Hey, Carpool Crew. Welcome back to Carpooling with Heroes of the Bible. This is our final episode in our series on Rahab, the brave believer. And honestly, this might be my favorite one of the five. If you've been with us all five episodes, here's where we are. Rahab, a woman who lived on the edge of society in the city of Jericho, hid two Israelite spies. She believed in their God and tied a scarlet cord in her window. And when the walls of Jericho came crashing down, she and her entire family were rescued. Then she got taken outside the camp, getting ready to start a new life with the people of Israel. Today, we find out what happened next. And if you think you know how this story ends, you might be surprised. So quick question to start. Have you ever felt like you didn't belong? Maybe you walked into a new lunchroom and no one made room for you, or maybe you joined a team and felt like an outsider for a while. Maybe you moved schools or moved cities and you remember walking in one day feeling like everybody else already had a friend, and you didn't yet. Belonging is one of the most powerful things in the world, and when you don't have it, you feel it deeply. Now, imagine being Rahab, a Canaanite woman from a destroyed city, a history people would whisper about, walking into the camp of Israel, asking, is there really a place for me here? Now, this is what blows my mind. The Bible answers that question with a thunderous yes. Let me show you. Rahab joined the people of Israel, and the Bible tells us that she got married. Her husband's name was Salmon, and Salmon was from the tribe of Judah, which was one of the most important tribes in all of Israel. Some Bible scholars even believe Salmon could have been one of the spies she hid in her house. The Bible doesn't tell us that for sure, but it's a fun idea. Rahab and Salmon had a son, and they named him Boaz. If that sounds familiar, it should. Boaz is the kind, godly man who later in the Bible marries a woman named Ruth. Ruth was also an outsider. She was from a place called Moab, and now we have two outsider women in a row marrying into the same family. Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, and Obed had a son named Jesse, and Jesse had a son named David. Wait, stop the car. David? David as in King David? The boy who killed Goliath? The shepherd who became the most famous king in the Old Testament? The one who wrote a huge chunk of Psalms? Yeah, that David. Rahab is David's great-great-grandmother. A Canaanite woman who once lived in a doomed city became part of the royal family line of Israel. But it gets even better. In the New Testament, the very first chapter of the very first book, Matthew sits down to write the family tree of Jesus, generation after generation, name after name. And right there in Matthew one, verse five, we read these words: "Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered King David." Rahab, the Canaanite, the outsider, the woman the world had written off, listed by name in the family tree of the Messiah. Carpool Crew, sit with that for a second. Jesus did not come through a perfect family. Jesus did not come through a religious all-star team. Jesus came through a family tree that includes liars, outsiders, broken people, former enemies. See, the book of Hebrews talks about Rahab too. Hebrews 11 is sometimes called the Faith Hall of Fame because it lists out the great heroes of faith from the Old Testament: Abraham, Moses, Sarah, David. And right there in verse 31, the Bible says, "By faith Rahab welcomed the spies in peace and didn't perish with those who disobeyed." Notice something the Bible does not erase from her past. It does not pretend that she was always good and always made the best decisions, but it lists her with the heroes of faith, because faith is not about your past. Faith is about who you trust, and Rahab trusted God. The book of James says it too. You know James, right? The half-brother of Jesus. In James chapter two, verse 25, it says her faith was real because she put it into action. Three different New Testament books all pointing to Rahab, all saying the same thing: God's grace is bigger than your story. Listen to me, Carpool Crew, because this is the heart of the whole series. It doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter what your family looks like. It doesn't matter what people say about you in second grade. It does not matter what label someone tries to slap on your forehead. When you put your faith in God, he brings you all the way in, not as a guest, not as a visitor, as family. The Bible says in the book of Ephesians that Jesus tore down the wall between us and God, that when we trust him, we become part of his household. We're not on the outside anymore. We're not in the back of the line. We are not living in a house built into a wall. We are home. That's what happened to Rahab, and that is what happens to anyone who puts their faith in Jesus. I want you to spend some time as a family, if you can, just discussing this. And here's a couple of questions to get you started. If God's grace brought Rahab from Jericho all the way to the family line of Jesus, what does that tell you about what God can do with your life? Take that one home with you. Really pray about it. And here's a closing thought for this whole series, Carpool Crew. Five episodes, one brave believer. From a scarlet cord to a savior story, Rahab reminds us of one of the most important truths in the entire Bible. God's grace reaches everyone, and no one is too far gone for God to rescue. Thanks for riding along for all five episodes on Carpooling with Heroes of the Bible, Rahab, the brave believer. Next month, we have a whole new five episodes coming on a whole new hero from the Bible. You're going to love it. I'll see you later, Carpool Crew. Have a good one.
