Genealogy of Jesus: Salmon and Rahab

OT Lesson: Joshua 2:1-21 (NLT)

Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.

But someone told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.”

Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.

Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

“Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families.”

“We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.”

Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window. “Escape to the hill country,” she told them. “Hide there for three days from the men searching for you. Then, when they have returned, you can go on your way.”

Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions. When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house. If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death. If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.”

“I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.

NT Lesson: Matthew 1:4-5 (NRSV)

And Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.

Sermon

Introduction

Good morning. Before I begin the sermon. The COVID case number is increasing in this country and we see that in our own congregation as well. Please pray for Roy & Kathy Flanary, Dick & Janet Self, and Meredith Erwin. And I am not a doctor but I’d like to encourage you to get COVID shot. I got my second booster shot last Tuesday and was quite sick for two, three days. But I believe it is worth getting the COVID shot.

And now I thank you for coming to my installation service last Sunday afternoon. It was very nice to me that I got to meet some of my favourite people whom I was not able to see for many years. Thanks to all of you, the installation was very successful with all the preparations such as music, worship, refreshments, fellowship hall table settings, even the nice Korean banner. Thank you all. By the way, two months ago, I called all the paediatric dentists in and around the town to get Samuel’s regular check up scheduled. I chose the earliest appointment and that is in December. I think there should be more paediatric dentists. Anyway, speaking of dentists, you probably know that the tooth brush Oral-B always advertise themselves as the most favoured tooth brush by the American Dentists’ Association. Then do you know what is the most favoured hymn by the American Dentists’ Association? I believe that they sing this hymn internally, not out-loud, every time a customer walks in. That is “Crown Him with Many Crowns.”

How to Say Salmon

Last Sunday we talked about Judah and Tamar. We talked mostly about Tamar, not really about Judah. And I am going to do the same today. Whenever we have a woman’s name in the Scripture, I will deal with that woman instead of her partner because, as I explained last Sunday, woman’s name in the ancient genealogy is so rare and strange. But before I jump to Rahab, I need to talk about her partner a little bit. First of all, he is not mentioned much in the Bible, but his father Nahshon is listed as one of the leaders of Israel with Moses at the time of Exodus from Egypt. So this guy must have been the contemporary of Joshua. Second of all, he is not a fish. There is no fish in the genealogy of Jesus, only humans. His name in English spelling is same as the tasty fish from Alaska but L in the middle is not silent. You have to say it—Sal-mon. His name in Hebrew writing is שַׂלְמוֹן. Doesn’t it sound similar to some popular Hebrew word? Shalom. His name is derived from Shalom, and it means peaceable. There is another guy with the similar name in the genealogy of Jesus—Solomon. His name is שְׁלֹמֹה in Hebrew, with the meaning of peaceful. Both of their names came from Shalom, that is peace. Then what is the difference between peaceable and peaceful? Well, the similar questions can be these: filling and filled, cleaning and cleaned, purging and purged. Peaceable is being able to make peace, that is, implying the peace in the future—not yet, while peaceful implies the peace came and is here. So Salmon’s name implies that peace will come. And Solomon’s name implies that peace already came. Then someone in between must be the peace. Who do you guess? It is David. His name means beloved or love. And he was the king of triumph. So love triumphs and then peace comes. Peace is Jesus because He is the Prince of peace. We all have our own spiritual battles. When we triumph our battles with love, then Jesus Christ who is our peace will come to us.

Rahab

Now let us talk about the ladies. Tamar last Sunday was a regular girl who got married normally. But she chose to act like a prostitute because of her situation. But Rahab was a real prostitute. And she had a big family that she asked the Israelite spies to save her father, mother, sisters, brothers and all their families. It is not likely that they were all living together in her house. One reason is because the prostitution is not an easy job to do when a family member is around in the house. Second reason is that she helped the spies and kept that in secret from the authorities. But many eyes cannot keep a secret. If there were many people in the house, one of them must have reported it to the authorities. The last reason is that the spies required that her all family members to be in that house together. It is not necessary to say it if they were all living there already together. It is also not likely that she was married because of her job. Rahab was one of the poorest people in the city. Today’s OT lesson says that Rahab’s house was built into the town wall. The photo here is the town wall, not of Jericho but of Beersheba. But it can give you some idea of ancient city wall. It is not tall because it was buried as several thousand years have passed. If you dig all the way to the ground level, the city wall is quite tall and high. The city wall marks the city limit. In the ancient cities, the rich and the powerful lived in the centre area. Then the less rich people lived in the surrounding area, and then the outer area, and eventually the poorest people lived at the city wall. That is the edge. That is the margin. Outside of the city wall, there is no protection both from the human enemies and also from the wild animals. So Rahab and her family were literally marginalised people. As is today, the poor people, especially women, were not able to manage a decent life. She was probably not even treated like a human being. And the city wall was also military key point for the defence of the city. That means the city officials and the military personnels had access into the house without warrant even when she was working. And you know what was her job.

