Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #47 - The Messianic Hope (Continued)

In our last post we began a consideration of the Messianic Hope that was prevalent prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our first reference to this hope was a quotation from Isaiah 42:4 that was given in the Gospel of Matthew in which God had declared that this hope in the promised Messiah was to include the Gentile nations as well as the Jewish people (Matthew 12:21).  In a similar way the Apostle Paul quoted from Isaiah in his appeal to the Christian Jews of Rome to accept the "weaker" brethren that had been saved out of paganism:  "And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust" (Romans 15:12).  Here, as in Matthew 12, the Greek word elpizo (hope) is translated in the King James Version as trust.  This is significant since the following verse continues this message of hope given to the Jew and Gentile alike:  "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:13).  This quotation from Isaiah 11:10 comes at the end of a string of texts presented by the Apostle to demonstrate God's intention of including the Gentiles in the hope of salvation offered through faith in Christ Jesus.  The Hebrew text of Isaiah 11:10 states that this promised root (royal descendant) of David's dynasty (the son of Jesse) would be an ensign (flag, banner) to which the Gentile nations would seek and in which they would find a glorious rest (peace).  The Greek Septuagint Version from which the Apostle Paul quotes translated the word seek (Hebrew darash: "to seek with care") as hope (Greek elpizo "to place hope or confidence in").  Likewise the idea of "rallying under a banner or flag" was rightly interpreted to mean "to come under one's rule", thus the Gentile nations would come unto this Son of David and submit to His rule as their Lord and King!  Here we are given three specific aspects of the true Messianic Hope:  The Messiah was to be a scion of David; He would be the rightful Ruler of all people; and salvation was to be found by those who placed their hope in Him (whether Jew or Gentile).  Among the Jewish people the Messianic Hope existed in a number of forms.  Some thought that the Messiah was a designation for the nation itself, others that God Himself was to intervene in a miraculous way to bring the promised redemption to the nation.  Still others looked for some representative of God to be raised up, whether an angel or a man.  Among those who looked for a Personal Messiah some thought that He would be a great Prophet; others a righteous Priest; and still others a warrior King.  Of course we now know that God Himself did intervene in a miraculous way!  "The Word (Who was God) became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).  The Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem's manger, was indeed "Emmanuel ... God with us" (Matthew 1:23).  As the God-Man, the Virgin-born Son of God, the Lord Jesus could truly be the Savior of Mankind:  "and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).  And of course we know that He was indeed ALL that the people longed for, and more, for He who is our Savior is also our Prophet, Priest and King! 

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #46 - The Messianic Hope

We have been considering the close association and relationship between faith and hope in the New Testament Scriptures.  We have seen that while hope is an element of faith it is not strictly equivalent to it.  Our hope as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is a product or fruit of our faith in Him.  In faith we look back upon what Christ has done and trust in Him in the present to save us from our sins.  In hope we look ahead in anticipation and expectation of all that has been promised to us in our salvation.  As Richard Lenski wrote:

"As to faith and hope, the former embraces salvation as it is present, the latter embraces salvation as what is yet in the future.  Hope rests on faith; faith always bears hope with it." 

But before Christ came as the Savior of mankind the promise of a Redeemer and the possibility of redemption from the guilt and bondage of sin was all in the future.  Everything in the Old Testament pointed forward to the day when the Messiah would come and actually accomplish all that was foreshadowed in the sacrificial offerings and the Levitical priesthood.  While New Testament believers are justified before God by looking back in faith upon the Christ who has come, the believers under the Old Testament were saved by looking ahead in faith for the Christ who was yet to come.  For this reason, the faith of the Old Testament saints has often been described as their Messianic Hope.  For them, their faith was indeed inseparable from their hope and expectation of a future Messiah.  We have noted that the word "hope" is actually quite rare in the Gospel accounts, perhaps due to the fact that the message of the Gospel was designed to prove that this promised Messiah had actually come, and that "hope" or "expectation" was to give way to "faith" and "trust" in the now present Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.  But the Messianic hope was indeed quite strong among the Jewish people at the time of our Savior's Advent even though there were conflicting and even erroneous views among the rabbis and scribes as to the nature of that hope and the identity or nature of the Messiah.  H. E. Dana, in his book entitled The New Testament World, noted that: "At the dawn of the Christian Era no other element held a larger place in Jewish life at large than this Messianic expectation. Whatever of hope the future contained was associated with it.  It was the vital center of Jewish religion ... It was the preserving salt of Jewish religious life, and did more than any other historical cause in preparing an audience for Jesus."  We hope to look at the various forms this Messianic hope took during the days of our Lord in future posts.  It is truly an enlightening study for this time of year as we approach the Christmas season.  One of the first references to "hope" in the New Testament deals with this Messianic Hope - the expectation of a coming Redeemer:  "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles ... And in his name shall the Gentiles trust" (Matthew 12:18,21).  Here the Greek word elpizo (hope) is translated in the King James Version as trust.  In the context, Matthew was quoting from Isaiah 42:1-3 to show that the Lord Jesus in His message, ministry, and methods was fulfilling in detail this prophecy of the Messiah.  It is significant to note that this prophecy was one of many that extended the Messianic hope of the Jewish people to include the Gentile nations.  The promised Messiah was to be sent, not to the Jewish nation only, but to the whole world.  While this was a hard concept for many among the Jews to accept, God had made this fact abundantly clear:  The provision of salvation and spiritual redemption through the coming Messiah was to be offered to people of all nations because all people need to be saved from their sins.  Even apart from God's special revelation to Israel in the Old Testament Scriptures, the hope for a Messiah was often expressed even in the pagan world.  The details the Messianic hope were different, but the desire was the same.  The prophet Haggai had referred to the Messiah as "the desire of all nations" (Haggai 2:6).  Again we may quote Dana:  "The Messianic hope was by no means peculiar to Judaism. The history of religion discloses that in varying forms it appears in the majority of the ancient religions ... Jesus of Nazareth was the culmination and highest expression of a noble hope which was all but universal in the ancient religious mind."  We may attribute this in part to the dispersion of the Jews throughout much of the world.  Wherever the Jewish people went they took the hope of the Messiah with them.  This may help to explain how the "wise men" of the East knew about the Messiah who was to be born in Bethlehem and that a "star" was to herald His birth.  The prophecy of Isaiah had declared that "the isles shall wait (Hebrew yahal) for his law."  Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit interprets this and translates it accordingly.  Lenski explains as follows:  "The inhabitants of the islands were Gentiles.  To wait for is to hope.  And Torah ('law') is his Name ... 'the revelation' which makes Christ (or God) known to men ... This waiting and hoping expresses the great need of Christ on the part of the pagan world.  In the whole world the heathen find nothing that can save them; their only hope is Christ" (emphasis mine).  The message of Christmas is that this Promised Hope has come in the incarnate Son of God who was born as a baby in Bethlehem!  Have you put your hope and trust in Him?

