Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #52 - Resting in Hope

Last time we began looking at the hope of the resurrection as mentioned in five passages in the Book of Acts and ended with a list of Scriptural claims we may glean from them, the first of which is: "The hope of the believer's resurrection is anchored in the fact of the Resurrection of Christ".  There is no doubt that the proclamation of Christ's Resurrection was the central doctrine of the apostolic message: (Acts 2:31,32; 3:14,14; 4:10-12; 5:30,31; etc.).  In fact, it was the central doctrine of their gospel message: (I Cor. 15:1-4; II Timothy 2:8; etc.).  There is no salvation apart from the Resurrection of Christ:  "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (I Cor. 15:17-19).  R. A. Torrey wrote:  "Gospel preachers nowadays preach the gospel of the Crucifixion, the Apostles preached the gospel of the Resurrection as well .... The Crucifixion looses its meaning without the Resurrection.  Without the Resurrection the death of Christ was only the heroic death of a noble martyr; With the Resurrection it is the atoning death of the Son of God.  It shows that death to be of sufficient value to cover our sins, for it was the sacrifice of the Son of God."  One of the great Old Testament passages the Apostles loved to quote was Psalm 16:8-11.  Here they found Scriptural proof that the Messiah was indeed to be raised from the dead.  This was the passage the Apostle Peter quoted in his great message on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:25-28) and the passage the Apostle Paul quoted in the synagogue of Antioch in defense of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (Acts 13:34-37).  We looked at this Messianic prophecy briefly in our study of the Hebrew word betah (see study #35, Sept.29, 2013).  Both the Hebrew of Psalm 16 and the Greek quotation by Peter in Acts 2 speak of the believer's flesh (body) resting in hope because of the assurance that God would not abandon his soul to hell (Sheol / Hades) because of the fact that the Holy One (Messiah) would not experience the corruption of His body after death.  And this is interpreted by the Apostles to both predict and require the Messiah's bodily Resurrection from the dead as the basis of hope for the believer's own eternal salvation and future resurrection.  David's soul could rest in hope knowing that His Savior would one day conquer death by the power of His own Resurrection:  "For David speaketh concerning him ... my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption .... He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ ... This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses" (Acts 2:25-32).  There is a beautiful word picture in the phrase "my soul shall rest in hope."  The Greek word here for "rest" is kataskanao which literally means "to pitch one's tent" (Thayer's Greek Lexicon). Lenski comments:  "The verb means 'to put down a tent,' 'to camp in order to rest,' and thus simply 'to rest awhile.' This verb implies only a transient sojourn; a tent is not a permanent structure .... The temporary tenting comprises both the bodily life of David and the stay of his body in the grave.  In both conditions his flesh makes its tent and camp 'on hope,' on this as the ground .... What that hope contains follows in the next line."

Likewise, Vincent commented:  "It is a beautiful metaphor.  My flesh shall encamp on hope; pitch its tent there to rest through the night of death, until the morning of resurrection" (emphasis his).  Yes, the Savior's Resurrection is the ground of the believer's hope and rest, both in this life and for eternity.  We do not trust in a dead Christ but in the Living Christ who has conquered death, hell and the grave by the power of His own Resurrection.  Because He lives, we also live and  shall live forever with Him in glory!  There is no greater rest than this, no greater assurance, no greater peace!  "Here let me wait with patience, Wait till the night is o'er, Wait till I see the morning break on the golden shore ... There, by His love o'er-shaded, Sweetly my soul shall rest" (Crosby).