The Faithful Hope of Jeremiah
The Faithful Hope of Jeremiah.
“In my mind I keep returning to something, something that gives me hope – the mercies of the Lord are not exhausted, His tender compassions have not ended. On the contrary, they are new every morning! How great is your faithfulness! The Lord is all I have, I say; therefore I will put my hope in Him. The Lord is good to those waiting for Him, to those who are seeking Him out. It is good to wait patiently for the saving help of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:21-26).
Great Is Thy Faithfulness | Reawaken Hymns | Official Lyric Video
Hope Defined. The biblical words for hope point to being able to anticipate the future with pleasure, to welcome whatever comes next, to have confident expectations of good in one’s life. Hope is faith in the future and a deep assurance of God’s hand in whatever is coming around the corner. The Hebrew word in Scripture for hope, “tikvah,” can also mean a connecting cord. Its root word is “qavah” which means to wait, literally to weave together the strings needed to make an unbreakable cord. Thus in Scripture we find that occasionally the words hope and wait are somewhat interchangeable. The Greek word is “elpis,” and means much the same thing. As has been said by many, hope is faith in the future tense.
“Hope moves the heart of God to come to our help with His grace.” (Father R. Cantalamessa).
Hope Described. Various descriptions of hope might include: Hope is confidently expecting a positive outcome, as opposed to despair, which is fearfully expecting a negative outcome; hope is trusting God for one’s future, as opposed to doubt, which is distrustful of God for one’s future; hope is an optimistic assurance based on reality, as opposed to wishful thinking, which is based on uncertainty; hope is a patient waiting that keeps one actively moving forward, as opposed to a frustrating resignation which passively keeps one stuck; hope is the strong inner urge to work through a difficulty and do what one can to solve it, as opposed to the inclination to avoid a difficulty and thus not solve anything; hope is the positive conviction that there is something substantial to look forward to, as opposed to one’s pessimistic belief that the future holds nothing but a bleak emptiness; hope is the anticipation of a triumphant future in the long run, as opposed to someone who doesn’t even believe in the possibility of a long run of any kind. As the ancient Church Father put it, “Hope is the loving movement of one’s spirit towards that which it hopes for.” (St. Didacus). So hope is not only a deep assurance and steadfast conviction, but also includes the object of the hope itself, the hope in the flesh, Jesus Christ, “our blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).
“The Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.” (Romans 15:4-5).
Patience Defined: “a long holding out of the mind before it gives room to passion” (Bible Dictionary); gracious restraint; the power to endure without complaint something difficult, disagreeable or uncomfortable; waiting through discomfort with peace; to stick with things without quitting. There is no one specific word for patience in the Hebrew Bible. In Psalm 37:7 and 40:1 the word for “wait with expectation” was translated patience. To “bear long” was also translated patience. In the New Testament, two Greek words for patience: hupomons: means “remaining under,” as in bearing up under a burden or difficult circumstances; and makrothumis: means “long tempered,” the opposite of short tempered. Biblical synonyms include forbearance; endurance; even-tempered; perseverance; long suffering; hopefulness. Patience is indeed a virtue, but it is not a stand-alone quality of character. It is a combination of many virtues, including graciousness, generosity, self-control, humility, hope, trust, faith, peacefulness. Various opposites of patience are impatience; unbelief; discouraged; short-tempered; vengeful; agitated; despairing; hopeless; impulsive.
“Patience with God is faith; Patience with self is hope; Patience with others is love.” (Bertravros, Coptic Theologian).
Patience, a Supernatural Gift. Some of us seem to have a head start in being able to show patience by virtue of natural personality. Some people seem to be born even-tempered and patient. But natural patience is not the patience mentioned by Paul in Galatians 5. He lists it as a spiritual virtue, not a natural one. A spiritual quality can only develop in a person’s life when in union with Jesus Christ, for patience is a quality of God’s character. “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?” (Romans 2:4); “Even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom is anger falls.” (Romans 9:22); “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promises, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent… Remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.” (2 Peter 3:9, 15). Paul’s version of patience is clearly supernatural, and involves divine empowerment that results in a patience that is infused with agape love. This type of patience exists in the heart and mind and spirit, not merely in the outer temperament. The fruit of love is evidenced by patience, produced on the branch that is in union with the vine Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the divine sap running through the vine into the branches that produces His fruit. Paul states in Colossians 1:11 that it is God who strengthens us in His power to have “all the endurance and patience we need.” We aren’t born with that. Patience is not a result of natural personality or strength of will. Patience, true spiritual patience that is peacefully expressed in everyday life on a consistent basis, is from God. The true patience that is needed for biblical hope is a grace from the Holy Spirit.
