1. Faith in a Scarlet Cord – Joshua Ch 2
Welcome
Read Joshua ch 2
Sunday 12th July 2009
Christ Church Cottingham

2. Joshua Ch 2 It would make a great start to a spy story
Spies sent out for a reconnaissance trip
They find safety in the house of a prostitute
She shelters them against the king’s messenger
They make a promise to protect her
Rahab and her families’ lives for the lives of the spies
She relies on the scarlet cord to save her when the enemy attacks
I don’t know about you but when I read this passage it reminds me of a Ian Fleming spy thriller –
two ‘agents’ are sent by the boss to sus out the enemy and bring back valuable data.
They manage to get inside the enemy territory but struggle to find somewhere to hide so do what most spies would do – go to a place of relative safety and place of guaranteed welcome ‘a brothel’.
Rahab the prostitute is happy to hide them from their enemies for a fee – no not what you are thinking but the spies lives for the lives of herself and her family.
She deceives the king’s messengers and helps the spies escape using a scarlet chord.
She then relies on the scarlet chord to save her when the spies army comes to attack the city. Phew!

3. Joshua Ch 2 Rahab the Bridge Builder Rahab and faith in a scarlet cord
We are continuing on (finally) with the book of Joshua and yet this passage has very little to do with Joshua; in fact it has far more to do with a prostitute named Rahab (not just any prostitute though) and I would like us to consider this morning two things:-
Rahab the bridge builder
Rahab and faith in a scarlet chord
There was nothing good about the character or personality of Rahab that should have separated her out from the rest of the people of Jericho. There is nothing that we can read into the story even reading between the lines that can deny that she was a deceiver, a traitor, a harlot and a liar. I am certain there would be others that as far as reputation and honesty would be far more suitable people to save from the downfall of Jericho. And yet God uses this woman in so many ways to teach us about the consequences of Faith in Him.
Listen again to the words of the spies.
V17 to 20 "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
This promise or covenant was a wonderful covenant offering salvation to her family where this was not an option to anyone else in that city. Only those who were with her, in her house would be saved. It does not take a lot of imagination to figure out what Rahab had to do to save her family. She had to get them all to her house and convince them to stay.
It seems to me that that would include at least a number of different challenges.

4. Joshua Ch 2 Rahab the Bridge Builder
Being a prostitute she would have been outcast by the family
She still loved her family and wanted to save them
Rahab would have to deal with relational issues, broken bridges that had grown between her and her family.
Offer apologies where they were necessary.
Undo the damage she had done
First, it would have to include rebuilding broken family bridges. Rahab was a prostitute. In that culture as in our culture today, prostitutes were used people, shamed people. Who here would acknowledge with pride that they have a daughter who is a prostitute? Rahab probably had severed quite a few ties to become the person she was. I suspect she couldn't call up her dad and say: "Dad, why don't you come over and sleep at my brothel for a few days!" "Mom, would you come over and cook for my guests for a few days?"
Those requests would not work. Rahab would have to deal with relational issues broken bridges that had grown between her and her family. Offer apologies where they were necessary. Undo the damage she had done. If she had any pride, she would have to bury it. If she had any stubbornness, she would have to curb it, discipline it to useful purposes. In this situation, the benefits of the covenant demanded obedience to its stipulations, love your neighbour as yourself! In returning to love she would enable them to enjoy the benefits of the covenant with her.

5. Joshua Ch 2 God calls us all to be Bridge Builders
For us too, if we want our families to enjoy the covenant benefits with us,
God calls us to the disciplines of
loving one another,
dealing with wrongs that have been done,
cleaning our house so that they are fitting places for the covenant
For us too, if we want our families to enjoy the covenant benefits with us, God calls us to the disciplines of loving one another, dealing with wrongs that have been done, cleaning our house so that they are fitting places for the covenant. Some of us have parents who do not believe, some of us have spouses who do not believe, some of us have brothers or sisters who do not believe, some of us have children who do not believe, for the sake of their participation in the covenant, we are called to be bridge builders to them, loving them as we would love ourselves, so that they with us may enjoy the benefits of the covenant.
Rahab had to rebuild bridges. Heal the wounds she had left. Rebuild the distrust she had broken. There is no doubt that she had a lot of work to do in those next few days.