Spies Came

When she was sick and tired of her miserable life, two spies from the enemy came to her asking for help. What she saw was not the betrayal but the glimpse of hope that she might be able to live like a human. Those two spies were the light shining to her life, and they were kind of Christians as Jesus commissioned to all of us to be the light of the world. They were spies in the eyes of the authorities. But they were evangelists in my eyes, and they were missionaries in the eyes of Rahab. This encounter was the chance of her lifetime. Speaking of chance, a few weeks ago when I was with Samuel at home, he was not behaving—usually he is much better at home but not this time. I told him, “Samuel, if you do that again, Dada may actually spank you.” Then Samuel got up and ran away, saying “You lost your chance to spank me.” Yes, I lost my chance. but Rahab did not lose her chance. She took the chance of her life.

I relate myself to Rahab—not that I betrayed my country. At some point in the future, probably early next year, I will give my testimony. But just in one word, I was in darkness. My life was very miserable. I was not treated fairly, not by my fault. That was when I had the encounter with Jesus. That was like a thin beam of light in complete darkness. That was a breathing hole in the suffocating life. I believe Rahab felt the same was as I felt. She was desperate. She knew that it was the only opportunity and one time offer in her entire life. It was now or never. It was life or death matter. Rahab chose Now. She chose Life. She chose hope. She chose better future.

And by her choice, she was promised her salvation. Not only her, but her entire household was promised to have salvation. Just like apostle Paul said to the prison guard in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household,” Rahab believed and she was saved—Rahab and her entire household. They did nothing but they were saved anyway. When we make a right choice, when we choose life, when we choose salvation, when we choose hope, when we choose light, then not only we, but also our families will be saved as well because of us. Of course there is something they need to do as well to be saved. That is just to stay with us. I am not talking about the geographical location, but spiritual location.

Proof

Then she asked the spies, “How do I know that I will be spared and saved?” The proof from the spies was the scarlet rope that had let the two spies down. I was amazed how strong this woman was. Can you tie a guy with a rope and let him down little by little with your own arm muscles, not letting him free fall? I don’t know if I can do that. It depends how heavy that guy is. But those spies were elite military personnels. They must have been so strong, which may mean heavy. Anyway, she kept the scarlet rope safe with her until the day of judgement, which is her day of salvation. So we must also have the proof of salvation until Jesus Christ comes again to judge the quick and the dead. That is the judgement day of the world for all who have no proof of salvation, but that same day is the day of salvation for us and for all who have the proof of salvation. Tamar from last Sunday also asked the same thing. And what she asked for as the proof were the seal, its cord, and the staff. The seal she asked for was not an animal, but the device for making an impression in wax or clay. One of the purposes of the seal is marking the ownership. Revelation 7 shows us that an angel has the seal of the living God and marks on the foreheads of those who will be saved. So they are marked as God’s own people, the citizens of heaven. And that was what Tamar asked for—I am marked as yours, and the baby in me is also marked as your own.

Conclusion

Like Rahab and like Tamar, we also must have our own proof of salvation: the scarlet rope of Rahab which connects and binds us together with Jesus; the seal of Tamar that marks us as God’s own. Friends, our scarlet rope and our seal is our faith. With our faith, we are connected to God and bound together with Jesus. With our faith, we are marked as God’s own. And just as Rahab and Tamar kept their proof to the end, we also have to keep our faith to the end.

Friends, let us be like Rahab when we are in darkness and in miserable place. Let us always choose hope, choose life, choose light, choose faith. And let us keep that faith to the end. Then just like the Bible promised us, we will be saved—we and every single one in our families. Like Rahab married Salmon and became the ancestor of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, we will also marry our everlasting Groom Jesus Christ up in heaven, and will become the heavenly family forever and ever. Amen.