This past Sunday I preached a sermon entitled, “The Scarlet Cord of Mercy.” As you may have already guessed, it was based on the passage in Joshua 2:12-21 where Rahab helps the Israeli spies who are doing surveillance on Jericho, her city of residence. This remarkable story throughout chapter 2 includes all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster, including action, suspense, intrigue, mystery, espionage, deception, and betrayal. But below the surface, there is a wonderful theme of salvation by faith, a gift of grace for those outside of the covenant, even for those with the most wretched reputation.
As I prepared the sermon, and then preached it on Sunday, I became convinced that this is not just some obscure story about a shameful woman who was given empathy, but it’s my own story of redemption. You see, every time I was tempted to consider Rahab’s character with scorn, I was reminded that I was rescued from my dastardly sins and wickedness as well. When I tried to compare my lifestyle to hers I realized that she was probably more likely to repent from her perverted ways than I was from my Pharisaical ways.
The point is that we don’t come to God on our terms, but the Lord grants us grace to respond in faith to His terms through Jesus Christ our Savior. And the story of Rahab is an extraordinary story of the Lord genuinely converting a sinner to become a trophy of His grace. So much so that she becomes a ancestor of King David and is included in the genealogy of Christ! Hebrews considers her a woman of faith because of the way she helped God’s people to accomplish His purposes in the land of promise.
I’m particularly fascinated, though, by the scarlet cord in the story. Joshua 2 tells us that Rahab had helped the spies to escape out her window (which was located on the city wall) by a scarlet cord. (like a rope) And when she asked them for protection for her family, they said they would show kindness to her “if” she kept her end of the bargain. The biggest condition on her part was that she would keep her entire family inside her home and tie the scarlet cord in the window of her residence in order to distinguish her place from everyone else’s. By doing this, they would be preserved instead of being devoted to destruction like the rest of her neighbors.
Because of their idolatry, the people of Canaan (which included Rahab and her family) were being judged by God and the land was being given to Israel. But they escaped God’s punishment, not because of any merit on their part but because God had enabled them to appreciate His majesty and glory through faith. In other words, they were to remain under the scarlet red marking if they wanted to be saved from destruction.
Does this remind you of anything else in Scripture? Well, it should! First of all, it would remind Israel of God’s faithfulness in salvation for their own history. The book of Joshua was historical book that was kept with the annals of Israel’s history. It was written presumably by Joshua and for the people of Israel. So, as later generations read about the events surrounding the taking of Jericho and the conquest of Canaan, they would have been reminded of the way the Lord saved them in their past. God had rescued them from the people of Egypt in a supernatural, miraculous fashion, using 10 plagues to break the Pharoah’s resolve about keeping them in his service. The 10th and decisive plague was the Lord’s Passover, which killed all the first-born of Egypt, bypassing the people of Israel by virtue of the blood that was marked on their doorposts. The scarlet red blood of the Passover lamb had to be placed on the doorways to distinguish them from all others. It marked the occasion of their salvation! Just like the scarlet cord.
But the scarlet cord of mercy would also point forward to the future, when once again salvation would come for those taking refuge under the blood. Because of sin and corruption, all mankind had become separated from God. So the Lord sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live of righteousness and to die a substitutionery death for those He came to save. When He died on the cross, He became the perfect sacrificial Lamb that would forever settle our atonement. The Bible teaches that His blood was shed for the remission of sins and, therefore, the salvation of those that trust in Him. In other words, all those that remain under the blood of Christ would be saved!
The scarlet cord of God’s mercy is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us from our sins. God used Rahab’s scarlet cord as a type of Christ, which foreshadowed the protection and renewal that comes from His blood and righteousness. The scarlet cord of mercy weaves its way throughout the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, giving testimony of God’s redemptive purposes through Christ.
Let’s not easily forget what the Lord has done for us. We are sinners in need of God’s mercy, and unless we place ourselves under the protection of the blood, as it were, we are doomed to destruction! May God continue to grant more of this saving grace.