Scarlet Woman
Recently I found myself launched into a season of divine speed as pertains to writing. The story is long but to summarise, God once again asked me very clearly to wake up at 4 am and start writing. If you missed that particular dramatic saga, you can catch snippets here - Time Management 101 . I tell you, when I saw that instruction pop up again, I grumbled very loudly and audibly - not just in my spirit! I felt that I would be overwhelmed because the first time around had been fairly brutal on this night owl. Sitting on my bed staring at the journal entry to which the Holy Spirit had led me, I wondered if I could possibly act like I had not in fact seen what God was clearly asking me to do - could you imagine?! Mercifully, this time around, my Father did not mean literally wake up at 4 am. He gave me the gift of time, and along with that came supernatural speed and divine inspiration. Whereas before I had been thrilled if I wrote 12 posts a month, I was now typing up 12 posts a week - and the content just kept coming!
A few days ago, while typing up a prayer in my “Prayers for your future husband” series, I came across the eye-brow raising script in Proverbs 7 that warns of the snare of an immoral woman. The drama is narrated in quite a comical manner. A wise old sage, peering out the window, looking through the curtain, spots a group of naïve young men and one in particular who lacks common sense. This senseless young chap falls prey to the seductive charms of the immoral woman, like a stag caught in a trap, little knowing it will cost him his life. The scripture ominously warns us “for her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death.” I read it three times and jotted down an idea for a blog post on the spot :”The Scarlet woman” I titled it, thinking for sure I would write about the perils of an immoral woman.
Little did I know the Holy Spirit, under whose inspiration I am writing, had other ideas! That night, during my Quiet Time, He led me to the story of Rahab. For anyone who has never heard the narrative, Rahab was a woman of the night, a woman who sold her body for a living. In short, she was a prostitute. She lived in Jericho, the land God had promised the Israelites, and when Joshua sent out two spies to scout the land, she hid them up in the roof of her house beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.
In Joshua 2 : 9 - 11, Rahab says to the spies, “I know the Lord has given you this land. We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” She then makes the spies swear that when Jericho is conquered they will save the lives of her family members.
Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions. When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house. “I accept your terms,” she replied. [Joshua 2 : 17 -18] … And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window. [Joshua 2 : 21]
Isn’t it so ironic that the scarlet woman, scorned by society for all intents and purposes, by lowering her scarlet rope became the redeemer of her people? By her faith and acknowledgement that the God of Israel is the one true God, by understanding the time and the season, her actions saved the lives of the people connected to her : her father, mother, brothers and sisters and all their families. And isn’t it so profound that when Jericho was conquered, she herself by her actions became a conqueror of certain death?
But God didn’t stop there, not our God who is Himself love. He blessed Rahab immensely! She didn’t just go down in the books of history as an immoral woman who saved her people, no. Rahab, this red woman, somehow came into a lineage of royal pedigree ! In the same way that by her faith and actions she redeemed her family; she in turn was redeemed by God. We are told Rahab married a man named Salmon and she bore him a child named Boaz. Yes, Boaz - he of the infamous Ruth and Boaz bible story - was the son of Rahab! In Matthew 1 : 3, scripture records that “Salmon was the father of Boaz, (whose mother was Rahab).
God Himself by His love redeemed Rahab, and she in turn bore a worthy redeemer. In the book of Ruth, Boaz is repeatedly referred to as one of the family redeemers. Lying down at his feet at the threshing floor, Ruth tells him “I am your servant Ruth. Spread the corner of your covering over me for you are my family redeemer.” Despite the fact that another man had first right by virtue of being a closer relative to Naomi, ultimately it is Boaz who redeems the loving and faithful Moabite woman. She goes on to bear him a son Obed, who became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of the mighty King David!
Some may have considered that blessing enough, but God wasn’t done! In Matthew 1 , the Apostle Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah. He chronicles generations of ancestors starting from Abraham, following the lineage to Salmon, Rahab and Boaz, going through Kings David and Solomon, down to Josiah and Zerubbabel, even further down to Jacob and Joseph, finally landing at Jesus the Messiah - our ultimate redeemer. As Ephesians 1 : 7 tells us “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Look at God!
In earthly terms one might say, Rahab married very well indeed! In spiritual terms I would say God honoured her in the way only He could; by blessing her beyond what mind could ever fathom and making her name known for generations to come. Through her bloodline came David, King of Israel a man after God’s own heart. Through her lineage came Jesus, our saviour , Yeshua Hamashiach - our Messiah. Rahab not only goes down in history for assisting the Israelites in capturing the city of Jericho, she is also celebrated in the book of James 2 : 25 as someone whom God counted as righteous. Speaking to the importance of partnering faith with good deeds, the scripture says “Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.”
The story of Rahab the red woman is a tale of redemption; God’s redemptive love. Woman, God often uses the most unlikely people to accomplish His purpose. It doesn’t matter what your past looks like, it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from. By His stripes you are healed, by His blood you are sanctified. Because you have now acknowledged Him as the Supreme God, your faith coupled with your actions has set you free. Jesus wants you to know, He is the same Jesus who cancelled the debt of the sinful woman with the alabaster jar; she who anointed his feet with tears and perfume (Luke 7 :37 &38) . “Your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you, go in peace” Jesus told her. He is the same Jesus who saved the Samaritan woman at the well who had had five husbands (John 4). In a similar manner, as far as your story is concerned - no matter what the past holds, let it go for it is settled. Old things are passed away and you have stepped into your new.
Woman, thou art loosed!