Abba? I'm supposed to call God "Abba" Like "Daddy"? Tough women have a hard time with the whole Daddy thing. I have been taking a poll -- based on a theory -- and so far, it comes out just as I expected.
Tough women didn't get on so well with their fathers, if they even had one in the picture.
Sometimes the fathers were abusive -- physically, even sexually. Sometimes they were just critical and distant. Most often, they were absent. I am never surprised when I ask a woman whom I consider "a tough woman" about her father and she just shrugs, gives me that look...and says something like "What father"?
Go ahead and try it. Pick out a woman you think to is one of these "tough women" and ask about her father. The women who are not "tough", who feel a little more comfortable in their woman-ness -- when you ask them about their fathers, they say, "Daddy"? "I love my daddy".
Now this brings up a whole slew of points to make -- many of which I am not qualified to make -- about the psychological impact an absent or critical father has on the self-identity of a girl as she is growing into a woman, or about if you are the father of a little girl, you had better listen up...
But the one point I can make is that this whole Daddy thing messes with a Christian woman's ability to love the Father and to be loved by Him.
The other night, I was reading a passage from the Amplified Bible. It was in John 16, verse 27. Here Jesus was talking to his disciples about His Father as He was preparing them for his (Jesus') leaving. I am paraphrasing somewhat:
I won't need to plead to the Father on your behalf -- Jesus tells them-- you can do it -- Why? Because the Father TENDERLY loves you.
This word "tenderly" doesn't show up in every translation ( I have checked several), but it showed up in the Amplified that night, and it jumped out at me like words of a love letter from someone I didn't even think had noticed me.
The Father TENDERLY loves me! Until that moment, I did not realize how hungry I was to be loved tenderly by my Father, or perhaps by my earthly (absent) father. I guess I had reasoned that Jesus loved me (this I know!) and that the Father loved Jesus, so by association, the Father loved me.
I have been a student of the Bible for over 20 years. I devour Scripture. I loved to study, and memorize and apply Scripture. But I have to say that until that instant, I did not accept the fact that the Father Himself loved me.
You could argue that I haven't read well enough, or studied deeply enough -- or that I should have tried another translation earlier in my walk. But I think I just wasn't ready until recently to accept that truth. Too much baggage. Too many barriers between me and my heavenly Father -- and some of them were not put there by me. They came from generations of fathers who didn't do a good job of assuring their daughters and sons that they would be there for the long haul, to protect, and defend, and to hold tenderly.
I have forgiven my father, and my father's father, and my mother's father -- but it still had an impact on me and my ability to be loved by my heavenly Father.
I have discovered that most tough women can love, but we cannot easily receive it. We can protect and defend like wild cats; we can nurture and feed -- but to receive a tender love just busts you up inside.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
What's in a name: More about Rahab
Hitchcock’s Bible Names says that Rahab has two meanings: one is “proud and quarrelsome”, and the other is “large”. In Scripture, it is used as a symbolical name for Egypt, … symbolized as a ferocious sea-monster…”
Isaiah 30:7: For there is no use or purpose in the help of Egypt: so I have said about her, She is Rahab, who has come to an end.
Isa 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster?
It makes me wonder: What were her parents thinking ???
Did they already have kids named Purity or Truth?
The other thing I wonder is: did she fulfill their expectations?
Haven’t you met people who just fit their names? Grace. Melody. Holly. Buck.
Do you wonder if they became their names? What about names like “Missy”? Adolf? Paris? Are you setting your child up by the name you place on them at birth? Are you destined to be who you are, or can you change?
The Bible says in the book of Proverbs 22:1 that “a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches".
People were always getting their names changed in the Bible to reflect a change in their lives: Abram became Abraham; Sarai became Sarah. Saul (the Jew) became Paul (the Roman). Simon was changed to Peter/Cephas – the rock. Jesus the Carpenter became Jesus Christ (The Messiah).
What I like about Rahab is that she didn’t change her name, but she changed the way that people used her name.
In the Old Testament, “Rahab” meant one thing, but in the New Testament, Rahab is the name of honor and respect.
Here’s how she was remembered in Hebrew’s 11, along with a list of honorable others:
“ By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace…”
And the thing that amazes me is: her act was not so honorable. She was saving her own skin, her family and her property. She did not ask the spies to save her town, her friends, all the people she had grown up with – no, she said. Save me and my family! But she was bold, and she had the faith to ask. She didn’t cower or let her chance at salvation slip by: She made a deal.
