What does your past whisper
to you? Do you ever have any of those nagging thoughts?
- Shame - “If they only knew the truth about me?”
- Regret – “Oh, if only I hadn’t, or had done …”
- Condemnation – “I’ll never be good enough.”
- Discouragement – “It’s not even worth trying anymore.”
These whispers could be from
choices you made years ago, or yesterday. And if you are like many women whose
past haunts them then you need to meet Rahab, for Rahab was a
Canaanite women, and a prostitute, who ends up in Jesus’ family tree! (Matthew 1:5)
Rahab’s story begins
in the Book of Joshua, chapter 2. After wandering for 40 years,
The fact that Rahab was a
prostitute made it easy for these men to enter her home without bringing
attention to them, but they were noticed, and when
That night, as the two
spies were safely hidden on her roof, Rahab makes a bold claim and request
before the men head back to their camp,
“I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great
fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are
melting in fear because of you. 10 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 Sihon and Og, the
two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely
destroyed. 11 When
we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage
failed because of you, for the Lord your
God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
12 “Now then,
please swear to me by the Lord that
you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you.
Give me a sure sign 13 that you
will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all
who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” (Joshua 2:9-13)
The spies promise to protect
Rahab and gave her a scarlet cord to hang from her window, promising all inside
her home would be kept safe.
Rahab kept the scarlet cord
hanging from the window of her home, and on the seventh day, when the army
advanced once more and marched seven times around
“So the young spies went in
and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, and brothers—everyone connected with
her. They got the whole family out and gave them a place outside the camp of
But God didn’t leave Rahab outside the camp!
- A man named Salmon, (I like to think he was one
of the two spies, but we can’t know for sure) married Rahab and together
they had
- Boaz, who married Ruth the Moabite (we’ll be
studying her story next week) and together they had,
- Obed who fathered,
- Jesse, who fathered,
- David, (Matthew 1:5)
- Which means God added Rahab, a Gentile and prostitute of Jesus’ family tree.
There are at least three truths I have found in Rehab’s story:
1.
God loves people with a past.
We don’t
know what drove Rahab into a life of prostitution. Perhaps she had experienced
deep brokenness or childhood trauma. Her past may have been one of pain,
rejection or abuse that left her feeling trapped by shame.
The
truth is however, we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23),
and the good news is that no matter what our past holds, it is the reason Jesus
came to earth. Therefore, none of our pasts are ever good enough to earn God’s
salvation, or bad enough to keep us from His gift of eternal life!
2. God uses people with a past.
_God used
Rahab, in spite of her past, to conquer the Promised Land, _God used Rahab to not
only save the spies, but her family as well.
_God used
Rahab to shape her son’s character so that he would one day go on to rescue a
young Moabite widow and her mother in law.
The Truth
is we all have a past, and our enemy will use it to try to keep us from
fulfilling God’s destiny for us! What has
he been whispering in your ear that may be keeping you from allowing God use
you?
We all have a past, but it is what we
do with that past that will make all the difference in your life and others.
3.
God redefines people’s past. (I think this is my favorite)
When Scripture
refers to Rahab, she is almost always referred to as, “Rahab the harlot” except in Matthew’s
genealogy. Matthew calls her “Rahab, mother of Boaz”.
Rahab went
from:
·
A fallen
woman to chosen,
·
An
enemy of God’s people to one of the royal family
·
A prostitute
to a bride and mother
If Rahab could leave us with one
message, I think it would be; If we are in Christ Jesus we too are a new
creation!
Let us take those whispers Satan so
craftily tries to use to discourage us and let’s find the truths in God Word to
shoot them down! I’ve shared a few to get you started and I hope you’ll keep
adding to the list!
Shame: There is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus… (Romans 8:1)
Sin: If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:19)
Hopelessness:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he
has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)
Bondage:
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now
a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36)
Fear: There
is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear… (1 John 4:18)
Rejection:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)
Blessings,
sue