Wednesdays in the Word

Sometimes I'm guilty of skimming or skipping through the genealogies on my Bible reading plan. : )
But I'm really glad that I didn't the other day because if I ever knew this fact then I had forgotten it and it blessed my socks off.
Guess who was Boaz's mother?  
Rahab!!!! -"Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab,
 Boaz begot Obed by Ruth and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king."
Don't you love redemption? Rahab's whole story speaks of it. She went from being a harlot in the book of Joshua to being a heroine of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11!
"By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace." Love that!
The Bible says that "faith comes by hearing" and I was reminded of that when I read what Rahab said here:
"We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Eygpt....And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath."  Amen! Josh.2:11
And because of her faith: "Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho."
  Josh. 6:25

After Jericho was destroyed, Rahab lived among the Israelites, married Salmon and became a respected member of the community. I've heard it said that Rahab went from 'being a lady of the night to a lady of the light, from a harlot to a heroine, and from a prostitute to a princess.' Amen! That is redemption!

So, here the point to all of this:

Don't you think that when Boaz heard Ruth's story, that she just might have reminded him a little of his own mother?
I do! Here's what he said to Ruth when they met:
"It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge," Ruth 2:11-12
His own mother was a woman who had 'left the land of her birth' and came to live with 'a people she did not know before' to live under the shadow of His wings in her new found faith. Imagine growing up and hearing a first hand account of hiding the spies, sending the soldiers the wrong direction, the vow, faith in the red cord and the faithfulness of God to her and her family when the walls of Jericho fell down! Amazing!
- And I happen to think that Boaz immediately recognized that same faith and courage in Ruth, when they met. : )

~ For more on Boaz and Ruth's love story you can go here and read how girls "need to wait for their Boaz and not settle for a Bozo." And it is continued here.

So thankful for redemption!
~Becky