The Scarlet Rope

“'I accept your terms,' she replied.  And she left the scarlet rope hanging from the window." Joshua 2:21

I love this story.  It is the story of redemption, of love, of faith.  It is the love story of every man--every man who chooses to believe in the Savior, the God of Israel.

Here we find the story of Rahab.  She was a prostitute in the land of Canaan, the land God had promised to give to Israel.  A sinner, who knew she needed a Savior--just like you and me.  When the Israeli spies came to scope out the land, this prostitute hid them.  Listen to the Holy Bible as it recounts Rahab's heart to the spies in Joshua 2:9-11:

“'I know perfectly well that your God is going to give my country to you,' she told them. 'We are all afraid of you; everyone is terrified if the word Israel is even mentioned.  For we have heard how the Lord made a path through the Red Sea for you when you left Egypt! And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, and how you ruined their land and completely destroyed their people.  No wonder we are afraid of you! No one has any fight left in him after hearing things like that, for your God is the supreme God of heaven, not just an ordinary god.'"

Rahab goes on to ask the spies to spare her family in exchange for hiding them away, and the spies agree to do so under two conditions: (1) she does not betray them, and (2) she hangs a scarlet rope outside her window to mark it, just as God had the Israelites mark the doorposts with the scarlet blood of the lamb so that the death angel would pass over and spare them before they were delivered from Egypt (Exodus 12:13; Hebrews 11:28).

I wonder.

Is your scarlet rope extended for the Savior to see when He returns?

Joshua 2:17-18 tells us, "But before they left, the men had said to her, 'We cannot be responsible for what happens to you unless this rope is hanging from this window and unless all your relatives—your father, mother, brothers, and anyone else—are here inside the house.'"  It is much like the story of Noah, and just as Noah, Rahab had faith and believed in the living God.  So she and her family were saved, and from her lineage, Jesus was born.

Have you accepted the scarlet blood shed for you and for me, the lifeline, the scarlet rope that is the person of Jesus Christ?  Do you tell others of His love, His truth--that He IS Love and Truth?  Is your scarlet rope hanging from the window?

I pray it is.

Goodnight, Runners.