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #45 - Saved Unto Hope

Last time we began to explore the close link between faith and hope in the New Testament.  We closed with a few Scripture references that place these two concepts in close proximity and with a quote from Griffith Thomas that attempts to distinguish between them.  The primary difference between faith and hope seems to be that hope deals essentially with the future.  It is by definition the expectation of future good; and yet it is an anticipation that is based on our faith in God and His Word.  And so faith and hope are indeed inseparably linked.  So much so that hope becomes a part of the very definition or description of faith:  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).  In this classic Scriptural definition of "faith" we are told that faith is the very substance or more literally "ground" or "confidence" of the things we hope for (i.e. the good things we expect to receive from God in the future, based on His Word who is "a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him").  In other words, by faith we confidently expect to receive those things not yet received (yet hoped for) and are fully convinced concerning those things we cannot see (yet being convinced by the evidence of the reality of the unseen world of God, angels, and heaven, etc.).  Saving faith is the very foundation of Christian hope and yet hope (confident expectation) is at the very heart of saving faith!  The distinction between faith and hope seems even less discernible when we read in the book of Romans the statement, "For we are saved by hope ..." (Romans 8:24).  At first glance this seems to parallel the familiar Gospel message of Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."  There are some who would claim that "hope" in Romans 8:24 is used as being synonymous with "faith".  This may be the way the King James translators understood it here (as well as in Hebrews 10:23 where they translated "elpis" hope as "faith").  In the Greek text of the New Testament however we find a subtle yet significant distinction between these two statements of Romans 8 and Ephesians 2.  Without trying to be too technical, we should note that there is no preposition "by" preceding "hope" in the Greek text of Romans 8:24.  The noun "hope" is simply written in what is called the Dative Case as the object of the verb "saved".  Now the Dative Case may at times express the idea of means and would be translated using the preposition "by".  This is aptly called "the dative of means" for those who wish to explore it further.  But the Dative Case may also simply express reference (most often as the indirect object of the verb).  For example, Romans 6:2 states that "we are dead to (i.e. with reference to) sin."  Romans 8:12 reminds us that the Christian is no longer a debtor "to the flesh" (i.e. with reference to our flesh).  And so we may understand Romans 8:24 as actually saying that we are saved with reference to hope.  This understanding helps to avoid confusing faith and hope.  Faith is indeed the means of our receiving salvation, grace being the grounds or basis of it.  Thus we are saved by grace and receive this gift of salvation through faith.  But we are saved unto hope!  In fact the definite article ("the") precedes the word "hope" in the Greek text which indicates that a particular hope is in view here, not just hope in general, or a subjective feeling of hope, but a real, objective hope based on the promises of God.  Try reading through Romans 8:15-23 noting the future things that have been promised to the believer in Christ and then read verse 24 as a sort of concluding thought:  "for we have been saved for this very hope"!  This passage is full of the "things hoped for" and those things "not seen" as yet:  our inheritance as the heirs of God; the glory that shall be revealed in us; the manifestation of the sons of God; the glorious liberty of the children of God; the adoption; the redemption of our body; for all the things we "groan for" and "wait for"; these are the things we are saved to receive one day, these are the things that comprise the hope for which we have been saved!  We are not in heaven yet.  We still must live in a fallen world.  We are not glorified yet.  We still must live in corruptible bodies.  We are not completed yet.  Our flesh still wars against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.  We have no problem groaning under the limitations and physical afflictions of the present time, but how much do we really groan for the glorification that is promised to us in our resurrection?  It is the future hope that we have because of our salvation that enables us to patiently endure the trials of this life and world (vs.17,18).  There is much more awaiting us than what we have already received!  The Holy Spirit Himself is given as the "firstfruits" of the fuller "harvest" of our future glorification awaiting us in Christ.  This is truly an unseen hope and yet one we may confidently expect to receive:  "But hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it" (Romans 8:24,25).  We can, with the Spirit's help and intercession, patiently endure any trial, any hardship, any suffering God permits in our lives knowing that there is something better to come, something incomparably better to hope for, for we have been saved unto hope!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #44 - Faith and Hope

As we continue in our study of Biblical "hope" as expressed in the Scriptures, we find that the word "hope" is often linked with the word "faith" in the New Testament.  This is not very surprising since we found a strong link between "hope" and "trust" even in the Old Testament, especially in the translation of the Hebrew words "batah" and "hasa".  While "batah" is translated as "trust" around 100 times in the Old Testament and "hasa" around 30 times, both of these words are often translated by the Greek word "hope" (elpizo) in the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint.  In a similar way the Greek verb "elpizo" is translated with some form of the word "trust" nearly 20 times in the King James Version of the English Bible and the noun "elpis" is translated by the word "faith" only once in Hebrews 10:23:  "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith (elpis) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)", the context having just spoken of drawing near "with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (vs.22).  And so there is a strong connection between the concepts of "hope" and "faith" or "trust" throughout the Bible.  And yet as we enter into the New Testament we are made aware of a distinct difference between these two words.  It is striking to find out that in the four Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John combined we find the Greek word for "hope" only five times, three of which are translated as "trust" in the KJV:  1) Matthew 12:21 - the Messianic prophecy of the Gentiles placing their hope in the Christ; 2) Luke 6:34,35 - the Lord's instructions concerning lending without hoping to receive anything in return; 3) Luke 23:8 - the curious hope of Herod who wanted to see Christ perform some miracle; 4) Luke 24:21 - the dashed hope of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus; and 5) John 5:45 - the misplaced hope of the Jews which they had centered in Moses.  Of these five occurrences only the Messianic hope of the Gentiles and the expectant hope of the two Emmaus Disciples may be classified with a true Biblical hope that is associated with trusting faith.  We will take a look at this Messianic hope in a future post, but this is a key to understanding the shift of emphasis in the Gospels away from hope and toward saving faith:  The Messiah that was hoped for had now come!  Now the time to believe and trust in the One who was the Desire of Nations had come!  Once that faith in the Promised One was established in the Gospels, we once again find hope and saving faith closely united in the Epistles:  

Romans 4:18-20 - "Who against hope believed in hope, that he (Abraham) might become the father of many nations ... And being not weak in faith ... He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God."

Romans 8:24 - "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?"  (We may also include here I Thes.5:8 and Titus 1:2; 3:7 as well).

I Corinthians 13:13 - "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

I Peter 1:21 - "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."

We will continue to look at this close connection between faith and hope next time and will spend some time commenting on these passages and others like them. But for now we will close with the observations on faith and hope made by Griffith Thomas:

                                       "Faith looks backward and upward, hope looks onward;

                                        Faith accepts, but hope expects;

                                        Faith is concerned with Him who promises, but hope is occupied

                                        with the good things promised;

                                        Faith appropriates, but hope anticipates."

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #43 - A Better Hope

In our last post we attempted to define the word "hope" as it is used in the Greek New Testament and concluded that everything that was meant by hope in the Old Testament in its various Hebrew synonyms is included in the one Greek word for hope in the New.  And yet the book of Hebrews declares that the hope of the Christian as revealed in the New Testament is better than the hope revealed in the Old:  "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Hebrews 7:19).  A study of the book of Hebrews is indeed a study of this better hope that has been brought in by God and brings us to God.  It has rightly been called "the book of better things" since the word "better" is used some 13 times throughout the book.  It is clear that the word "better" is a term of comparison and serves to magnify just how much better the New Testament hope is without diminishing the hope provided for under the Old Covenant.  The Apostle Paul made a similar comment in his second epistle to the Corinthians:  "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious ... How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.  For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious" (II Corinthians 3:7-12).  There was indeed a glory and a goodness in the Old Testament law, but by God's own design it was intended to be temporary and preparatory to the more glorious message of the Gospel of Christ.  The law could reveal sin and announce its condemnation, but it contained no power to deliver the sinner from bondage or to enable the hearer of the law to obey its commands.  Thus it could "make nothing perfect", that is, it could not provide for a full forgiveness and complete remission of sins.  But Christ Jesus "is able  also to save them to the uttermost (i.e. fully, completely, perfectly) that come unto God by him" (Hebrews 7:25). (See also Hebrews 7:11; 9:9; 10:1,2 for the limitations of the Old Covenant priesthood, law and sacrificial system).  And so the hope of the Old Covenant was superseded by the superior hope of the New Covenant in Christ as prophesied by Jeremiah (Hebrews 8:7-13).  In Christ Jesus the New Testament believer is given a better hope:  Better because it is better in its ability - providing a complete redemption and salvation. Better because it is better in its access - providing a full and free access unto God. These  two things that could never be hoped for or attained under the Old Covenant are fully provided for under the New:  "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more ... Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus ... And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith ..." (Hebrews 10:16-22).  Do you have this better hope in Christ?

