MEM

We hear and think about faith and love but hope is seldom considered. The importance of this topic in times of stress and turmoil will be covered in this and the next issue.

The word ‘Hope’ is common in our vocabulary but often misunderstood when it comes to Scripture. This message is offered as an insight into the hope that will endure, gives encouragement and is an anchor for the saints of God.

What Is Bible Hope? By Jack Weaver

For centuries man has misunderstood or misinterpreted many words in God’s Holy Scripture. Let’s take the wonderful and exhilarating word "Hope" and see if we can understand it.

One may say, "I hope it will not rain today." "I hope my car will start when I have an emergency." "I hope my children will grow up to be great citizens." "I hope. I hope. I hope."

The standard dictionary definition, and one that is generally accepted by most of the world is "to FEEL that something desired MAY happen:" The words "feel" and "may" are two very indefinite and vague words, but such a definition of "hope" exemplifies the thinking of most people.

The dictionary definition of the word "hope" is NOT the Biblical Hope of which we speak.

Let us investigate the Old and New Testament meanings of the word "Hope."

Hope in this verse is the Hebrew word, "yachal" meaning "trust."

Here we see a slightly different Hebrew word "towcheleth" but with the same root but meaning "expectation." These and many, many more verses illustrate the Psalmist’s reliance upon the trustworthiness of the Lord. The Lord CAN be trusted. He WILL keep His promises.

Now, in the New Testament we see the word "Hope" in several verses. This word "Hope" is an absolute, a guarantee without a doubt. It is the Greek word "elpis" meaning "to expect or anticipate with pleasure."

We rejoice in the glory of God, not with uncertainty but with joyful anticipation - guaranteed.

The Hope of His Kingdom is not a maybe - but an absolute and definite guarantee by the Word of the Truth of the Gospel.

Eternal life - guaranteed and promised by the God of the Universe. He cannot lie.

Every believer in Jesus Christ may look with confidence to the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt!

Webster 1828 (edited)

HOPE, n. [L. cupio.]

1. A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety.

He wish'ed, but not with hope--

2. Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense.

A well founded scriptural hope, is, in our religion, the source of ineffable happiness.

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Hope - TWOT (edited)

This root means to wait or to look for with eager expectation. It means enduring patiently in confident hope that God will decisively act for the salvation of his people (Gen 49:18). There will come a time when all that God has promised will be realized and fulfilled (Isa 49:23; Ps 37:9). In the meantime the believer survives by means of his integrity and uprightness as he trusts in God’s grace and power (Ps 25:21). Israel is encouraged to hold fast to love and justice, i.e. they are to follow the law faithfully and maintain consistently the standards of justice, at the same time preserving an attitude of godly love (Hos 12:6; cf. Ps 37:34; Job 4:6).

Hope - ISBE (edited)

In the Old Testament there is no Hebrew word that has the exact force of "expectation of some good thing," -This lack of a specific word for hope has nothing to do with any undervaluation of the virtue among the Hebrews. For the religion of the Old Testament is of all things a religion of hope, centered in God, from whom all deliverance and blessings are confidently expected (Jer 17:17; Joel 3:16; Ps 31:24; Ps 33:18; Ps 33:22; Ps 39:7, etc.). … the firm trust that at a time appointed God, in person or through His representative, will establish a kingdom of righteousness.

The proclamation of this coming kingdom of God was the central element in the teaching of Jesus, and the message of its near advent (Mr 1:15, etc.), with the certainty of admission to it for those who accepted His teaching (Lu 12:32, etc.), is the substance of His teaching as to hope. … the tone is not that of prediction so much as it is that of the statement of obvious facts. In other words, "hope" to Christ is "certainty," and the word "hope" is never on His lips … none the less the full consummation of that kingdom, with Himself as Messiah, was made by Him a matter of the future.

… the accent is laid on the hope that awaits the individual beyond the grave. A Christianity that loses a transcendent, eschatological hope ceases to be Christianity.

Burton Scott Easton

Next time more about the hope of our salvation with a Biblical outline for study.

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The wisdom of these Proverbs - ‘there is a future’ - ‘your hope will not be cut off’ - ‘the hope of the righteous is gladness’ - ‘…a tree of life’.

According to TWOT:

V.P.H.

How does God feel about issues we face today?

Are you judgmental toward those who smoke, drink, swear, or have tattoos? It is easy to criticize those who sin in ways that you do not. It may be that you abstain from these activities out of a reverence for God. Yet you can abstain from them and still not be judgmental toward those who partake or practice them. God’s word teaches that no man can serve two masters and that you are not to judge someone else’s servant. If you obey God you should be content to allow Him to manage the spiritual growth of others. If you refrain from the judgment of other people’s sins perhaps they will not be judgmental of yours.  (Adopted from a blog post by Dale Cresap)

Back in 1932, I was a fairly new husband.

My wife, Nettie and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago's south side. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting.

I didn't want to go. Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered downstairs to our Model A and in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66. However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back.

I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.

The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED.

People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out.

I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was 'Nettie is dead.

Nettie is dead.' 

When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that same night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket.

Then I fell apart.

For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve Him anymore or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well.

But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis. Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died. 

From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him.

But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially one friend. The following Saturday evening he took me up to Maloney's Poro College, a neighborhood music school.

It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows.

I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, once into my head they just seemed to fall into place:

'Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn, through the storm, through the night,
lead me on to the light, take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.'

The Lord gave me these words and melody. He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power.

And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.

Think on the message for a while.

