This Scarlet Cord

by Joan Wolf

  “You really do believe in this Yahweh, Rahab.”

  “I do. And I think perhaps He has a mission for you as well.”

  Shemu looked down at the barrel of barley he had been inspecting, then back up to Rahab. “Perhaps you are right,” he said softly. “Atene has told me about the Israelite Abraham, how Yahweh gave him and his wife a child in their old age. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Atene conceived only after she prayed to Him. I would like to know more about Him, and I know she would too.”

  Rahab’s heart flooded with joy. “I am so glad, my brother, that you feel this way! I want to know more too.”

  He bent and kissed her on the forehead.

  Voices sounded outside the storeroom door.

  Rahab said urgently, “You must go to find Sala now, before someone sees you and wants to go with you.”

  “All right.” He patted her on the shoulder, and she watched as he made his way through the barrels and out the storeroom door.

  Sala couldn’t believe his luck when Shemu walked into the front room of the inn just as Sala was going out. The two men stopped and said each other’s names in surprise. Then they both spoke at once.

  Shemu said, “I have been looking for you.”

  Sala said, “How is Rahab? Is she all right? Did anyone else in the family find out about the spies?”

  They grinned sheepishly and Sala said, “Let’s go for a walk.”

  Shemu spoke first, answering Sala’s question. “Everything went smoothly. I held the rope while Rahab watched the door for me. We had them on their way in no time. But my father has been protective of her, not letting her out of the house, and she sent me here to see if I could arrange a meeting between you.”

  Relief flooded through Sala at this and he grinned broadly. “That is wonderful news. I have been so anxious to see her, but I haven’t been able to think of a way to get word to her.”

  “If you will go to the jeweler’s shop in the market, the one across from the tool shop, I will have her there at noontime.”

  Sala couldn’t hide his disappointment. “In the middle of the marketplace? Can’t we meet on your roof again?”

  “No, too many people are using it now. Besides . . .” Shemu gave him a calculating look. “I’m not sure if I want my sister to be alone with you.”

  Sala couldn’t hide his disappointment. He didn’t just want to talk to Rahab. He wanted to feel her in his arms, he wanted to— He sighed. “Perhaps you are right.”

  “I heard that your father was arrested. How did that happen?”

  “It was because Gideon and Isaac were seen at the inn, and my father had taken them away from the wine shop. Someone reported him to the guards as an Israelite spy himself. He was taken to military quarters for questioning. Fortunately, Rahab’s tale that the spies had been in her house and had left the day before helped to convince the commander that my father wasn’t involved with them. They ended up letting him go. But it was an unpleasant experience, and he owes Rahab for saving him as well as saving Gideon and Isaac.”

  “Good. I’m glad he realizes that.”

  Sala stopped walking for a moment and put his hand on Shemu’s arm. “Thank you for doing this for us. And thank you for your help in saving my people from discovery.”

  Shemu nodded and the two men continued to walk on, each concerned with their own thoughts. Finally Shemu said in a low voice, “I must confess I am curious about this God of yours. After four years of marriage Atene is finally with child, and it didn’t happen until she prayed to Yahweh.”

  Sala slapped Shemu on the shoulder in congratulations. “That is wonderful news. I am happy for you both and I am also happy you want to learn about Yahweh. He has touched you and Atene, I think. He wants you to come to Him.”

  Shemu shrugged uncomfortably and Sala did not pursue the topic. When they reached the main road, Sala said, “I think I will go along to the market now. Can you go to fetch Rahab?”

  “I will,” Shemu said.

  The two men parted and Sala stood watching Rahab’s brother stride away, every part of him, body and soul, reverberating with happiness that soon he would see her.

  Every minute seemed like an hour to Rahab as she awaited Shemu’s return. When he finally came up to the roof where she was sewing with some of her sisters-in-law, she flew to him.

  “Get your headscarf,” he said as she followed him down the stairs. “We’re going right now.”

