Passover, Pt. 2 (An Angel of Life)
Joshua 2:18, Joshua 2:21
“Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.” … And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
Remember when the Angel of Death swept through Egyptian provinces during the Passover and killed all the firstborn sons of those who’d refused to paint the sacramental scarlet cords of lamb’s blood on their doorposts? Well, here in Jericho, that same Angel of Death is passing over again, and only those whose walls have been draped in the scarlet threads of faith will be rescued from judgment. Rahab has never tasted a Passover meal in her life. She knows nothing of Levitical instructions for holy ceremony. She’s never once, in her entire life in Jericho, offered a physical sacrifice that pleased the LORD of heaven and earth. She’s always been in the wrong, always worshipped the wrong gods in the wrong manner through the wrong mediums, and whether due to the tragic necessity brought on by slavery or her own illicit corrupt desire, she is quite literally as ceremonially and morally unclean as she can be.
But the gospel of our merciful LORD is as accessible to pagan prostitutes as it is to Levitical priests. Faith for every man is a matter of will—an act—of marking one’s past, present, and future, all the bad and the good, in the scarlet wash of obedience. Rahab doesn’t say, “But my neighbors will see the cord and sell me out!” Or “But my family doesn’t believe—they’ll turn on me and even turn me in!” Or “Why can’t you just take my word for it? Don’t make me stand out like a sore thumb!” No. She’s past all that now. She doesn’t care what the deed might cost her in the immediate future. This scarlet cord is the first thread of a new life, being woven by Redemption’s good hand, the genesis strand of a tapestry she can’t even begin to fathom.
May we be challenged by Rahab’s politically incorrect allegiance to Almighty God, and may we bear our own scarlet, blood-tethered cord of Christian faith with unshakable resolve.