Dear Amy,
What other family values did Boaz have besides kindness?
Have you noticed who his mother was? Matthew tells us.
… and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, …
― Matthew 1:5
Have you ever noticed this before? Boaz’ mother was none other than Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute of Jericho. His wife was Ruth, that Moabite outsider. And in this verse we see these two women, mother and daughter-in-law, neither of them children of the promise, but both having made choices which exceedingly honoured and pleased the Lord, and so both themselves unusually honoured by being named in Matthew’s genealogy.
And what was the primary value that Rahab demonstrated during the fall of Jericho? Here’s what: it was astonishing courage.
She also showed astonishing insight. No-one chooses where to be born, and she certainly hadn’t chosen to be born in the city of Jericho in the land of Canaan, that land consigned to destruction by the Lord for its horrifically evil practices and to make room for his chosen people. No-one chooses where to be born. But she alone among the people of Jericho had both the insight and the courage to choose for the Lord, a choice which honoured and pleased him, and a choice which was to deliver both her and her loved ones from that awful retribution on the city where she lived.
Look what happened after she chose to shelter Joshua’s spies.
Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.
― Joshua 2:3-6
Notice that she had her own house, and she was the master of it. A woman of some means, brave and resourceful, she was no-one’s victim. And what courage she had, to defy the king of Jericho.
Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof 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. 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. 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.
― Joshua 2:8-11
There was no spirit left in any man in Jericho, but there was clearly spirit left in this woman, this Canaanite prostitute⸺sufficient spirit to defy the king of Jericho and to choose for the Lord!
And furthermore, don’t underestimate the courage that it would have taken to choose a life among the Lord’s own people. In Jericho she was a woman of means, master of her own house. Who knew what she would be now? Certainly she wouldn’t be continuing with her current profession!
What did happen as a result of her courage and kindness? We can infer much from the honour shown to Rahab by her inclusion in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.
― Psalm 147:5-6
Rejoice, Amy, that one such as Rahab can choose for the Lord and be lifted up and highly honoured by him. Great is the Lord! 🙌🙏