The Original Pretty Woman

Monday, 19th January 2009

Those of you who are at least in your late twenties will remember a box-office hit movie that came out in 1990 called Pretty Woman, starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. It was about a prostitute named Vivian Ward who ended up marrying the hero of the story.

Well, do you know there is a similar story found in the Bible? There was a harlot called Rahab who lived in the city of Jericho. She ended up marrying this guy called Salmon, who was the son of Nahshon (the leader of the tribe of Judah) and they both became the great-greatgrandparents to King David.

Sure, Rahab had a shady past, but that did not stop God, in His infinite grace, from being able to make use of her to protect the spies, and highly honouring her amongst His people, even though she was not even an Israelite to begin with.

Do you know that she was

- only 1 of 5 women that Matthew mentions in Jesus' genealogy (the other 4 being Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary)?

- only 1 of 2 women that the author of Hebrews included in the hall of faith (the other one being Sarah)?

- cited by James as an example of "faith in action" when she harboured the spies and sent them off in a different direction (the other one being Abraham when he offered Isaac as a sacrifice) ?

I grew up in a Methodist church, and have also listened to many talks when I was in the Methodist Youth Fellowship and the NTU Christian Fellowship. By and large, preachers would speak on "safe" topics like "Sermon on the Mount", or the miracles that Jesus did, or heroic stories such as Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt or David slaying Goliath.

Rarely, if ever, did we ever hear a sermon on the "difficult" passages in the Bible such as Tamar disguising herself as a prostitute in order to seduce her father-in-law Judah and getting herself pregnant as a result, or Lot's daughters seducing him and committing incest with him, or Abraham asking Sarah to lie about their marital status, thus putting Sarah at risk of having to go to bed with Pharaoh and King Abimelech.

I suspect this is probably because many preachers are ill-at-ease to explain the significance of these passages, and rather than expose their own ignorance and/or stumble their own flock, they prefer to choose the easier option of avoiding them altogether.

However, we read Paul telling Timothy in 2 Tim 3:16 that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness". If he meant "all", then would not that also refer to such controversial passages? There are no insignificant details in the Bible and the Holy Spirit saw fit to inspire the various authors to include these tough passages, which means to say these passages need to be preached on.

The only pastor I know of who has the guts and gumption to preach on such "scandalous" passages is Ps Joseph Prince of New Creation Church... well, until yesterday...

There is another pastor who can now be added to that list of bold preachers... and he is none other than our very own youth pastor, Ps Reuben Ng! Yesterday, he preached about the original pretty woman in a sermon entitled, "Rahab's Life-Changing Faith", which you can download and listen to. Hear especially how he unveils Jesus in that sermon when he talks about how the scarlet cord and stalk of linen flaks typify Jesus' blood and righteousness respectively.

Ps Reuben was assigned in to PLMC in August 2007 by TRAC President Rev Dr Wee Boon Hup, the same time that he assigned Rev Barnabas Chong out to Cairnhill Methodist. Here is a write-up that appeared in the 19 Aug 2007 edition of Heartbeat as a means of introducing him to the congregation.

Although he has only been in PLMC just over a year, God is already using him mightily to make a phenomenal impact, especially among the youth. Last week's TNG youth service saw a record turnout of close to 500 people (the usual crowd is about 300-350), so much so that I had difficulty finding a seat in the PLMGSS auditorium.

He is such a breath of fresh air, not only because of his youthful exuberance, but also because he preaches straight from the heart, without the need to refer to any prepared script. I had wanted to film him preaching for the benefit of you readers, but someone got wind of it and videography is now officially banned by the senior pastor. So if you want to see this anointed man of God in action, you will have to come to my church :-D

I have shared about how my wife and I are now on sabbatical leave, and attend NewCre except when Ps Reuben is preaching. There was one stage last year when my relationship with my daughter was severely strained because she did not want to follow us to the Rock, having made great friends here in PLMC. Well, I thank God for the shalom peace and assurance that He has given my wife and I, because my daughter and the other youth in PLMC are in safe and good hands under the shepherding and feeding of Ps Reuben. Our prayer is that God will continue to use him mightily and to prosper his ministry, such that he will be preaching to tens of thousands some day. Amen?