hey would save alive her father and her mother and her
loved ones; and when she let them down by means of a cord from the
window of her home they said to her, "Bind this scarlet cord in the
window and gather your loved ones here and they shall be saved." And
when the children of Israel had marched about Jericho and the walls
were about to fall, suddenly they lifted their eyes and they saw the
red cord fluttering from the window, and while all else was destroyed
Rahab and all her loved ones were saved.

What a little thing evidently stood between them and death--just a red
cord! And yet as a matter of fact it is only a red cord that is
between us and death--namely, the blood of the Son of God; for, as in
the Old Testament times when God saw the blood and the destroying angel
passed over the home, so in these New Testament times the blood which
has been received by faith insures us our safety and we are set free
from sin's penalty and sin's power.

The story of Achan is a note of warning. It is rather singular that
when the children of Israel had taken Jericho they failed at Ai, and
yet not singular when we realize that one man had sinned in all the
company. He had taken gold and silver and a Babylonish garment and had
hidden the same in his tent, and this was in direct disobedience to the
commands of Joshua. The sad thing about sin is that we cannot sin and
suffer alone. Our friends suffer, our kindred must bear a part of the
woe with us. When Achan sinned the children of Israel lost a victory.
Sin is progressive. In the seventh chapter of Joshua and the
twenty-first verse, we read, "When I saw among the spoils a goodly
Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of
gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and
behold they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the
silver under it." And you will notice that, first he saw, then he
coveted, then he took. It is always thus; a sinful imagination will
lead to outbreaking iniquity, and a small sin encouraged will
ultimately mean disgrace.

The story of the Gibeonites is also interesting. They had heard of the
power of the children of Israel and were afraid of them; but they made
up their minds to deceive them. So, lest the Israelites should think
that they came from a near by territory and therefore should turn
against them they put on old clothes, wore old shoes upon their feet
and carried musty bread in