Have you ever really read through the names of Matthew 1? There are four women noted:

Tamar: Genesis 38. Her husband was wicked and the Lord killed him. She didn’t have any children and wanted to have a son to pass on the name of her dead husband. Her father-in-law (Judah) told her to wait until his other sons grew up, but that would take too long so she decided to dress up like a prostitute. Judah came into town, hired her and slept with her without knowing it (she had a veil on). She’s in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Rahab: Joshua 6. She did more than Tamar, her entire career was a prostitution! She was a non-Jew (Gentile). Joshua led the Israelites to the infamous town of Jericho. He sent spies ahead and Rahab hid them in her house. She made them promise to not kill her and her family when they came to take over the city. They did and she and her family were saved. Everyone else was killed.

Ruth: An entire book of the Bible was named after here. Her husband died. She was a Gentile like Rahab. She followed her mother-in-law to Israel, met a man named Boaz. He got drunk and laid at his feet (whatever that means). She became his wife and the great grandmother of King David.

Bathsheba: 1 Samuel 11. King David lusted after her, raped her, and she became pregnant. David called her husband home from battle and wanted him to take a break from war. His thoughts were to have him sleep with his wife and hide the sin. He didn’t want to dishonor his fellow soldiers by going home while they slept in fields so he slept on the doorsteps of David’s palace. David sent him back to war and had him killed. David married Bathsheba, but their child died. She eventually became the mother of the wisest man whoever lived and an ancestor of Christ.

Crazy! What does this tell you about who God is and how He works?