Am I forever marked by my past?

As I was searching for what it meant to really live beyond my past, I looked for stories that seemed finished. Ones that would give me hope and some kind of picture of how this could be. I’ll be honest with you, what I remembered of Rahab was that she was a prostitute. Not really the poster child for living beyond.

If that’s how I remembered her, is that how God “remembered” her? Is she just forever marked in Scripture as Rahab the prostitute?  Did she really get to live beyond her past?

To give you a quick answer, she did! She became a wife and a mother and a follower of God. There are some great scriptures and stories of her legacy, but for us today, we’ll consider three scriptures that answer our deeper question.

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David. (Matthew 1:5-6)

A woman who came from a sexually messed up culture and a past of sexual sin—a woman who was rescued and made whole—is forever linked to the Messiah! That list in Matthew is Jesus’ genealogy, and she is one of just five women listed! It highlights her story in Jesus, and Jesus forever in her story. What’s more, God delights in showing off His glory and grace—that glory and grace over Rahab that coursed through the veins of the Savior that poured out His life for us.

Rahab’s story confirms there is real life beyond Jericho (our pasts) for all of us. But consider that in living beyond her past she would have to look at her full story. She and the Israelites knew the story. She was from Jericho and had been a prostitute. She was the only one with faith in Jericho, the walls came down, and she was made whole. Who could ever forget that story in its fullness? Because didn't even stop with being made whole--her full story was an invitation to her and the whole Israelite community to see her deliverance and their deliverance as a picture of greater things to come. We know those “greater things” as Jesus Christ and the Great Rescue—the Gospel!

We have to look back on our pasts through the lens of God seeing us all along and look forward through the lens that He brought us out to live new lives, ones that reflect His full Story. See how God views her full story.  

 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. (Hebrews 11:31)

 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? (James 2:25)

 These verses specifically point out her faith. Rahab is remembered for her faith! And while both of these verses remind us that she was a prostitute, they don’t remind God that she was a prostitute. He includes that for our benefit, not His. He does so only to show us that in the midst of our darkest places, faith can happen! Rahab believed God, not when she was cleaned up and “holy”, but when she was actively living in Jericho and in sexual sin. Do you know what that means for you and me?

First it means faith is yours to receive, by grace, right where you are. If you have not believed Jesus for salvation and His ability to rescue you out of sin and make you whole, you can! If you have not yet trusted Christ as your personal Savior, do it now! Otherwise, you cannot heal. You will not know what it means to fully, wholly live beyond your past. There are no more steps we can take together without your salvation. Jesus is calling to you—come, believe, live!

For those of us who have believed Christ to be our Savior, Rahab’s full story proves to us that God does not remember us as we were in the midst of our sin. Our sexual sin is not forever the label or “scarlet letter” we have to wear (or conceal). God’s story in Rahab tells us that we are not labeled with our old lives. Our faith is all that remains, therefore our full stories point to the Giver of Faith, the Rescuer, the Caller of All Things That Are Not As Though They Were, the I AM--and the Gospel in action. So really all that remains is God and His glory, center stage.

With that truth active in our lives, “Rahabs” like you and me get to live beyond our pasts in the new life He has given us with Him. We get to live as God has made us: whole.

Just another seed of my faith,

Ginny