She Heard
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Team
    • What We Believe
    • Write For Us!
    • Contact
    • Partner With Me!
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Quarterly Subscription

SHE HEARD Reflections: Rahab

6/14/2016

0 Comments

 
SHE HEARD is the first for-purchase devotional published by Deliberate Women. Over the next eight weeks, we'll be reading reflections written by our readers of the eight Biblical women featured in SHE HEARD. Up today: RAHAB.

The Hope of the Scarlet

Picture
The Hebrew word for ‘cord’ in Joshua 2:18 and 21 is “tikvah” or “tiqvah” (Strong’s Concordance, 8615). This is the first time this word is found in the Old Testament. Its meaning is to bind together, as in a cord, to tarry or wait for, to look forward to a particular outcome. It implies expectation and anticipation. There is a sense of certainty that something will happen, and we are waiting for it. 

This same word is used in Jeremiah 29:11. “I know the plans that I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with HOPE” (Common English Bible). Other versions translate the word “hope” to “an expected outcome”. It's different than hoping that your favorite sports team will win. It has more to do with the fulfillment of what has been promised. 

In Joshua, the scarlet cord (tikvat ha-shani) can be translated literally as “the hope of the scarlet”. With her confidence in the God of Israel and the word of the spies, Rahab trusts in the “hope of the scarlet” as her lifeline. 

Isn’t that beautiful? You can see all of these beautiful metaphors and parallels opening up in Scripture. 

Promise. Hope. Rescue. Blood. Salvation. 

I love that that “tikvah” isn’t only an idea but something concrete that we can literally grab a hold of. And we can be certain that our hope will not be disappointed (Romans 5:5).

When I was reading through the definitions listed in Strong’s, one of them caught me completely by surprise- “things hoped for”. Does that phrase sound familiar? Hebrews 11, the “Faith Hall of Fame” where Rahab is mentioned, begins with those words. “Now faith is the substance of THINGS HOPED FOR”. 

If you have studied the Bible, you know that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek word there is “elpizomenon” (Strong’s Concordance, 1679). It is the only time this word appears in the New Testament. 
​

I wonder if the writer was transliterating [writing words or letters in the characters of another alphabet] the word, “tiqvah” here. I wonder if as they began to pen this passage, they were choosing to remind us of “the hope of the scarlet”. For now, after the death of Christ, they were able to understand what it was that God had been working and weaving over the generations. What had been mysterious and obscure in the time of Joshua, was unveiled in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. 


Picture
Amanda Klaiber is a mother to a darling 5 year old daughter. She has been a paramedic/registered nurse at the Drug & Poison Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital for over 13 years and currently teaches music at a local Christian school. Her husband, Nels, is a full time Lt. Firefighter-Paramedic in West Chester, Ohio. A few years ago. God called them to step into pastoring a small congregation, Christians Beyond Church, in Portsmouth, Ohio. After living in a camper for a few months, they bought a home just a few miles west of Portsmouth to become a part of the community there. God has been faithful in His calling and the congregation has seen tremendous growth- both spiritually and numerically. She enjoys bringing people together over coffee and conversation, has recently begun blogging to share the stories of people in the community, and has a general dislike for all things carrots (and wearing shoes). She is a bit of an over-thinker and quite competitive in nearly every way. Her passion is learning to love people like Jesus and improving her deadlift. You can follow her blog Rambles and Rest, find her on Facebook  or at the local coffee shop.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    FREE Download!


    Archives

    October 2017
    September 2017
    December 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    RSS Feed

About
Contact

​Careers
What we Believe
Magazine
​Shop
© 2020 She Heard/Mandy Pagano. All Rights Reserved.
She Heard/Mandy Pagano makes no representations or warranties in relation to this website or the information and materials provided therein, and will not be liable to you in relation to the contents of or use of this website for any indirect, special or consequential loss. Nothing on this website constitutes or is meant to constitute advice of any kind. If you require advice in relation to any legal, financial, medical or psychological matter, you should consult an appropriate professional.

​
DALLAS, TEXAS
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Team
    • What We Believe
    • Write For Us!
    • Contact
    • Partner With Me!
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Quarterly Subscription