  Another one of her sisters-in-law was in their bedroom suckling her baby when Rahab came in. “Where are you going?” she asked when Rahab grabbed her most concealing headscarf.

  “Just outdoors for a bit,” Rahab called back as she descended the stairs to where Shemu awaited her.

  Kata was in the front room, folding clothes with the help of a few of her granddaughters. She looked up sharply as Shemu and Rahab came through on their way to the door.

  “Where are you going?” she asked in bewilderment.

  “I’m taking Rahab out for some air, Mother. She’s been cooped up in the house for too long.”

  “But your father—!”

  “Don’t worry, Mama,” Rahab said, “I’m in disguise.”

  She pulled the headscarf so far forward that it almost covered her eyes and followed Shemu out the door before Kata could reply.

  Rahab didn’t say anything as she walked closely behind Shemu on their way to the market. She was happy about seeing Sala, unhappy they could not be alone, and worried about what he might have to tell her of the Israelite attack.

  Deep in her heart, Rahab was conflicted about the coming confrontation between the Israelites and the people of Jericho. It was hard for her to imagine what such a battle might be like. She believed what Sala had told her about Yahweh’s desire for the Israelites to return to Canaan after their long captivity in Egypt. She believed they were His people, and she wanted to be one of them.

  But when she thought of all the people who were packed into Jericho. All of the men and women and children . . . how could it be possible they all would die? It was an idea her mind struggled to understand but could not encompass.

  All of these thoughts disappeared the moment she saw Sala. He was hard to miss, he was so much taller than most of the men around him. He spied her almost as soon as she saw him and, even though she was almost covered by the headscarf, his face lit up with a blinding smile.

  He was in front of the jeweler’s shop and, aside from the grin, he made no move toward her. She continued to follow closely behind Shemu.

  When they had reached the shop, Shemu acted surprised. “Arut! What are you doing here?”

  Sala said, “Just passing the time until I have to meet a friend. How are you, Shemu?”

  “Very well. I’ve come to pick out a piece of jewelry for my wife and I’ve brought my sister with me to help me choose.”

  “Good idea,” Sala said, nodding toward Rahab’s partially covered face.

  Shemu said, “I also have to pick up something for my father in the tool maker’s shop. Can my sister stay with you while I go in? She has no interest in tools.”

  “Of course,” Sala said with grave courtesy.

  “I won’t be long.” Shemu gave a warning look at Sala, then ducked across the street.

  “Let us move into the shade over there,” Sala said.

  Rahab nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  They walked over to the small patch of shade provided by the overlapping awning of one of the stalls and stopped, facing each other.

  Sala’s expression was as intense as his voice. “I have missed you so much, Rahab. And I’ve been worried about you.”

  “I’ve missed you too,” she answered.

  He looked around. “Can’t you at least push that headscarf up so I can see your eyes?”

  She did as he asked.

  He gave her a crooked smile. “When I’m away from you, I think that you can’t possibly be as wonderful as I remember, and then when I see you again I discover that
my memory was dim compared to the reality.”

  Rahab smiled back at him. “I feel the same way about you.”

  He laughed at this, then pressed his lips together. “I wish we could be alone!”

  “I wish it too,” she said, a tremble in her voice.

  He inhaled deeply, as if to steady himself. Before he could speak, however, there was a rush of movement by the crowd and a rising rumble of excitement. Rahab and Sala looked in the direction in which the crowd had begun to move and Sala asked someone what was happening.

  “There is a proclamation from the king,” came the answer. “And there is a unit of guards marching down the main street!”

  Sala put his arm around Rahab’s shoulder, to keep her from being pushed by the now thrusting crowd. To his relief he saw Shemu come out of the shop across the way. Shemu fought his way to them and took Rahab away from Sala and into his own protective embrace. He said, “Someone came into the shop and said there was a proclamation from the king.”

  “That’s what we heard,” Sala returned.

