The scarlet cord

I teach a Jr. High group on Wed. nights which gives me a great excuse to study. That is the source of many of my blogs. This one is no exception. I was studying about the 2 spies that Joshua sent out in Joshua 2 to spy out the city of Jericho. Rahab the harlot hid them because she feared their God and knew that God had given them the land. She saved them and asked for them to return the favor to her. She let them down by a rope through the window. It was a line of scarlet cord. The spies promised that if she would leave the cord hanging out her window that they would save every member of her household that was in her house. As I studied that cord in the Hebrew it is a line of inheritance. I saw the cord again in the story found in Gen 38 of Tamar. Judah had chosen Tamar to marry his son Er. Er was so wicked the Lord killed him. Judah told Tamar to remain a widow until his son Shelah was grown, then he would be given to her to marry and raise up an inheritance for her. Shelah grew up and was not given to Tamar so Tamar decided to get what was promised her. She heard that Judah would be passing through her town and put on the clothes of a harlot, set up a tent and waited for him. He came by and bought the bait. He had nothing to pay her with so she said he could leave his staff, his signet, and its cord. She would return them to him when he brought back a goat to pay her. When his servants came back with the goat the "harlot" was nowhere to be found. Months later Tamar ends up pregnant by Judah and he wanted her brought out and burned. She presented the signet, cord, and staff and said the owner is the father. Judah admitted his sin and her life was spared. She was blessed with twins.
This cord is a picture of their line of inheritance that they both contended for. Is it not interesting that both of these "foreigners and harlets" end up in the geneology in Matt. 1 which has both King David and King Jesus! Jesus said that we would be saved and our house. We can pray our inheritance in because it is rightfully ours. Rahab was the first in her line to follow God, yet look at what followed. Thank you, Lord that we have been grafted into the line of inheritance with you.
I bought a scarlet cord to bring to our meeting tonight. We are all going to hold this cord and pray for our families and our line of inheritance yet to come.