mindset would die off and a new generation of people could rise up who had a free person mindset. Plus, God showed the people his power by feeding them with manna (a bread like substance that would appear on the ground every morning like dew), leading the people by a cloud by day and fire by night, parting the Red Sea and giving them military victory over two powerful kings along the way.
Now Rahab, has heard about these things. In Joshua 2:8-11, she confesses what is being circulated around her town to the two spies from Israel about the power of the Israelite God, the fear rising in the land and that the people were without courage to fight against the Israelites. In Joshua 2:2-7, we also discover that Rahab has just made a radical choice to commit treason against her own nation to side with the nation of Israel. In harboring the Israelite spies, she has risked her own life, if it was found out that she had lied about the spies she would have died right along with them and maybe would have even faced a worse death and been made an example of. She also confesses her belief that the God of the Israelites is the God of heaven and earth, radically breaking with her own cultural upbringing that there were many gods, not just one.
Interestingly enough, we also find out that Rahab cared about her parents and siblings, as well as their families. In Joshua 2:12-14, she pleads for their lives as well as her own in exchange for helping the spies. We don’t know if Rahab had an estranged relationship with her family or not, but either way, she was concerned for their safety. In Joshua 6:22-23, 25 we find out that she and her whole family had been spared when the walls of Jericho fell and when the Israelites entered to follow out the Lord’s judgement against the city they were not harmed.
Rahab exhibited great courage in doing what she did. She did not let her past hinder her from risking her life and pleading for mercy for her and her family. She left her culture and identity behind and chose to be identified with God’s people. But her story doesn’t end there. Rahab goes on to marry into one of the most prominent families in the tribe of Judah. She marries a man name Salmon, who is believed to be one of the spies she hid in her home in Jericho. She also goes on to have children of her own. However, the most exciting thing that we learn about Rahab is that ultimately she is found in the lineage of Jesus. In Matthew 1, the list of Jesus’ earthly ancestors are recorded. Among the list, you will find that Rahab was the great great grandmother of King David, one of the greatest kings in all of Israel’s history and one of the most important Old Testament characters in Christianity.
Not only that but the Apostle Paul records Rahab in Hebrews 11, the “Great Hall of Faith” chapter. She is one of only two women who made it on the list of having great faith! Paul writes, “by faith, Rahab the prostitute received the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed (Hew 11:31).” The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, also mentions Rahab as an example of how faith and action work together. In James 2:25-26, he writes “And in the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, faith without works is dead.”
Rahab’s past did not exclude her from being included in Jesus family tree, just as your past does not exclude you. Rahab’s early life may have been filled with disreputable behavior, yet once she stopped identifying with her past and began identifying with God’s people and His plan for her life, she became an example to look up to and was respected by the people. In Matthew 1, she is not identified as a prostitute in Jesus lineage, though in James and Hebrews she is clearly identified as one. I believe this is because the point is not about Rahab’s past, the point is about God’s great goodness and mercy towards us in spite of our past! If Rahab chose to live in her past, she would have never become included in God’s people, she would have never become the Mother of Kings, she would have died when the walls of Jericho came crashing down.
As moms, we can’t live in our past. We can acknowledge the past, address the issues and hurts that come from our past, but ultimately the present and future decisions we make are more important for our future and families, especially when we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. In Christ, we are a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come. In Christ, God has chosen to not count our past, present, or future sins against us and is committed to reconciling us to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). If God has chosen not to hold our past against us and to see us as clean because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, how much more should we release ourselves from the burden of what we have done in the past?
Moms, it time to stop feeling guilty for our pasts and to give it over to Christ. God is not interested in you having major guilt trips, Romans 2:4 reminds us that God’s kindness is to lead us to repentance. Guilt leads us no where. Repentance, however, leads us to the cross, which ultimately leads us to freedom. And it is freedom that God is more interested in; freedom from your past mistakes, freedom from your own ideas of how you think your life should be or should have turned out, freedom from yourself and others ideas/expectations. Christ has liberated us to be free (Galatians 5:1a). Free to serve one another through love, free to love those in your life as you love yourself (Gal 5:13-14) and free to love God. It is only because of God’s great love for us that we can love others (1 John 4:19-21).
Moms, if you’re walking around feeling guilty all the time about the past, you can not fully be present in the present. Maybe you lost it and yelled at your kids over some little insignificant thing this morning. It is okay, just admit that you made a mistake, apologize, ask for forgiveness, and remind your kids of a reason you love them or are proud of them. If you’re ashamed of your past prior to kids or maybe even your current situation, it’s okay to let a few other people whom you trust know what’s going on. It’s even okay to use your own life as an example for your kids of what not to do. James 5:16 tells us that confessing our sins to one another leads to our healing.
Whatever your past was, it makes no difference to God. He is the redeemer of your past and of mine. All sin is the same before God because all sin leads to separation from Him. He is more concerned with your present and your future. He longs for a close relationship with you and to bring you into his family, just as He did with Rahab. He took Rahab out of prostitution and worship of worthless things and into a honorable life that served the One True God. He did then, He can do it now.
“Don’t be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. “
1 Corinthians 6:10-11 HCSB
The Ruby Blossom 