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #42 - New Testament Hope

We have now come to the word "hope" as it is used in the New Testament Scriptures.  In contrast to the Hebrew Old Testament where the word "hope" may be translated from any of twelve different Hebrew words, the Greek New Testament employs basically only one Greek word in four forms:  The noun elpis, the verb elpizo, and the compound verbs apelpizo and proelpizo.  The English word "hope" is found in the King James Version of the New Testament around 66 times.  This is slightly fewer than the 75 or so times it is found in the Old Testament but when you consider that the Old Testament is more than three times longer than the New Testament the frequency of occurrences is actually greater per page in the New.  We should also note that the Greek verb elpizo is translated by the word "trust" almost 20 times in the KJV and the Greek noun elpis by "faith" once, bringing the total number of references to "hope" up to 87 which averages out to over three times per page of the New Testament!  In other words, the New Testament is full of the message of hope!  As we seek to define what is meant by the word "hope" in the New Testament we may safely say that all that was included in the various concepts of hope expressed in the twelve Hebrew synonyms of the Old Testament Scriptures is compacted into this one word of the Greek New Testament.  Joseph Thayer, in his Greek - English Lexicon of the New Testament, notes that in the Greek Septuagint Version of the Old Testament the verb elpizo is used to translate the Hebrew words batah ("to trust"), hasa ("to flee for refuge"), and yahal ("to wait, to hope"). Thus he defines the Greek word elpizo as meaning "to hope"; "to wait for salvation with joy and full of confidence"; and "hopefully to trust in" (emphasis mine).  Likewise, he notes that the Septuagint uses the noun elpis to translate the Hebrew words betah and mibtah ("trust"), mahseh ("that in which one confides or to which he flees for refuge"), and tiqwa ("expectation, hope").  Thayer notes that the basic meaning of elpis is "expectation".  In the Greek classics (classical Greek) the word was a "vox media" meaning that it could be used in a good or bad sense:  "exectation whether of good or of ill".  But in the New Testament it is used consistently in the good sense:  "expectation of good, hope; and in the Christian sense, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation" (emphasis mine).  Likewise, W.E. Vine in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines elpis in its New Testament usage as meaning "favorable and confident expectation" and states that it describes "the happy anticipation of good" (emphasis mine).  And so we see that "hope" in the New Testament sense of the word is very much the same as we have observed from our Old Testament studies.  It is not a "wishful thinking" at all, but a confidence, an expectation, and even a joyful anticipation of God's blessings as promised to the believer.  And yet because the New Testament reveals to us the fulfillment of the very basis of the Old Testament hope - the coming of the Christ, and records for us the very substance of all that was foreshadowed in the Old Covenant and Law of Moses concerning Him - His substitutionary and sacrificial death upon the cross, His full and free atonement for the sins of mankind through the shedding of His blood, and His conquering of death and hell by the power of His Resurrection, and His never-ending exaltation to the right hand of  the Father as our Great High Priest - the New Testament refers to the believer's hope in Christ as an even better hope:  "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Hebrews 7:19).  As great as the hope of the Old Covenant was, the hope provided for in the New Covenant is greater!  It is this "better hope" that we will be studying as we examine our New Testament Hope.

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #41 - A Review of Hope

We have completed our word study on the Hebrew Old Testament words for "hope".  We thought it would be a good idea to stop and summarize our findings before proceeding to the New Testament.  Over the last 40 posts we have looked at 12 Hebrew Synonyms for "hope" and have listed or discussed most of the 75 references to "hope" in the Old Testament.  We have found that there are at least five distinct root meanings or ideas that make up the Old Testament concept of a Biblical hope.  We may list our findings as follows:

Study #            Hebrew Words                Root Meaning                   Distinctive Idea 

  1-19                tiqwa, miqweh                 "to bind together"                  A confident hope

20-28                yahal, tohelet                    "to wait"                               An expectant hope

29-31                sabar, seber                      "to watch"                            A watchful hope

32-33                kesel, kisla                        "to be fat"                            A full hope

34-36                batah, betah                     "to find refuge"                     A secure hope

37-40                hasa, mahseh                    "to flee to safety"                 A sheltering hope

If we were to try to include most of the aspects of "hope" as expressed in these Hebrew words and in the Scriptures where they are used we could arrive at a working definition of a Biblical Hope:  A full and confident expectation of both present safety and future blessing based upon a firm belief in God and His Word that is expressed by patient waiting and trust.  What a far cry from the wishful thinking that most people call "hope" today!  We have enjoyed these Old Testament studies and are looking forward to our study of "hope" in the New Testament Scriptures.  Will you join me in this journey of hope?

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #40 - Hope in the Day of Judgment

This is our last study on the Hebrew synonyms for "hope" as found in the Old Testament Scriptures.  In our last several posts we have been looking at the words "hasa" and "mahseh" which describe the believer's hope in God as a refuge from danger.  In our last study we considered the meaning of Proverbs 14:32 - "The righteous hath hope in his death."  There we concluded that those declared righteous by God will be sheltered from the everlasting destruction of what the Bible calls "the second death" in which those who are outside of Christ and His "book of life" will be cast into the "lake of fire" to suffer forever in hell (Revelation 20:14,15).  The Bible makes it clear that all of mankind is not only appointed to face death (with the exception of those who are taken up in the Rapture of the Church - II Thessalonians 4:17) but to face God's Judgment as well:  "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment ..." (Hebrews 9:27).  The verdict of a man's eternal destiny (heaven or hell) is sealed immediately after his death; there are no second chances!  The announcement and execution of that verdict will be declared by God in the day of judgment as all the wicked dead shall stand before His throne to be judged by Him (Revelation 20:11-15).  Only the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will escape death's final penalty of everlasting suffering and separation from God, for God declares that "on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6).  The righteous will be sheltered in the day of judgment!  But prior to this "Great White Throne Judgment" the Bible speaks of a coming judgment of the nations after a period of "Great Tribulation" and prior to the establishment of Christ's Millennial Kingdom (Matthew 25:31-46).  It is in this context that the prophet Joel spoke of the LORD as being the "mahseh" hope of His people:  "The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel" (Joel 3:16). The Pulpit Commentary states, "To his people he stands in the double relation of a Place of refuge (machseh) and a Place of strength (ma'oz), that is, not only a place to which they may flee for safety, but a place in which, as a stronghold, they shall be kept safe" (emphasis mine). Joel here prophesied of the great and terrible Day of the LORD in which all the nations that oppose God and His people will be gathered into the valley of Jehoshaphat (the valley of God's judgment) outside of Jerusalem to face His wrath and judgment.  The "harvest of the earth" will take place in that day and the "wine press" of God's wrath will execute justice upon the fullness of man's wickedness (Joel 3:12,13; Revelation 14:14-20).  Joel describes this scene as "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3:14).  While some modern evangelists have used this text to urge the unsaved to "make a decision for Christ", the context makes it clear that it is God's decision, not man's, that will be exercised in that day!  The Hebrew word here speaks of a "cutting"  or "concision" (KJV margin) that will take place.  The Theological Wordbook notes: "The word is used metaphorically of a strict decision in the sense that something which is cut or incised cannot be altered" (emphasis mine).  No, any commitment to Christ must be made before that day, for God's decision will be final!  Charles Feinberg describes that day:  "As far as the eye can possibly see, the hosts of the peoples of the earth are drawn up in array - a great sea of surging humanity... There the words of decision: 'Come, ye blessed of my Father' and 'Depart, ye cursed' ... will be uttered with the voice of the mighty Son of God ... Creation will resound at the voice of Him who in that hour will be the refuge of His people and a stronghold to the children of Israel."  The remainder of Joel's prophesy relates to the blessings of the Millennial Reign of Christ, but it is in Isaiah that we learn that God's Sheltering Presence will form a Protective Canopy over those dwelling in the New Jerusalem:  "And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge (hasa), and for a covert from storm and from rain" (Isaiah 4:5,6).  How wonderful to know that our God who will be our Shelter of Hope in the coming day of judgment, will continue to be our Refuge in His coming Kingdom and throughout all eternity!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #39 - An Eternal Hope

