The Red Letter Bible
“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.
So true! Our hope is not an anchor thrown down into the deep black see of uncertainty, but an anchor thrown up to heaven! Whatever may hapen, God is capable of fulfilling His every promiss! He WILL do what He has said. That’s our hope! Nomatter what. He has proven Himself reliable in my life, and I want to witness of His reliability! When all my human hope was gone, His word remained faithful, remained Amen!
That’s why the Jews could go into the Nazi gas-chambers saying: Next year in Jerusalem!
That’s why their national anthem is called Ha-Tiqvah…
“Even if I thought there was hope for me, . . .” Ruth 1:12 JPS
“If nothing turns out the way I want it to..” Stop. – It’s “all about me?”- right? Wrong. It is not. Neither is it “all about what I think..”
Let’s break this down a little further (Naomi)
“Even if I thought”.. The answer my broken and bitter sister is not found deep within the recesses of your thought processes. Your hope (Naomi) lies “in God”- and “in God” alone. His thoughts are NOT our thoughts and His ways are NOT our ways. It is not about what we think- it is about what He says. What God says is “so”- NOT what “I” think. Lo, and behold-(surprise-surprise) “it’s not about me.” (savvy?)
The world does not pivot, nor turn around me, BUT (Praise God!) His eye is on the sparrow and I KNOW He cares for me. Yes, brothers and sisters- I do not “think”- I know. And I know that I know- He cares for me. I see it everyday. “Thy tender care- what tongue can recite?” Oh bring it! -please! – I have (praise His Name!)- a history with God. Another son has (finally!) come home. -Oh- and yes…- the Father ran to meet him (also!).
Naomi is NOT looking up (is she?…)- -She is looking around. Looking around at her circumstances and “situation” and seeing no solution. Naomi, -shema what God says: ~ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.~ (2 Corinthians 4.18) Yes, Naomi- “what do the scriptures say?” What does the word of God have to say about this? LISTEN.. -listen to Him.
“Thinking” her future is bleak, meager- “thinking” God has abandoned her-(perhaps going through the dark night of the soul?) is she? ~without God and having no hope in this world~ (hmm.. sounds vaguely familiar..) I wonder who these are “who are without God and having no hope in this world?..” I would be bitter too! Without Him I’d surely fail.
Once upon a time- this was me. But not anymore, for I have found Him (actually He was the ONE who drew me to Himself. Personal wish fulfillment? Wish I may wish I might? wish upon a star tonight? Wishy-washy balderdash. Not a chance R.T.- *Hope*, my friends, -Bible hope- is a glad CERTAINTY. Get it? Got it? Good. For I know Who I have believed in and am (fully) persuaded that HE is ABLE..
I wish I get a puppy for Christmas.. (NOT) ~ Christ in you the HOPE (glad certainty) of glory!! ~ (Colossians 1.27)
My hope (our hope) is in the LORD- the Maker of Heaven AND of Earth. ~ And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Ruach HaKodesh, whom He has given us. ~ (Romans 5.5) Let us also remember (and rejoice)- our LORD IS King! King of Righteousness- King of Peace- and because He lives…-
Hallelujah! We serve a Living Savior. Our God is NOT dead, (but we sure live as if He were). Does anyone have a pulse today? (whatta bunch of dry bones..) ~ Breathe upon these slain that they may live ~ Are you breathing in and out? Is God good? ~ I am not ashamed of it, for I know the ONE in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able ~ ..
Is this what prayer is? – “wishful thinking?” Hope is confidence in God. A God-confidence. He who promised is (fully) able to perform! ~ He who began a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Christ..~ (Carl likes this).
Listen. Listen again for the first time. ~ Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus ~ (Philippians 1.6) Being confident? Does this sound (at all) like “wishful thinking?” What, my friend, is the Hebrew word for this? – “OY!!!” Oy or joy- (we report, -you decide..)
~ and now these three remain: faith, hope (wishful thinking?) and love ~ (1 Corinthians 13.13)
“O LORD, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.”
Jer. 17: 13
Can anyone look at the Nation of Israel and think the Lord is for them, that they are the apple of His eye? But they are, and He IS. And He is all our hope, too.
Nope, I don’t see “hope” as pie in the sky, fairy tale, dream stuff. I take every opportunity to point out that hope is built on the LORD and not on what the word has come to mean in general speech. The adversary has had a lot of victory with that one word, and I can sure see why he has attacked this particular word, trying to give it the false definition.
But as always, the Word of God sets matters straight, and corrects strange thinking patterns. Praise the Lord!
