THE WOMAN WITH THE RED ROPE
Josh. 2:1-24; 6:20-25
INTRODUCTION
A. ACTIVITY
1. Today our story is about a ROPE. So in preparation, we’re going to have a TUG-OF-WAR. The winner will get a piece of candy and the 2nd place winners will get a piece of candy of your choice.
2. We don’t want anyone hurt. The rope has a piece of tape in the middle. The object is to pull the tape past the marking on the floor.
3. You’ll get to pick your candy out of a big bowl as you go out when you leave.
B. THESIS
1. Some people in this world have sunk so low, it's hard to imagine them being saved: drug addicts, inner-city gang members, really confused homeless people -- it would take a miracle of God's grace for them to be turned around.
2. But God is able to transform the worst types of people -- and make them into a child of God.
3. Today we're going back in time to see about a woman who looked like a lost cause, but she saw her chance to make good and did.
C. TEXT
1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies…“Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a [woman] named Rahab. 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” She said, “the men...have already left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan. 9 [Rahab] said to them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og…11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 …that you will save us from death.” 14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. 15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 17 The men said to her, “This oath…will not be binding on us 18 unless…you have tied this scarlet cord in the window… and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 21 “Agreed,” she replied. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
[I omitted the word "prostitute" because this message was to our school children in Chapel.]
D. TITLE
The title of this morning's message is “THE WOMAN WITH THE RED ROPE.”
I. A SINFUL WOMAN & PEOPLE
A. PERSONALLY – HER CHARACTER
Rahab saw herself as a worse sinner than the average person in Jericho. If anyone was doomed to go to hell, she was. She didn't have a ghost of a chance to make heaven.
B. HER PEOPLE – UNDER JUDGMENT
1. But not only was Rahab in DANGER, so were all her people.
2. Her city and people were doomed and under God's judgment. They would all be destroyed!
3. It's an Amazing Parallel; WHAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW:
*Rom. 3:23, "For all have sinned... 6:23 "wages of sin = death." Ezek. 18:4, “the soul that sins, it shall die.”
*John 3:18, "he that believes not is condemned already."
4. We’re ALL in the same danger as Rahab was, exposed to the eternal judgment of God.
II. A WAY OF ESCAPE
A. SEE HOW GOD WAS WORKING AHEAD OF TIME:
1. PREPARING HER HEART. It was no accident that out of all the people in that City, the men from God came to her house. She was a person who feared God and was willing to risk present happiness for future deliverance.
2. GOD MADE A DIVINE APPOINTMENT In sending the spies to her house! It had to be part of a giant plan of God which involved her! Imagine God picking her!
3. Some of you may feel like your God has no great plan for you. But God DOES have a Plan for you; “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jer. 29:11.
4. God sees you like a “Diamond in the Rough;” as having great potential worth, but needing salvation and much development to truly be a jewel. You are precious to God!
5. God's choosing of her:
B. SHOWS THE GRACE OF GOD
You too may feel unworthy -- but that's who God wants! Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” Luke 19:10.
C. THE FAITH OF RAHAB
1. What prompted her to help the spies and seek protection? Was it just self-preservation?
2. No! IT WAS "BY FAITH."
a. “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient” Heb. 11:31;
b. “In the same way, was not even Rahab...considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the
spies and sent them off in a different direction?”Jm. 2:25. Justification by faith.
3. I believe she believed in the God of Israel and believed God was giving her an opportunity to save herself and her family.
D. COMMITMENT/ CHOOSING SIDES
1. Her hiding them was Very Risky -- if caught, she would have been killed; but she feared God more than men.
2. That day she had to choose between God’s side and the devil’s side. She renounced her old life, her old friends, etc. Like the song, “If You say ‘Go,’ we will go; If You say ‘Wait’ we will wait…”
3. Just like her, God is offering YOU a way of escape from certain destruction. Will you take it?
III. THE SOURCE OF HER PROTECTION
A. TOKEN OF THE SCARLET CORD
1. Throughout the Scriptures, God has always shown us that sin must be atoned for; He’s provided symbols of the blood of Jesus Christ.
a. Abel offered a lamb to God.
b. Noah made a sacrifice -- after the flood.
c. The Passover Lamb in Egypt -- blood over and beside the doors of the Israelites -- caused the death-angel to not enter their houses.
d. O.T. Sacrifices were made by the Jewish Priesthood atoned for their sins – “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life” Lev. 17:11.
e. Here at Jericho -- Rahab & family Delivered by a Scarlet cord from a doomed city – it’s prophetic of the gospel and the blood of Christ.