We are continuing to look at the three passages of Scripture in which the Hebrew words "hasa" and "mahseh" are translated by the English word "hope".  Each of these passages reflect the root idea of these Hebrew words as describing the believer's hope in God as a Shelter in times of difficulty or danger.  In Jeremiah 17:17 we found that the Lord is the believer's Sheltering Hope in the day of distress.  For Jeremiah this was a day of persecution for faithfully preaching the word of the Lord. He found the Lord to be a Safe Retreat amidst the evil times in which he lived and ministered.  In Proverbs 14:32 we find that the Lord is a Sheltering Hope in the believer's day of death:  "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope (hasa) in his death."  Literally the idea is that the righteous finds a shelter or refuge when he dies; that is, he is kept safe in the day of his death.  This is in stark contrast to what Matthew Henry called "the desperate condition of a wicked man when he goes out of the world."  Henry comments:  "... he is driven away in his wickedness, dies in his sins, under the guilt and power of them, unjustified, unsanctified.  His wickedness is the storm in which he is hurried away, as chaff before the wind, chased out of the world" (emphasis mine).  The wicked man has no shelter in which to hide his soul - he cannot escape death nor its eternal consequences!  He is without hope because he is without God.  But the believer who has been declared righteous by God has hope even in the face of death!  But in what ways is the righteous person sheltered from death?  Certainly at times God may shelter us from the fact of death, even when it seems impending or imminent.  We are no doubt protected by His Providence from an untimely death more often than we are aware.  There are a lot of ways to die in this fallen world, and it is only the grace and goodness of God that keeps us alive every moment of our lifetime. And yet we know that we too will one day have to face the fact of death.  We have a divine appointment or reservation with death that we will not escape, nor postpone (Hebrews 9:27).  And yet, despite the fact of death, the believer has hope in his death, for God shelters us from the fear of death.  Knowing that our day of death is in God's hands, we need not fear the approach of death.  Our day will come when and how God has determined for us and not a moment before!  To be freed from the fear of death is a great gift that shelters us from anxiety and liberates us to live our lives to the glory of God for as long as He gives us breath.  This is an emancipation secured for us through the victory of Christ over the power of death (Hebrews 2:14,15).  Peter Marshall, in his sermon entitled "Go Down Death" (a sermon well worth reading if you can find it) wrote:  "It is only when we do know Him that we are not afraid, for there is nothing to fear. Only when one is no longer afraid to die is one no longer afraid at all.  And only when we are no longer afraid, do we begin to live ... in every experience, painful or joyous in gratitude for every moment to live abundantly .... If you are afraid of death, then you are afraid of life. Only when you have something to die for, have you something to live for."  But there is more than this to the believer's hope in death.  God shelters us from the final penalty of death.  It is not the fact of death (when or how it will come) that is most to be feared, but the final outcome or aftermath of death.  The righteous soul is sheltered from eternal condemnation and is kept safe in the Eternal Presence of God.  Our hope is an eternal hope that extends beyond death!  It is the confident assurance that we love God and He loves us that casts out all fear of death and condemnation (I John 4:17-19).  But are we reading too much into this verse from the book of Proverbs?  Delitzsch doesn't think so, for he comments on this passage:  "The godless in his calamity is overthrown, or he fears in the evils which befall him the intimations of the final ruin; on the contrary, the righteous in his death, even in the midst of extremity, is comforted, viz. in God in whom he confides ... Yet though there was no such revelation then, still the pious in death put their confidence in Jahve, the God of life and of salvation ... and believing that they were going home to Him, committing their spirit into His hands (Ps. 31:5), they fell asleep, though without any explicit knowledge, yet not without the hope of eternal life" (emphasis mine).  Yes, the righteous man has hope in the day of death, for he knows that he will be transported into the Presence of God and will be forever safe in that "Haven of rest".  Again we turn to the words of Peter Marshall:  "And death when it comes, will come to you as a welcome friend, sent to usher you into the glorious life that awaits you just around the bend of the road ... But what will you do, if you don't know Jesus?"

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #38 - A Shelter of Hope

Last time we introduced the Hebrew words "hasa" and "mahseh" as expressing the idea of "hope" under the image of "seeking for refuge" or "finding shelter" in a time of distress or danger.  This concept of the believer's hope in God as his Refuge is well expressed by the prophet Isaiah:  "For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge (mahseh) from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against a wall" (Isaiah 25:4).  The picture is that of God's protection of His people from the oppression of their enemies.  Several figures are employed in this picture:  The "terrible ones" (oppressive enemies) are portrayed as a sweltering heat and a violent storm raging against the people of God.  God's people are portrayed as "poor" and "needy" and under great "distress".  And God is portrayed as the Strength (literally Stronghold or Fortress), Refuge (Sheltering Hope), and Shadow (Comforting Shade) of His people.  Delitzsch provides a stirring commentary:  "Jehovah had proved Himself a strong castle ... a shelter from storm and a shade from heat ... so that the blast of the tyrants ... was like ... a storm striking against a wall ... sounding against it and bursting upon it without being able to wash it away ... because it was the wall of a strong castle, and this strong castle was Jehovah Himself."  Edward Young carries the thought further:  "... in this crisis God has shown Himself in very truth to be a place in which the poor, namely, God's own afflicted people, might find refuge.  The thought is not merely that the poor find God a place of refuge, but that, when they are afflicted, God is a refuge to them.  It is one thing to utter generalities about a god helping the needy; it is something entirely different when the needy, at the time of crisis, find a true hiding place in their God ... When His people are in need, then He is present with His aid" (emphasis mine).  God is truly our "Shelter in the time of storm"!  As we noted in our last post, there are three passages in the King James Version of the English Bible in which the words "hasa" and "mahseh" are translated by the word "hope".  In keeping with the root idea of these words, all three passages speak of God's people finding shelter and refuge in God during times of distress and possible danger.  There are three crisis times in a believer's life when God alone must become our Shelter of Hope:  1) In the day of distress (evil) - Jeremiah 17:17;  2) In the day of our death - Proverbs 14:32; and 3) In the day of decision (the Day of the LORD) - Joel 3:14.  God is our Shelter of Hope in days of distress.  Jeremiah was a persecuted prophet of the LORD.  He had faithfully proclaimed God's Word as it was revealed unto him.  And yet his own people hated him for it!  He was mocked, ridiculed, accused of lying, and eventually put in a dungeon for his despised message of coming judgment.  It was truly an "evil day" in which Jeremiah lived and preached!  He had prophesied of a "woeful day" that was coming upon the nation of Israel.  He had not chosen that message of his own will, nor did he desire for that terrible time to come upon his nation.  The message was hard but he had not run away from his responsibility of following God as a shepherd to his people, nor had he failed to preach what was right in the sight of God  (Jeremiah 17:15,16).  It is in this context that Jeremiah cries out to God:  "Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope (mahseh) in the day of evil" (Jeremiah 17:17).  Jeremiah had good reason to be afraid, humanly speaking.  He was being terrorized by those who opposed his message.  But in God he would find not a source of terror (fear, dismay, confusion), but a Shelter of Hope!  God would protect him, shield him, hide him and save him not only from the evil day of persecution he was then facing, but from the day of calamity and judgment that was to come.  In that day his persecutors would be confounded and dismayed, but not the man of God.  He would be kept safe in the day of evil and destruction (Jeremiah 17:14,18).  And so may all who trust in the Lord find Him to be a Shelter of Hope in all their days of distress, both present and future.  "The Lord's our Rock, in Him we hide, A shelter in the time of storm;  Secure whatever ill betide, A shelter in the time of storm.  A shade by day, defense by night, A shelter in the time of storm; No fears alarm, no foes affright, A shelter in the time of storm.  The raging storms may round us beat, A shelter in the time of storm; We'll never leave our safe retreat, A shelter in the time of storm" (V. J. Charlesworth).

