Already, attempting to read through the Bible in one year according to the Bible Reading Chart I sent to you on 1/1 is bearing fruit for me. Of all places, from reading through the genealogy in Matthew 1!

I hadn’t realized that Boaz’s mother was Rahab!

Rahab is the prostitute who hid two Israelite spies when they came to survey Jericho before conquering it. Because of her deed, she is spared and she lives among the Israelites.

Boaz is the man in the book of Ruth who was a wealthy older man that marries Ruth, the Moabite (foreigner). He is the kinsman redeemer who rescues Ruth from her widowhood when she decides to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, to live in Israel.

But I didn’t know Rahab and Boaz were related. Rahab was Boaz’s mother! What’s the big deal? Boaz was of mixed blood because Rahab was a foreigner from Jericho. And this fact probably contributed to him marrying an another foreigner in Ruth! And they all became ancestors of Jesus Christ!

The big deal is that foreigners were often looked down upon in Jewish culture. They were seen as “less than.” But who does God decide to recruit to be great grandmothers of His Son, Jesus Christ? The lowly foreigners….

If you feel like an outsider, like you don’t belong, God is for you.
If you feel yourself to be worthless and ugly, God is calling you.

“A broke and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Ps. 51:17

Don’t dwell in your self-pity. God loves a broken and contrite heart, but to remain there even after knowing God’s love is NOT to be of broken and contrite heart but to be of prideful and stubborn….

There’s so much treasure in the Bible we miss…. Keep searching and finding those treasures!

PH