WAIT: “qavah,” a common Hebrew term in Scripture for “wait,” which has a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. We get a fuller understanding of “qavah” and what it means to “wait” in the biblical sense, when we combine the literal with the figurative:
Literal Meaning of qavah: the process of weaving together separate strands into one; braiding together what is needed for wholeness; binding together by twisting and entwining tightly. Examples of this root word for wait would be braiding hair, twining rope, twisting strands together for a cord. To wait in this sense is not passive, but active; not a waste of time, but a useful time; not something to avoid at all costs but instead to redeem as fully as possible; not the time for seeking distractions from potential boredom, but a time to recognize it as an opportunity.
Figurative Meaning of qavah: to actively hope with patience; to maintain a persistent faith; to peacefully trust in God; to be content in the midst of delay; to live in eager anticipation; to engage in the spiritual activity of listening for/to God; to alertly watch for God in the midst of uncertainty; to look for God’s guidance and presence; to have a faithful expectation of what has been promised by God; to prepare oneself for whatever comes next; to “collect oneself,” to actively “get it together.”
The Purposes of Waiting: to gain and renew strength; to learn dependence on God; to flesh out one’s submission to God; to grow spiritually; to make progress in spiritual discipline; to gain wisdom and understanding; to keep from making rash or unwise decisions; to cooperate with God in His transformation of us; to continue securing one’s intimate union with God; to grow in patience and hopefulness; to develop creative responses with unexpected delays. Waiting can also be an opportunity to prayerfully seek God’s healing of shame, guilt, fear, trauma; to grow in “being content in all circumstances (Philippians 4:11-13).”
Hopeful Waiting. Do whatever it takes to learn the biblical art of waiting. Do your part in the active version of waiting that involves the process of braiding together within you what you need to survive as you patiently wait and eagerly expect God’s best. Yes, three strands braided together is strong, which makes four strands even stronger! So, with each of us being a strand, let us bind together with some of these vital threesomes during our time of trustful waiting, of practicing contentment in the midst of delay or difficulty. In the durable oneness produced in our braiding, we will remember the old meaning of integrity: when something is produced that is put together so effectively that it will accomplish its purpose. If a bridge has integrity, it has all its parts integrated in a way that achieves it purpose. When we braid together what is crucial for our lives, then we will have integrity, soundness, coherence, usefulness. While we are waiting with eager anticipation, it is important to make an unbreakable rope that will endure for eternity. The spiritual skill of waiting includes the process of weaving together threesomes like the following into our lives. When we are sitting in the waiting room, we will be fortified to wait biblically as the one strand of our life become increasingly entwined with these three strands.
The Foundation of Jeremiah’s Hope. But all this begs the question… What was his earnest and unshakeable hope based on? What allowed Jeremiah to hope so confidently in the first place? And so what is the basis of our hope? Is there a way to keep our hope from becoming merely wishful thinking or an empty optimism? How do we develop a hope like Jeremiah?
Faithful Mercies. There is only one foundation on which we can hope realistically, one solid thing to base our hope on, and that is the mercy of God. How did God choose to describe Himself when asked His name by Moses in Exodus 34? What did God choose to reveal about Himself? He said, “I am the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in mercy and faithfulness, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” And that’s why rabbinic tradition says that mercy rather than justice is regarded as the outstanding attribute of God (A.J. Heschel). Indeed, Jesus, the human form of this same God, comes to us “full of grace and truth.” (John 1). When we can trust God for the future, we can hope with confidence. When we can trust the character of God, we can hope with joy. When we know a merciful God has our back, we are free to love each other through all the ups and downs of life. In fact, is there anything else we can truly bank on in life? Is anything more trustworthy than God’s love? The one sure foundation for any possibility of hope in our lives would be Jeremiah’s beautiful statement of faith in Lam. 3:22-24: “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed. For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is all I have, therefore I will hope in Him.”
Jeremiah 29 – I Know The Plans I Have For You || Bible in Song || Project of Love
Our hope rests on God’s character, the only truly solid thing in the universe. God being who He is, one wonders if there is anything that pleases God more than to trust in His love. With God holding the future, knowing His character that is so trustworthy, we are free to hope to our heart’s content. Here comes Jeremiah to the rescue again as he declares the reason for his hope in God in Jer. 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. You will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. And I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”
Psalm 33 states that the whole earth is full of God’s unfailing love, and that the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, His mercy. This psalm closes with these monumental words: “May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” Everything else fails, only His love is unfailing. Only His mercy is left standing. Only His grace is worthy of our trust. Keep our hope alive in Christ, and we will not be disappointed.
“Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has shown us His extravagant mercy. For His fountain of mercy has given us a new life – we are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3).