Joshua 2:1-21
A Rope of Hope
The story we have read is a smaller part of larger picture. After
hundreds of years of waiting, Israel coming into the Promised Land.
Moses had died and Joshua had taken over. The new leader had sent
spies into the land to investigate the first city they would have to
take, Jericho.
There were a lot of big things happening.
1. Israel was finally claiming what God had promised to them in
the days of Abraham. Many things had happened in 600 years
between Abraham and Moses. 400 of which Israel was in slavery.
During that time, Israel grew from one man to a nation of
three million. Things had changed in the land too. It grew
in population, in fortification, and in wickedness. There
were many more people in the land and the villages had formed
armies and built forts. But perhaps more than anything, the
pagan people had become even more wicked and determined in
their sin against God. In promising this land to Abraham, God
had told Abraham that the land would not belong to the Jews
until the wickedness of the land had increased.
Ge 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall
come hither again: for the iniquity of the
Amorites is not yet full.
2. Moses had died. That was very big. The man whom God had
called to defeat the strongest nation on the earth at that
time and to lead the children of Israel with miracles had
died. Joshua had been a faithful servant to Moses from the
beginning of the Exodus—and maybe before, but now he was the
leader and the responsibility of leading was totally his.
3. Jericho was in their way. Jericho must have been the most
fortified city in this new land. It was built on a small
hill or mountain that the Jews call a "tell." The was a
retaining wall around the base of the tell with another wall
built upon it. Together, those walls rose up between 30 to
40 feet and were approximately 6 feet thick. On up the
hillside stood another wall, approximately 45 feet high. For
Israel to take this city, a mighty God would have to work
a mighty big miracle.
https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/the-walls-of-jericho/
Among all of these BIG things, I would like us to focus on one SMALL
thing this morning. I would like to focus on Rahab’s rope.
Three times in this chapter, the rope is mentioned.
\\#15\\ cord
\\#18\\ line of scarlet thread
\\#21\\ scarlet line
God has a way of using things. God used Moses staff, his shepherd’s
crook. In fact, it became known as "the rod of God" \\#Ex 4:20\\.
Elijah wore a mantle, a cape if you please. In 2Kings 2, Elijah used
his mantle to perform a miracle. Once Elijah was gone, the mantle
became Elisha’s and to him, it represented the power of God.
The temple was filled with "things" which spoke of God and His power.
Inside the temple was the Ark of the Covenant, which was a picture of
God. Inside the Ark, was the rod that budded, a jar of manna, and
the Ten Commandments that God gave to Israel—each thing being a
reminder of the power of God.
Could it be that this rope had meaning as well? Let’s look at the
meaning of these three references.
I. \\#15\\ Cord
A. English has homonyms. Words that may sound alike, even spelled
alike, but have totally different meanings.
1. bear - can be an animal; can also mean to expose.
2. pool - can be a body of water; can also be a game.
B. In the Jewish language, this word for "cord" has four meanings:
1. A band, a rope, or a cord
2. The second is similar - union
3. The third is different and has a negative quality,
destruction
4. The last seems to take the two different definitions and
combine them: it means sorrow or pain. (Translated 10
times this way in the Old Testament.)
2Samuel 22:6 The sorrows of hell compassed me
about; the snares of death prevented me;
Isaiah 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and
sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be
in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall
be amazed one at another; their faces shall be
as flames
Jeremiah 13:21 What wilt thou say when he shall
punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be
captains, and as chief over thee: shall not
sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
C. Could it be that the word used for cord has some significance?
1. I believe God used a word for rope that also described
Rahab’s life.
2. Hers was a life filled with sorrow and pain.
3. I do not know what had happened in Rahab’s life, but
something awful must have happened to force her into the
profession that seems permanently attached to her name.
4. We do realize that Rehab did many good things.
a. Rahab helped the Jewish spies that came into Jericho,
but when we speak of Rahab’s name, no one calls her,
"Rahab the women who helped the spies."
b. Rahab converted to Judaism. She was in the first that
we read of in the Bible who abandons her gods and her
nation to totally trust in Jehovah. But when we
speak her name, no one calls her, "Rahab, the woman
who converted to Judaism."
c. Rahab will become a Jewess. She will marry a Jewish
man, a man from the tribe of Judah, the kingly
tribe. In fact, Rahab and her Jewish family will
be part of the Messiah’s family tree. But when we
call Rahab’s name, no one says, "Rahab, the ancestor
of Jesus."
d. With what do we associate Rahab’s name when we speak
of her? We remember her by her wicked occupation and
profession. We call her Rahab the harlot.
e. My friend, such a life of sin would first have to be
caused by sorrow but in turn would also produce much
sorrow.
f. And the Jewish word used in the Bible for the cord in
Rahab’s house means sorrow, destruction.
g. Could it be that sorrow was bound to Rahab’s life like
a robe binds one thing to another?
