The Tupelo journal., 1906-11-30
people had reached Jericho, in fact

do tliC adj llAS iOpOl - iSdCuCu iutUl
of the victories and successes won by
Israel. They had heard of the great
God who was leading them by a pillar
of fire by night and a cloud by day,
and the people Of the city had won
dered. But what could this God be,
as compared to their god there in
Jericho? they had asked themselves,
and the people had turned with re-
newed fervor to serving their gods in
the temple and performing their
heather oblations.
But as Rahab had listened to the
| stories and had heard about this
strange god a something had awak-
| ened in her darkened heart. She
wondered if he was such a powerful
God whether he could not be their
God, too.
And when the two Hebrew spies
had taken refuge in her house, and
the messengers of the king had come
to search them out and slay them, the
thought had seized her heart that if
she could ave them perhaps it would
| please this terrible God of the He
brews and he would look with com
passion upon v poor Rahab, the
harlot.
AS she sped through the streets she
noted the wild looks of alarm, the
feverish haste, the armed guards on
the walls, the tight shut gates, and
she heard the whispered words of
distress, of the terrible Hebrews and
their more terrible God.
But in her heart there rested a
calm and peace as she thought of that
scarlet cord floating from her window,
but at its thought, her steps fastened,
for she must get her father and mo-
her 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 hayward
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.
What brings you thither, thou out
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
bid d 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 a new light in the
eye, new lines of purpose in the face,
and it held them until she could
speak.
The scarlet thread in the window"
she cried. 1T is our only hope. Come
with mel"
Scarlet thread! Our only hope!
Come with the, What? Has thy wick
edness driven thee mad?' her parents
cried.
Nay, l 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 it seemed to the par
ents and her brothers and sisters as
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
SOuSUl To UlOt HUH ILciI uSdltS, COLlC
back, not with a plea for help, but
with a message of del%iverance for
them. What could it 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 wv heart.
I'VE will 60" 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 luttered 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 is the scarlet cord