Subject Thirty-one

THE SALVATION OF RAHAB

Scripture: Josh. 2, 6

1. The position of man since his birth
   1. Rahab was born in Jericho.
   2. The city of Jericho was a place which was to be destroyed. In the whole Bible Jericho typifies a cursed city that is doomed to be destroyed.
   3. Since his birth, man has been under a curse and is due to be destroyed.
2. The situation of man
   1. Rahab was a harlot, which means that she belonged to the lowest class of women.
   2. Before God, the position of man is that of a woman. Man should be only for God. If man were for something else, he would be like a harlot. A woman should be only for her husband. If she loves many others besides her husband, she is a harlot. The greatest sin of a woman is to be a harlot.
   3. The greatest sin of man is loving many things other than God.
3. The salvation of God
   1. At that time, although God was going to destroy Jericho, He extended the grace of salvation to Rahab and her family. But His grace was conditional. Rahab had to bind the line of scarlet thread in the window of her house. When God was about to destroy Jericho, He saw that mark of scarlet thread and did not destroy Rahab nor her family.
   2. Although God is going to destroy this larger Jericho (that is, the world), He still has grace for mankind, with the blood of Christ as the great mark. The scarlet thread bound in the window looked like a line of blood. The Israelites were saved by striking the blood on the lintel. Rahab was saved by binding a scarlet thread in the window. Both are tokens of the blood of Christ. The mark of the blood of Christ will separate you from the world and will save you when God destroys the world.
   3. God’s saving way and God’s judgment recognize only the mark and not who a person is. Whoever has the scarlet thread (that is, the blood of Christ) shall be saved. Whoever does not have it shall be destroyed.
4. The way to be saved
   1. Rahab’s binding of the scarlet thread in the window was a type of our receiving the blood of Christ upon us by faith.
   2. Not only did Rahab have the scarlet thread bound in the window, but she also stayed within the house that had the scarlet thread. This typifies that man not only needs to receive Christ’s redemption, but he also needs to be joined to Christ. The Israelites remained inside their houses which had the passover blood on the lintel. Noah entered into the ark covered with pitch, and the whole household of Rahab hid inside the house that had the scarlet thread. All these typify that those who receive Christ need to be joined to Christ.
   3. How to be joined to Christ.
      Christ passed through death and resurrection and descended as the life-giving Spirit. If we will only open our heart to receive Him, we will be joined to Christ.
5. The unit of salvation
   1. That day not only Rahab herself was saved; her whole household was saved.
   2. The unit of salvation is not an individual person, but a household. When the Israelites ate the passover lambs, there was a lamb for each house. The ark was for the whole household of Noah. The house with the scarlet thread was also for the whole household of Rahab. In the New Testament, the salvation of Christ was also for the household. Salvation came to the house of Zaccheus. The whole household of Cornelius was saved. The whole household of the prison guard at Philippi was saved. In the future, all the saved ones will also be one large family. God doesn’t save just individuals; He saves the whole household. So dear friends, if you do not believe, then all of you do not believe; or if you do believe, your whole household will believe with you.