Hanging By a Thread?
Has life left you hanging by a thread? Stripped of hope? Facing insurmountable obstacles or ultimate failure? Have you ever lived in fear of what tomorrow may hold and wondered if you have what it takes to make it through?
If anyone can relate, it's the harlot Rahab. We find her story in the second chapter of Joshua. When the Israelites were making their way into the Promised Land, Joshua sent two spies into the land of Jericho to survey the land and bring back a report of what they were up against (not that it mattered because the battle was the Lord's anyway).
When the king of Jericho heard there were spies in the land, he sent men out to search for them, and the men found refuge in the home of a harlot, of all places. Not only did she hide these men, but she also lied to the king's men about their whereabouts. Despite her upbringing and her worldly lifestyle, Rahab had come to believe that the God of Israel was the one true God. We'll pick up her story in verse 12.
“Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.”
I've read this account many times, and it's always a blessing to me, but recently, I learned more about the scarlet thread Rahab used, and it has made this story come alive in an entirely new way. The word used for "thread" in this passage is the Hebrew word tiqvah, which is used 34 times in the Bible. The first two times are in this passage (vs. 18, 21) and are translated "thread" and "line," referring to a type of cord or rope. The remaining 32 times follow this account of Rahab and merit a change in definition. From this salvation story and onward, the word tiqvah is translated as "hope, a thing that I long for, expectation." Is that awesome or what?
Think about it. That scarlet cord was the spies' only hope of escaping the city of Jericho. It was also Rahab's only hope of saving herself and her family from destruction. I imagine as Rahab waited for the attack she knew would one day come, she checked that window multiple times to make sure the scarlet cord was still hanging there. Her life depended on it. Her family's life depended on it. In a sense, that thread—that hope—was her lifeline.
Dear ones, we have a lifeline too. Our Lord has provided a scarlet thread for us in the form of the precious blood of His Son, Jesus. It is our only hope of salvation. It is our only means of rescue from sin, shame, and the ultimate penalty of the lake of fire. It is our lifeline. It is our hope.
And when we accept Jesus' great sacrifice and submit to Him as our Lord and Savior, we will find something so much greater than the "hope" the world knows. As Christians, we don't have to depend on wishes or pie-in-the-sky dreams. We can have genuine hope. Like the scarlet thread in Rahab's window, this hope can be tangible in our lives. It's something we can cling to when the storms come and threaten to destroy us. Because our hope is in Christ rather than our strength or circumstances, it is our lifeline to stand against the winds and the waves life throws at us.
Are you hanging by a thread today? As long as that thread is one of hope in Christ, you're assured victory. Hang in there. Keep the faith. Deliverance is on the way.