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #37 - A Refuge of Hope

We are now coming to the last of the Hebrew synonyms for "hope" found in the Old Testament, the verb "hasa" and its noun derivative "mahseh" (Strong's # 2620,4268; Wordbook #700).  Gesenius in his Hebrew Lexicon states that the word "hasa" properly means "to flee ... especially to take refuge, to flee somewhere for refuge ... hence to trust someone, especially in God" (emphasis mine).  Both Strong's Concordance and The Theological Wordbook compare "hasa" with our previous synonym "batah" by stating that "hasa" expresses "more precipitate action", that is, both express the idea of seeking for protection and safety but "hasa" is the stronger term denoting a greater sense of urgency and danger.  The Wordbook notes that "'To seek refuge' stresses the insecurity and self-helplessness of even the strongest of men" (emphasis mine). Thus this word is used in various contexts of men in desperate situations:  of seeking shelter in times of battle, of fugitives in exile, of those caught outside in storms, and even of criminals fleeing into the Temple to escape revenge.  There are two names found in the Old Testament based on these words:  Hosah (meaning a refuge) - I Chronicles 16:38; 26:10 (a Levite); Joshua 19:29 (a town); and Maaseiah (meaning the LORD is a Refuge) - Jeremiah 32:12; 51:59 (a relative of an official in Jerusalem).  Like the previous synonym "batah", "hasa" may also be translated by the word "trust" (See Psalm 2:12; 5:11; 7:1; 25:20; 31:1; 37:40; etc.).  In fact it is translated in the King James Version as "trust" some 34 times (that I could find), but as "hope" only three times. We sometimes find this word translated in its more literal sense of seeking for or of finding a physical refuge or shelter.  For example:  

Job 24:8 - "They (the oppressed) are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter."

Psalm 104:18 - "The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies."

And this concept is naturally carried over to the idea of the believer finding spiritual shelter and refuge in God:

Psalm 57:1 - "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast."  According to the title of this Psalm, David composed these words when he was forced to hide from Saul in a cave.  The cave afforded him some physical protection and refuge from the elements and from his enemy, but the LORD was the true Source of his protection and safety.  This is a favorite theme in the Psalms:

God is the believer's Refuge (Psalm 14:6; 46:1; 62:8; 91:9); Shelter (Psalm 61:3); and Fortress (Psalm 91:2).  With this root idea in mind of "finding refuge in times of trouble" we may now take a look at the few verses where this word is translated as "hope" in the King James Version:

Proverbs 14:32 - "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death."

Jeremiah 17:17 - "Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil."

Joel 3:16 - "The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel."

We will attempt to consider the contexts and implications of these three passages in our next post, but for now we will simply note that the Lord is the Refuge of His people in all times of danger and distress.  To Him we may safely flee and find Him to be a Safe Retreat - A Refuge of Hope!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #36 - A Sure Hope

This is our last study on the Hebrew synonym "batah" which is used to express that "hope" which results in a sense of well-being, safety, and security.  This word and its derivatives are often used to express a calm feeling of confidence that results from the absence of all fear and danger. Isaiah wrote: "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust (batah), and not be afraid ..." (Isaiah 12:2).  Zophar told Job, "...thou shalt take thy rest in safety (betah). Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid ..." (Job 11:18b-19a).  Israel was promised by God that if they would keep His commandments then "... ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety" (Leviticus 25:18,19).  In both places the word "safety" is the Hebrew word "betah".  This was a promise made over and over to Israel but was forfeited by them through unbelief and disobedience. This is the theme of many of our Christian hymns as well.  Elisha Hoffman wrote in the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" the familiar words:  "What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms! I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms!  Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms ..."  But unfortunately the unbeliever often seems to dwell in a false sense of hope and security not realizing that his soul is in eternal danger!  And so this word is also used of those who live without care or caution even though danger may be all around them.  Gesenius notes that "batah" is used "in a bad sense, of men who set all their hope and confidence in worldly things, and do not fear God and the Divine displeasure."  Proverbs 14:16 says, "A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident" (batah).  One of the reasons the armies of Israel were able to conquer certain cities so easily was because the inhabitants were living in a sense of false security (see for example Judges 18:7, 10, 27).  Isaiah warned the women of his time that their feelings of safety and attitude of carelessness would be overthrown by God's judgment upon the land (see Isaiah 32:9-11).  And so, as we noted in the last post, our feelings of security and well-being are only valid when there is a good reason and foundation for them.  Our last passage brings out this concept very clearly:  "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth (betah) in man, and maketh flesh his arm (source of strength), and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath (shrub) in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth (betah) in the LORD, and whose hope (mibtah) the LORD is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful (anxious) in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit" (Jeremiah 17:5-7).  "Mibtah" translated as "hope" in this passage is a derivative of "betah" and bears the same meaning of confidence and security.  There is a clear difference between the two types of individuals described here.  One bases his sense of hope and security in man, whether himself or others; the other bases his sense of hope and security in the LORD.  The one ends up spiritually destitute (living like a desert shrub); the other flourishes, grows and bears fruit.  The one is full of trouble and care; the other is freed from anxiety and fear.  All of this is set in the context of the deceitfulness and wickedness of the heart of man.  Why should we trust our own heart when it is so inherently evil?  As J.S. Baxter wrote:  "The heart of man's problem is the problem of man's heart"!  The only sure hope and true sense of security and safety is found in trusting the LORD.  That is a hope that can carry us safely through this world and into eternity without any fear of death or condemnation.  In the LORD alone the believer dwells secure.

