Wednesday Bible Study: Ladies' night part 4

 

One of the things I'll never understand about Rabbinical literature is their need to take one of the most beautiful love stories- between man and God, as well as man and woman, the book of Ruth- and just find as many ways to demean it as they can.  From turning the innocent staying of Ruth with Boaz into an excuse to discuss sexual organs, to totally disregarding the mini- genealogy at the end.  

Rth 4:20  Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon,
Rth 4:21  Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed,
Rth 4:22  Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. 

 

According to Matthew, the writer of Ruth left one detail out...

Mat 1:5  and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse...

But apparently it was too much for the rabbis to accept a harlot in the line of David...

At the conquest of that city by the Israelites, Rahab became a sincere proselyte to the cult of Yhwh. She then married Joshua and became the ancestress of eight priests who were prophets as well, Jeremiah among them, and of the prophetess Huldah (Meg. 14b).(Jewish Encyclopedia)

 

Even later, in a twist that many of the commentators followed, they denied even her supposed profession...

Later Jewish commentators, Rashi among them, interpret , the Hebrew term for "harlot," as "one who sells food," basing their view on Targum Jonathan (to Josh. ii. 1), which renders it by (= "innkeeper"; comp., however, David Ḳimḥi ad loc.). 

But here's the thing:  Despite the fact that commentators like Adam Clarke say that the word for 'harlot' can be used interchangeably for 'innkeeper', there is NOWHERE in the Old Testament where it IS used for innkeeper.  So let's call her what she was- a prostitute.  Now here's where, by looking at the timeline, we can actually use something the Rabbis said...

Rahab was one of the most beautiful women in the world, the mere mention of her name exciting inordinate desire...  She was ten years old when the Israelites came out of Egypt, and she pursued her immoral calling during the forty years that the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness. There was not a prince nor a ruler that had not had relations with her; and she was therefore well informed of what was going on outside Jericho.

 True? God doesn't consider it important to know- but He does consider it important we know HER, or else she wouldn't be in the genealogy of Matthew.  We'll be looking at 3 of the 4 women in that genealogy in this series, but keep in mind that these four women consisted of...

-an incestress;

- a prostitute;

- a (possible) gold-digger;

- and a foreigner from a land which hated Hebrews.

And yet, of all the good women (like Mary) involved in the lineage of Jesus, these are the ones that get pointed out.  So what can we learn from this one?  I believe the message lies in this one passage- and what it DOESN'T say...

Jos 2:8  Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof
Jos 2:9  and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
Jos 2:10  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.
Jos 2:11  And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
Jos 2:12  Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign
Jos 2:13  that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death." 

So, what is missing in her story?  She only told of the Great Power of God with them.  Nothing of the panic before the Red Sea; nothing of the disobedience to God that kept them in the desert most of her lifetime; nothing of the fact that right before the destruction of Sihon and Og, thousands of complaining Israelites died by the bite of fiery serpents, or that right after the fall of the Amorites, they would struggle with the deceptions of Balaam.

And here's why this is important.  How many reject Christ because of the actions of the 'church'? How many times have you had to hear litanies about the Crusades, the Inquisition, the immorality of the Papacy, the hypocrisy of the guy sitting next to you in the pew?  Rahab's city fell from fear, because the saw the men of Israel, heard the tales of fallen kings.  Rahab survived, and her family with her, because she saw the GOD behind the people.  Through her sin, she heard... she saw.  Thousands of Israelites died in the desert- she, despite her sin, lived.  The Israelites- indeed, the rabbis- never really got the why of this; but Jesus explains it...

Luk 5:29  And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
Luk 5:30  And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Luk 5:31  And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Luk 5:32  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."