  The two men looked at each other across Rahab’s head. Then Shemu said, “You go and find out what the proclamation is about. I will take Rahab into the jewelry store to keep her safe.”

  Sala nodded and slid gracefully into the moving mass of people while Shemu guided Rahab into the shop to wait.

  They remained inside until Sala came back some twenty minutes later with a report. “I missed the proclamation but I heard about it from some people who were there. The Israelites have crossed the Jordan and are encamped five miles south of Jericho. The king has ordered the military to take their battle stations on the wall and he urges the city not to panic. He says Jericho is the best protected city in all of Canaan and it will never fall.”

  Shemu looked stunned. “They crossed the river? But it’s still in full flood!”

  “Nothing is impossible for Yahweh,” Sala replied soberly. “Did you not know that He parted the sea for us when we escaped from Egypt? Jericho is doomed. Shemu, it is vital that you make certain your family knows what to do when the attack comes. They will be protected but they must be inside your house.”

  Rahab said urgently, “Shemu, I want Sala and his father to come stay with us. They are Israelites and we will be safer if we have them there to vouch for us.”

  Shemu gave Sala a grim look.

  Rahab put a hand on his arm and said his name.

  Shemu shrugged. “All right. You had better come.”

  “How will you explain our presence to your father?” Sala asked. “He does not know about your bargain with Gideon and Isaac. Or does he?”

  “He knows nothing,” Shemu replied. “I will tell him you have volunteered to vouch for us if our family is endangered, that you have some power with the Israelite leader.”

  “I will speak to my father and see if I can get him to agree to move in with your family.”

  The two men looked at each other for a long time. Then, “That will be best,” said Shemu.

  Thirty-Three

  IT WAS A WEEK BEFORE THE GUARDS ON THE WALLS OF Jericho spied the first of the Israelites coming from the southeast. For an entire day the grim-faced guards watched as thousands of men, women, and children, along with their animals and supplies, made camp no more than a mile away from the city gates. Since civilians were not allowed on the walls, the people of the city had to rely upon the information that trickled down from the guards when they changed watches. The size of the enemy grew larger with each retelling.

  “They say it’s a huge army,” Mepu informed his family as they all crowded together in the front room of the house to hear what he had learned in the city.

  “The largest force in the world could not batter down these walls,” one of Rahab’s brothers said with staunch bravado.

  As if a signal had been given, everyone in the room turned to look at Nahshon and Sala, who were standing at the back of the room, arms folded and leaning against the wall. It had taken Sala some convincing to get his father to move to Rahab’s house, but Nahshon had finally agreed that he owed it to her for saving the lives of the Israelite spies. Father and son had been sleeping up on the roof for the last few days.

  Sala and Nahshon returned the Canaanite gazes, their faces expressionless, and the family turned back to Mepu.

  He said in answer to his son’s expression of confidence, “I suppose we shall find out soon enough how strong our walls are. I doubt these Israelites have come here just to look at us.”

  One of the smaller children, sensing the tension in the room, began to whimper. His mother picked him up and soothed him with gentle words.

  Shemu said, “Sala, what do you think will happen?”

  Everyone turned once more to look at the man Shemu had singled out.

  Sala did not stir from his relaxed pose against the wall. “I cannot tell you how the walls will fall, only that they will. And I urge you to remember that if you and all your family are not inside this house when it happens, we will not be able to protect you.” His eyes moved around the room. “Nobody is to leave the immediate area of the house until this is over. Is that clear?”

  Rahab’s brother, the one who had made the comment about the walls, snorted derisively.

  Rahab said sharply, “Don’t be a fool, Mattan. We have plenty of food and water in the house. There is no reason for you to venture abroad.”

  Mattan rounded on her. “You call me a fool? You think these two Israelites will be able to protect us from an entire army? It’s the walls that will protect us, my sister, not these”—he waved his hand disdainfully toward Nahshon and Sala—“merchants.”

