Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #19 - A Divine Hope

We are continuing to look at the second of the Hebrew synonyms for "hope" used in the Old Testament Scriptures - the Hebrew word "miqweh".  Last time we proposed the idea that this particular word is used in contexts of a collective hope, such as when a group of people (such as the nation of Israel) collectively put their hope in something or someone or when it is stated that there is hope for such a group or nation.  We believe that God offers and provides hope for both individuals and for nations.  This is clearly expressed by Jeremiah's use of the word "miqweh" as a divine title for Jehovah God who is the Hope of His people:

"O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble..." (Jeremiah 14:8).  Jeremiah was interceding for his nation as they were facing the impending judgments of God.  First would come a great drought, then invading armies, and ultimately the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people.  The sins of the nation were many, and punishment was well deserved, yet Jeremiah cried out to God to deliver them, not because they were deserving, but on the basis of God's own name:  "O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee" (Jer. 14:7).  The nation's only hope was in the name of the LORD, that is, in His nature to forgive and to be a savior unto His people.  That is why Jeremiah calls upon Him as the Hope of Israel and the Savior thereof!  Their only hope collectively was for God to save them for the honor of His own name.  In chapter 17 the prophet Jeremiah once again makes reference to the Divine Hope of the nation, using this divine title once again for God:  "O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed ... because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters" (Jeremiah 17:13).  Once again we note the association of this title with the name of God and His nature to provide life and healing to those who receive Him as the Only Source of Spiritual Life.  Even the enemies of Israel could see that the LORD was the exclusive hope of His people.  Jeremiah prophesied that the nation of Babylon would justify their conquering of Judah by saying: "We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers" (Jeremiah 50:7).  This would be quite a statement coming from the adversaries of Judah!  But they knew that Israel had collectively trusted in Jehovah God historically, but that they now had collectively forsaken Him!  Even they associated the name of Jehovah with hope and with justice (or righteousness).  God's people had strayed from God as their only Hope and as their only Safe Habitation:  "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace" (Jer. 50:6).  Likewise, they had forsaken the LORD as the only Fountain from which they could have received spiritual life and health:  "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13).  This they had done by turning away from the LORD as their only Hope and in His place they had turned to idols that could never provide them any hope, life or salvation.  Once they had collectively excluded their Exclusive Hope, all collective hope was now excluded!  It was now collectively too late for the nation to be delivered!  And so Jeremiah's intercessions on behalf of the nation were rejected!  The Lord's answer to his prayer in chapter 14 was this:  "Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.   When they fast, I will not hear their cry...I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence" (Jer. 14:10-12).  The shame that Jeremiah predicted in chapter 17 that would come to all who forsake the Divine Hope would indeed come upon Judah.  It was too late collectively for the nation to return to the Fountain of living waters, but that Fountain was still flowing for the individual:  "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise" (Jer. 17:14).  And so the cry of Jeremiah must be our cry today.  We must walk with God personally and receive His offer of salvation individually despite our nation's rejection of Him and His Son collectively.  At what point does the collective hope of a nation cease to exist?  Whenever that nation collectively forsakes the God of the Bible:  "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" (Psalm 33:12); but "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).  At some point known only to God the hope of a nation is forfeited, and then even the prayers of the righteous will not prevail with God to deliver that nation from judgment (Jeremiah 15:1).  May the Lord bring our nation to repentance and revival before it is forever too late!