Advent - Day 8

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. (Joshua 2:1-4 ESV).

How can I leave the genealogy of Jesus without drawing our attention to Rahab and “the scarlet thread”? Remember that before the taking of Jericho Joshua sends spies into the city to find the best way to conquer it. The spies stay in a house owned by the prostitute Rahab. She hides the men during a search because she has heard of the amazing stories of the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land and decides she wants to be on their side during the battle for control of Jericho. In return, the spies promise protection for her and anyone who is in her house during the onslaught. After the walls of Jericho fall, the promise is kept and Rahab and her family were taken in by the Israelites. She marries Salmon, and interestingly, gives birth to Boaz, who will marry the next woman mentioned in the genealogy, Ruth. “The Scarlet Thread” is a reference to how Rahab helped the Hebrew spies to escape from Jericho by letting them down through her window by means of a rope made of scarlet thread. The spies said, “Tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window” (Joshua 2:18), so that she and her household would be kept safe in the coming invasion. Later, when the walls of Jericho fell down and the Israelites took the city, Joshua commanded that Rahab and her family be spared (Joshua 6:22-23). Marking her home was, of course, the “cord of scarlet thread.” It’s easy to dismiss the color of Rahab’s rope as mere coincidence, but the scarlet color is significant. The rope in her window was a sign of her faith and led to her salvation, as she was not destroyed with the rest of Jericho. The scarlet rope, the color of blood, worked for Rahab much as the blood of the Passover Lamb had worked during the exodus: every home marked with blood was spared death that night (Exodus 12:13). It is an obvious symbol of the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ runs throughout the entire Bible, symbolically. It is seen in the animals killed in Eden to provide garments for Adam and Eve, the ram that took Isaac’s place on the altar of Moriah, the Passover lamb, the institution of the sacrificial system, the scarlet rope of Rahab, and the thousands of years of sacrifices performed at the tabernacle and temple. The scarlet thread runs all the way up to John the Baptist’s declaration, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) and to the foot of the cross, where Jesus finally says, “It is finished” (John 19:30). I am so encouraged by this grand consistency of the Gospel. God’s concern has always been His children. And, through Jesus He has redeemed us all!