II. \\#18\\ "scarlet thread"
A. The word used here is a totally different word.
1. It is the Hebrew word for a "thread." In fact, the word
is so translated 4 times in our Old Testament.
2. That is interesting in that it is hard to imagine a thread
being used to let two men down a wall that was 45 feet
high, but that is the word that is used.
3. I think that this word, along with the color mentioned,
are given to show us that this was not a "work" rope.
B. The color "scarlet" that described the thread is important.
C. I believe this color also described Rahab’s life. Consider
some thoughts:
1. Was it practical to have a red rope?
a. No.
b. Dye was expensive in those days and a work rope didn’t
need coloring.
c. This wasn’t a work rope but a cosmetic rope - one for
looking at not working with.
2. How did the two spies happen to come inside Rahab’s house?
a. They were not from Jericho and had never been inside
the city before.
b. While searching out the city for weak points, they
must have given themselves away.
(1) \\#3\\ The king sent directly to Rahab’s house
for a witness had seen them go inside. That
indicates they had been noticed and were being
watched.
(2) Jericho was not just a difficult city to get
inside. It was also difficult to get out—
especially if the gates were being watched or
even closed.
(3) These men had to find a place inside the city to
hide.
(a) We are told that the city itself was fairly
small, only about six acres with maybe
1500 people or so living inside it.
https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/the-walls-of-jericho/
(b) They could not force their way into a home.
It would soon be discovered. They needed
to into a place where they might could
blend.
(c) What house would have men coming and going?
A harlot’s house.
(d) How did they know what house was the
harlot’s house?
i. I believe the red rope was her symbol.
ii. In fact, it still is today. When
people speak of a section of town
where this profession is practiced,
they often call it, "the red light"
district.
3. The "scarlet thread" was not a work rope but a show rope.
a. It showed everyone her occupation.
b. And it pictured the sorrow that was bound to her life,
both the sorrow that had brought her to that
profession and the sorrow that profession brought to
her.
D. But we cannot leave the discussion of that color there. For
scarlet, crimson, a dark red color, is also the color of
redemption.
1. Scarlet is also the color of blood and it is the blood
that takes away our sin and the sorrow it brings.
2. That makes scarlet the color of salvation.
3. It is interesting but when scarlet sin is covered by
the crimson blood of Jesus, the color that results i
always white.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together,
saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
4. God took the very sorrow and pain of this woman’s life
and made it a rope of salvation!
a. It is the rope used to drop the spies over the wall.
b. It is the rope used to mark her home as the safe
house.
5. Here we can learn an amazing truth about God and His
salvation.
a. Even salvation does not remove the scars and sorrow of
life, but it does give new meaning to them.
b. I do not know whether Rahab kept the scarlet thread or
not; but if she did, its meaning changed.
c. From this day, the scarlet thread would no longer mean
Rahab, the house of the harlot. It would mean,
Rahab, the house of the redeemed!
III. \\#21\\ Scarlet line
A. Yet, another Hebrew word for the rope and a word that has
multiple meanings.
1. The Hebrew word used is 34 times in Old Testament with
only two of the uses being translated a "line" or robe.
2. Both of those are in this chapter, verses 18 and 21.
3. All of the other 32 times, it is translated hope or
expectation.
a. 23 times it is translated "hope."
b. 7 times it is translated "expectation."
c. 1 time "longing."
d. 1 time "expected."
e. So the word is more commonly used to mean a hope, a
longing, an expectation.
f. What a language that words which mean rope or cord
could also have such other opposite meanings, such as
sorrow and destruction to hope and expectation.
B. Why did Rahab move the robe from the front door to her back
window and tie it there?
1. Because she put her hope, her expectation in God’s power
to destroy the city and to deliver her and her family!
2. This woman tied the scarlet rope in her window expecting
God to do something with the rest of her life, And He
did!
a. \\#Joshua 6:22-25\\ God delivered her and her family.
b. Rahab becomes David’s great, great grandmother
\\#Matt 1:5-6\\.
Friend, it does not matter what kind of life you have lived. It only
matters what kind of life you want to live. Do you want to continue
to live a life of sorrow and destruction? Or would you like to live
a life of hope and expectation? In the middle of a lot of big
things, let God give you a robe of hope.
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy
house.
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