When Scripture honors women of ill repute
Self-righteousness mixed with cynicism and despair is no way to live.
We are deep into the season of Advent, and it struck me a while ago that all of the women listed in Jesus’ genealogy are women of ill repute on some level. Does this hold lessons for us today?
Tamar was the wife of Er, who died before giving her any children. Through a series of events, Tamar became despondent over being childless and disguised herself as a prostitute. She had sex with her father-in-law Judah and became pregnant. This is part of the line of Jesus Christ.
Rahab was a Caananite prostitute in the city of Jericho. She doubtless had a high “body count” when she married a man of Israel, and yet that union is included in the line of Christ.
Ruth was by all indications a righteous woman, but was from the pagan nation of Moab - a nation born of Lot’s daughter’s incest with their drunken father. She did worship demons before traveling to Israel with Naomi. She married a man in Bethlehem and was the great grandmother of King David.
Bathsheba committed adultery with King David, who murdered her husband and several other soldiers to cover it up. They would have a son after that, who was King Solomon. She later schemed to make sure Solomon was on the throne.
We live in a time where men (even Christian men) are increasingly bitter over the state of “modern women.” They are whores like Rahab, cheat on their husbands like Bathsheba, and so forth. These bitter “manosphere” men live in despair, and that despair is fueled by a self-righteous assumption that “modern women” are not worthy of a good man. But if God had that same standard for the genealogy of His only begotten Son, history would be very different.
No, we should not be fools. There are women who men should avoid marrying, just as there are men who women should avoid marrying. But the assumption of too many men today is that “modern women” are irredeemable. They cannot ever be good wives and are stained forever. We forget that we are also lost in our sins and only the blood of Jesus Christ can save us from the punishment in eternal Hell Fire we richly deserve.
This is my lesson for young Christian men today: Have faith. Get married. Love God. There are many women out there who will be good wives and mothers. Recognize that you, too, are a sinner and will fail as a husband and father. Stop thinking of yourself more highly than you ought, and be humble. Reject the cynicism of the modern online “manosphere” and trust God instead.