Women of Worth: Rahab and Ruth

By Anita Blough Smith

No two women could be more different.

No two hearts could be more the same.

Take a closer look into the journeys of two well-known women from the Old Testament scripture. Both Rahab and Ruth were women who lived in pagan foreign lands. Neither woman desired to know the God of Israel until unexpected events in their lives thrust them into circumstances they never imagined. Come step into their shoes and experience their innermost thoughts and feelings as they encounter the God of Israel. You may find you have more in common with these women than you previously believed possible. The same God these women met desires to embrace you with the same incredible love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973642244

Anita Blough Smith

Through her unique gift of captivating readers with the stories of Biblical women through “first-hand” retelling, Anita Blough Smith now awakens the journeys of two Old Testament women with her words. Her previous book, Unnamed Women: Come Step into Their Shoes, gave us a fresh new perspective on those women in the Gospels whom we know only by their circumstances. In Women of Worth Anita once again brings us into deeper reflection as we find two Old Testament women reaching out to us through time with the relevance of their struggles and pain. A transplant from Illinois, Anita has made her home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for more than forty years.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 Anita Blough Smith.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4223-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4222-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4224-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018912080

WestBow Press rev. date:   11/08/2018

To God be the glory,

great things He has done!

F

or my daughters, Sarah and Rachel,

two amazing Women of Worth

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Rahab

The Scripture

The Story

Reflections with Rahab

Ruth

The Scripture

The Story

Reflections with Ruth

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

I have found that in writing a book, there are many starts and stops, especially when it is not your full-time profession. What a treasure it is to have someone who encourages your efforts and takes the time to provide valuable feedback on draft after draft. Thank you, dear Rachel, for your willingness to so competently fulfill that role for me. Your help is immeasurable!

To my family and friends and all of you who supported my first book and asked for more, thank you! You are such a blessing.

Most of all, my overwhelming thanks to the One who is my constant Companion and the true Author, my Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction

Two women. Two very different women. One, an outcast living a sordid life. The other, young and beautiful. Both of them living in the pagan lands of Israel’s enemies. Yet God chose each of them to be in the genealogy line of the Messiah Jesus Christ. God bestowed great honor upon these two women. They are praised in Scripture. Who were these women? What made their lives worthy of such tribute?

I love Rahab and Ruth. They had very different journeys as each of them came to know the incredible Almighty God of Israel. You may already be very familiar with their stories. But I invite you to take a closer look at them. I hope you will see them as God saw them. Their hurts. Their flaws. Their sins. Their courage. Their glory. As I spent time immersed in their stories, God opened my eyes to see these two women with His heart. To see how much He loved them. To see how He pursued them. To share in a small way the overwhelming joy He must have experienced when they each took that step of faith toward Him.

The writing of this book brought me into a deeper understanding of how God sees each of us. It is a love story from the One who created us, knows us, and longs to live in deep relationship with us every moment of our lives. The stories of these two women do not attempt to hide or cover up the pain and suffering they endured or the mistakes they made in their lives. Their pain was real. Their lives were real. Just like ours. But their stories show that no matter who you are, no matter what your past or present is like, no matter what your sins are, no matter how the world views you, no matter how you feel about yourself, God is eagerly waiting for you to reach out to Him. To receive Him and invite Him into your life and circumstances. His love is greater than you could ever imagine or possibly dream of. He is the master of taking our brokenness and transforming it into His glory.

Through spending time with these two precious women, I found that God met me in an intimate way as I identified with their struggles and heartaches. Perhaps you will find that too.

Anita Blough Smith

June 7, 2018

No two women could be more different.

No two hearts could be more the same.

Rahab

… a time to break down …

Ecclesiastes 3:3

Joshua 2

Spies Sent to Jericho

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, Behold, certain men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that have come to you, who entered your house; for they have come to search out all the land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them; and she said, True, men came to me, but I did not know where they came from; and when the gate was to be closed, at dark, the men went out; where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords; and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to