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #35 - A Feeling of Hope

We have been considering the Hebrew word "batah" and its derivatives as expressing "a feeling of well-being, safety and security."  This is an aspect of "hope" that we have not encountered before in our study of the word "hope".  Whenever we begin to contemplate the idea of "feeling" or "feelings" in connection with the Christian life all kinds of red flags come to mind to caution us against trusting in our feelings or placing any confidence in them.  We all know that feelings can be misleading.  They can be faked, faulty, phony or false!  But feelings may also be valid and valuable in the believer's experience and life when they are verifiable.  Feelings should never be the basis of our security, but they can be and even should be one of the benefits of it.  We are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8).  This is the basis of the believer's security in Christ.  But we are also saved unto hope (Greek text of Romans 8:24).  This is one of the blessings of our justification in Christ.  Faith is the root; hope is the fruit.  True faith results in a true feeling of safety and security in our relationship with God.  Feeling is not a substitute for faith, but I would not want a faith without feeling, would you?  Last time we looked at this "feeling of hope" expressed by our Savior in the Messianic prophecy of Psalm 22:9.  There we saw this sense of security and safety beautifully portrayed in the description of the infant Jesus in the loving arms of His earthly mother. Thus His earthly life began with a consciousness of trust and the accompanying feeling of hope in His Heavenly Father.  This was a sense of security that was to continue in the life of our Lord unto the very end, even when He was being crucified on the cross.  But it was also to continue beyond His crucifixion even as He contemplated His own Resurrection from the dead and the fullness of joy He would possess eternally in the Presence of His Father afterward.  This is described for us in Psalm 16, another of the Messianic Psalms:  "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope (betah). For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:9-11).   That this passage speaks of Christ and His Resurrection is verified by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:22-36 and by the Apostle Paul in Acts 13:30-37.  The Pulpit Commentary contains the following comment: "More than 30 generations of believers read and sang this Psalm, pondered and prayed over it, and drew, no doubt, sweet though vague comfort from this verse, before the hidden glory of its meaning was disclosed.  At last ... the time arrived for putting the key into the lock.  The same Spirit who inspired the prophecy interpreted it."  This betah hope in Christ Jesus was a feeling of safety and security He experienced even in the face of death.  He was confident of His own triumph over death and hell to the bitter end.  Delitzsch who applies this Psalm to both David and to Christ makes the following comments:  "David here expresses as a confident expectation ... that he also hopes for his body that which he hopes for his spirit-life .... He looks death calmly and triumphantly in the face, even his flesh shall dwell or lie securely, viz. without being seized with trembling at its approaching corruption. David's hope rests on this conclusion: it is impossible for the man, who, in appropriating faith and actual experience, calls God  his own, to fall into the hands of death (emphasis mine).  He goes on to define "resting in hope" as "dwelling in safety under the divine protection" as in Deut. 33:12,28 where the word "safety" is also the Hebrew word "batah".  Thus David prophetically spoke of his own resurrection in connection with the Resurrection of God's Holy One, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because He lives we shall live also!  It is this hope that gives to the believer in Christ a sense of well-being, security and safety even in the face of death and indeed well beyond it!  What a wonderful feeling of hope flowing from and based upon our faith in our Risen Lord!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #34 - A Secure Hope



Our next Hebrew synonym for "hope" is the word "batah" and its derivatives (Strong's #s 982 - 987; Theological Wordbook #233).  The etymology of this word is not well established.  Strong states that it properly means "to hie (hasten) for refuge" but "not so precipitately" (abruptly, suddenly, violently) as "hasa" (which happens to be next in our Hebrew word studies).  While there is a clear connection between "hasa" and taking refuge in a shelter (as we will see in future posts), there is no place that I could find in the Scriptures where "batah" is literally associated with this idea.  The Theological Wordbook states that "There is no clear cognate in the other Semitic languages", but cites one scholar who connects it with the Arabic word meaning "to be stretched out, taut" which would suggest the idea of "firmness" or "solidity".  This would be in keeping with some of the previous words for "hope" we have studied that are based on the root idea of "strength" that inspires "confidence".  Gesenius in his Lexicon has another take on this word and its root meaning.  He connects it with an Arabic word meaning "to throw one down on his back" and proposes that the root meaning of "batah" may  perhaps be "to throw oneself or one's cares on any one" and therefore "to confide in any one, to set one's hope and confidence upon any one".  Whatever its etymology, whether that of taking refuge, trusting in strength, or casting one's self down,  it is clear that this word is used of a feeling of security and therefore of confident trust.  The Theological Wordbook concludes that "in Hebrew, batah expresses that sense of well-being and security whic'h results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence" (emphasis mine).  It is important to recognize that this word "batah" is one of the main words used in the Old Testament to convey the idea of trust.  In fact, while it is only translated with the word "hope" five times in the King James Version of the Bible, it is translated as "trust" around a hundred times!  Other times it is rendered by such words as "safe" or "safely" (28x), "confidence" (10x), "secure" (8x), "bold" (2x), "sure" (1x), and "assurance" (1x).  It can even have a negative connotation of being "careless" (8x) whenever a person's "secure feeling" is based on the wrong things! (More about this later).  It is instructive to note that despite this strong association with "trusting" or "relying upon" in the Hebrew Old Testament, the Greek Version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, consistently translates "batah" with the Greek word for "hope" (elpis, elpizo) but never with the word for "believe" (pisteuo).  The Theological Wordbook concludes from this observation that "This would seem to indicate that batah does not connote that full-orbed intellectual and volitional response to revelation which is involved in 'faith,' rather stressing the feeling of being safe or secure.  Likewise, all the derivatives have the same meaning 'to feel secure', 'be unconcerned'." (Emphasis mine).  One of the most endearing pictures of this feeling of safety and security is found in the use of this word in Psalm 22:9 - "But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts."  Is there any greater mental picture of a feeling of safety and security than that of a nursing infant in its mother's loving arms?  Does such a child have any cares at all?  Any anxiety at all?  Any worries or fears?  No, not one!  There may not be any intellectual or volitional action taking place in the mind or heart of this child, but there is certainly a feeling of contentment and well-being!  What a picture of the believer's hope in God.  No wonder the Lord Jesus Christ said that we must become as little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that one who will humble himself as a little child is greatest in God's Kingdom (Matthew 18:1-4).  I have learned more about trust from young children, especially Christian children, than from most preachers I have known.  There is something so simple, yet so profound in the faith of young children that escapes and confounds most adults.  We need to be more child-like and yet not become childish in our relationship with God.  We could learn a lot about true hope just from studying this one passage in Psalm 22.  We must remember that this Psalm is primarily Messianic in its interpretation.  It is a prophetic picture of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the Cross.  In the midst of that suffering and in response to the taunts of the jeering crowd our Lord spoke of his batah hope in God: The Son's feeling of safety and security in the Father that existed in His humanity as the God-Man.  There was never a time in the humanity of Christ that that hope did not exist!  He was apparently conscious of that hope from the very moment of his birth! While the crowd mocked Him and shouted "let Him trust in the LORD to deliver Him now", the Lord replied to His Father, "I always have" - "I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou  art my God from my mother's belly" (Psalm 22:8-10).  His sense of hope was as secure then as it had been when He was in the arms of His earthly mother Mary. As always, Christ is our Example as well as our Source of true hope.  Fanny Crosby captured the thought well:

"Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His gentle breast,

There, by His love o'er-shaded, Sweetly my soul shall rest."

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #33 - The Fullness of Hope

In our last post we introduced the Hebrew words "kesel" and "kisla" as expressing a full hope.  We noted that the root idea behind these words was that of "fatness" and sought to explain how the connotation of this "fatness" could be either good or bad depending on the context.  In fact we could have suggested the idea of a fat hope if it were not for the largely negative association we have with the word "fat" in English.  For example, when we speak of a "fat chance" we mean it in a very ironic or sarcastic sense to convey the opposite of fullness: a chance that is practically non-existent!  So we have chosen the more positive description of "fullness" for this type of hope in order to avoid any negative misconceptions.  However we must recognize that the Bible uses these words for "hope" in both positive and negative contexts.  We may say that there is such a thing as a fat hope or foolish hope described in the Scripture as well as the full hope we have been speaking of.  This is evident from the fact that kesel and kisla are translated in the KJV three times by the word "hope", twice by the word "confidence" and three times by the word "folly".  Of the three times it is translated as "hope" two of the three are in a negative context!  We may categorize these verses as follows:
A False Hope:

Job 8:14 - "Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web." (Referring to the unsubstantial "hope" of the hypocrite mentioned in the previous verse).  Job 31:24 - "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to fine gold, Thou art my confidence;"  (A declaration by Job denying that he had ever made his wealth an object of trust or regarded it as the source of his well being and security).  The Bible contains numerous warnings to the rich not to trust in their riches but in God alone (see for example Proverbs 11:28; Jeremiah 9:23; Mark 10:23,24; I Timothy 6:17,18).  Job even associated such misplaced trust with idolatry as did Paul in the New Testament (Job 31:28; Colossians 3:5).

