Hope is a kinda strange Bible word if you think about it. The 1st time it shows up in the Old Testament Hebrew is in the Book of Ruth and not until Luke 6:34 does it show up in the New Testament Greek.
Ruth 1:12 KJV Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
- Hope – Strong’s H8615 – From H6960; literally a cord (as an attachment (compare H6961))
- H6960 – to bind together (perhaps by {twisting}) that {is} collect; (figuratively) to expect: – gather ({together}) {look} {patiently} {tarry} wait ({for} {on} upon).
- H6961 – a (measuring) cord (as if for binding): – line
Luke 6:34-35 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
- Hope – Strong’s G1679- From G1680; to expect or confide: – (have thing) hope (-d) (for) trust.
- G1680 – From elpo which is a primary word (to anticipate usually with pleasure); expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence: – faith hope.
Note: except for color, all examples of typographical emphasis are directly from Strong’s Concordance, not my own. Added emphasis to text after this point is my own.
I read 3 daily Bible verse each day, from Tecarta Bible app, My Daily Bible app, and You Version Bible app. In that order, today’s are,
Psalm 118: 5-6 I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
In Psalm 118 the psalmist calls on God who answers. The answer may not have resolved the problem but it gave a “Confidence” that God is on his side and “Removed” fear of the outcome, no matter what man (the problem) did to him.
In John, Jesus says he “came down from heaven” to give His body as the “Living Bread of Life” that we should eat to live “for ever.” Can there be any greater thing to “Hope For” than eternity in heaven with Jesus in God’s Glorious presence?
The verse from Hebrews comes after one of the greatest chapters in the Bible on the subject of “Faith.” Hope & Faith are closely related words and are synonyms meaning they are interchangeable in a sentence. From what I read Biblically, there is a difference. Hope accompanies Faith but usually comes before Faith.
In my thinking, the Strong’s definition is saying “Hope” is a rope God drops down to us, the Greatest of all being Jesus. We are like a person being swept away in a raging stream. God throws us a lifeline to “grab hold of” to save us from destruction. We choose to grab it or not and even once we grab it we have the choice to hold on or let go of it.
If we were in a raging stream and we had grabbed hold of a rope connected to a winch on a wrecker truck it might instill “Great Hope & Faith” that if I only hold on the winch will bring me in to shore. If it’s a 90 pound, 90 year old woman on the other end of the rope, “Great Hope and Faith” won’t be coming from Granny.
Romans 8:24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Our view of God is essential to the “Greatness of our Hope & Faith” in Him we can have. Two things that will erode Hope & Faith are brought up in Hebrews 12:1, “Weights & Sin.”
We know what sin is but what are “weights?” Weights don’t have to be sinful at their inception. They can start out as a hobby you’ve allowed to become a manipulator of your mind, being a factor in daily decisions. They can be anything we “venerate” above what is a normal level of attention due to it. Venerating anything except God above it’s rightful place is “opening a door” to obsession and addiction. Spiritually it equates to “oppression and possession” by unclean spirits. In any case NOT A Good Thing.
Hebrews 12 doesn’t just give general instructions of why we should have Faith based on the examples of chapter 11, or what to avoid so as not to lose (be beset) it, or even just say “hold on for holdingon’s sake.” It goes on to tell us of an 18 Wheeler Wrecker Truck Lifeline to look to. Compare this to the Strong’s definition of,
H6960 – to bind together (perhaps by {twisting}) that {is} collect; (figuratively) to expect: – gather ({together}) {look} {patiently} {tarry} wait ({for} {on} upon).
Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Discipline of God
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
We don’t need to exercise Hope or Faith when everything is going fine. It’s in the trials of life that we get to build up the “Hope & Faith” muscles of our Godly Spirit in us. For me, the sooner I remember, “this is NO Surprise” to God, He has either “Allowed or Ordained” it, the sooner a weight is lifted from my shoulders. Think of it as God sending you to the Spiritual Gym for a workout. Now my part is to do what Hebrews says, “Look unto Jesus” the author and finisher of the Hope & Faith being built in me.
God “drops” things into our spirit, like cords from heaven for us to grab hold of in times of distress and need, I KNOW He does. I’ve experienced it. We have the choice to grab hold of it, hang on for dear life or let go. That part is all “in our hands,” but very much in our mind as well.
Just when you need heaven sent Hope to build Faith the most, sin will whisper in your ear all the reasons why God won’t come through for you and why you don’t deserve God’s help.
Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
Two key words in the definition of Hope are “Confidence & Patience.” Weights and Sin will erode them like acid on a manila rope. Patience is NOT a passive aspect when it come to “Faith.” Endurance, a cousin of Patience is so crucial for Faith in God to be expressed and credited to your account like the examples given in the Faith chapter, Hebrews 11.
A negative example of Faith in God by “Confidence & Patience” is not given in that chapter of Hebrews but in my daily devotional reading from 1 Samuel the last few days, an excellent example is given to the “extreme.” Twice in a short period of time after Saul is anointed king over Israel, he fails to “have Faith (confidence) & wait on God” and it says this,
1 Samuel 13:7-14 …As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 Then he WAITED seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
That was Negative Patience. Confidence in God’s word is Believing what God says, the “Positive and Negative” consequences of Obedience & Disobedience. Now Saul fails the “Confidence” test too.
