Hope

In this week's Sabbath reading portion, which is titled, B'har - B'chukkotai, meaning "On the Mount", and "In My Statutes", there is a guaranteed hope given to God's people. Last week, we read about the 49 + 1 days, or 50 days between the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, and the meaning of those days, especially the 50th day (see previous post "Counting"). This week, there is a promise given regarding 49 years (seven Sabbaths of years) + 1 year, or 50 years total: "And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee (yobal/yabal- ram's horn, the signal of the silver trumpets, joyful sound, loud noise/bring forth, lead forth, carry away, to flow copiously, to bear or to carry gifts) to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty (deror- liberty, freedom, a flowing, a free run, to move rapidly, spontaneity of outflow) throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession (ahuzza- inheritance property that was seized), and each of you shall return to his family...For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. In this year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his possession." (Lev. 25:8-13). In Israel, this meant that any property or personal service entered into to pay debt, had to be released or given back in the Jubilee year. It is no coincidence that the coming Jubilee year was announced on the Day of Atonement, which we connect directly to Jesus, who is our atonement (Rom. 5:11). As we learned last week, the number 50 in Hebrew, used again for counting to the year of Jubilee, is the Hebrew letter nun. The meaning of the letter nun relates directly to Messiah, Jesus. Nun means: "seed/sprouting seed, fish, son, heir to the throne, faithfulness". We see another interesting connection between Jesus and the Jubilee: As Jesus began His ministry, He read from Isa. 61 in the synagogue (Lk. 4:18-19). He read of the anointing of the Spirit of the LORD that Isaiah prophesied allowed One to "...proclaim liberty to the captives...to proclaim the acceptable (ratsone/ratsaw- delight, favor, goodwill/satisfy a debt, pardon, to pay off) year of the LORD...". It sounds very much like Isaiah was prophesying a spiritual Jubilee (see meaning above), and Jesus announced that He was fulfilling that prophesy that day. Also, Paul described Jesus as having fulfilled Ps. 68:18 writing, "Therefore He says: When He ascended on high, He led captivity (prisoners) captive (bring away, carry away, lead away), and gave gifts to men." (Eph. 4:8). Again, the language used here relates to the Hebrew word for Jubilee (see above). The promise in the Law of Jubilee allowed Jesus to lead the captives of death out of Sheol. In the next portion of this week's Sabbath reading, the LORD gives hope to His people in the form of the kinsman redeemer: "...if...one of your brethren who dwells by (a rich sojourner or stranger) becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner...after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him...And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee - he and his children with him. For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev. 25:47-55, excerpt). Imagine being in such desperate straits that one not only sold himself into service, but his children with him, to pay debts. However, the hope found in the principle of the kinsman redeemer provided the only hope for many who found themselves in a pressing situation of debt or poverty. In another example from the Book of Ruth, we see an impoverished Naomi, who has lost both her husband and her two sons, return to her homeland, Israel, from Moab. She has nothing except the hope that lays in the Law of Moses. She, and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, will rely on the fact that the Law of Moses commands that the edges of the fields remain unharvested so the poor and the traveler can glean from them in order to eat. In addition, Naomi, knowing the principle of the kinsman redeemer, will regain her land and a husband for Ruth when Boaz becomes their kinsman redeemer. Boaz and Ruth will have a child who will be the grandfather of David, and part of the line of the Messiah (Ruth 4:21-22). Where there was no hope for Naomi in Moab, she found hope and more in her home nation, Israel, and in the provisions of the Law of Moses. In another instance, the LORD will use the principle of the kinsman redeemer to prophetically give hope to His people that they would return from a prophesied captivity. Jeremiah has already prophesied that Judah will be conquered by the Chaldeans, and go into captivity to them. The Lord confirmed His promise to Jeremiah that He would bring Judah back from captivity by using the hope found in the kinsman redeemer. In Jer. 32, from the haftarah portion of this week's Sabbath reading, Jeremiah's cousin comes to Jeremiah while he is in the king's prison to request that Jeremiah redeem the cousin's property: "Please buy my field that is in Anathoth ("answers to prayers"), which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours; buy it for yourself. Then (Jeremiah) knew that this was the word of the LORD." (Jer. 32:6-8). Jeremiah understood that this deeded land that he redeemed confirmed God's promise to return the people to their own land, otherwise there would be no purpose in it if the people were being taken into captivity forever: "Then I charged Baruch before them saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Take these deeds...and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days." 'For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land."' "... I prayed to the LORD, saying,: 'Ah, LORD God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You...' (Jer. 32:13-17). The LORD used the kinsman redeemer of the Law as a sign of His guarantee of the people's return, which seemed to have been an impossibility, but now hope had come. Job, who had lost everything, knew the power of the kinsman redeemer, and he knew Who his personal Redeemer was: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh, I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27). The Kinsman Redeemer was a source of hope to a destroyed Job. Although Jewish tradition holds that Job lived before Moses, the rabbis believe that Moses wrote the Book of Job. We do not know for sure, but from the above verses, we can see that Job knew the principle of the kinsman redeemer by revelation even before the Law was received on Sinai. The world's understanding would give no hope to Naomi, Jeremiah and Job, but the Jubilee and the kinsman redeemer are from eternity, not the world, and give hope and promise where there is no hope. May we understand the deliverance blessing and the Deliverer of God guaranteed in His Jubilee and kinsman redeemer. Our Father's Jubilee promises bring His people hope. If you would like to know our Jubilee and our Kinsman Redeemer, you can pray: "Lord Jesus, I know my Redeemer lives. You have become my Kinsman Redeemer, and my Jubilee deliverance. You died for my sins, and You rose again from the dead. You redeemed my soul from Hell, and ascended into heaven, leading me with You. I was in captivity, but You gave me liberty as a gift. You redeemed the inheritance of God's people before the foundations of the world. Nothing is impossible with You! As the Holy Spirit anointed You, anoint me also, so that I may understand and live in Your miraculous redemption. I believe and receive these things in your holy name. AMEN."

