St. Tammany farmer., 1906-12-15

ened In her darkened heart Sn{
wondered If he was such powerful
God whether he could not be theil
God, too.
81 And when the two Hebrew spies
had taken refuge in her house, ant
the messengers of the king had come
to search them out and slay them, the
thought had seized her heart that Il
( she could save them perhaps 1t would
} please this terrible God of the He
( brews and he would look with com
passion upon even poor Rahab, the
harlot
AS she sped through the streets she
noted the wild looks of alarm, the
! feverish haste, the armed guards on
5 the walls, the tight shut gates, and
! she heard the whispered words OF
) distress, of the terrible Hebrews and
I their more terrible God.
But in her heart there rested q
calm and peace as she thought Of that
scarlet cord floating from her window,
I but at its thought, her steps hastened,
for she must get her father and mo.
ther and brethren with her in her
house. But as she neared the old
/ home, the door of which had been
shut against her for many years now,
since she had chosen her wayward
course and had become a woman OF
the town, her heart quite failed her.
would they receive herr" she
questioned, nervously. would they
hear her message?"
Half timidly she approached the
door and knocked a little. trembling
knock, and then, finding that the door
, yielded to her touch, she pushed It
open and entered.
cast?" bitterly cried the father, as his
eyes fell upon her. WAS it not
enough that thou shouldst bring re-
proach upon the name of thy family,
but must thou add this thing that
thou receivest the enemies of this
city and this people? Begone!" he al
most shouted.
Rahab turned before the angry
words, as though she would fee, but
the memory of that scarlet cord In
her window held her and made her
turn. She looked into the angry, for
bidding faces Of her parents and bro
theirs and sisters, who had gathered
to talk over the common danger OF
the city. She saw there fear, and
hate. And as they looked into her
face they noted q new light In the
eye, new lines Of purpose In the face,
and 1t held them until she could
speak.
The scarlet thread in the window!"
she cried. 1T is our bnly hope. Come
with mel"
Scarlet thread! Our. only hope!
Come with the! What? Has thy wick
edness driven thee mad?' her parents
cried.
| Nay, am not mad, she replied,
''but the scarlet thread is the pledge
OF our .deliverance. Come! oh, come!
| Delay not! For the God Of these He
brew strangers will give us protection
| If we get under the scarlet thread"
And Rahab went on hurriedly to
tell of the events of the day and night
before. OF the story Of the Hebrew
spies, Of the awakening of her heart
to the thought of. the true God who,
though invisible, yet moved nightly
in the affairs Of his people.
How strange 1t seemed to the par
ents and her brothers and sisters az
they sat there and listened. Here was
the outcast daughter and sister, the
one whose name they had ceased to
speak, and whose memory they
sought to blot from their hearts, come
back, not with plea for help, but
with message Of deliverance for
them. What could 1t mean? That
was not the old Rahab, the reckless
Rahab, the Rahab Of the abandoned
spirit, the Rahab who cared naught
for anything but the life Of lust and
passion. In her face there shone q
new light, and the parents wondered
Where had the thought of their gods
ever been able to inspire such
calm and confidence? And from that
calm, peaceful, hopeful face Of Rahab
there shone into the heart Of her par
ents and brother and sisters a faint |
glimmering of the new hope which |
was burning in her own heart.
1--WE will co." the parents said, sim
ply, and the other children nodded |
their assent.
In the darkness of the night Rahab
and her family made their way back |
to the house upon the wall, where the
scarlet cord huttered from the case |
ment.
'"see, mother, this is the window
from which helped the Hebrews to
escape, after they had given me the
pledge of safety for myself and my
family. And here 10 the scarlet cord
by which i let them down to the
ground. And they fed to the noun
tains, and, oh! hope they escaped
the kings messengers who went in
search Of them"
And out Of that easement from
which fluttered the bit of bright col
ored cord they looked longingly and
anxiously that day and the next for
the coming Of the Israelites.
Strange did it not seem that In that
city, doomed to certain destruction he
cause utterly at enmity with the true
God, and unrepentant-as shown IN
their murderous intent upon the sery.
ants of the mighty God of Heaven
there should be those who were look.
ing for delfverance. To the city the
coming Of Gods people meant the des.
truction Of the city. To Rahab and
her family their coming meant saliva.
ton. Why? Because Of the sign in
fhA min ArSvay k@H l..