From Prostitute to Patriot

I started reading Matthew and stopped at 1:5. “Salmon son of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.” This means that Rahab was married to Salmon and their son was Boaz. It is well-known that Rahab was a prostitute but, today, it’s Boaz that got my attention.

Boaz was a good man. He’s the one that protected Ruth while she gleaned the fields for her and her mother-in-law, Naomi, to have food. I was thinking what good parents Boaz must have had, and what a loving mother Rahab must have been to Boaz for him to have the heart to protect, and eventually marry, a woman that could easily be exploited (his wife, Ruth).

This takes me back to two other good men, the spies who stayed with Rahab. Because she risked her own life to do what was right by God and help His people, they swore an oath to her that anyone within her house walls would be spared death. Their oath reminds me of the lamb's blood on the door frames in Egypt and how the Angel of Death would pass by and spare anyone in that home from death. For Rahab it was a scarlet cord hanging outside the window. Every single man in the army of God knew her name, knew what she had done for them, and knew to protect the home where the scarlet cord hung. She may have been known in the city as Rahab the Prostitute, but the entire army knew her as "Rahab the Ally to Israel."

I imagined myself as Rahab in the midst of a city takeover. With all of my family and closest friends inside my little "scarlet-colored" barn house, we would watch the fighting from the windows. Even though we were promised not to be killed, I’d be scared, the children would be scared, the adults would be quiet and wondering when it would be over. Then when all got still, a band of bloodied soldiers would gently knock on the door and escort my entire household into their camp. They would guard us, protect us, and make us a part of their family of God. I would never be looked at again as a prostitute, only forever to be known as a great patriot of the Lord.

Rahab had no idea she would be a mother, a grandmother, nor could she have ever imagined that 1400+ years later she would be listed BY NAME in the lineage of Jesus Christ the Messiah, by a tax collector named Matthew.

Then 2000+ years after that, she would still be inspiring women like me to let go of who they once were and accept the invitation into the family, the kingdom, of God.

From Rahab to Boaz to Obed to Jesse to King David. From King David to King Solomon and allllll the way down to Joseph and Mary came Jesus. He’s called the Son of Man, the Lion and the Lamb, He’s the one who died, the one who arose, and the one who never died again. He’s the only one coming back to get His people.

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, our creator, and our final destination, but by Him. Make sure His scarlet cord is covering your soul when He gets here.

- Shauna

Revelation 19:11-16 NKJV

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.