Samuel tells Saul, 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.”
17 So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
Like Hope & Faith are closely related cousins, Confidence “Believing God” & Patience “Waiting on God” are too.
Think of it next time you go to a restaurant and see how happy you are with your waiter if they don’t pay attention to you when you are telling them what you want to order. How happy are you when they bring totally wrong items you didn’t ask for. How happy are you with them when you have to try to get their attention because they fail to check up on your table from time to time in case there is a need. A good waiter is attentive to your desires, not their own.
There’s a little hidden clue to Saul’s heart in these two examples of his lack of Confidence & Patience in God’s Word and Timing. Saul’s first mistake was offering sacrifices on an altar. Later it says this,
1 Samuel 15:12 KJV 12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. (NKJV correctly says “monument”)
Strong’s H3027 – Yad – A primitive word; a hand (the open one (indicating {power} means 6 {direction} {etc} in distinction from {H3709} the closed one);
Saul “set him up a monument.” The Jewish rabbis have a phrase for premeditated, presumptuous sin, “sinning with a ‘high hand’ ” NEVER a good thing.
If you follow my blog you know God keeps bringing up that word “direction” to my attention lately. And at this time I am “waiting on God” for a very important issue in my life. An important part of “Enduring or Waiting on God” is waiting, with “confidence, & patience” “Hope & Faith” that in His Perfect Timing, His Perfect Will will come, Amen!!!
Speaking with my Dad last week, He asked me how things were progressing in the thing I’m waiting on God about. I said “I think I’m beginning to sense some “direction” in it but nothing certain yet. I definitely don’t want to get ahead of God and do my own thing until I know for sure it’s what God wants for me. I don’t want to get into something God Never intended for me and then try to drag God along with me in it.”
Like a recent devotional reading, “Salt & Pepper” on my Tecarta Bible app describes, https://tecartabible.com/share/2019/38/1128 pastor Francis Chan points out that when people give their lives to Christ simply because they are looking for a get-out-of-hell-free card or because they want Jesus to “join” them on their journey through life, there is often little or no evidence of change. Why? Because they haven’t yet repented, haven’t yet grasped the enormity of what is required. Instead of allowing Christ to save and define them, they have simply added a little bit of Jesus, hoping that will “spiritualize” their lives. In their hearts, they want God to follow them around, helping them get wherever it is they want to go, rather than the other way around.
All over the Bible, the theme of “Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice” comes up and does here too in this account of Saul. It draws a dramatically bad picture of not doing what God says to do.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Willful sin and resisting the prompting of the Holy Spirit to turn, REPENT of sin is certainly a degree of rebellion and stubbornness on the part of anyone confessing or professing to be a “Born Again With God’s Spirit” Christian. Think about it. Would you just accept it in your children?
Hebrew 3:7-15 KJV
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω
P.S. – In the devotional reading I follow, the day after writing this, in Romans, Paul addresses Hope.
DailyPlan : one-year-tract : 2019-08-25 #Bible https://www.mydailybible.org/dp/esv/one-year-tract/2019-08-25.htm
Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
There is a concerted effort by many church leaders to abandon the Old Testament using terms like, “being unhitched” from it. They want to distance themselves from the law and the curses tied to not following it. They make every attempt to create a “kinder, gentler god” of love that abandons justice and consequences. This attitude creates FALSE HOPE that is Not Rooted in the Truth of God’s Word. Jesus said,
Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Paul goes on in Romans concerning Hope and says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” Believing What? I think it’s in believing “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,” We should believe with “fear and trembling” the examples God has declared in His Word concerning His justice and consequences for our behavior. It doesn’t take much reasoning to see that only believing the “positive blessings of prosperity and good health” from God’s Word is a biased and lopsided approach.
Romans 15:12-13 And again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
God has at times dropped “Hope” into me to suddenly pray and believe for certain things. There are prayers God has answered so quickly that they have made me think carefully what exactly I am praying to God for. I believe though that God dropped a thought into my mind, that became a hope and a prayer that He from the beginning intended to be answered. Isn’t that what this scripture says,
1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Confidence is Hope. Before fervently praying for something that might not be God’s Will for you or someone you are praying for, how about fervently praying for God to reveal His Will in the matter First. YES, that will mean “Waiting on God” in Faith, something that is VERY Pleasing to God. Read Hebrews 11, it was in believing the promise that God credited them “a good testimony,”
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
39-40 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
https://biblehub.com/nkjv/hebrews/11.htm
א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω
Jesus Is The Aleph & The Tav, The Alpha & The Omega, The Beginning & The End
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalm 103:17-18 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Jesus said in John 14:15
KJV – If ye love me, keep my commandments.
NASB – “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
CEV – Jesus said to his disciples: If you love me, you will do as I command.
BEWARE of Those That Tell You Otherwise!!! You Won’t Be Answering to Them!!!
א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω
In The Word 