April 13th, 2013

Matthew 1:4b
Nahshon begot Salmon (going into vs 5 a little - Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab)

Can I just say, I always "knew" the story of the genealogy up to this point, but I didn't really grasp, how close the time frames were between families, until I realized who Nahshon was, and when he was around. 
Nahshon was part of the generation that would not enter the promise land. 
Israel would have to wait until that generation died off.  But his son Salmon would take the land.  Salmon would marry a harlot, who God would use to help Israel take the land. 
Together they would have a son named Boaz. 
In Ruth 2:1 it describes that Boaz is a man of great wealth.  His character describes him as one that is protective of the women that glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.  It also describes his response to Ruth, who questions his kindness:  "The Lord repay your works, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge." 
He also is a man that protects Ruth's integrity, and would not let it be known that she came to the threshing floor in the middle of the night, to protect her reputation. 

That says a lot about Boaz character.  Boaz, whose mother was a harlot in Jericho.  Whose father was a son of Nahshon, the leader of Judah during the time Moses led Israel out of Egypt. 
Boaz first hand had seen through his mother's life, a woman that had come under the Lord's wings for refuge. 

Going back to the story of Salmon and Rahab, I was thinking about the two spies that went into Jericho that Rahab protected.  It doesn't say who the spies were.  The romantic girl in me wants to believe that one of the spies was Salmon.  Which would be a very high possibility that he would have been given such a role, because of the position his father had before him.  But the Bible doesn't fill in that detail.  So we don't know if that is true or not.  However it does talk about Rahab. 
Hebrews 11:31 - By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish after she welcomed the spies in peace. 
And in Joshua 2 it talks about her faith.  Rahab hides the two spies in, and protects them.  She believes the Lord has given Israel the land.  She heard what the Lord did at the Red Sea to Egypt, and to the two kings of the Ammorites.  verse 11 is her declaration: "the Lord your God is God in heaven and on the earth beneath."  She then petitions for her families life. 
She is given a cord of scarlet thread to hang from her window, and gather her family in her home.  If she honors her oath and does not tell others about the spies and their business, anyone in her home will be saved.  In Joshua 6, her and her father's household and all she had is spared, and she lived in Israel the rest of her days. 

And somewhere during that time Rahab and Salmon marry.  And they raise a boy named Boaz. 

Application:

I think Rahab, and later Ruth, are examples of God's desire to extend His love to those who would believe in Him.  Rahab did believe, and even with her past He wanted her in His family.  And not only was she chosen in His family, She became apart of the family line for the birth of His Son Jesus.  Around us, there are people God desires to extend His love to.  He sees them for who they are.  And He looks at the heart.  Rahab, even though her life was not one that would have been pleasing to God in Jericho, came to a point that she believed God was real and alive and with Israel.  And when Jericho came down she was saved.  And her new life in Israel began. 

And it did begin.  And the fruit of God in her life and in Salmon's life is evident in her son Boaz. 
This family, filled with imperfect past is full of a redeeming God and His love.  I can't wait to keep studying more on it tomorrow :)