Portfolio 1: A Familyof Freedom Fighters

The woman I chose from Jesus' Geneology was Rahab. Rahab's story is found in Joshua 2. She lived in the city of Jericho, a city the Israelites were planning to conquer after their forty year journey thrugh the desert. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, sent two spies to stake out Jericho before they attacked. rahab, a prostitute, took them into her home and hid them. When the king of Jericho asked if she knew where they were, she sent the kings men off on a fake trail while the spies were really hiding on her roof. After the incident, she told the spies that she would help them if they spared her and her family during the upcoming battle. She told them that she understood that their God was the true God of heaven and earth and that she had heard of his power. The spies agreed to spare her family, as long as she kept the secret plans of the Israelites safe and did exactly as instructed. She agreed, and told the spies to go to the hills and hide there for three days while the king's men looked for them elsewhere. The spies told her to gather her family in her house and keep them there, and to place a scarlet string on her window from which the spies would escape. That way the army would be warned not to attack the house. Her house was part of the city wall, so she let the spies out of her window with a rope, and then immediately tied the scarlet string to it. She kept her promise and told no one of the plans, and three days later Rahab and her family were spared from the slaughter of Jericho.

The inclusion of Rahab in Jesus' geneology tells us a lot about his background. She was a true freedom fighter. Rahab was everything that Jews saw as outside of their religion. She was a woman, a foreigner, and a prostitute. Even in Jericho, the fact that she lived on the city wall and that she was a prostitute estranged her from her own people. Nonetheless, she understood that the Isrealite's God was "the true God," and she was willing to sacrifice everything for him. She risked her life and the lives of her family to help the spies of his chosen country. Rahab showed absolute faith in God and his people. She had no way of knowing if the spies would keep up their end of the bargain and spare her in the mass slaughter she helped to bring about. Rahab did not falter once and kept their secrets safe for three days. In the end, she was rewarded with her life and was even accepted into the Israelite community through her marriage with Joshua. Her story shows that to be accepted by God you must show complete faith in him. It has nothing to do with who you are as a person.