What A Difference Three Days Make
We have all heard the saying, "What a difference a day makes". It refers to our perspective during difficult times. While we are in the middle of hard times, things look so dark and sometimes impossible. We begin to feel as if there is no hope, and no way out. But as time begins to pass, we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Joshua chapter 2 gives us a wonderful illustration of this, and points to something even greater that would happen almost 1,500 years later. Joshua sends two men to go in to Jericho and search out the city. They make their way to Rahab's house. She was a prostitute, and most likely, no one would think twice that two strange men were staying with her. Plus, very few people would know what was going on in the city better than a harlot. But someone does notice the two Hebrew men that had made their way into town, and they report it to the king. He then begins a search for the two spies, and that search leads straight to Rahab's house. Rahab hides the spies, and for her faith, she will be saved from the destruction that is to come. She then lets the men down by a cord to escape the city. And it would be that cord that would hang from the window that would be a sign that they would be safe.
Joshua uses two different Hebrew words to refer to this cord. Joshua 2:15, "Then she let them down by a cord through the window". The word for cord here is "chebel", which means "cord", but it can also mean "pain, sorrow, travail". In verse sixteen she tells them to hide for three days before going back to camp. After those three days, the word for cord is changed. Joshua 2:18, "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". The word for line here is "tiqvah" which means "cord", but it can also mean "hope". So after three days, the pain, sorrow, and travail is turned into hope.
What a wonderful reminder of what Jesus did for us. He died on a cross in our place. Taking upon Himself our pain, sorrow, and travail. "He became sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." He suffered God's judgment upon Himself for us. At that point, things looked bleak. It seemed as if all hope was lost. His followers were filled with sadness and fear. But three days later, something amazing happened! Jesus arose from the dead! He died, was buried, and three days later He became our hope when He rose from the dead. When death was our sentence, He gave us eternal life! Just as that scarlet line became the hope and salvation for Rahab and her family, Jesus is the hope and salvation of all who will put their faith and trust in Him. It is amazing what a difference three days can make!