Rahab and the Scarlet Letter

So, lately I have become enamored with the Bible story of Rahab, found in Joshua 2. I thought I'd write some of what God has been showing me. It's still a work in progress, so bear with me!

In summary, Rahab was a prostitute living in the city of Jericho. Some Israelite spies sought refuge at her home where they hid as they were gathering info on how to take the city. In exchange for Rahab's protection, the spies promised to save her from the destruction to fall upon the city, as long as she tied a scarlet cord from her window.

There are so many parts to this story that I just love, it's hard to know where to begin! What first really intrigued me to her story was how she was presented in the Bible. In all but 1 reference to Rahab, she is referred to as "Rahab the prostitute". What a horrible title to have to bear your whole life! Even after she is rescued, converts to Judiasm, and even gets married, she is still...."Rahab the prostitute". It makes me think of that play/movie, "The Scarlet Letter" where a woman, caught in the act of adultery is punished by being forced to wear a red "A" , for adulteress, on her clothing. So there is Rahab, forced to bear the title of prostitute for all eternity, it seems. Talk about wearing a scarlet letter your whole life! But then...and this is what I find so cool... for a brief moment, she looses the title. How?

Let’s turn to Matthew 1:1-16. Do you know what this passage is? I’ll give you a hint, the last verse gives it away-it is the genealogy of Christ. What I want to look at in particular are verses 5-6.

“Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz, the father of Obed, the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

Did you catch that? Rahab is a great (many times over) grandmother of Jesus. (And may I say that she and Mary, the mother of Jesus, are the only women mentioned in Jesus' family line) And did you notice, she is no longer listed as “the prostitute”? As I said earlier, every other mention of Rahab in the Bible is as “Rahab, the prostitute”, but not here! I get goosebumps as I think about this. At some point, she completely let go of her scarlet letter, and just became Rahab.

So.. when was it that she let go of her past? From what I see, it's when she became grafted into the family of Christ! Did she still have a past? Did she still have a story that was not what she may have wished for herself? Absolutely! But, when she became part of Jesus Christ, it all disappeared. Oh! I find that so comforting! It reminds me of Isaiah 1:18, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." We all have a past-a scarlet letter of our own, a story that may not be what we wished for our lives. But Thank God, when we become part of the family of Christ,when we accept Christ's atoning work on the cross and let him wash our scarlet sins-our scarlet letter, He makes it white as snow! It all disappears! We no longer have to wear our scarlet letter, our label. We don't have to be Johnny the alcoholic, or Suzie the gossip, or Rahab the prostitute; we can be ourselves. I can be just Amber!

Thank you God for washing my sins and making me white as snow! Thank you for removing my scarlet letter, and making me part of your family! Thank you for letting me be me-just Amber!