“The Blessings of Sonship” No. 15 by Rev. Toru Asai

"Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window (Josh 2:21).

Here, the expression, "the scarlet cord," occurs for the second time in this story. Earlier in v. 18, it was "tiqvath hut ha-sshani hazeh," and here, it is simply, "tiqvath ha-sshani"—somewhat shorten or abbreviated from the earlier one. Note, however, the word "tiqvath," which means both "cord" and "hope" is still used (this word for the meaning of "cord" occurs only twice in the Bible). The theological implication behind it is significant. This cord meant hope not only for the salvation of Rahab and her family from the destruction that was about to happen, but also for the salvation of the whole humanity. Rahab continued to live among the Israelites in the land, and later was married to Salmon from the tribe of Judah, and bore Boaz. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth, a Moabite woman, Obed the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David, and Jesus Christ came as a descendant of David (Mat 1:4ff.). Rahab, as well as Ruth, represents the Gentiles who came to be blessed and used as God's heirs.

As we already learned, the color of "scarlet" in the expression of "the scarlet chord" points to the blood of Jesus, through which we have now redemption in Christ. Let us explore briefly how this blood came to redeem us. First, take a look at the following scriptures:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (Eph 1:7).

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:22).

The first point in the meaning of the blood of Jesus is that it has redeemed us from our sins. It was not easy, at all, for God to forgive our sins because he is the God of righteousness. The Bible further explains that this redemption came in two aspects: in paying the ransom for our life and in easing of God's wrath upon us. By sinning, we offered ourselves to Satan to be his slaves, but God bought us back by paying the price so that we would be his children again (1 Cor 6:20, Mat 27:6, etc.). At the same time, God saved us from his wrath by pouring it upon his own Son. In this way, he has demonstrated both his love and his righteousness: he loved us by forgiving our sins, yet maintained his righteousness by punishing his own Son through his anger.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him (Rom 5:9)!

Being "justified" means being made righteous. Those who have received the forgiveness of sins, they were made righteous before God. This is the second point in the meaning of Jesus' blood. The unrighteous cannot find favor in the sight of God who is righteous, hence they are the object of his wrath. But if you are righteous, you are an object of God's favor, love and blessings. And this leads us to the third point.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ... since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water (Heb 10:22).

We have boldness to enter into his presence through the blood of Jesus. This truth serves as the foundation for all the blessings we receive from God as his heirs. Without this boldness, we would not seek God by worshiping him, nor ask him to do anything in prayers—the spiritual numbness before God due to the effect of the sense of guilt, which lingers somewhere deep inside of our soul. Through the blood of Jesus, however, we have boldness—the spiritual keenness on the presence of God, which drives us to go out and lay hold of God's blessings.