The Scandalous Lineage (Day 13: Roots & Shoots)

• The Ornament: The Scarlet Cord / The Rope
• The Scripture: Joshua 2:1–21

Timeline Check

Yesterday, we were at Mount Sinai. Today, we fast-forward 40 years.

After a generation of wandering in the desert, Moses has died. Joshua is now in charge, and the people are finally standing on the banks of the Jordan River, looking across at the fortress city of Jericho.

The Surface Reading

Joshua sends spies to scout the city. They hide in the house of Rahab, a prostitute. When the King comes looking for them, Rahab lies to protect them. In exchange, she asks for safety. The spies tell her to tie a scarlet cord in her window, promising that when the walls fall, anyone inside her house will be saved.

A Closer Look

Guide: Pete Enns (The Bible for Normal People)

Pete Enns points out a massive irony here. The book of Joshua is supposed to be about the “holy” Israelites destroying the “wicked” Canaanites.

But who is the first person in the Promised Land to confess faith in YHWH? It isn’t a priest or a soldier. It is Rahab—a Canaanite sex worker.

This flips the script on who is “in” and who is “out.”

While the Israelites are often doubting, Rahab makes one of the clearest theological statements in the Old Testament: “The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below” (Joshua 2:11).

The scarlet cord in her window echoes the Passover blood. It proves that faith is not about bloodline; it is about allegiance. There is always a way out of the Empire and into the family of God.

The Scandalous Grandmothers

Lens: Nadia Bolz-Weber (The Scandalous Lineage)

You might think Rahab’s story ends when the walls fall down. But turn to the first page of the New Testament (Matthew 1).

There, in the genealogy of Jesus, is her name: Rahab.

Nadia Bolz-Weber loves to point out that Matthew lists four women in Jesus’s lineage (besides Mary)—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. None of them were “good, pure insiders.”

Matthew didn’t hide these women; he put them in the trophy case.

It is a stunning reminder that the DNA of God flows through outsiders, foreigners, and women with complicated reputations. God doesn’t just “tolerate” broken people; He builds His Kingdom through them.

The Question

Rahab is introduced as “The Harlot.” It’s a label that stuck to her. But God didn’t erase her past; He redeemed it. He put that exact label into the lineage of Jesus.

Is there a label, a past mistake, or a “reputation” that you feel disqualified by?

How might God be trying to use that exact part of your story to build something new, just like He did with Rahab?