6. "You mean, what you have done!"
Joshua Ch 2
Rahab also had a lot of persuading to do!
"Mum, Dad, brother, sister - you know those Israelites that are on the other side of the Jordan, they're going to kill us all. The whole city will be destroyed."
"Don't be so negative!"
"Their God, the God of heaven and earth is with them and he is going to destroy us for what we have done."
"You mean, what you have done!"
Rahab also had a lot of persuading to do! We might imagine that having rebuilt the bridges to her family, she might have invited them over for dinner. Maybe she would have tricked them into salvation by inviting them over at just the right time. Scripture very clearly disallows that possibility. For a number of reasons:
First:  Rahab did not know when or how the Israelites would attack the city. Right after the spies left, she hung that scarlet cord out of her window so that she would be ready at all times.
When Israel did come, they marched around the city for 6 days. And you can well imagine the reaction of everyone in the city of Jericho: "To Arms! To Arms! The Enemy is outside the gate!"   Rahab's family would have heard that cry. Rahab's family would have prepared for battle. Rahab's family would die, unless they like Rahab, put their complete confidence in the spies and their promise, and stayed in her house.
Again, it does not take a lot of imagination to understand the kind of persuasion that Rahab would have to do.
"Mom, Dad, brother, sister - you know those Israelites that are on the other side of the Jordan, they're going to kill us all. The whole city will be destroyed."
"Don't be so negative!"
"Their God, the God of heaven and earth, is with them and he is going to destroy us for what we have done."
"You mean, what you have done!"

7. "How could you betray your own people?"
Joshua Ch 2
She would have to convince them of their destiny, that their future was grim indeed.
And then she would have to convince them of the covenant...
"Dad, there is a scarlet cord hanging out of my window, and its a sign that I made an agreement with two of their spies."
"HOW COULD YOU?"
"How could you betray your own people?"
"Dad, its our only chance..."
She would have to convince them of their destiny, that their future was grim indeed. And then she would have to convince them of the covenant...
"Dad, there is a scarlet cord hanging out of my window, and its a sign that I made an agreement with two of their spies."
"HOW COULD YOU?"
"How could you betray your own people?"
"Dad, its our only chance..." and you can imagine how the conversation, arguments might continue for hours...
And she convinced her family at incredible personal risk. If she would have kept this covenant to herself, it would have been easy to keep the significance of the scarlet cord a secret. But as she tried to convince her family, what if one of them had chosen to betray her and tell the king of the city? Her life and the portion of her family that had sided with her would have been killed in a moment.

8. Joshua Ch 2
The truth of this passage is this. For the sake of the eternal futures of our families, eternal life, we as Christians need not only to constantly be bridge builders with our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters
we also need to do everything within our power to persuade them, that only the blood of Jesus has the power to save
This passage is a profound picture of the covenant that God makes with each of us and that covenant includes our families.
You see the truth of this passage is this. For the sake of the eternal futures of our families, eternal life, we as Christian need not only to constantly be bridge builders with our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters, we also need to do everything within our power to persuade them, persuade them that only the blood of Jesus has the power to save.  This passage calls us to use words, use emotions, use scripture, use habits, use affirmation, use love, use prayer, use words of destiny, use whatever you have at your disposal to persuade, even if at times that persuasion is relationally expensive. Your family will see, by your willingness to risk rejection with your message, how seriously you mean what you say. And where we with our message break relationships, they can always be rebuilt.

9. Joshua Ch 2 Rahab and faith in a scarlet chord
It was not her good qualities.
It was not who she knew
It was not that she was different from other people by race or otherwise.
She was from the city of Jericho, a gentile.
Her family lived there.
We cannot say that her accomplishments would save her.
2. Faith in a scarlet cord handing out of her window, a scarlet cord that signified an agreement saved Rahab and her family.
When it comes to the redemptive message of salvation, there is no other way to read this passage.  It was trusting that cord that saved her!
It was not her good qualities. It was not who she knew. Nor was it that she was different from other people by race or otherwise. She was from the city of Jericho, a gentile. Her family lived there. She was in every way as worthy of judgement as all the people around her in that city. And we cannot say that her accomplishments would save her. What did she accomplish but to be a traitor to her own people? In any society, she would have been regarded shamefully, with deep distrust.

10. Joshua Ch 2 Rahab and faith in a scarlet chord
There is no way we can find anything about this women that would merit her being saved in this coming onslaught by the nation of Israel except for the fact that Rahab trusted an agreement symbolized by a scarlet cord hanging out of her window
Why a scarlet cord?
There is no way we can find anything about this women that would merit her being saved in this coming onslaught by the nation of Israel except for the fact that Rahab trusted an agreement symbolizing scarlet cord hanging out her window.
Why an agreement and a scarlet cord?
The scripture are rich with symbolism - and here we discover symbolism interwoven throughout the scriptures in ways that cause us to stop with awe.  The symbolism behind this cord we find in the beginning chapters of Genesis to the last chapters of Revelation.