Hope. The only possible opportunity for my life. Apart from him there is no life. There is no hope. As I teach some younger minds on Hope they can all picture a scene from Star Wars where a young princess acknowledges that another is their “Only hope”. Not their only wish, but their absolute only avenue to life.
And yet, I can still wish for puppy. That does not diminish my hope. My Hope is a certainty.
“Behold, when we come to the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window from which you let us down, . . . Joshua 2:18”
Makes me think of 1963 and old memories from the 9th grade
In my best friend’s bedroom (Michael D Hallmark) listening to The Kingston Trio song
“They Call the Wind Mariah”
And his friend Billy Kolbus, who was a nerdy looking guy, but an extremely fierce fighter
Telling us that he wanted to change his name to “Joshua’
I had never known or heard of anybody named Joshua so I found that very strange
My mother was very fond of Mike and Billy and her favorite movie was “Gone with the Wind”
Starring Scarlet O’Hara
My mother’s name was Barbara O’Hara
Years later, I wrote my dissertation on Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter
And I often wondered over the years about the meaning of scarlet and how all these things 🙂
Seemed connected
O magnify the LORD with me,
Ye people of His choice.
Let all to whom He lendeth breath
Now in His Name rejoice.
For love’s blest revelation,
For rest from condemnation,
For uttermost salvation,
To Him give thanks.
Let all the people praise Thee.
Let all the people praise Thee,
Let all the people praise Thy Name
Forever and forevermore.
O praise Him for His holiness,
His wisdom, and His grace;
Sing praises for His precious blood
Which ransomed all our race.
In tenderness He sought us;
From depths of sin He brought us;
The way of life then taught us.
To Him give thanks.
Had I a thousand tongues to sing,
The half could ne’er be told
Of love so rich, so full and free,
Of blessings manifold;
Of grace that faileth never,
Peace flowing as a river
From God, the glorious Giver.
To Him give thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jYLTn4fKYQ
In english hope is our trust in Adonai’s faithfulness. There is a word in english for those who think they know what is best for them and then decide that Adonai must agree with them – presumption. The difference brtween hope and presumption is openess to Adonai. When one no longer seeks the faithfulness of Adonai in their heart they begin to rejoice in themselves until Adonai is forgotten – “For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.” Deut 31:20 KJV. They fall in love with the works of their own hands, making them into a graven image – today even as then. Hope is a virtue that expresses trust, but if our hope is directed away from Adonai (who is its purpose and fulfillment) it becomes the vice of presumption. Every evil is a good that is used to wrong purpose; and the greater the good misused, the greater the evil that is done.
The notion that evil is the absence of good is often used by critics to deny its credibility using the syllogistic form – “the act of murder is evil. If evil is the absence of good, either the act of murder does not exist, or the act of murder is not evil.” This argument assumes that good and evil are physical actions rather than moral judgements. Killing is an action that may belong to the class properties of good or evil. The argument form is a logical fallacy between class properties and elements. The act of killing is an element of the sets good and evil. If the element killing is performed to nurish or protect Adonai’s gift of life to man then the element killing is a member of the set good. If the element killing is performed to deny Adonai’s gift of life to man, or to protect an act of disobediance to Adonai, then it becomes an element of the set evil and the word murder is used to described it. Now when we examine the syllogism it is possible to recognize the error in reasoning it expresses – the absense of good or evil are complementary class properties whereas the existential import of corresponding actions are properties of their elements. The syllogism equivocates between the classes. In reality were the expression to be validly stated it would reduce to begging the question – the act of murder is evil. If evil is the absence of good then murder is evil. We can also see this if we substitute “killing for evil purpose” for the term “murder” in which case we derive:
The act of killing for evil purpose is evil. If evil purpose is the absence of good purpose then either killing for evil purpose does not exist, or killing for evil purpose is not evil.
Here the class-element distinctions assumed in the original form are clearly expressed showing the lack of logical validity to the argument. (Good and evil are equivocated between act {an element member} and purpose {a class property}.)
Understanding the biblical usuage for hope requires understanding the biblical usage of good and evil as well. Good and evil are purposes for creation that either derive from Adonai (who purposes His creation to covenant with himself) or from HaSatan (the Nahash who purposes Adonai’s creation for death to serve his vanity). That means that good and evil are seperate and distinct from pleasure and pain and that in english (and the bible) it is often used in equivocative form to express both purpose and act. Adonai often fattens the wicked like cattle to be slaughtered by allowing them to prosper in their wickedness and human weakness makes it difficult for the rich to enter heaven. Everything in creation was made good by Adonai, who purposed it for covenant with Him – either directly as in man or indirectly through man’s covenant stewardship. Hope, therefore, is seeking Adonai to enter into covenant with Him and not as a magical cureall to sate our ambitions and fears