A Foolish Hope:

Psalm 49:13 - "This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings." (This refers to the foolish confidence the wicked may have in thinking that they will never face death or will be forever immortalized in their wealth or lands they leave behind - vs. 6-12).  Delitzsch very accurately captures the meaning here when he translates: "This is the lot of those who are full of self-confidence ..." and refers to such thinking as a "foolish delusion" (emphasis mine).

Psalm 85:8 - "I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly." (Here is a warning to the nation of Israel who were delivered from captivity that they do not return to the cause of their captivity - principally the folly of idolatry which led them to foolishly place their hope in false gods;  see also Ezra 9:9-15).

Ecclesiastes 7:25 - "I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:"  (Here is the sad confession of King Solomon who in his quest for satisfaction and fulfillment in this life satiated himself with all this world had to offer).  Yes there is a "fullness" that is wicked and foolish.  Solomon found out experientially that filling his life with such things was mere "emptiness" and "vanity" - it brought no satisfaction in the end.

A Full Hope:

Job 4:6 - "Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?"  (We have looked at this verse before.  The word translated "hope" here is "tiqwa"- see our post on 2/15/2013).  Job could have full confidence because of his worshipful reverence (fear) of God that had produced a testimony of righteousness in his ways.  This was in spite of his outward sufferings and troubling circumstances.

Psalm 78:7 - "That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;"  (Here is a prayer for the next generation expressing the responsibility of God's people to leave a legacy of faith to their children; vs. 1-6).  Too many of today's children are being raised to have self-confidence rather than God consciousness!

Proverbs 3:26 - "For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." (We quoted this verse and its context at the end of the previous post).  Here is the crux of the matter.  Here is the difference between a full hope and a foolish hope:  A full hope results from placing our confidence in the Lord; a foolish hope results from placing our confidence in our self!  The one is full of self, the other is full of God.  Is your hope full or foolish?

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #32 - A Full Hope

We now come to one of the most unusual words for "hope" found in the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew word "kesel" and its feminine derivative "kisla" (Strong's #s 3689, 3690 and Theological Word Book #1011a,b).  Two things make this word unusual: 1) It's root meaning, and 2) It's two diverse meanings depending on the context.  The root meaning of kesel and kisla is "to be fat" (from the root "kasal").  Brown, Driver & Briggs in their Hebrew Lexicon  state that its Arabic cognate refers "to that which is thick, plump, or fat".  Gesenius states that "The primary meaning appears to be - to be fleshy, to be fat".  We find this most basic meaning in contexts where the word refers to the "flanks" or "loins" of a man or animal ("the internal muscles of the loins, near the kidneys, to which  the fat adheres" - Gesenius): See for example Leviticus 3:4,10,15; Job 15:27; Psalm 38:7.  This root meaning of "fatness" however finds expression in two very diverse ways - In some contexts this word means "folly" or "foolishness" and in others "hope" or "confidence"!  At first glance this seems to be most unusual or even contradictory, but a quick look at an English Dictionary will reveal that even our English word "fat" holds a wide variety of meanings.  We use this word not only to describe animal tissue that is oily or greasy, or of that which is plump or obese, but also of that which is abundant, rich, productive, or fertile.  Most of us older folks understand what is meant by "the fat of the land" or "a fat year" in business or farming.  On the negative side, the English word "fat" may refer to one who is slothful, stupid, or foolish very much the same as in Hebrew!  And so the very same word may have a negative or a positive connotation depending on the context of its use.  Gesenius refers to "kesel" as "a word of middle signification applied in a good sense to strength, firmness, boldness, whence confidence and in a bad sense  to languor and inertness ... applied to that which is nearly allied to these, folly ..." (emphasis mine).  Likewise Delitzsch remarks that "kisla" is "ambiguous" since the root meaning "to be fat, signifies both the awkwardness of stupidity and the boldness of confidence" (emphasis mine).  So "fatness" can mean something good depending upon what you are fat with!  Consider these Old Testament examples that use "fat" in a positive way (various Hebrew words are translated as "fat" in these verses): 1) When Moses sent out the 12 spies into the land of Canaan they were to find out what type of land it was, whether "good or bad" ... "fat or lean" (Numbers 13:19,20); 2) When Ehud led Israel in battle against Moab the Israelite army killed about 10,000 Moabites "all lusty (Hebrew, "fat"), and all men of valour" (Judges 3:29).  Here other versions translate the word "fat" as "robust" (NASB) or "vigorous" (NIV).  As military men of valor they clearly were not obese or sluggish, but "well filled out" with muscular strength!; 3) Nehemiah encouraged the mourning Israelites to stop crying and to start celebrating, telling them to "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet ... neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).  Clearly he was not advocating an unhealthy diet here, but was speaking of "richly prepared food" (Gesenius).  See also Genesis 49:10 for this same idea.  We may also think of the "fatted calf" which was set aside for just such festive occasions.; and 4) Nehemiah described the land of promise as "a fat land" ... "full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance" and so the people "did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness" (Neh. 9:25).  See also verse 35.  In all of these places "fatness" is associated with fruitfulness, strength, richness, and fullness.  And so it is with the believer's hope - it is a hope filled with confidence in God, a hope that is abundant, rich and fruitful! We will spend the next study looking at the scripture references to this "fullness of hope", but for now we will close this study with just one:  "When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.  Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.  For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken" (Proverbs 3:24,25).  A full hope indeed!

 

 

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study # 31 - A Beatitude of Hope

