Reputable Rehab?

Introduction

(Show 1st time reunion video) This is by far the most well-known and popular type of stories with 23andme results. Long-lost relatives meeting for the first time. Family members longing to find their long lost family. However there is another side of this coin. Just as some people long to find the long lost family members in their lineage, others were ashamed of family members, and they longed to hide them.

Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon were the first cousins of Queen Elizabeth. By all rights these 2 women should have enjoyed the lifestyle that comes with being born into the royal family. However these 2 sisters shared a developmental disability which rendered them with the mental capacity of a 3 year old. Neither sister was able to speak. The Royal family feared shame and ridicule, so the 2 sisters were hidden from the public eye. They were hidden in a run-down asylum, where they would live out their days.

Rosemary Kennedy was the sister of John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy. However she would never know the fame and high regard which her brothers came to know. Rosemary was prone to fits of rage, and lived a lifestyle the Kennedy family feared would bring shame to their name. Unable to control Rosemary, the Kennedy family resolved to have Rosemary undergo a trans-orbital lobotomy. The procedure did not go well. Rosemary was left with little to no mental capacity.

Some people are ashamed of the life choices, or life circumstances of some of their family members. They would go to great lengths to distance themselves from the people who should be considered family.

Today we are talking about the lineage of another royal family, the most important royal family in history. This is of course, the lineage of David. We find this lineage in Matthew 1:1-5

Matthew 1:1–5 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

The main character in today’s story is one that most royal families would desire to distance themselves from and hide. However the lineage of David makes no attempt to hide her. You can go as far as to say the scripture embraces her. She is embraced as being part of the family of Jesus. Today we are talking about Rehab the prostitute. We can find the story of Joshua chapter 2

Joshua 2:1 ESV

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.

This is a tense and uncertain time for the people of Israel. Moses was now dead, and Joshua was now appointed to lead Israel. The people in position to begin their conquest of Canaan, however one major objective stands in their way. Jericho.

Before the conquest begins in earnest, Joshua sends 2 men to do some reconnaissance work. The spies enter the city, and suddenly seem to find themselves in the bad part of town.

I once was part of a mission team that worked in a neighborhood in Philadelphia known as Kensington. This is the most violent precinct in the city. When we entered the city of Philadelphia we were greeted by well manicured houses in well let neighborhoods. Spirits were high, people were singing along with the radio. However as the houses went from well manicured to run down, people started to get quiet. When the street lights become dimmer and more scarce, the mood becomes tense and concerned. It was clear we were out of our element, and far outside our comfort zone.

Have you ever been in a situation like this? Have you ever felt what it was like to be in an unfamiliar place and uncomfortable place? It’s really easy to feel small, outnumbered, and alone. In these moments, you desperately need an ally

This is the situation where the Hebrew spies currently found themselves. They were in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable place. Making matters worse it seems the people of Jericho were looking for the spies. However the spies were about to find their ally. They entered the home of Rehab, who was a prostitute.

Rehab

It would be easy for us to believe that Rehab found herself as a prostitute as a result of bad choices. However in reality Rehab was mostly likely a prostitute because of life circumstances.

This isn’t a profession anyone dreams of having. Any woman who finds herself in prostitution has led a difficult life where they either experienced great loss, great trauma, or betrayal. Perhaps it's’ all three. In either case Rehab’s life has been really hard. Rehab likely didn’t have any who loved her, or cared for her well being. Rehab at best as simply an object, at worse she was the subject of hate and ridicule.

Remember back to our story last week. With one act of prostitution where she deceived her way back into Judah’s family line, she avoided a lifetime of prostitution.

However Rehab’s life would change when 2 Hebrew spies dwelled and lodged in her home.

However the people of Jericho were alerted, as they saw the men enter her home. Soldiers entered her home, looking for the men.

Rehab was no doubt fearful. She could have given into that fear and handed the spies over at that moment. However rehab makes another decision, one which redefines her entire life.

Joshua 2:2–14 ESV

And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

Rather than give in to her fear, Rehab makes a decision in faith. Rehab hides the spies on the roof of her home. She tells the king's soldiers the spies fled the city just before the gates were closed. Rehab added to the story by saying, if you hurry you might catch them! Little did the soldiers know, Rehab was hiding the spies in her home.

Why did Rehab make this choice? Rehab could see the writing on the wall. She knew that God was giving the city into the hands of the Hebrews. According to Rehab, many others in the city realized this as well.

However Rehab was the only one to act. She made the soldiers swear that God would spare her family. While speaking with the soldiers Rehab made this confession “The God of Israel was the God of heavens and earth.”

Rehab and her family would be spared the destruction of Jericho. Eventually she would live among the people of Israel. Rehab would have a son with a man named Salmon, who was a direct descendant of Abraham. Their son would be named Boaz, who will eventually marry a woman named Ruth.

Even as early as the book of Joshua, God was making the purpose of the gospel of Jesus known. The story of Rehab teaches us that through faith we are family.

Rehab is not defined by being a prostitute. Rehab is not defined by the pain, suffering, and hardship which landed her as a prostitute. Rehab is defined by her faith. In Hebrews 11:31 says this about the faith of Rehab

Hebrews 11:31 ESV

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

Rehab was tied into the lineage of Jesus because of her act of faith. In John chapter 1 we are told those who receive Christ as savior are given the right to become children of God. Rehab was grafted into the lineage of Jesus by the same means that we are. We, like Rahab are saved by grace through faith. Like Rahab, though faith we are made family.

We can have assurance that God will not treat us with shame as the Windsors treated the cousins of Queen Elizabeth. We won’t be treated with contempt as the Kennedy’s did with Rosemary. Instead, as 1st Peter tells us, we are God’s chosen possession. Because through faith we are family.