A “NOT SO PERFECT” FAMILY LINE

A "NOT SO PERFECT“ FAMILY LINE

Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse.
Matthew 1:5 - NKJV
 

IImagine a member of one of the clans in Israel showing the family pictures on the wall of his house: “This is grandpa Jacob, he was a farmer, and this is Mary, my wonderful cousin; oh, this is my cute little niece Sarah, and by the way, this is uncle Salmon, he was an eminent patrician, and this is aunt Rahab, his wife, she used to be a prostitute!
This kind of “presentation” doesn’t fit very well with our “acceptable pattern of finesse and nobleness”, but Matthew, the Gospel writer, did not care about these technicalities when perpetuating this important record we read about Jesus’ predecessors. In fact, in that same bloodline recorded by him, we have murderers, idolaters, prostitutes and even a man who burned his own children in sacrifice to the Canaanite god Moloch!
 
Rahab, the courtesan, the woman with a past, is there as well, and not only as part of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ, but she is also present in the Hall of Faith & Fame of the Bible - Hebrews chapter 11. Rahab sheltered and helped the Israelite spies right before Joshua took the city of Jericho. She made an alliance with the People of God, and her life, as well as the life of her whole family, was spared. Later, after the conquest of Jericho, she married Salmon, a nobleman and important leader in Israel. What an honor to the brave Rahab - think about it, whose father-in-law, Nahshon, was the chief leader of the whole Tribe of Judah, the most important tribe in Israel! And what a privilege to Salmon, to be married to such a beautiful person!
 
It’s interesting to note that, today, when someone visits museums, castles and palaces, the portraits and renderings on the majestic walls always try to reflect the bravery, pedigree, royalty and bluebloodness of their ancestry line, even though we can easily find out with little research that, in life, those same characters were many times cruel, unjust, friends of sins, and completely different of what’s been so flawlessly depicted about them.
 
The truth about mankind genealogy is this: sin has made us stained, it’s impregnated all over our lineage, it’s unmistakably cross-breeded in our human heritage, and the tragic result is that we are all but imperfect and desperately in need of the grace of God.
Nevertheless, the good news is life-changing: Jesus Christ came into our chaos to redeem all the Joshuas, Rahabs and Manassehs of this world, He came to remove the stain with His blood, His death on the cross brought curse to our curse, and made us a chosen generation, “a royal priesthood and His own special people”; His sacrifice made possible to transport us all into God’s family again!

Wishing many blessings to you and your family! 
Pastor Joshua