A scarlet cord and a sacred choice.
A brave woman with a bold faith.
You’ve probably heard her story before—this woman with an unsavory reputation. We don’t know much about her, only that she sells her body for a shred of money. What led her to this point, we can only speculate. What brought her down this road, we can only postulate.
Just as her body does not belong to her, neither does her home. She’s living in the Promised Land — the inheritance given to God’s people. She’s living on borrowed land and borrowed time.
Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, was a far cry from a paradise. Sexual deviance flows through the veins of its people. Idol worship, sorcery, and child sacrifice surges through the streets of its cities. Darkness reigns. Violence prevails. It’s a country void of morals and a woman bankrupt of hope.
They quiver with fear when they see Israel coming. They’ve heard rumors about the God of Israel. They know about His power. They know about His justice. They know He’s the God who makes mountains tremble, seas part, and false gods buckle. They don’t know the half of who He is.
Israel’s spies slip stealthily through the shadows. Rahab hides them out of sight, and the spies promise she’ll be saved from Canaan’s imminent crumbling.
Joshua 2:18
Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household.
The Hebrew word for cord is tiqvâh. It’s the same word used throughout Scripture for hope. It means “expectation, hope, thing that I long for.”
We could dive into the depths of the riches of Scripture and never find the bottom. Rahab’s cord was her hope — the sign of her salvation, the rope of her rescue, the cord of her comfort.
Rahab's hope points us forward. It's the thread that weaves through the pages of time, wrapping around the sin-worn and heart-torn to the hope of the ages — a baby born that silent Christmas night.
Another scarlet cord. Another sacred choice.
A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. Blood poured out on a cross.
What do you long for, this Christmas? What hopes spill from your heart?
Micah 7:7:
"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."
He’s the sign of our salvation. The rope of our rescue. The cord of our comfort.
Hope wrapped in a cradle. Hope wrapped in a cross. Hope wrapped in the unconditional, unchangeable, unbreakable, and unfathomable love of a Savior who searches for and saves the lost.
Psalm 62:5
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from Him.
This Christmas, will you grab hold of that scarlet cord — that crimson hope? And if your weary hands have lost their grip, hope is never lost. For hope is not found in how tightly we can hold onto Him, but it’s found in the unbreakable grip of the One who’s holding fast to us.
The question is … where are you finding your hope this Christmas?
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