The Scarlet Cord - Moriel Ministries
The Scarlet Cord - Moriel Ministries
The Scarlet Cord - Moriel Ministries
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putting Gentiles under the Law and all kind<br />
of craziness. <strong>The</strong>re are people like John<br />
Hagee and International Christian Embassy<br />
(ICE) saying Jews do not have to be evangelized.<br />
If somebody is right about Israel,<br />
that does not prove that they are right about<br />
other things; it is not that kind of a litmus<br />
test. It is not a litmus test for orthodoxy, but<br />
it is, however, a litmus test for heterodoxy.<br />
I have never found a single preacher,<br />
author, or theologian who is wrong about<br />
Israel who is not wrong about other things.<br />
If they deny the prophetic significance for<br />
Israel and the Jews, we can bet our boots<br />
they have other seriously wrong doctrine.<br />
Being right about Israel does not prove they<br />
are kosher, but being wrong about Israel<br />
proves they are not kosher. Do not pay any<br />
attention to them as they have nothing to<br />
say that is worth listening to that cannot be<br />
obtained elsewhere.<br />
It is no wonder John Piper is pushing<br />
Rick Warren; he was never any good. How<br />
can an endorsement be given to someone<br />
who says we must unite with Muslims and<br />
Hindus and Buddhists to bring in global<br />
peace How can one promote someone<br />
with an antichrist agenda unless they are<br />
out to lunch to begin with No one does<br />
something so crazy overnight. It proves<br />
something was always wrong. If they are<br />
wrong about Israel, they are wrong about<br />
other things.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Temporal Work of Redemption<br />
Rahab knew the divine plan, she also<br />
knew the signs of the times, but she knew<br />
something else, that redemption was not<br />
only eternal, but temporal. When Jesus<br />
died, He did die to save us from hell, and<br />
he did die to bring us to heaven, but He<br />
also redeemed us to do something in this<br />
life and this world. It does not matter what<br />
she did or what she was, it does not matter<br />
what we did or what we were.<br />
Before I emigrated to Israel, my church<br />
in New York had a rescue mission to street<br />
people, homeless people, alcoholics, drug<br />
addicts and teenaged prostitutes; we would<br />
rescue them. I never met a prostitute who<br />
was not a professional liar. <strong>The</strong>y lie to their<br />
clients to pretend they like them—all they<br />
see is green. <strong>The</strong>y lie to their pimps about<br />
how much they made (or not), and above<br />
all they lie to themselves. One has to be a<br />
liar to be a prostitute. So look at what Rahab<br />
did. When the authorities came looking<br />
for the two Israelite spies, her human skills<br />
were redeemed and transformed to be used<br />
for God’s purpose.<br />
When Bibles were not legal in China,<br />
I used to smuggle them in. When Bibles<br />
were not legal in Vietnam, I used to smuggle<br />
Bibles from Bangkok, Thailand into<br />
Vietnam, and before that from Hong Kong<br />
into China. Why Because before I met Jesus<br />
I used to smuggle hashish from Toronto<br />
into Amsterdam.<br />
It does not matter what we did, it does<br />
not matter what we are; it only matters if<br />
we have been redeemed. God redeems the<br />
whole person. It could be a professional<br />
skill in medicine or law, it could be something<br />
from the humanities like writing or<br />
music—it could be anything, even something<br />
sinister like a prostitute or a drug dealer<br />
from the East Side of Manhattan. It does<br />
not matter what we did; it only matters if<br />
we have been redeemed. Whatever it is, the<br />
Lord is going to crucify the whole person.<br />
He is going to take it to the cross, then He is<br />
going to raise it up and use it for His glory.<br />
That is the total meaning of “redemption.”<br />
Remember that in Matthew 25, the gifts<br />
are given in proportion to the talents. That<br />
was some talent to have, but God used it.<br />
Rahab understood redemption.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Victory is Already Assured<br />
“Now therefore, please swear to me by<br />
the LORD, since I have dealt kindly<br />
with you, that you also will deal kindly<br />
with my father’s household, and give<br />
me a pledge of truth, and spare my father<br />