I really wish I knew more about what happened between that moment and the day she met Salmon, and gave birth to Boaz. I wish there was more information about her transformation, and when she really became a woman of faith.
I wish I knew about Salmon, too. What kind of a guy would marry a hooker? I think I would have liked him. What I do know was that his father, Aminadab, was an honorable, faithful man. He was chosen to lead Judah’s army under Moses. I am assuming, that Salmon followed in his father’s footsteps.
And one more thing:
Do you know what Salmon means? “peaceable; perfect; he that rewards”.
Isaiah 30:7: For there is no use or purpose in the help of Egypt: so I have said about her, She is Rahab, who has come to an end.
Isa 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster?
It makes me wonder: What were her parents thinking ???
Did they already have kids named Purity or Truth?
The other thing I wonder is: did she fulfill their expectations?
Haven’t you met people who just fit their names? Grace. Melody. Holly. Buck.
Do you wonder if they became their names? What about names like “Missy”? Adolf? Paris? Are you setting your child up by the name you place on them at birth? Are you destined to be who you are, or can you change?
The Bible says in the book of Proverbs 22:1 that “a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches".
People were always getting their names changed in the Bible to reflect a change in their lives: Abram became Abraham; Sarai became Sarah. Saul (the Jew) became Paul (the Roman). Simon was changed to Peter/Cephas – the rock. Jesus the Carpenter became Jesus Christ (The Messiah).
What I like about Rahab is that she didn’t change her name, but she changed the way that people used her name.
In the Old Testament, “Rahab” meant one thing, but in the New Testament, Rahab is the name of honor and respect.
Here’s how she was remembered in Hebrew’s 11, along with a list of honorable others:
“ By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace…”
And the thing that amazes me is: her act was not so honorable. She was saving her own skin, her family and her property. She did not ask the spies to save her town, her friends, all the people she had grown up with – no, she said. Save me and my family! But she was bold, and she had the faith to ask. She didn’t cower or let her chance at salvation slip by: She made a deal.
I really wish I knew more about what happened between that moment and the day she met Salmon, and gave birth to Boaz. I wish there was more information about her transformation, and when she really became a woman of faith.
I wish I knew about Salmon, too. What kind of a guy would marry a hooker? I think I would have liked him. What I do know was that his father, Aminadab, was an honorable, faithful man. He was chosen to lead Judah’s army under Moses. I am assuming, that Salmon followed in his father’s footsteps.
And one more thing:
Do you know what Salmon means? “peaceable; perfect; he that rewards”.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Redemption for Tough Women like Rahab -- Can a Whore be Pure?
I like Rahab. God does too. That lying prostitute got her name in the List of Names-- she was in the lineage of Jesus! She was a smart woman. She knew how to get what she needed, and she protected her family in the meantime.
I like women like that. I like women who are strong and protective and devoted to the ones who matter to them. I know plenty of women like that. I am one of them myself. Many of the women in my Bible study at the jail are that way. Ironically, today our Bible study is going to be about purity. Purity? Who even talks about purity any more.
Look at Rahab: Rahab was a prostitute. That's not exactly pure. She had a little house on the outskirts of town where she entertained traveling men who were looking for a little impurity.
I wonder though, how did she end up there? I'll bet you know. People don't just end up in places like that without someone helping them get there. How can a young woman get so off track? Obviously, purity wasn't a big priority in her family of origin.
Here are some possibilities: She had some kind of defect that made her "unmarry-able", so she decided to use her wiles to make some money for the family. She was made impure by someone -- she was raped, in other words, by someone in her family or in the town. She had been married, but her husband abandoned her -- leaving her no option -- in her mind -- but becoming a prostitute. Maybe her familiy was in dire straights -- no money or food, so she sold the only thing she had. However she ended up "impure" by the standards of the day she lived in, she was the kind of woman who didn't just sit back and feel sorry for her situation. She got up and did something about it.
When the big break came -- the day that she met God's chosen people, who were scouting out her land so they could conquer it -- she saw her opportunity clearly. Despite the impurity in her life, there was a window of wisdom -- Rahab could see the hand of God. She did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation for the good of herself and the people and property in her house.
She made a deal: I'll get you out of your dilemma, but you do something for me. When this whole thing comes down and you are destroying my town of Jericho -- which I know you will do -- don't forget about me and my people and my property. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine: I'll save your life if you save mine.
