Covenant

Isaiah saw, in one of his visions, a very strange covenant. Incomprehensible--until you meet this woman described by Dr. Kingsley Fletcher in his book, The Power of Covenant. But years before Kingsley's encounter with a prostitute, Isaiah saw visions of days of collapsing economies and political unrest, of power imbalances and enfeebled compassion. In those days, Isaiah said, comes this prostitute, singing and dancing:
Isa 23:15
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Isa 23:16
Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Isa 23:17
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
Isa 23:18
And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Today I read of one woman who walked on this vision's thread of truth, making its inscrutability scrutable. What's more, that foreseen wine of life divinely poured into her crucible for the blessing of many peoples, her merchandise for the Lord, was also distributed--even after her death.

"When I was about 20 years old, I left my homeland of Ghana to preach the
gospel in Abidjan...During one of my evangelistic meetings in this former French
colony, I met a young lady from Ghana who had come to Abidjan to earn money
through prostitution.
She heard me tell the story of God's love and how His Son gave his life on
the cross to save us from our sins and restore us to His covenant family.
The moment this woman received the message of God's love, an eternal transaction
took place. God.s love instantly filled her heart and life, despite the
fact that her body was nearly wasted away in the final stages of AIDS by that
time...
This woman knew she couldn't go back to Ghana because prostitution was
frowned upon in that culture. She had used much of the proceeds from
selling her body in precious years to send her children and her brothers and
sisters through high school, and to secure the living of her parents.
Her family thought she had a good job in the city, unaware that they would never
see her again. Her activities as a prostitute caused her to contract a
disease she couldn't even name and now she knew instinctively that death was at
her door.
Without much thought or regard for herself, she decided to do something
that most religious people would consider repulsive. She just knew she was
supposed to give the remaining money she had earned from prostitution, so I
could buy an airline ticket to go abroad and preach the Word of the Lord...She
supernaturally entered into covenant with the One who saved her. He had
given all He had for her; now she told me she wanted to invest all that she had
in His work...
I could have refused her gift if I had listened to the religious thoughts
in my mind: After all, that money is tainted. It was earned
through prostitution--it isn't worthy of being used in the Lord's
work. The the Lord spoke to my heart, saying, "It is Me. I am
working through this precious woman."
As the woman requested I used the money she gave me to fly from the Ivory
Coast to France where I ministered both to the Portuguese community there and to
the prostitutes in that nation's largest cities. By God's grace, I was
able to share my sponsor's story and final request and led many prostitutes to
the Lord." pp. 10-12, The Power of Covenant.

Thank You, God, that from antiquity even to this day there walk men whose hearts are larger than their fears of the inscrutable and whose lips and hands do not hesitate to act according to Your unction even in these matters.