  Shemu’s “Don’t speak to our sister that way,” clashed with Sala’s hot reply, “No walls in the world will protect you from the will of Yahweh!”

  “Yahweh,” Mattan muttered and shook his head in disgust.

  Mepu said with all the authority of the patriarch, “It is my wish that every member of the family stay close to this house until the confrontation is over. I want to hear no more discussion on this matter.”

  Silence greeted his pronouncement.

  “Good,” Mepu said. “All we can do now is wait and see what happens next.”

  What happened next confounded the entire population of Jericho. The following dawn they were awakened by the cacophony of horns being blown more loudly than anyone believed possible. The sound came from outside the walls and Mepu’s immediate conclusion was that the Israelites were attacking. He forbade anyone to leave the house and the men crowded into the upstairs bedroom where the window from which Rahab had lowered the spies would give them a view.

  Mepu and Shemu stationed themselves at the window and for a long time had nothing to report. The noise of the horns was obviously coming closer but it wasn’t until the first of the lines of Israelite soldiers came around the bend and began to follow the city’s north wall that they were able to see anything.

  “What—” Mepu put his hand on his son’s arm. “What are they doing?”

  “Wait,” Shemu said.

  The room was filled with a silence so tense it seemed almost palpable. Then Shemu said, “The Israelite army seems to be circling the city!”

  “Let me see.” Mattan crowded Shemu out of the way. “Why are they doing this?” he demanded as he looked out.

  As they spoke, the din of the horns grew even louder. Shemu took back his spot from Mattan, and he and his father remained at the window as the noise of the horns grew nearer and nearer. When the blasts had reached a level that was almost deafening, Mepu turned to his son and shouted, “What are they doing now?”

  Shemu turned and yelled to Sala, who was out in the hall with Rahab, “Sala, get in here and take a look!”

  Everyone made way for Sala and Lord Nahshon, who was right behind his son. The two Israelites exchanged places with Shemu and Mepu and leaned out the window to have a look.

  When Sala saw the procession making its way around the walls, his breath caught and a chil
l ran up and down his spine. Carried by priests, the ark of the covenant was just going past under their window. Seven priests processed before it, blowing on huge ram’s horns. In front of the priests, a short distance away, Sala could see a seeming endless phalanx of marching warriors.

  He glanced at his father and saw that Lord Nahshon’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. They remained where they were, ignoring the questions that were raining on them from behind, until they saw the massed men of the rear guard marching at a distance behind the ark. Then they turned to face the family gathered in the room.

  The eeriest thing about the whole procession was the silence. None of the marching men spoke to each other, or even called out a taunt to the guards on the walls. Only the blasts of the horns disturbed the early morning air.

  “Well, what is happening?” It was Mepu’s voice sounding both irritated and frightened.

  Sala looked to his father as the proper person to answer Mepu’s question.

  Lord Nahshon said with calm certainty, “This procession is a statement by Yahweh that He is the one true God and that the walls of this city will fall before Him.”

  The family members shuffled their feet and looked at one another with a mixture of fear and disbelief. Then Mepu said, “What is that thing they are carrying?”

  Lord Nahshon explained to everyone about the ark of the covenant.

  Silence greeted his account of the tablets brought down the mountain by Moses.

  Then Mattan swung around to glare at Rahab, who had come into the room in the wake of Sala. “You believe in this god who gives stone tablets to his people? And you had the audacity to call me foolish?”

  Rahab looked back at her brother, then she let her eyes move slowly from face to face around the room. When she had gathered up everyone’s attention, she said, “The tablets contain laws for the people of Yahweh to live by. Does not a God who cares that His people live their lives in goodness sound more real than a god who fights with other gods and expects a woman to sleep with a horrid old king because it is supposed to make the crops grow?” Her voice grew more heated as she said these last words. “The crops will grow because when Yahweh created the world, He put it into their nature that they should grow. I think the Israelites will win because Yahweh wants them to have this land and live their lives in the goodness that He expects of them.”