Something in Rahab told her the truth: these men represented something greater than herself, her family, her town, and she was going to hitch a ride on the greater thing, leaving behind the bitterness and self-pity another kind of woman might easily have been chained to. These men were not there to take a bit of her, pay up, and leave. These men brought something to her. Something greater. Something better. Something more substantial. Something more worthy.
This is the instant of Redemption for Rahab. I wonder if those men had told her about God, or if she had heard it from someone else. How did she know to go for it? Was it good, tough-woman instinct? Was it the voice of God? Rahab was a risk taker, no doubt. But this was a huge one. If she were caught harboring these men, she along with everyone in her house would have been killed. She took a chance. Something told her to believe.
And what was the result? They kept their part of the bargain. She let down that blood-red scarf from her window as the city was being attacked by God's people. Rahab, her mother, father, and brothers, along with her property were all protected. Somewhere down the road, after they went off with the God-followers, she met a man named Salmon who apparently didn't see her as impure. He saw her as marriage material. He saw her as the mother of his son, Boaz, who married another tough woman named Ruth - - they gave birth to Obed, who gave birth to Jesse, who had a son named David....and on down the line...to Jesus -- the Savior of the world.
The people whom Christ has redeemed with his blood, as well as by his power, will obtain joyful deliverance from every enemy. He that designs such joy for us at last, will he not work such deliverance in the mean time, as our cases require? In this world of changes, it is a short step from joy to sorrow, but in that world, sorrow shall never come in view. (Matthew Henry)
I like women like that. I like women who are strong and protective and devoted to the ones who matter to them. I know plenty of women like that. I am one of them myself. Many of the women in my Bible study at the jail are that way. Ironically, today our Bible study is going to be about purity. Purity? Who even talks about purity any more.
Look at Rahab: Rahab was a prostitute. That's not exactly pure. She had a little house on the outskirts of town where she entertained traveling men who were looking for a little impurity.
I wonder though, how did she end up there? I'll bet you know. People don't just end up in places like that without someone helping them get there. How can a young woman get so off track? Obviously, purity wasn't a big priority in her family of origin.
Here are some possibilities: She had some kind of defect that made her "unmarry-able", so she decided to use her wiles to make some money for the family. She was made impure by someone -- she was raped, in other words, by someone in her family or in the town. She had been married, but her husband abandoned her -- leaving her no option -- in her mind -- but becoming a prostitute. Maybe her familiy was in dire straights -- no money or food, so she sold the only thing she had. However she ended up "impure" by the standards of the day she lived in, she was the kind of woman who didn't just sit back and feel sorry for her situation. She got up and did something about it.
When the big break came -- the day that she met God's chosen people, who were scouting out her land so they could conquer it -- she saw her opportunity clearly. Despite the impurity in her life, there was a window of wisdom -- Rahab could see the hand of God. She did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation for the good of herself and the people and property in her house.
She made a deal: I'll get you out of your dilemma, but you do something for me. When this whole thing comes down and you are destroying my town of Jericho -- which I know you will do -- don't forget about me and my people and my property. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine: I'll save your life if you save mine.
Something in Rahab told her the truth: these men represented something greater than herself, her family, her town, and she was going to hitch a ride on the greater thing, leaving behind the bitterness and self-pity another kind of woman might easily have been chained to. These men were not there to take a bit of her, pay up, and leave. These men brought something to her. Something greater. Something better. Something more substantial. Something more worthy.
This is the instant of Redemption for Rahab. I wonder if those men had told her about God, or if she had heard it from someone else. How did she know to go for it? Was it good, tough-woman instinct? Was it the voice of God? Rahab was a risk taker, no doubt. But this was a huge one. If she were caught harboring these men, she along with everyone in her house would have been killed. She took a chance. Something told her to believe.
And what was the result? They kept their part of the bargain. She let down that blood-red scarf from her window as the city was being attacked by God's people. Rahab, her mother, father, and brothers, along with her property were all protected. Somewhere down the road, after they went off with the God-followers, she met a man named Salmon who apparently didn't see her as impure. He saw her as marriage material. He saw her as the mother of his son, Boaz, who married another tough woman named Ruth - - they gave birth to Obed, who gave birth to Jesse, who had a son named David....and on down the line...to Jesus -- the Savior of the world.
The people whom Christ has redeemed with his blood, as well as by his power, will obtain joyful deliverance from every enemy. He that designs such joy for us at last, will he not work such deliverance in the mean time, as our cases require? In this world of changes, it is a short step from joy to sorrow, but in that world, sorrow shall never come in view. (Matthew Henry)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)