Beginning with Adam, all the way to the present time, mankind has been sinful before the Lord. And it’s not just the unbelievers who suffer from sin. Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are subject to succumbing to sin from time to time, as well.
“What?” you may say, “I’m a Christian, and I don’t sin anymore.”
Well, that’s not true. Christians are subject to sin. The Book of First John was written to fellow Christians. He said that if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But when we do sin, we can be forgiven. If we confess our sins before the Lord, he is just and able to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). Then, we will be able to step away from our evil ways and do good for the Lord once again.
Let’s look at a couple of examples from the Bible about how good can rise from previous wrongs. In the Book of Numbers, we see that when the Tribe of Benjamin was counted, there were 35,400 men of fighting age (Num. 2:36-37). When adding in older men, women, and children, that number could easily have been 100,000 people in the Tribe of Benjamin.
Then, came sin. Sometime during the period of the Judges, the entire Tribe of Benjamin refused to admit that the practice of homosexuality by a small group of its members was wrong. As a result, God allowed the other tribes of Israel to utterly annihilate the Tribe of Benjamin. By the time the smoke cleared, there were only 600 men left. All others, including women and children had been killed. Even all the cities of this tribe were burned down. In order to keep the Tribe of Benjamin from disappearing, the other tribes of Israel allowed the 600 men to have wives from their tribes. Thus, the Tribe of Benjamin was allowed to begin rising from the ashes (Judges, Chapters 19 to 21).
Just a few years later, when Israel was asking for a king, God directed Samuel, the last of Israel’s judges, to anoint Saul, who at that time, was a good and humble man, as their very first king. Saul protested, saying, “Don’t you realize that I am from the Tribe of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel. Why are you extending such an offer to me?”
In answer, Samuel poured a vial of oil over Saul’s head, and said, “The Lord has anointed you to be captain over his inheritance.”
Here, we see that shortly after the Tribe of Benjamin was nearly exterminated due to homosexuality, God raised up a Benjamite to lead the Lord’s people (1 Sam. Chapters 8 to 10).
Next, let’s look at Rahab the prostitute who assisted in Israel’s defeat of Jericho. After Israel’s victory, Rahab was allowed to live with the Israelites. (Joshua 2 to 6). Rahab married Salmon (Matt. 1:5), and became an ancestor of King David (Ruth 4:13-22). Then, we find that Jesus descended from David (Matt. 1:1-17).
Rahab wasn’t the only prostitute in the ancestry of Jesus Christ. Judah’s daughter-in-law, Tamar, prostituted herself with Judah, and bore a son named Pharez, who became an ancestor of Jesus (Gen. 38:24-30, Matt. 1:3).
So, in summary, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, descended from Rahab, a woman who at one time supported herself by being a prostitute, and Tamar, who prostituted herself with Judah.
What can we learn from this? All of us, whether before we were saved, or after, are subject to sin from time to time. Sin is evil, and God hates sin (Prov. 6:16-19). Nevertheless, we are afforded the opportunity to confess our sins before the Lord and be forgiven. Then, we can move on, and do good for the Kingdom of God.
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