Tiqvah

As a part of The Year of Hope, I studied QAVAH, a Hebrew word for the act of hope (i.e., a verb) that is tied to waiting expectantly. This led me to CHAKAH, a different Hebrew word for waiting that represents deep longing. But today, I came across a new word for hope: TIQVAH.

Tiqvah literally means "cord." It first appears in Joshua 2 in the story of Rahab. As you may know, Rahab was a prostitute that lived in Jericho who hid Israelite spies who were preparing for an attack on the city. To thank her for her kindness, the spies promised to save Rahab and her family from the impending attack.

"Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
Joshua 2:14

To ensure that Rahab and her family would be safe, the Israelite spies instructed her to tie a scarlet cord - a scarlet tiqvah - in her window as a sign to the soldiers. When the attack occured, Joshua and his men kept their word to Rahab:

"Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day."
Joshua 6: 24-25

Can you wrap your brain around what it must have been like to be Rahab? She was a prostitute, working in a profession that's far from upstanding. She had probably come from destitution, hunger, poverty, and abuse. Enemy spies arrived unexpectedly at her door and asked to stay with her. They told her they planned to annihilate the city where she lived. Talk about hopeless! Yet because Rahab trusted the spies and acted boldly, tying her scarlet tiqvah in the window, she was not only rescued, but joined the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Throughout the story of Rahab in Joshua, tiqvah is translated "cord." But in the book of Ruth, the word appears again, this time with a different meaning. In Ruth 1:12, Naomi laments, "If I had tiqvah..." Naomi wasn't longing for a scarlet cord, though. She needed hope.

From this point forward, tiqvah most often appears in scripture as "hope." Whereas qavah is a verb, the act of hoping, tiqvah, is a noun; in Job 6:8, it's even translated as "the thing that I long for."

Tiqvah is translated "hope" in verses throughout the Old Testament, including Jeremiah 29:11:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope (tiqvah) and a future. "

as well as Hosea 2:14-15:

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [Trouble] a door of hope (tiqvah)."

What a blessed encouragement.

When the walls around you are crashing down, and you're under attack, and the enemy wants to set up camp in your living room, have tiqvah.

When you feel like there is no future, and your plans aren't working out, and you are in harm's way, have tiqvah.

When you find yourself stuck in a dry, weary desert, and trouble is all around, have tiqvah.

God is faithful to his word. Just as Joshua's men honored their promise to Rahab, the Lord will honor his promise to us. And just when you can't hold on any longer, and you're at the end of your rope, relief will arise. You will be rescued. You will be prospered. And your troubles will be the very door that you walk through toward hope.

In the midst of hopelessness, boldly tie a scarlet cord of hope - tiqvah - to your window, and await your delivery.