The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-25
os ANGELES. Cal, March 1s.-In


 ercise to bring others into the kingdom are illustrated in the familiar story of Rahab. The textis Joshua vi, 20: And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive and her fathers household and all that she had"
 Marvellous are the stratagems by which walled towns supposed to be impresnable have been captured. For ten long years the Greeks, under Agamemnon, laid siege to the citadel of Troy. At the end of the ten years they were no nearer their object than they were in the beginning. Then the Grecian leaders built huge wooden horse and rolled it up to the gates of the impossible walls. Then during the night the Grecian army and navy withdrew and sailed away to Ten edos, pretending that in disgust they had raised the useless siege. When morning broke and the inhabitants loked forth and saw this wooden horse and noted that the besieging army had gone, they said: Aha! The Greeks have fled. They have left one of their gods to terrify us" So they opened the gates of the city and in derision rolled inside of the walls
 
 But the next night, while the great city slept. the side of the wooden horse mys- teriously opened, and out of it leaped a swarm of Grecian soldiers They ran to the city gates and flung them open. Meantime the Grecian army, which had set sail for Tenedos as a ruse, returned The besieging soldiers marched in the awakening defenders were slain before they could form in line of battle, and Troy fell. The dishonor of Helen, who had been stolen by Paris from Menelaus. was avenged.
 You remember how the Sabines captured the citadel of old Rome. Day after day. week after week and month after month the useless siege went on. Then what the Sabine army could not do by direct assault they accomplished by bribery. They went to Tarpeia, the daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, commander of the interpid gar rison, and said, 'If you will open for us the gates by night and let us capture Capitoline hill, we will give to you all the wealth we wear on our left arms Her cupidity was aroused. She supposed that they would give to her their costly bracelets, which the Sabine soldiers all ways wore on their left wrists. The gates were opened, and the city fell. Then the Sabine soldiers came and threw upon Tar peia their heavy war shields, which they wore upon their left arms, and crushed the traitress dead. You remember how Babylon was captured by Cyrus through stratagem and how Gibraltar was captur ed in 1704 by the English general, Sir George Rooke, through stratagem. But Of all the strange and weird attacks ever made upon any fortified town not one was so strange and weird as that employed in the overthrow of Jericho, the first city to fall before the advancing armies of the Israelites after they had crossed over the Jordan, and entered the promised land.
 This plan of campaign was not mapped out by Joshua, but by the Lord God Almighty himself. Once. twiee. thrice, four, five, six times the 1sraeltes encom- passed the town. Thus did the besiegers for six days running. Then on the sev- enth day the Hebrews arose very early for they were to march around the city seven times. When the priests had march, ed around the seventh time they blew the trumpets and shouted, and the Jericho walls began to totter and to fall. Soon the whole city lay at the mercy of the in vaders, and every man, woman and child was put to the sword All were slain. with the exception of Rahab and her family, for the Bible says. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive and her fa- ther's household and all that she had.'
 Rahab's History.
 Now, you know the history of Rahab. As Rahab has always been taken as the symbol of the sinner saved by grace, want to describe to you Rahabs reward and how this reward can apply in a spiritual and in a temporal sense to our lives Rahab, on account of her faith in God had her material reward. Not only was she personally saved, but the lives of her father and mother and sisters and brothers were also saved. You may re- member the story of the siege of Veins berg Emperor I<onrad III. laid siege to this famous German castle. Week after week his army lay encamped before those impregnable walls until at last the garri son was starved into submission. Then the commander of Weinsberg made an agreement with Konrad that the fortress and all 1t contained should be surrendered. with the exception of the women and what each woman could carry away upon her back. Konrad agreed. On the day of the equalization wonderful sight was seen. When the city gates were thrown open each woman came forth carrying upon her back her greatest trea- hure. This treasure was not d bag of gold. but was the body of her father or husband or son or brother. Emperor Konrad was so touched at their devotion and love that he allowed these women with their bur dens to go free. Centuries later. in the year 1920, Queen Charlotte of Wurttembefg built upon this same hill where once stood the castle of Weinberg, a home" or retreat" for the women of the present day who have been distinguished for self sacrifice for their loved ones. But though the women of Weinsberg each saved a husband, father, a brother or son, want to tell you that Rahab of Jericho did far more than that Through her faith in God she was the means Of say ing the lives of her father and mother and brothers and sisters She carried fcrth out of that destroyed city not one, but many, dear ones. She saved the lives of her whole family.
 Nonsense" says some one to me- mon sense. It was not through the help of God that Rahab saved the family They were saved on account of the bargain she made with Joshua's spies. After she had hidden these two spies in her home and saved their necls from the pursuers she made them take an oath to save her and her fathers household. They had to do 1t, being bound by their sacred oaths. Then. fin order to make her rescue more certain, the two spies said, Place a scar let rope in your window and our soldiers will not hurt you when they enter the town to search it. Rahab did this, and she was saved. God had nothing to do with 1t. That is just the way with you Christians. If a man is sick and you pray over him, then you say God makes the invalid we'll. The simple fact is the man would get well, whether you pray ed over him Or not"