Now let us consider two other Hebrew terms for “hope.” The first of those terms is tikveh, and we posted on this Aug. 3,5, 2019. I am going to repeat the Aug. 5 post.
We should be aware as we read and study the
Old Testament that many Hebrew words derive their significance in the story
where the word was first used. For example the word “good” (towb)
is first used in Gen. 1:4 when God pronounced His creative work to be good. The pitch (Gen.
6:14) that covered the ark, wherein Noah and his family were saved, became the
term for the ransom price for redemption, the price that covered
our sin (e.g. Ps. 49:7).
The first use of the word “hope” is found in
the story in today’s reading. Did you see it? Likely not
because it wasn’t translated “hope.” It is in Josh.
2:18,21. Rahab was to bind a line of scarlet
(v18), a scarlet cord (v21), hanging it from her
window. When the army of Israel took Jericho they would see this and
they would know that Rahab and all in her house were the ones, the only ones,
they were to spare.
Isn’t that a marvelous picture of
salvation? The scarlet of course reminds us of the
blood of Christ. As the blood over the doorpost at Passover would be
seen by the angel of God and would bring salvation to that family, so the
scarlet line would do the same for Rahab. It all speaks of Christ
who is our hope.
Rahab needed to understand that this was
her only hope. The spies made it clear: the
scarlet hope must be hanging from the window and her family
must be IN the house. For that reason we gave you Psalm 71:5 to read
today. There is a parallel phrase that reads: You are my
trust from my youth. Trust! That’s synonymous with
hope in many ways. And do you know the first use of the word
for trust (mibtach) in the Bible? It’s in
Job 8:14 where Bildad (one of Job’s so-called friends) speaks of
hypocrites whose trust is a spider’s web. What a graphic
picture of a false trust, a false hope. If you are falling and you
grab onto a spider’s web to save yourself you will not be helped at
all. Of course. So if Rahab did not put the scarlet cord
out of the window and if her family did not gather in her home they would have
died with all their friends and neighbors in Jericho. And you do
remember, I am sure, that Rahab is, by the grace of God, in the genealogy of
our Savior, our Hope, our Trust, the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:5).
Who is your hope today for
salvation? In what are you trusting? Is it as effective
as a spider’s web? Are you trusting in something other than the
price of redemption paid by God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, when He died on the
cross? Jesus is the Redeemer. Believe it or
not. But if you don’t believe, what is your hope?
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