Hope
Hope is such a small word, yet holds so much meaning...
"For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth." (Psalms 71:5)
The word hope in this scripture means a rope.
Isn't that interesting? Hope means rope.
When I think of this, I am reminded of an account in the Bible:
Jericho was the first city God gave the Israelite people victory over in the promised land. Rahab, the harlot, helped two Israelite spies who were surveying the city of Jericho before conquering it. She hid the spies when the guards of the city came looking for them. She told the spies "for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." The spies promised her that if she hung a scarlet rope out her window that her and all her family who were in her house would be spared. Rahab believed what the spies promised her, did what they said and she and all her family were saved from the destruction.
The word rope in this passage of scripture is the same word as hope in the above scripture!
Can you imagine being in Rahab's situation?
She had heard about the Israelites. She had heard how their God delivered them from Egypt, how He parted the Red Sea before them and how He had given them victory over two powerful kings, Sihon and Og . Now, here her city stood, bound for certain destruction, at the hand of this God!
Who am I? She might have thought. She was not an Israelite. She was a harlot, a prostitute.
But there was hope for her and her family even still!
Her hope came in the form of a promise and a scarlet rope...
Rahab wasn't promised salvation from destruction because she was a righteous person. Rahab had professed to the spies her belief in their One True God.
This is such a beautiful depiction of the Hope we have in Jesus Christ!
Our Hope comes in the form of a promise and a scarlet rope!
OUR PROMISE:
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
If we believe on Jesus Christ we will inherit eternal life!
We are not saved because we are righteous people...we, like Rahab, give ourselves to lesser gods...pride, selfishness, lust, etc..
"He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. So being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:5-7)
We are given new life! We are no longer bound to give our love to lesser gods...instead we are free to love our Savior!
OUR SCARLET ROPE:
Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross to save us from the bondage of sin and ultimately eternal destruction. He is our scarlet rope!
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53)
Rahab's story doesn't end with her salvation. In Matthew 1:5 she is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ! WOW! Her story started with inevitable destruction but wonderfully and beautifully ended with life!
What another beautiful reminder of the Hope we have in Jesus Christ!
"For your Creator will be your husband; the LORD of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth." (Isaiah 54:5)
Redeemer in this scripture means kinsmen-redeemer.
In those days it was custom for a relative (kinsmen) to marry a widow, to provide her with children so the family name would be carried on in the place of the relative who died; In other words, ensuring life from death.
In the above scripture, God is saying He is our Redeemer!
He brings life; He brings fruitfulness to what is dead in our lives! Even after we accept the promise of salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ and we acknowledge our desperate need for Jesus' blood shed on the cross, we need the Redeemer to bring life to situations that seem hopeless. In our Redeemer our Hope is found!
What can seem more hopeless than death, yet our Redeemer rose up from the grave and lives! I am filled with HOPE as I study these Truths! I am encouraged to simply believe the promises of God's Word; to hold fast to my Scarlet Rope, my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who makes all things new in Himself; who can bring life and fruitfulness to what seems dead.
Blessings,
Amy