11. Joshua Ch 2 The Tabernacle
The place were we meet the symbolism of the scarlet thread or cord the clearest was in the tabernacle. If you remember the Old testament Tabernacle, that was the movable temple in which God would dwell while Israel moved throughout the desert on their forty year journey to the promised land. There, because of the agreement that they had with God, (outlined in Exodus through Deuteronomy,) God would live with them, they would be his people, God would be their God. The tabernacle was the place where the agreements of the covenant were kept, (in the Ark) where the contract of the covenant was repeatedly signed and sealed (through sacrifice).
If you remember what the tabernacle looked like, you might remember that throughout the tabernacle, its walls, its curtains, its embroidered cherubim, its clothing for the priests - throughout it all, there was interwoven scarlet thread. And between the walls of those scarlet woven and embroidered curtains, a ritual happened repeatedly, the ritual of sacrifice. Animals were taken, their scarlet blood drained and gathered, sprinkled, their carcass butchered and placed again and again on the alter to signify to the people that once again, this covenant they had with God was signed and sealed, they were his people, God was their God, their sins were forgiven.
Incidently in the tabernacle there were three curtains each with scarlet thread interwoven
1 in the outer wall
2 as a door to the tent of meeting
3 as a curtain to the holy of holies

12. Joshua Ch 2
Each door had a name – the way –

13. Joshua Ch 2
the truth and the life so when Jesus said in John ch 14 v 6 I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but through me the Jews new exactly what Jesus was saying! The only way to get your sins forgiven is through Jesus and His blood shed for the forgiveness for sins.
To the Israelites, the scarlet thread interwoven throughout the tabernacle, along with the repeated ceremonies of sacrifice were for them symbols of covenant, of their agreement with God, sealed through the shedding of blood, that their sins were forgiven and they were God's very own people.
It was for good reason that these spies, who were about to be let down by a scarlet rope to escape from the city, insisted that the sign of their covenant agreement with Rahab, to save her and her family, would be the sign of that scarlet rope hanging out of her window. They were giving what Rahab had demanded, a sure sign, the covenant was sealed. Having made the agreement with the spies, Rahab quickly tied the rope so that it hung out of her window, a visible witness to an agreement made. She would have to trust that rope, that it would secure her future because of that agreement.
Like Rahab, we too are saved by Faith in an agreement, sealed by a scarlet cord.

14. Jesus said – This is my blood of the new covenant
Jesus said – This is my blood of the new covenant For the forgiveness of sins.
The scarlet cord symbolizes the shedding of blood and it is what seals for us our covenant with God.
The writer of the book of Hebrews points us to this truth in Hebrews 9:
"When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
The scarlet cord, symbolizing the shedding of blood, is what seals for us our covenant with God. That is why Jesus in the institution of the Lord's supper said saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matt 26 v 28 & Mark 14 v 28

15. Jesus had a scarlet robe placed over his shoulders as King of the Jews
When Jesus said this to his disciples, he too was pointed toward himself as a sacrifice.  He would have a scarlet robe placed over his shoulders as king of the Jews, he would be mocked and judged by Pontius Pilate, who would send him, according to the peoples wishes, to a cross, there to hang and die. And when the soldiers came and pierced his side, out of his side came a flow of blood and water, a scarlet cord, signing once and for all an eternal covenant between God and mankind.
As we look at Rahab, what saved her on that day was that she placed her trust in a scarlet cord that signified an agreement with the spies of Israel.
He was mocked and judged by Pontius Pilot and condemned to a cross to hang and die.

16. Joshua Ch 2 Today what saves you? Goodness can’t save you – Rom 3 v 23
Accomplishments can’t save you – James 2 v 17
Who you know can’t save you – not even participation in a church
The eternal covenant has been signed for you.
Today, what saves you?
Do you think you are good? Goodness makes no difference to God. God's law will never be watered down for your sake! Rom 3 v 23 We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God - that perfect will he intended for us. Certainly there were people who were better than Rahab in the city of Jericho. It did them no good!
Do you think what you have accomplished will save you? James says: All that does not arise from faith is sin. Your works cannot save you.  Certainly there were people in the city of Jericho that accomplished significant and good things.  It did them no good!
Do you think you will be saved because of who you know, of your participation in a church, a family? If you put your trust, your confidence for eternity on those things, it would be right for you, like the city of Jericho to tremble at the coming of God.
What will save you?
A scarlet cord, the blood of Jesus. Trust that what Jesus did on the cross is for you, that his blood will never loose its power. That the eternal covenant has been signed for you.

17. Come in faith, trusting that the symbols of Christ’s broken body and shed blood, are signs of this eternal covenant that God makes with you.
Through Jesus sacrifice on the cross, the covenant is sealed to us, there our sins are forgiven, our life made new.
As you come to the table this morning, I invite you to come in faith, trusting that the symbols of Christ's broken body and shed blood, are signs and seals of this eternal covenant, this is the agreement that God makes with you.  Through Jesus sacrifice on the cross, the covenant is sealed to us, there our sins are forgiven, our life made new. There is nothing else that will do.  On the cross, we see the crimson tide from the heart of God to us, we see the scarlet cord hanging out of the window of eternity.