God Honors a Former Prostitute

Rahab, the prostitute, was a woman with a past, but her past life and pagan culture crumbled when the walls of her hometown, Jericho, came tumbling down (Joshua 2 & 6).  

When Rahab chose to follow the true and living God, her whole identity changed. And hundreds of years after she died, God's Word records her as part of the genealogy of Christ. Rahab was the mother of Boaz (Ruth's godly husband), grandmother of King David!* (Matthew 1:1-17, verse 5)

Rahab was not only in the spiritual bloodline of Christ, but the human bloodline! 

Women were rarely mentioned in genealogies, but God wanted us to know that He is not ashamed to have this former prostitute in His family tree!

 

He wanted us to know that no matter what we've done, we can come to Him and join His family. We may not have lived an immoral life like Rahab, but without Christ all of us are living in darkness.

 

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” Ephesians 5:8

 

I believe God also wanted us to know that despite our background, He has special purposes for all of us.

 

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 

Rahab is part of God's family tree, and if you know Jesus, you are too!

 

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To read about another woman in the Bible who became a Christian despite being raised in a pagan culture, see  A Story of a Pagan Culture and "Impossible" Odds and Be Prepared: What About People Who Never Hear the Gospel?
 

* Since the type of genealogy used in Matthew uses "mother" and “father” loosely, skipping some generations, it's possible Rahab was a grandmother of Boaz. 

  

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