2. Everyone under the protection of the Scarlet cord would live. If they ventured out of Rahab's house during the Israelite attack, they would fall under the deadly wave of judgment.
3. Imagine How Rahab told her family!
a. Asked, "Why will the soldiers spare your poor house?"
b. "Because of the Scarlet cord in my window. This piece of cloth is our salvation!"
c. Laughter. "Rahab, you're the worst woman in town! Maybe God will spare the wealthy, the powerful, or the religious, but He certainly won't spare you!"
4. HER FAITH & WITNESSING SAVED HER FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS. We need to convince those around us of the power of the blood!
5. They had to believe too, & get into her house for seven days. There were 6 false alarms!
6. REALIZE THE POWER OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST!
a. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” 1 Jn. 1:7.
b. “from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” Rev. 1:5.
c. “For if the blood of bulls and goats…sanctifie[d]… the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ… cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Heb. 9:13-14.
7. Rahab boldly hung the scarlet cord in her window!
a. Don’t be ashamed to declare that you’re a Christian!
b. “ “ “ to stand up and be counted, to rebuke sin and take God’s Word as the final authority, & not care what anybody thinks about it!
B. HER REDEMPTION THAT DAY REWARDED
1. “When the trumpets sounded…when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city 21 and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it.” 22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into [Rahab]’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” 24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab...with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day” Joshua 6:20-25.
2. Evidently, the symbol of blood caused her house (section of wall) not to collapse. Her house was still intact.
3. SCARLET CORD – WAS NOT JUST SALVATION THAT DAY, BUT NEW LIFE & NEW HOPE.
a. She married Salmon, a leader of Judah.
b. She became the great-great grandmother of King David.
c. Lord Jesus had her blood flowing in His veins. Matthew 1:5-6.
d. What a marvel! She who was a bad woman, being allowed to become a ancestor of God's own Son! WOW! HOW BIG IS THE GRACE OF GOD!
4. You don't have to remain a drug addict, a drunkard, or a loser. The Christ, who Will save your soul, can give you a new life too!
CONCLUSION
A. DON'T DELAY!
1. Verse 21 -- she immediately put the Scarlet cord – symbolic of the blood of Christ -- in her window.
2. What would've happened if she had delayed putting it in the window? She might have said, "It will be months until they come. I'll get to it when it's convenient."
3. The Jews might have come straight up and she and her family die with the rest of the city.
B. ILLUSTRATION: FOLLOW THE BLOOD
1. Max Walsh was staying at a lodge in the Austrian Alps. On a beautiful winter day with the blue sky, he told the owner he was going out for a walk by himself.
2. He was about a mile and a half from the lodge when suddenly the weather changed. A tremendous snowstorm descended on the area. He was blinded by the snow, became disoriented, and finally stumbled and fell passed out in the snow.
3. The owner of the lodge, worried about him, sent one of his rescue dogs out to look for him. He located Walsh's body in the snow and latched onto it and started to drag him out of the snow.
4. Max Walsh became semiconscious and awoke to a big dog ripping at his clothing. He assumed it was a wolf and so took out his pocket knife and mortally stabbed the dog, which returned to his master and fell dead at his feet.
5. The owner of the lodge, realizing what it happened, followed the trail of blood through the snow until he found Max Walsh and took him back to safety.
6. Years later when Max Walsh became a Christian, he used to tell that story, "When I realized that I was lost and headed for hell, I realized the only way that I could find life was to follow the trail of blood back to the cross of Jesus, where I found the Jesus who died for me!"
B. THE CALL
1. How many times have you postponed your personal salvation? That approach leads to death!
2. Tie the Scarlet Cord in the window of your life this morning.
3. Do you feel unworthy of God's blessings, but you see your opportunity now to claim them? If the grace of God could reach her, it can reach YOU!
4. Are there some family members you want to gather with you behind the Cord? Let's pray for them.
