Rahab's family life

Sunday’s sermon did not do much speculating about Rahab’s life, but then the text of scripture does little speculating. However, it is kind of fascinating to think about family dynamics with a prostitute as a daughter. The text does use the word for “normal” prostitute as opposed to an official temple prostitute. To give you an idea about the general disposition of these fiercely independent types, I read an article written about the profession of prostitution in the Netherlands. The article said that those involved in prostitution were petitioning the government for official legal status. So I guess that means the profession was already legal as in, “look the other way” legal. Apparently the government did give them official legal status, but the ladies and gentlemen of the night were dismayed to find out that legal status carried more liabilities than it did benefits. They found that they were now required to pay income tax. Interestingly enough they immediately began to repetition the government to un-legalize their status since they didn’t want to have anything to do with paying taxes. That gives you a sense of the kind of person who would be in the “normal” profession of prostitution instead of the legal temple kind.

My guess is that due to this nature, Rahab was aware of everyone coming into and out of Jericho. And that this was not the first time someone rappelled down the wall outside of her house chased perhaps by an irate wife instead of a panic stricken king. Rahab knew fake love inside and out, which gave her great discernment when she saw true love from the God of heaven to His people.

Jim Martinson observed the intrigue of Rahab bringing her whole extended family along. Prostitutes are not known for having good relationships with their families and one wonders if this change in Rahab included a renewed relationship with her family as well. What is clear from scripture is that Rahab turned from the life of prostitution to a life of wife & mother, giving birth to the next one in the line of Jesus the Messiah.

Some time ago a lady came into my office wanting to ask me a serious question. She admitted to me that she was a professional escort, or in common terms, a prostitute. Then she asked me a very interesting question, “Is there any forgiveness for a woman such as me?” What she meant by that question was first she was tired of living with the guilt, and second she wanted to know if the consequences would follow her forever. Because of Rahab I was able to respond with a sincere “absolutely.”

Uncle Leroy and the Family Tree

And then there was uncle Leroy. He was the family black sheep, the family secret. He would call when he was drunk late in the night, after the alcohol made him feel guilty or homesick or just plain sick. We never talked about uncle Leroy much he was that blot on the family tree. In the gospel of Matthew, we see the blots on Jesus family tree. Normally one skips over the scandalous, and shameful limbs on the family tree, to highlight the noble and famous branches. The gospel of Matthew hangs it all out there for the world to see. Which makes me wonder did Jesus speak of his ancestors? Was he the one who parading them through his teaching for all of his followers to see? And if this is so, why might Jesus have drawn attention to the, less than savory characters in his genealogy?

I can think of a couple of reasons. Who would have greater reason than Jesus to point out how the gospel, before it was even articulated as the gospel, changed the lives of obviously flawed people, like Jacob or Judah or Rahab? Can you imagine sitting on the grass while this important Rabbi tells the story of a woman who fools her father-in-law into thinking she is a prostitute and then has his baby (Tamar in Genesis 38) and then the rabbi says, “I’m a direct descendant of that woman”? He would, of course, have told “the rest of the story” about how she preserved the line of David even when David’s forefather Judah had no interest in preserving his own line.

I can see how Jesus would want to point out how God was already blessing the nations directly through the seed of Abraham by bringing several of them into the Messianic family tree, like Rahab and Ruth. For the snooty and uppity Jesus was very clear about his family and proud of them because they came into the Kingdom, not by entitlement but by faith. I can see how Jesus might want to point out how life with God was lived by faith in the desperate days just as they were called to live by faith in the present day.

It’s not such a bad thing to have an uncle Leroy in the family. It reminds us that we all just as easily be in his place or ours. Perhaps we are the uncle Leroy of the family it is wonderful to know that Jesus opens his arms wide to both those who are way up in the family tree or way out on a limb.