"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 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and
sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death.”
“Our lives for
your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will
treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD
gives us the land.”
So she let them down by a rope through the window, for
the house she lived in was part of the city wall. Now she had said to them, “Go
to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three
days until they return, and then go on your way.”
The men said to her, “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.”
“Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as
you say.” So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet
cord in the window.
(Joshua 2:12-21)
We
usually think that Rahab was the only resident of Jericho who survived. She
wasn't. Her parents, her brothers (plural) and sisters (plural) and "all
who belong to them," which could mean Rahab's in-laws, or nieces and
nephews, or maybe even slaves. The obvious and uncomfortable question this
raises is who we would arrange to save if we were in a situation like Rahab.
It's not just a question of whether or not you love the people. You also have
to either be able to trust them or restrain them. It wouldn't do a lot of good
to invite people to be rescued who would then report you to the king. How many
of your family members would be ready, willing and able to be an accessory to
treason? How many of them would be afraid enough to take this dangerous step
toward a possible future among the people who destroyed your home town and
killed most of the people you know?
Of
course, this is not quite the situation we face today. There's less "life
or death" for Christians involved, but it's still what Christians face as
they deal with family members who aren't Christian. It is life or death for the
non-Christians. The Scarlet Cord is what they need. I don't know...maybe
inviting them into our lives more than we have is part of the answer.
The
Jerichoites trusted in their walls. Perhaps part of what led Rahab to take the
steps she did is the fact that her house was part of that wall system. She'd
heard what God did to Egypt. Perhaps she looked at her home and realized that
she was on the front lines in a battle between Jericho and "that
God." Maybe that's another way to be more convincing to our family
members... by being on the front lines.
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