Sharp County record., 1890-02-27
THE SCARLET CORD.
Sermon by Rev. T. De Witt TAI
mage, D. D.
He Tells the Story of Rahab and Makes
Her Experience the Theme Oh III"
Text-Application of the Moral
to Christian Life.


first part of the twenty-third verse OF
the sixth chapter of Joshua: "And the
Young men that were spies went IN ana
brought out Rahab, and her father ana
her mother, and her brethren, ana all
that she had" He said:
When, only few weeks ago l Wis
tied Jericho, | said: Can it be posslDle
that this is the Jericho that Mark An
tony gave as wedding present to Geo
patra? Where are the groves OF PAIN
trees? Where are Herod's palaces that
once stood here? Where is the great
theater from the stage of which SaIome
told the people that Herod was deaa'
Where is the sycamore tree on the
limb of which Zaccheus sat when Jesus
passed this place? Where is the wreck
of the walls that fell at the blowing OF
the rams horns? But the fact that
all these have disappeared did not nm
der me from seeing in Imagination the
smash of every thing on the lated day
save one house on the wall. That scene
centuries ago comes back to me as
though it were yesterday.
There is very sick and sad house IN
The city of Jericho What is the mat
ter? Is it poverty? No. Worse than
that. Is it leprosy? No. Worse than
that. Is it death? No. Worse than
that A daughter has forsakon her
home. BY what internal plot she was
induced to leave know not, but they
look in vain for her return. Sometimes
they hear footstep very much ike
hers and they start up and say: "She
comes!" but only to sink back again into
disappointment. Alas! Alas! The father
sits by the hour with his face IN his
hands saying not one word The moth
er's hair is becoming gray too fast, and
she begins to stoop, so that those VINO
saw her only a little while ago
in the street know her not as she
passes. The brothers clinch their fists
swearing vengeance against the despoll-
er of their home. Alas! will the poor
soul never come back? There is long,
deep shadow over all the household.
Added to this there is an invading army
six miles away, Just over the river, com
ing on to destroy the city, and what,
with the loss of their child and the com
inc on of that destructive army, | think
the old people wished that they could
die. That is the first scene in this drama
of the Bible. In house on the wall
of the city is that daughter. This is her
home now. Two spies have come from
the invading army to look around
through Jericho to see how best 1T may
be taken. Yonder is that lost Child-ln
that dwelling on the wall of the city.
The police hear of it, and soon there is
the shutfling'of feet all around about the
doors, and the city government de-
mands the surrender of those two
spies. First, Rahab-for that was the
name of the lost child-firSt, Rahab
secretes the two spies and gets their
pursuers off the track, but after awhile
She says to them: 81 will make bar
gain with you. Twill save your life if
you will save my life, and the life
of my father, and my mother,
and my brothers, and my sisters,
when the victorious army comes
upon the city," Oh, she had not for
gotten her home yet, you see. The
wanderer never forgets home. Her
heart breaks now as she thinks Of how
she has maltreated her parents, and
she wishes she we're back with them
again, and she wishes she could get
away from her sinful enthrallment, and
sometimes she looks up in the face
of the midnight, bursting into
agonizing tears. No sooner have
these two spies promised to
save her life and the life of her father,
and mother, and brothers and sisters
than Rahab takes scarlet cord and ties
it around the body of ono OF the spies,
brings him to the window, and as he
Chambers out-nervous lest she have not
strength to hold him-with muscular
arms such as woman seldom has, she lets
him down, hand over hand in safety to
the ground. Not being exhausted,
she ties the cord around the other spy,
/ brings him to the window, and just as
successfully lets him down to the
ground. No sooner have these men
united the scarlet cord from their bodies
than they look up, and they say: "You
had bett.r get all your friends in this
house-you father, your mother, your
brothers, and your sisters; you had bet
ter got them in this house. And then,
after you have them here, take this red
cord which you have put around our
/ bodies and tie it across the window,
and when our victorious army comes up
and sees that scarlet thread in the win,
dow they will spare this house and all
who are in it. Shall it be SOP" cried
the spies. "Aye, ave." said Rahab
from the window, lit shall be so. .
That is the second scene in this
Bible drama. There is knock at
the door of the old man. He looks ur
and says: "Come in," and 10
there is Rahab, the lost child; but she
has no time to talk. They gather in
excitement around her and she says tc
them: Get ready quickly and go with
me to my house. The army is coming
The trumpet! Make haste! Fly! The
enemyw This is the third scene
in this Bible drama. The hosts
of Israel are all around about
the doomed city of Jericho. Crash
goes the great metropolis, heaps or