Many people include reading through the Bible as a New
Year’s resolution. They have good
intentions and get off to a good start.
The Genesis story is quite compelling, however, they begin to lose steam
when they get into the genealogies. I
admit I once had trouble with all the ‘begats’.
I found it hard to get inspiration from ‘so-in-so begat so-in-so’. Then I would remember 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells
me that “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone
who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” So if all scripture is inspired and useful
to teach, correct and train us in righteousness so we may be proficient and
equipped for every good work then the begats must be worth more attention.
The book of Matthew begins with a genealogy. Matthew was written primarily for an original
Jewish audience. Genealogy was very
important to the Hebrew people. Matthew
took this into consideration but he also raised a few pious Jewish eyebrows
when he included women (it was clearly a man’s world at that time) and he
really caused a stir including a woman of questionable reputation in verses 4
& 5 of chapter 1 verses 4 & 5; “Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot
Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab…” Whoa, why would any noble Hebrew want a prostitute
(Joshua 2:1) out front in the important names of family history?
Before I answer that let’s go back and see the beauty of how
and why God led the writer of Matthew and other authors of scripture to give
messages ‘between the lines’ to encourage us to mine jewels from Bible study. So before we look at Rahab let’s look at her
father-in-law, Nahshon. Even those who
grew up diligently reading the Bible are not usually that familiar with
Nahshon. However, he was a key leader for
the Hebrew people. According to Jewish rabbinical
literature, he was the person who initiated the Hebrews' passage through the
Red Sea, by walking in head-deep until the sea parted. Even if that account troubles you, hang on
and I think you might agree that when God parted the waters Nahshon was more
than likely the first one to take a step of faith and lead the Israelites into
the path surrounded by walls of water. I
know you weren’t told that history would be included so don’t get bored this is
important and may be on the test at the end.
Nahshon was the brother-in-law of Aaron (remember Aaron was
Moses’s brother and the first priest of the descendants of Israel set free from
Egyptian slavery…oh yeah, those guys). Reading
through the boring genealogies Numbers and Leviticus you find Nahshon as the
leader of the tribe of Judah. Family
history was vital for the Hebrew people for many reasons. As the descendants of Israel were organized for
their journey from Egyptian slavery to the Promised Land they traveled, ate,
slept and camped in columns organized in military fashion comprised of their
tribes. Each tribe had a leader who
would lead the column with their tribal banner.
With apologies to Cecil B. DeMille Moses did not lead nearly 3 million
people across the wilderness like Gil Favor and Rowdy Yates led herds of cattle
in Rawhide (I watched a lot of movies and TV as a child). The whole thing was very organized. Seeing God so organized is comforting to an
OCD neat freak like me but I digress.
Nahshon was the leader of the largest group, the number of the tribe of
Judah was 74,600. They were the central
and largest column who led the way and Nahshon was at the front of the
pack. Can you imagine the responsibility
of leading that many people? He had to
get up especially early on travel days.
I used to get frustrated getting ready for a vacation trip and I led a
family of four!
When it came time to give an offering in Numbers 7 who do
you think went first? The offering was
public (aren’t you glad only the church treasurer knows the amount you give…and
they’re not supposed to tell). Nahshon
set a high standard with a huge offering.
I won’t list it here but check it out in Numbers 7:12-17 as you
visualize him bringing all this to the altar be glad all you have to do is put
an envelope in a passing offering plate.
Each tribal leader followed in the public offering with the same
amount. No one gave less than the standard
set by the leader. A good leader sets a
strong positive example for others to follow.
My wife would tell me that I am now getting long-winded in my story because
Nahshon is not my primary focus but I wanted you to see why Nahshon is viewed
as primary example of leadership in Jewish history and why the next person is especially
significant.
This is where the story gets good as we see a departure in
normal Jewish geology as an outsider and a woman is listed. Nahshon’s son married a woman named
Rahab. She is a little more familiar
from our Sunday School lessons as a key figure in the Israelite
pilgrimage. Her story of protecting
spies sent to Jericho is found in Joshua 2–6.
Even my childhood conservative Sunday School teacher, who was my pastor’s
wife, told us Rahab was a harlot. I
later learned that meant she was a prostitute…goodness!
Here is the point (FINALLY)!
Rahab is included in the beginning of the first Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is not judged as immoral, as many
churches and ‘Christians’ would do today.
Even as the daughter-in-law of someone who was considered Jewish
royalty, most people would keep her in the background due to her shady
past. God does not push people into the
shadows. He elevated her status, as He
seeks to do with all of us, and celebrated her spiritual insight, courage and
wisdom as she reached out to protect spies sent to Jericho. She is forever honored for her huge act of
courage, spiritual wisdom and faith. So as Ross Perot was fond of saying; “Here’s
the deal”! There are no insignificant or forgotten people in God’s eyes. There are hundreds of seemingly trivial names
listed in the Bible, far mor than those whom most of us could easily identify
as a category on a game show such as Adam, Eve, Noah, Moses, David, Paul,
etc. However each of the countless
number of names listed in scripture is someone known, important and dear to
God.
So if the genealogies that are not inspiring to your daily
devotionals mean nothing else to you remember THERE ARE NO INSIGNIFICANT OR FORGOTTEN PEOPLE IN GOD’S EYES! I
hope you get my point. And if each
person is important to God they should be treated accordingly by us. Try to look at each person you encounter as
does your creator. Don’t be too quick to
judge someone as an outcast by their reputation (like Rahab) as the world does. When
we are not so quick to judge some aspect of behavior but begin looking for the
qualities of the heart and spirit of each person we meet, as does God, we may
be surprised to find some hidden treasures in people we would normally overlook.
Heavenly Father, let us be thankful that everyone is important to you
and help us see others as you see them!