The Child Isa 7:16

His First Born Son Luke 2:7

The Sent of the Father John 10:36

The Apostle Hebrews 3:1

A Prophet, Mighty in Deed and Word Luke 24:19

A Servant Phil 2:7

My Servant, the Branch Zechariah 3:8

My Righteous Servant Isa 53:11

A Man of Sorrows Isa 53:3

Jesus Matt 1:21

The Savior of the World I John 4:14

A Savior, Which Is Christ the Lord Luke 2:11

Jesus the Christ Matt 16:20

Jesus Christ the Righteous I John 2:1

Jesus Christ, the Same Yesterday, and Today, and Forever Hebrews 13:8

Messiah, Which Is Called Christ John 4:25

Anointed Ps 2:2 Acts 4:26

The Christ of God Luke 9:20

The Christ, the Savior of the World John 4:42

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Scribbles
(By Michael Boldea Jr.)

One Constant - One Variable
‘Why aren’t we seeing the power of God as the primary church did?’
(see previous issue for introduction)

It used to be we knew our place in the kingdom of God and the duty we had toward our King. Nowadays, we’re all little gods, with our own little fiefdoms, making up the rules as we go along, and expunging whatever tickles our fancy from the Scriptures without a second thought.

It used to be Jesus was the great prize, and the singular desire of the heart. Nowadays He’s just a means by which we attain what we really want...from fame, to fortune, to acclaim, to notoriety.

It used to be you could identify a Christian by their character. Nowadays, the only thing distinguishing us from the world are the fish stickers on our back bumpers.

It used to be men labored for the glory of God. Nowadays we strive for our own glory, doing all we can do to shift the spotlight from Jesus to ourselves.

It used to be righteousness, repentance, and holiness unto God, were elementary notions which even the babes in Christ understood. Nowadays we’ve done away with such things. Replacing them with self-esteem and prosperity thinking.

It used to be men who wanted to know God went to His word and read it. Nowadays, we’re told the Book is unnecessary, antiquated and passé. And if you really want to know God, all you have to do is open your third eye.

It used to be men offered their all to God, and to the service of Him. Nowadays the first thing men ask is ‘what is God offering,’ and ‘is He willing to sweeten the deal any.’

What was is no more...the variable has changed…

It is not God who has changed. Man has changed, and rather than own up to what we have become, rather than admit to the cowardice, indecisiveness, duplicity, hypocrisy, selfishness, covetousness, and lawlessness coursing through our veins, we are quick to shake our fists at God, and blame Him for not moving among mankind as He once did.

We can either focus on the suffering or the glory. But know this: you get the glory by going through the suffering. Just a thought!

The central theme of the whole Bible is God's plan to reestablish right relationship with human beings. Having been made "very good" by God in the beginning, our first parents rejected God's word and listened to the Tempter, thrusting the human race into a state of alienation from our Creator. God determined from that day to restore our broken relationship with him (Genesis 3:15). One might wonder why God didn't fix things on the spot. Why has the reconciliation of mankind to God been so drawn out, difficult, and complex? The complexity of this solution underscores the complexity of the problem. The more I ponder this, the more I realize how terrible our rebellious state really is. God's approach to this problem is the exact appropriate and most effective solution there is.

It would be centuries between God's promise of restoration in the Garden of Eden and the real beginnings of the outworking of his restorative plan. This occurred when God promised blessing to the whole world through Abraham. While so much of the focus of the Hebrew Scriptures is on Israel itself, throughout its pages we see how God's work in and through Israel would result in great benefit for all peoples and the entire creation.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God speaks of a time when he would restore wayward Israel to himself. As this occurs even those who were not of Israel originally would consider themselves as such and regard themselves as belonging to Israel's God.

The turning of non-Jewish nations to the God of Israel is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham - the fulfillment of God's promise in the Garden. Israel was not chosen as a holy nation for itself, but for global blessing.

It took a while for the first generation of Jewish believers to accept and embrace God's desire to make himself known to non-Jewish people. In time, non-Jewish believers would be accepted as full members of the New Covenant community.

Through Yeshua all people, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, are restored to right relationship with God. As such, all believers are equally regarded as part of the people of God. God is equally Father to all who are reconciled to him through the Messiah by faith. We all have the same access to him. God has no favorites. How much one may benefit by their relationship with God and their particular calling and gifts may differ from person to person. Yet at the same time, all believers are equally part of God's family.

The establishment of the New Covenant community as a multinational gathering of people based on faith in the Messiah should not be confused with God's particular plans and purposes for the people of Israel, however. While Israel's tendency to see itself as the sole benefactor of God's blessings became an obstacle to its comprehending its call to be an instrument of those blessings to all nations, the incorporation of the nations as part of the people of God in no way undermines the particular aspects of God's plan that applies particularly to Israel.

This "both/and" of the one messianic people of God and God's continued covenantal faithfulness to Abrahams' descendants through Isaac and Jacob is an essential element of biblical truth. To fail to grasp the importance of these two essential aspects of God's overall plan of reconciliation is to disqualify ourselves from full participation in that plan.

Israel was called to be God's instrument of blessing to the entire world. Contrary to popular thought, this was realized through the Jewish Messiah and his early Jewish followers. The New Covenant (New Testament) writings is the legacy of Israel to the world. The temporary failure of the majority of Israel to embrace its messianic call in Yeshua in no way undermines God's plan for the world or Israel's own destiny, for God will yet fulfill his promises to them.

Many may be our trials but there is the promise, the hope, in YHVH’s deliverance. Therefore rejoice for he will hear - call out to Him for He will hear.