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The Red Letter Bible

Tuesday, July 03rd, 2012 | Author:

“Even if I thought there was hope for me, . . .”  Ruth 1:12  JPS

Hope – What is your definition of “hope”?  Two questions might help you determine if your idea of hope comes from biblical sources or from the culture of Greek philosophy.  The first question is this:  “Is your idea of hope the projection of desired good things happening in the future?”  In other words, if you examine what you hope for, is it really just a collection of your wishes for good things for you?  If you discovered that this element is present in your idea of hope, then you are right in line with Plato.  He taught that hope is the subjective projection of our yearnings for future benefits.  Of course, these yearnings often turn out to be disappointments.  In Plato’s view, hope is like a psychological crutch.  It helps us manage contemporary difficulties by projecting a better tomorrow, but it is ultimately without real foundation.  It’s just wishing things will be better.

Examine your feelings carefully.  Perhaps there is just a hint of Plato lurking in your own definition.  You might ask yourself, “If nothing turns out the way I want it to, does that affect my idea of hope?”  If you answered, “Yes,” then Plato is your man.

Now let’s ask the second question.  “Does your idea of hope depend entirely on God’s faithfulness regardless of any present or conceivable future circumstances?”  Let’s ask the question another way.  “If none of your future expectations occur, do you still absolutely trust God and wait patiently for Him to act?”  If you find that you can answer “Yes” to these questions, then you are ready to examine the Hebrew word tiqvah.  When Naomi uses this word, she doesn’t have the projection of future desires in mind.  She is thinking about the color scarlet.  What does scarlet have to do with hope.  Frymer-Kensky points out that tiqvah is the Hebrew word meaning “thread” in the story of Rahab.  “The imagery in this idiom suggests that our life is spun out like a cord, and hope arises from the strength of that cord, representing the prospect of a viable future.”[1]  She goes on to show that hope in Hebrew thought is intimately connected with life here and now.  To have a future is to not be cut off.  To have a future is to see the continuation of your name in the lives of your offspring.  Tiqvah hope has nothing to do with getting to heaven.  It is all about having a legacy on earth.  It’s about a scarlet cord that can’t be cut.

To this we must add Paul’s comments in Romans 8.  In the Brit Chadashah, hope (the Greek is elpis) is also not about personal wish fulfillment.  It is about the absolute reliability of God, anchored in the completed evidence of Yeshua’s resurrection.  In other words, Paul teaches us that our present hope has been guaranteed by Yeshua’s finished act.  That does not mean that our wishes will come true.  It means that we can patiently wait for God to complete His purposes regardless of what happens to us.  Why can we take this attitude about our circumstances?  Because we know “that all things work together for the good.”  By the way, all things work together for the good (as defined by God), not my good.

Put Plato aside.  Our hope doesn’t depend on good things happening to us.  Our hope depends on God doing what He says He will do, “on earth as it is in heaven.”  That is why hope cannot disappoint.  That is why hope casts out fear.  It doesn’t depend on you or me, and frankly, it’s not even about you or me.  We are just along for the ride as God fulfills His purposes here.  That is red letter hope.

Topical Index:  scarlet, hope, tiqvah, Joshua 2:18, Ruth 1:12

A previous study of tiqvahin the story of Rahab can be found here.


[1] Tamara Eskenazi and Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Ruth: The JPS Bible Commentary, p. 15.

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , ,  | 8 Comments

Answers (4)

Saturday, March 20th, 2010 | Author:

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says YHWH.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

Scarlet – What an odd expression?  Sins are like the color scarlet?  Why?  From our Christian perspective, we might expect sins to be painted black.  We would hardly imagine that the color most often associated with redemption (the blood of the Lamb) would be used to describe the essence of sin.  But maybe we haven’t looked hard enough.

The seventh principle of rabbinic exegesis is devar halamed meinyano – what is learned from an examination of the subject itself.  This may be seen in the midrash, an examination of the possible connections between one thought and another drawn from clues in the text.  While many well-trained rabbis employ this technique with amazing expertise, most Christian Western views of exegesis would be aghast at the procedure.  Often ignoring context, syntax and other “essential” elements of modern biblical exegesis, the rabbis move from one thought to another seemingly unconcerned by the structures of the Greek mind.  We might object, but we should be careful doing so, for the Bible is written by men who do not think, or write, like we do.

Let’s employ a bit of devar halamed meinyano to a clue in this verse and see where it takes us.  The word for “scarlet” is shaniy.  The consonants are Shin-Nun-Yod.  But those same consonants with the vowel change to “e” instead of “a” produce sheniy, a word that means “second in a series.”  What does “scarlet” have to do with “second”?  Maybe nothing.  Maybe.  But let’s look a bit deeper into God’s declaration in Isaiah.

“Though you sins are like the second . . .”  What might this mean?  The pictograph of Shin-Nun-Yod is “work that destroys life.”  That’s certainly an apt description of “sin.”  But in what way is “sin” connected to “second?”  Obedience is the first choice in God’s created order.  The universe is designed to flow toward obedience.  The natural processes, the instincts of animals, the grand celestial orchestra all obediently follow the direction of the Creator.  But Man chooses the second way, the way of disobedience.  Not only does this second way result in inglorious hubris, it poses an illusory alternative that is false in its very inception.  There really is no second way to life.  There is only a second way to death – a death that spills scarlet blood on the earth.  Why are sins scarlet?  Because they are the second choice – the blood-red choice of destruction.

There is one more connection.  When sacrifice for sin is presented before the altar, the ground runs red with the blood of the substitute.  Man’s second choice results in death and requires death to be redeemed.  “Though your sins are like the second choice, the choice of spilled blood, yet I will make them as white as snow.”  The Lord, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, kind, withholds His wrath to allow us to see the folly of the second choice – He will rescue us.  May His Name be blessed.

Topical Index:  scarlet, second, shaniy, sheniy, Isaiah 1:18

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