“Rahab: A Woman of Faith”
Read: Matthew 1:1-17, Joshua 2:1-14
- Because of her profession, Rahab, a Canaanite woman, was always identified as a harlot.
- Because of her expressed faith in a forgiving and merciful God, Rahab became a heroine to her family, the first Gentile to be welcomed into God’s family, and one of the mothers in the lineage of Jesus.
- Even though she was a Gentile, the writer of Hebrews included Rahab in the Hebrew Hall of Faith, identifying her as the woman who did not perish, like those who were disobedient.
- Even though she worked as a prostitute and lied to the king’s messengers, James, the half-brother of Jesus, said Rahab was “justified by her works when she received the messengers and sent them another way.” Hebrews 11:31
The reason the story of Rahab is in the Scriptures is to show us that God delights to display the glory of His grace and the wonders of His love to and through the least likely candidates.
- No one is beyond the reach or the grip of God’s grace.
- God pleasures in redeeming those the world considers beyond redemption.
|
The New Testament lists two genealogies of Jesus.
|