Hope

"The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore I will hope in Him."
                                                                   Lam. 3:24
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord
Jesus Christ, our hope."                            1 Tim. 1:1

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life."
                                                                   Prov. 13:12

In today's world, so much is said and done, and even taught, in order to try to destroy the hope in men's hearts. But the word of God tells us to hope-not just to hope in anything, or anyone, but to hope in Him. The word "hope" in scripture is described by twelve different Hebrew words. Twelve is the number of God's government and authority. Each of these meanings of the word hope gives us a facet of the power and importance of the living hope inside each one of us.
The first use of the word "hope" is in the Book of Ruth. How much Ruth needed to hold fast to the hope she had received when she learned about the God of her Hebrew inlaws. This word is "Tikvah". It is the kind of hope that binds and fastens like a rope. It is about tying something together for strength. Ruth ties herself to her God, and His people:
"Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you will die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me."
                                                  Ruth 1:16-17
How Ruth's life, and all history, were changed by this hope.
The second meaning of hope in scripture is "Mikvah", found in the Book of Ezra.
This hope includes a meaning of a collection, a congregation, a gathering, a host, a company. Ezra begins a re-awakening of the returned captive exiles, from a group of toilers, to a congregation of God, whose hope in Him withstood the lies and plots of the enemies around them. He came to Jerusalem "according to the good hand of his God upon Him, having prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7:8-10). This is the kind of hope that causes you to not only hear the Word, but to do it, and strengthens all around you to do likewise.
The third, fourth and fifth words meaning "hope" are found in the Book of Job. These are the most numerous occurrences of the different words meaning "Hope". Certainly, of what we know of Job's story, we can understand why God poured out the revelation of hope to him so thoroughly. He needed it. The three words of hope in this book are "Yachal, Kehsel, and Towkheleth". These three can be summarized as meaning to wait, hope, tarry, to wait in expectation, to be strengthened in the most inward parts: loins, kidneys, bowels, until it is a part of you. To wait, even if looking foolish and stupid to others who mock your hope.
The next two words for hope are found in the Book of Psalms, and how their meanings go to the heart of that book! The words are "Behtak and Saver". These words mean security, safety, without fear, to inspect, examine, wait for, dig out, explore, compare.
"How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments.
I will meditate on Your precepts,
and contemplate Your ways.
Open my eyes that I might see wondrous things from Your law."
                                                      Psalm 119
"I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in Whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
                                                      Psalm 18
The next word meaning "hope" appears in the Book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom. This is the word "Khasah", which means to seek refuge, flee for protection, confide in, hope in, even under extreme circumstances such as when dying. Unlike others, we have hope in the time to die, and we have hope when others have falsely proclaimed the time of death over us. This hope is the very wisdom of God.
"The wicked is banished in his wickedness,
but the righteous has a refuge (hope) in his death."
                                                       Proverbs 14:32
Our next word for hope appears in Ecclesiastes. This book, written by a world-weary King Solomon, having seen and done all in his life, still expresses the hope that comes from his confidence and trust in God. It is the word "Bittakhon". Its meaning is also expressed in these words:
"I know that whatever God does,
it shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
and nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him."
                                                      Eccl. 3:14
The next word "Ya ash" is found in Isaiah 57. It may sound strange, but it means despair, to be desperate, to be without hope, to be in vain. Isaiah is prophesying to those who have a false confidence, a false hope, relying upon their own wealth and strength instead of the true foundation of hope, which is God. They think God will continue to hold His peace, and this is where they have placed their "hope", which is not hope. He is speaking to those who trust in the world, which is passing away, rather than the One who is our source and our rescue.
The last two words for hope are "Mivtak" and "Makaseh", and both are first mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a prophet who cries and preaches for repentance to God's own people because he sees destruction coming. The people of God prefer to listen to the false prophets who tell them that all will be well. The false prophets tell the people that they can put their hope in the fact that they are the chosen people of God. They remain comfortable in their sins and idols. Jeremiah tries to tell them that their hope and confidence should not in their position, but in the One who is their trust, confidence and security, their refuge from the coming storm, and danger. He prophesies that even after the destruction and desolation comes, there will be a hope:
"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
"Thus says the LORD: Again there shall be heard in this place-of which you say,"It is desolate, without man and without beast"- in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who will say:
"Praise the LORD of hosts,
For the LORD is good,
And His mercy endures forever..."
                                                       Jeremiah 29:11, 33:10-11


Our Father is hope.


"Everlasting God (We Set our Hope)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_ofDL9BpE

"You Are My Hope"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_ofDL9BpE

"As the Deer"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_ofDL9BpE