Saturday, April 1, 2017

The Life and Legacy of a Sinful Past and a Scarlet Rope

Unlikely as it may be, one of my favorite people in the Bible is Rahab. She was spunky, discerning, and brave...and a prostitute.

Let's recap her story briefly.

Rahab was a prostitute in the outskirts of a city called Jericho. It was a strong, fortified city, but she'd heard the Hebrews were coming - whose God had saved them from slavery in Egypt, parted the Red Sea for them, and sustained them in the desert - and she knew they were destined to conquer.

She helped the Hebrew spies sent to scout out the city hide and escape capture, but in return, asked them to save her and her family - her mother, father, sisters, and brothers - when they took the city. The spies agreed, and the same scarlet rope by which they escaped would serve as a signal to allow THAT home to remain unharmed.

A scarlet rope was the sign of her deliverance, much like the scarlet lambs' blood that marked the doorways of the Hebrews when the plague of the first born swept through Egypt...or the blood of Jesus that covers believers and marks them as His own.

Before they took the city, each day for six days, the horns would blow, and the Israelite army would march around that wall in silence...and each day for six days, they would see the scarlet rope...and the spies and Joshua would remember Rahab.

But on the seventh day...the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times, and the horns blew, and the men raised up a triumphant shout, and the walls of Jericho fell! And Joshua sent the two spies in to take Rahab and all who belonged to her to safety...and here's where it gets interesting:

However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute,
her father's household, and all who belonged to her,
because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho,
and she lives in Israel to this day.
Joshua 6:25

And this could have been where the story ended: "And Rahab and her family stayed with the Israelites, and they lived happily ever after." But our God...

Our God doesn't just save, He REDEEMS.

When He saved Rahab, she had an encounter with God, and it forever changed her life and her legacy.

How do I know?

Because in a little book of the Bible called Ruth, we read about every godly woman's dream: Boaz. An honorable and righteous, man, full of kindness and integrity. Ruth was a widow and a foreigner in their land, and he redeemed her and married her. He was her knight and shining armor.

And this godly man, Boaz, was the son of Rahab, the prostitute and her husband, Salmon.

And then, Salmon fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David: the young shepherd boy who would become king and a man after God's own heart.

David's grandmother was a widow and a foreigner, and his great-grandmother was a courageous prostitute. And from these women, through the line of David, an unlikely shepherd boy, would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world.

And oh the tears that flow when I think about this because, I don't know about you, but I have a past, and some of it is dirty and ugly and makes me feel unworthy of the calling I've received.

But like Rahab and Ruth before me, my God has redeemed the broken places, and called me His own, and I am grateful because He says I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and has placed me in exactly the place I am to do exactly what I'm doing. And I am grateful.

This morning, the Bible app's verse of the day was Psalm 145:18:

The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
to all who call on Him in truth.

It's an unlikely verse to make me think of Rahab, for sure. But this is her story and mine.

God calls me to draw near to Him with complete honesty and sincerity. He knows every sin I've ever committed and all those coming down the pike, and yet He calls me chosen, He calls me beloved, He draws near to me.

Praise be to God!

What holds you hostage in shame? What part of your past keeps you from moving forward?

Come close and I'll whisper a secret...*it doesn't matter*

It's all paid for. If you believe Jesus loves you, died for your sins, and give Him the reins of your life, there is nothing in the world that condemns you.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation
because the law of life in Christ Jesus
has set us free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2.

Like the scarlet rope that signified Rahab's deliverance, the blood of Jesus marks you as FREE, but your life is worth more than just to be saved from the fire.

Because Jesus didn't just die. He was raised from the dead, and like Him, from the ashes of your former life, God can create a NEW life for you, and a legacy of redemption for generations to come!

Draw near to Him in truth, and He will draw near to you, and He will do infinitely more in your life than you could ever ask or imagine. That's Rahab's story. It's my story. And it can be your story, too.