and my mother and my brothers<br />
and my sisters, with all who belong<br />
to them, and deliver our lives from<br />
death.”<br />
(As we see in the Exodus narrative, as<br />
we see in the Lot narrative, as we see in the<br />
Noah narrative, God is in the business of<br />
saving whole families.)<br />
So the men said to her, “Our life for<br />
yours if you do not tell this business of<br />
ours; and it shall come about when the<br />
LORD gives us the land that we will<br />
deal kindly and faithfully with you.”<br />
<strong>The</strong>n she let them down by a rope<br />
through the window, for her house was<br />
on the city wall, so that she was living<br />
on the wall.<br />
(Sounds like Paul in Damascus, does it<br />
not)<br />
She said to them, “Go to the hill country,<br />
so that the pursuers will not happen<br />
upon you, and hide yourselves<br />
there for three days until the pursuers<br />
return. <strong>The</strong>n afterward you may go<br />
on your way.” <strong>The</strong> men said to her,<br />
“We shall be free from this oath to<br />
you which you have made us swear,<br />
unless, when we come into the land,<br />
you tie this cord of scarlet thread in<br />
the window through which you let us<br />
down, and gather to yourself into the<br />
house your father and your mother<br />
and your brothers and all your father’s<br />
household. It shall come about<br />
that anyone who goes out of the doors<br />
Feature Article – Continued<br />
of your house into the street, his blood<br />
shall be on his own head, and we shall<br />
be free; but anyone who is with you in<br />
the house, his blood shall be on our<br />
head if a hand is laid on him. But if<br />
you tell this business of ours, then we<br />
shall be free from the oath which you<br />
have made us swear.” She said, “According<br />
to your words, so be it.” So<br />
she sent them away, and they departed;<br />
and she tied the scarlet cord in the<br />
window.<br />
(Notice that twice it is reiterated, “Do<br />
not betray us” (Josh. 2:17, 20), and twice<br />
it is reiterated, “Tie the scarlet cord” (Josh.<br />
2:18, 21). It becomes emphatic when it is<br />
repeated.)<br />
<strong>The</strong>y departed and came to the hill<br />
country, and remained there for three<br />
days until the pursuers returned. Now<br />
the pursuers had sought them all along<br />
the road, but had not found them. <strong>The</strong>n<br />
the two men returned and came down<br />
from the hill country and crossed over<br />
and came to Joshua the son of Nun,<br />
and they related to him all that had<br />
happened to them. <strong>The</strong>y said to Joshua,<br />
“Surely the LORD has given all<br />
the land into our hands; moreover, all<br />
the inhabitants of the land have melted<br />
away before us.” (Joshua 2:12-24)<br />
Notice how the war is won even before<br />
the battle is fought. In Christ, the victory<br />
is already assured; the outcome is fixed in<br />
eternity. Even Luther realized that truth before<br />
he went off his rocker. He composed,<br />
“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”—“Christ<br />
Jesus is He and He must win the battle.”<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is no other possibility. Yes, things<br />
are tough and they are going to get tougher,<br />
dark and getting darker, but do not worry,<br />
I read the end of the Book, and in the end,<br />
because of Jesus, we win. <strong>The</strong>re is no other<br />
possible outcome. <strong>The</strong> only question is<br />
whose side we want to be on.<br />
If we turn away from Jericho and turn toward<br />
the God of Israel, He will bring us into<br />
His family, and bring us into His people,<br />
and bring us into the lineage of the Messiah<br />
the same as He did with Rahab. We either<br />
perish with the kingdom that is fading, or<br />
we become a patriarch or matriarch in the<br />
Kingdom that is coming.<br />
She Desired the Salvation of<br />
Her Family<br />
I suppose that because prostitutes see the<br />
dark side of human nature for what it really<br />
is, and they see the dark side of themselves<br />
for what they really are, they know the depravity<br />
and depths to which a person can<br />
sink. Perhaps that engenders strong family<br />
values. Despite what she was and what she<br />
did, she desperately desired the salvation of<br />
September 2012 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly