Forerunner

I received a comment on last week’s blog post Heaven’s Anchor via email that was too good to not share with you all – as a post all of it’s own. You’ll recall the verse:

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
— Hebrews 6:19, 20 ESV

The commenter said:  

The word “forerunner” is yet another of the nautical terms used in Hebrews.  The particular word here, prodromos, is one that appears nowhere else in Scripture, but has to do with a familiar scene in the ancient world.  Louis Talbot explains:

The Greek harbors were often cut off from the sea by sandbars, over which the larger ships dared not pass till the full tide came in.  Therefore, a lighter vessel, a prodromos or “forerunner” took the anchor and dropped it in the harbor.  From that moment the ship was safe from the storm, although it had to wait for the tide before it could enter the harbor…The entrance of the small vessel into the harbor, the forerunner carrying the ship’s anchor, was the pledge that the ship would safely enter the harbor when the tide was full.  And because Christ, our “forerunner,” has entered heaven itself, having torn asunder everything that separates the redeemed sinner from the very presence of God, He Himself is the Pledge that we, too, shall one day enter the harbor of our souls and the very presence of God in the New Jerusalem.

Doesn’t that just take your breath away?

 

Thank you, MCS, for sharing your wisdom with me for these many years.
Your study of God’s Word inspires me.

Posted in Faith, Perseverence, Reliance, Trust and tagged

13 Comments

  1. Emily Clements via Facebook on April 17, 2012 at 2:05 pm

    Beautiful.



  2. Emily Clements via Facebook on April 17, 2012 at 2:05 pm

    Beautiful.



  3. Suzanne Kuchynka on April 17, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    I love this! Both the Greek and Hebrew languages are so beautiful. It fascinates me to no end how God uses language in scripture.

    Thanks for sharing this!



  4. Suzanne Kuchynka on April 17, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    I love this! Both the Greek and Hebrew languages are so beautiful. It fascinates me to no end how God uses language in scripture.

    Thanks for sharing this!



  5. Suzanne Kuchynka on April 17, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    I love this! Both the Greek and Hebrew languages are so beautiful. It fascinates me to no end how God uses language in scripture.

    Thanks for sharing this!



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  9. Timothy F Reynolds on April 27, 2013 at 11:06 am

    Can you cite the source of this Louis Talbot quote? I have not been able to find this explanation in any commentary or dictionary.



  10. Timothy F Reynolds on April 27, 2013 at 11:06 am

    Can you cite the source of this Louis Talbot quote? I have not been able to find this explanation in any commentary or dictionary.



  11. Timothy F Reynolds on April 27, 2013 at 11:06 am

    Can you cite the source of this Louis Talbot quote? I have not been able to find this explanation in any commentary or dictionary.



    • Kirsten on August 30, 2013 at 4:32 pm

      Timothy, the quote was referenced in Talbot’s Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews, p 23.