| REDEEMED &
QUALIFIED by Missy Smith |
Home | ||
|
Redeemed & Qualified January 24, 2011 Last December Lesa shared quote with us that a lot of us related to the most: " It is not who you are that holds you back, it is who you think you are not." There are 5 women mentioned in the Bible whose lives we will briefly look at here. They were all very different but they shared similarities. We will learn about the similarities between Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary and see why that has to do with you and the hope & encouragement this will give to anyone with a 'past'. TAMAR Genesis 38:6 Tamar means palm tree. Psalm 92:12 A palm tree has very deep roots and can bend up to 180 degrees without breaking in a storm. Tamar was chosen to be Er's wife by Judah, his father. Er was evil and he died. The custom was that is a man died without having children, then his widow was passed on to his brother. The first born child from that union would be born under the dead brother's name. So Tamar was given to Er's brother, Onan. But Onan did not want his seed to be his brother's so he pulled out and spilled his seed out on purpose. God thought that was evil so Onan died, too. (Genesis 38:8-10) I am very glad we do not have that custom here now. So Tamar was sent back to her father's house. The next brother in line was not old enough yet. Time went by (a lot of time) and Judah's wife died. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. 14 And she put her widow's garments off from
her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an
open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was
grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
(what gets me is it was sinful for the woman to be a prostitute but the men involved were not held accountable).
So Tamar prostituted herself back to the family. She got pregnant in doing this. She had non-marital sex, premarital sex, however you want to say it, to raise up a name unto her husband, as was custom. However, it was not customary to lay with your father-in-law, as a prostitute (for a price) to do it. She had twins. Tamar was raised in a city that worshipped idols. She prostituted herself and got pregnant by her father-in-law. Rahab Joshua sent two spies into the city of Jericho to spy out the area. They stayed at a prostitute's house, whose name was Rahab. When the king's men heard about the spies being there, she lied about it. She had hid them under flax stalks but said they had left the city gates already. Joshua 2:9-13 Rahab was raised in a city that worshipped idols. She was a prostitute and a liar.But she heard about the Living God Almighty who was powerful and protected His people Israel.The spies saved her and her family for saving them. She turned to follow God and lives with the Israelites. So far we have two liars, two prostitutes involved in deception of some sort. Ruth Ruth was from an idol worshipping city and was married to Naomi's son, who has come to her area because there was a famine in the land. He died. Naomi was old and did not have any living sons to give her. So she wanted to return to Bethlehem and told Ruth to go back to her father's house. Ruth refused to do that and followed Naomi to her people. Ruth wanted Naomi's people to be her people, her God to be her God. They were homeless there and lived in a cave. Ruth gleaned grain from a field. Gleaning is what the poor were allowed to do. The poor could pick the left over grain they found in a field that was already harvested. Ruth happened to glean in Boaz's field who was a rich relative of Naomi's. She was given favor by Boaz.Naomi told her to lay down at his feet on the threshingfloor and he would tell her what to do. It ended up that Booaz acted as her kinsman redeemer and took her to wife and raised up seed to her dead husband. Now we have three women, all whom were from idol worshipping nations. Two were prostitutes, one was found at the feet of a unmarried man overnight. Bathsheba 2 Samuel 11 & 12 Bathsheba was Uriah's wife. He served in King David's army. While he was away, Bathsheba was bathing on the roof top and David saw her, inquired about her and brought her unto him, had sex with her, and sent her away again. She probably thought she did not have a choice. She was married, but the King made her come to him. She got pregnant. David wanted to cover his tracks so he sent for her husband and told him to go lay with his wife and take some time off. But he refused and slept on the King's floor. David tried to get him drunk but again he refused to lay with his wife while his fellow soldiers were on the field. So David sent him back to the battlefield with a letter authorizing the commander to have Uriah killed on the front line. King David was a man after God's own heart but even David had a past and everyone falls. Mary Mary was 14 when the angel of God came to her and told her she would become the mother of God's only begotten son. I know some women who have had babies at age 14. I cannot fathom raising a child today at such young an age. It was customary back then for young girls to marry. Of all the men and women mentioned in the Bible, these five women, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary are the only women listed in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 1 or was in the hall of fame list in Hebrews 11:31. Matthew 1:3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; [Ruth 4:12 And let thy house be like the house
of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall
give thee of this young woman.] Hebrews 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
All these women were part of murder, prostitution, adultery, idolatry and/or lying. But God saw fit for them to be mentioned prominently in His Word. these women sinned. They were used by God any way. God is a God of redemption and mercy. This is baffling to me for me to see God use these women like this. God put them in there for us to HOPE. They each had a divine purpose. It is only through His name we are saved. We can accomplish anything through His name. WHY NOT YOU?? Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he
shall give thee the desires of thine heart. You can start checking off some of your dreams on the list we began a couple months ago if you delight yourself in God. We are all women
with a past that Why not you? ____ Lesa post script: Jesus Christ is enough. Regardless of what you did yesterday or 10 years ago. Will you receive God's grace that God extends to you? These women all suffered greatly in their times because of the customs prevalent then. God gifted you with certain things that only YOU can do. Why is it easier to think we cannot do something than we can? It takes zero effort to fail. We have heard the same lies since childhood, often repeated in our own minds. Teach your children without condemning them or judging them. Be gentle with their hearts. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. God will show you why you think you cannot do it if you will ask him to reveal your heart. IF JESUS CAME OUT OF THESE WOMEN, WHAT CAN COME OUT OF YOU? Love your neighbor as yourself. We would not love our neighbor like we talk to ourselves sometimes. If the voice you listen to in your head is louder than God's word and what he said about you, then what god are you listening to? Or serving? I do not like to think about this. At the new birth you were given all spiritual ability in Christ. The work is finished already in Christ. Your goodness has nothing to do with it. It is all about God and what he did for you on your behalf through Christ.
|