This will be our last look at the Hebrew words "sabar" and "seber" which express the idea of "looking in hope".  In our last post we ended with some of the spiritual desires found in Psalm 145 for which the believer must look to God to provide just as we and all of creation "looks" to Him for the provision of our material needs.  There we saw the nearness of God's Presence (vs.18), the hearing of our prayers (vs.19), and the granting of His protection (vs.20) as some of the promised provisions God graciously imparts to those who call upon Him, reverence Him, and love Him as expressions of our looking to Him in hope.  Psalm 146 continues this theme of "looking in hope" for God's provision with a Beatitude of Hope:  "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God."  Here the word "hope" is the Hebrew word "seber" and the word translated as "happy" is the familiar Hebrew word "asshur" which also means "blessed".  The Psalms contain some 25 such declarations of blessedness or happiness beginning with Psalm 1:1 and ending with this one in Psalm 146.  You can easily find them with a good concordance - 18 of them begin with "blessed" in the KJV and the remaining seven with "happy" as in this verse.  Like the Beatitudes of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12) they declare the enviable state of blessedness and true happiness possessed by those who meet God's conditions of Divine blessing.  In Psalm 146:5 the believer's "seber" hope in God is expressed by his looking to God for His help. The familiar title for God, "the God of Jacob", is in itself a reminder of the weakness of man.  Jacob was by nature a schemer (his name meant "heel grabber"), a struggler, and a sojourner, yet God in His mercy dealt with him graciously, helped him in times of trouble, and guided his life's path.  A man like Jacob needs a God like Jacob's God!  Our hope must not be in man, or ourselves - our hope must be in the  LORD our God to whom we must always look for help.  With such a God to help us, we are blessed indeed! He alone is unlimited in His power, unchanging in His verity, and eternal in His dominion:  "Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever ... The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations" (Psalm 146:6,10).  So what kind of help may we find as we look in hope to the God of Jacob?  Verses 7-9 gives us a list of just some of the ways God has been known to help His people:  He performs justice on behalf of the oppressed, provides food to the hungry, sets the prisoner free, gives sight to the blind, lifts up the fallen, shows love to the righteous, protects the traveler, relieves the helpless and thwarts the plans of the wicked.  Clearly these words can be taken in their literal sense but they may also be applied to the spiritual emancipation, salvation and protection the Lord has provided for us in His atonement.  The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated his power to deliver fallen man from all of his physical maladies in His miracles, but His greater work was in delivering us from all of our sins through the power of the Gospel (see for example Matthew 11:5; Luke 4:18,19).  The greatest help we can receive from the Lord is the gift of eternal salvation and along with it His sustaining grace!  Our final two references speak to these very things. In Psalm 119:116 the Psalmist looks to God in hope for His sustaining grace:  "Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe ...".  The Psalmist prayed that he would not be disappointed as he looked in hope (seber) for God to uphold him and to enable him to be faithful in keeping God's commandments and statutes.  The shame and disappointment would come because of his own failure, not the Lord's.  But he was claiming in prayer God's own promise ("according to thy word") to help him and to uphold him in his spiritual life.  Matthew Henry wrote: "We stand no longer than God holds us and go no further than He carries us" adding that "Our holy security is grounded on divine supports".  It is reassuring to know that the God who sustains us is the very God who saves us!  In Psalm 119:166 we find the simple confession, "LORD, I have hoped (sabar) for thy salvation."  Many centuries before, the patriarch Jacob had made the same declaration: "I have waited (qawa) for thy salvation, O LORD" (Genesis 49:18).  Like Jacob before him, and like all who have followed, the Psalmist simply looked in hope to His God to provide his soul's salvation.  Do you have the God of Jacob for your help?  Are you looking to Him for His saving and sustaining grace? Have you answered His invitation in Isaiah 45:22?  "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #30 - Looking in Hope

In our last post we left off with four references in the Psalms in which the Hebrew words sabar and seber are translated with the English word "hope".  We noted that the root meaning of "sabar" was that of "looking" or "examining" and that these two words could therefore express the idea of a watchful hope.  One of the strongest ways we can demonstrate that we are truly hoping for something or expecting someone is to actually watch or look for them.  Of course we recognize that such "looking" is really the attitude of the heart rather than the action of the eyes.  I enjoy physically looking up into the daytime sky and thinking of my Savior's promise that He will return for His saints in the clouds one day.  But I do not have to literally "look" for Him with my eyes in order to "watch" for His Coming, nor is this a feasible or logical thing to constantly do since He has also commanded us to work or occupy until He comes!  The beloved hymnist Fanny Crosby, though physically blind from infancy, could write with profound spiritual vision these words:  "Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Saviour am happy and blest, Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love."  This is the type of looking in hope that we find expressed in the Psalms.  In faith the believer looks to God and then watches to "see" how the Lord will work.  This idea is clearly expressed in Psalm 145:15,16 - "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing."  The word that is translated as "wait" in verse 15 is the Hebrew word "sabar" and so the marginal translation in the KJV is "look unto".  Every living thing LOOKS unto the Creator for provision even though this "looking" takes place without any conscious or rational thought about God on their part (as far as we know).  They instinctively receive God's provision in the way He has ordained for them and He never fails to provide what they need.  The Pulpit Commentary notes that "The constant supply of all living creatures with their necessary food is little less than a standing miracle". Of all of God's creatures, only man seems to worry or become anxious about the necessities of life. Worse than this is man's ability to doubt God's faithfulness in providing his needs or to complain about what God chooses to provide (or how or when!).  Still worse is man's propensity to think of himself as the source of his own wealth while totally disregarding the Lord who gave to him the ability to work, a job to go to, the health and ability to perform his labors, and the breath that keeps him alive!  James reminds us that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights ..." (James 1:17).  The food on our table, the clothes on our back, and the roof over our head are all graciously  given unto us by our Heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus Christ taught that the God who feeds the fowls of the air and clothes the lilies of the field is the same God who will feed and clothe us even though we are of little faith (Read Matthew 6:24-34). How foolish it is to worry about such things - our Heavenly Father knows that we have need of all these things and He will graciously and faithfully provide for all our need (but not necessarily for our greed).  The providential method or means of provision may differ for each of us but the promise proves true to all who will look to God in faith.  But God's provisions go far beyond the physical necessities of this life.  Not only does He open His hand to give to us our "daily bread", He also satisfies our spiritual desires as well.  The Psalmist goes on to say: "The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them" (Psalm 145:17-19).  We must look in hope to our Savior and God for these spiritual provisions as well.  In fact these spiritual desires should take precedence over our physical necessities: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).  May the Lord help us to look in hope to Him and then to praise Him as we watch Him provide!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #29 - A Watchful Hope

At this point in our study it might serve us well to summarize our findings thus far.  As in all word studies we are finding that the various synonyms for "hope" are all used in similar ways and with similar meanings and yet there are also various shades of meaning indicated in their different roots and in the contexts in which they are found.  And so we may propose a slight distinction in the various synonyms we have studied to this point as follows:  1) tiqwa (root idea: "a cord") = "a strong or confident hope; 2) miqweh (root idea: "a collection") = "a collective hope"; 3)yahal (root idea: "to wait") = "a patient hope"; and 4) tohelet (a derivative of yahal) = "a future hope" (in most contexts). We should also point out that all of the Hebrew words for hope we have studied thus far have a connotation of expectation and that the differences should not be pressed beyond what the context and usage indicates. The next synonym for "hope" we wish to study is the Hebrew word "sabar" and its derivative "seber" (Strong's #7663, 7664; Theological Word Book #2232).  These words also carry the basic idea of "waiting" and of "expectation" but with the added idea in some contexts of "watching" or "looking".  Strong states that "sabar" means "to scrutinize" and by implication the idea "of watching".  Gesenius in his Lexicon states that it means "to look at, to view" and adds that "the primary idea appears to be that of digging out and exploring...".  Under the word "seber" he gives the definition "to expect, to wait for (properly to look for)".  The Theological Word Book defines "sabar" as "examine" (in the Qal stem) and as "wait, hope" (in the Piel stem), and in its article on "seber" comments that "It looks abroad to that life and deliverance which alone has power to make a person safe... and happy...".  The root idea of "examining" or "scrutinizing" may be found in the use of sabar in Nehemiah 2:13,15-  "And I went out by night by the gate of the valley ... and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down ... Then I went up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall ...".  This is the word used in its most basic meaning without any connotation of "expectation" or of "hoping".  So what does "looking" have to do with "hoping"?  I have fond memories of when I was a young boy of waiting for my father to come home from work.  My expectation grew stronger as the day went by and the usual time of my father's arrival would draw near.  I remember well going to sit in front of a certain window that had a clear view of the street and of the direction from which he would be driving up to our home.  I can remember on more than one occasion my sisters joining me in this vigil of watching for daddy to come home. My hoping for his arrival led to my looking for his coming!  And so we may say that "looking" and "watching" is a strong way of expressing "hope" and "expectation".  I believe this is why we are told so many times by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels to WATCH for His Return.  We are to be LOOKING for Him to come as an evidence of our HOPE of His Second Coming!  There are four times when these two words for "hope" are found in the Psalms.  We will simply list them here and will reserve our comments upon these passages in our next post, but see if you can sense the concept of a watchful hope in these verses:

Psalm 119:116 - "Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of  my hope."   

Psalm 119:166 - "LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments."

Psalm 145:15 - "The eyes of all wait upon thee: and thou givest them their meat in due season."

Psalm 146:5 - "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God."