Also in the comment section of On Hold # 3, I mentioned that the “slippery hope” made me think of the scripture in Matthew 11:12. Thinking and researching this connection brings us to another definition of “hold”
(noun) :the area below the deck of a ship in which cargo is carried.
One of my favorite book series is the C. S. Forrester Hornblower series. From these delightful stories and few others I learned many things concerning human nature, but also almost all I know about the cargo hold of a ship, especially a sailing ship. It is important to have cargo, in the first place…a merchant ship without cargo is losing money, and a navy ship without cargo of food, water and ammunition is no good to anybody and certainly not for military pursuits. A ship without cargo must be handled differently than a ship with cargo in its hold. A ship with no cargo floats much lighter and higher in the water—which mostly is not a good thing. A ship can have too much cargo, and then she wallows around in the water and is difficult to handle, putting her crew in danger.
In addition, there must be a record of what is stored in the hold. Not only for the convenience of the crew, but also for the inspectors at the various ports.
Lastly, cargo of any kind must be stored correctly. The load must be balanced between the sides and ends of the ship.
Which is where this post actually begins. Because when studying scripture there are certain rules that have been developed over the years for studying any historical manuscript to ascertain its validity as well as for understanding what the author intended to communicate. And for scripture, there are even more rigorous rules and a few that apply only to scripture itself. Without these rules, the content (ahem, “cargo”) of scripture will not be loaded correctly, and the ship of our faith could be easily sunk. Ignoring these principles of interpretation could lead to jettisoning all the cargo and becoming spiritually bankrupt, or it could lead to overloading or unbalanced loading, causing shipwreck or even sinking of our faith entirely.
These rules are called “hermeneutics”. One of the basic rules of hermeneutics is that scripture must define itself wherever possible. Scripture interprets scripture.
As I meditated upon the concept of hope being “slippery”, i.e., something we are exhorted in scripture to hold fast to, it occurred to me that I needed to understand what scripture means when it uses the word “hope”. If I’m going to be holding onto it, I’d better know what it looks like, don’t you think?
We use the word hope a lot. We hope the Cowboys win, we hope it doesn’t rain on our parade, we hope the new research will offer hope to millions of sufferers, and we hope Mom and Dad change their minds about the curfew. We know what “hope” means when we use it in these contexts. But does it mean the same thing when we encounter it in scripture?
My trusty Logos 4 to the rescue! I began to search. At first I focused on the phrase “the confession of our hope”…that is the phrase in Hebrews 10:24, the scripture after which this blog is named. I wanted to know what “confession” of our “hope” was being referenced. Eventually it became necessary to break the phrase down further, so I focused on “hope”.
If you own a Bible dictionary, you may have discovered that reading it can be a serious devotional practice in its own right. Below is a prime example of this! Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words has this to say about the word translated as “hope” in scripture:
elpis (ἐλπίς, 1680), in the NT, “favorable and confident expectation” (contrast the Sept. in Isa. 28:19, “an evil hope”). It has to do with the unseen and the future, Rom. 8:24, 25. “Hope” describes (a) the happy anticipation of good (the most frequent significance), e.g., Titus 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:21; (b) the ground upon which “hope” is based, Acts 16:19; Col. 1:27, “Christ in you the hope of glory”; (c) the object upon which the “hope” is fixed, e.g., 1 Tim. 1:1.
Various phrases are used with the word “hope,” in Paul’s epistles and speeches: (1) Acts 23:6, “the hope and resurrection of the dead”; this has been regarded as a hendiadys (one by means of two), i.e., the “hope” of the resurrection; but the kai, “and,” is epexegetic, defining the “hope,” namely, the resurrection; (2) Acts 26:6, 7, “the hope of the promise (i.e., the fulfillment of the promise) made unto the fathers”; (3) Gal. 5:5, “the hope of righteousness”; i.e., the believer’s complete conformity to God’s will, at the coming of Christ; (4) Col. 1:23, “the hope of the Gospel,” i.e., the “hope” of the fulfillment of all the promises presented in the gospel; cf. 1:5; (5) Rom. 5:2, “(the) hope of the glory of God,” i.e., as in Titus 2:13, “the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”; cf. Col. 1:27; (6) 1 Thess. 5:8, “the hope of salvation,” i.e., of the rapture of believers, to take place at the opening of the Parousia of Christ; (7) Eph. 1:18, “the hope of His (God’s) calling,” i.e., the prospect before those who respond to His call in the gospel; (8) Eph. 4:4, “the hope of your calling,” the same as (7), but regarded from the point of view of the called; (9) Titus 1:2, and 3:7, “the hope of eternal life,” i.e., the full manifestation and realization of that life which is already the believer’s possession; (10) Acts 28:20, “the hope of Israel,” i.e., the expectation of the coming of the Messiah. See Notes on Galatians by Hogg and Vine, pp. 248, 249.
In Eph. 1:18; 2:12 and 4:4, the “hope” is objective. The objective and subjective use of the word need to be distinguished, in Rom. 15:4, e.g., the use is subjective.
In the NT three adjectives are descriptive of “hope”: “good,” 2 Thess. 2:16; “blessed,” Titus 2:13; “living,” 1 Pet. 1:3. To these may be added Heb. 7:19, “a better hope,” i.e., additional to the commandment, which became disannulled (v. 18), a hope centered in a new priesthood.
In Rom. 15:13 God is spoken of as “the God of hope,” i.e., He is the author, not the subject, of it. “Hope” is a factor in salvation, Rom. 8:24; it finds its expression in endurance under trial, which is the effect of waiting for the coming of Christ, 1 Thess. 1:3; it is “an anchor of the soul,” staying it amidst the storms of this life, Heb. 6:18, 19; it is a purifying power, “every one that hath this hope set on Him (Christ) purifieth himself, even as He is pure,” 1 John 3:3, RV (the apostle John’s one mention of “hope”).
The phrase “fullness of hope,” Heb. 6:11, RV, expresses the completeness of its activity in the soul; cf. “fullness of faith,” 10:22, and “of understanding,” Col. 2:2 (RV, marg.).
I have highlighted the second paragraph as particularly helpful, as well as the reference to something of seaworthy note.
To summarize, then, “hope” as used in scripture is “the favorable and confident expectation of an as-yet-unrealized future of resurrection, conformity to Christ’s righteousness, and eternal dwelling in God’s Presence because of Christ’s work on the cross”.
Stay with me here, now—I’m going to make a bit of a leap. Hang tight! Here we go…
When was the last time you heard a sermon on Heaven and what it is going to be like, Christian? When was the last time you wondered about that future hope and went to scripture to see if it answered your question? How much time do you spend pondering Heaven, or resurrection, or what it will be like to never want to sin again?
I’ve heard many objections to any mention of time spent pondering our future as Christians. The most annoying one being “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good!” And yet we are exhorted by scripture to be very heavenly minded, and that being so will make us fruitful as Christians.
Thinky Things
Christian, have you loaded your hold with a good understanding of the favorable and confident expectation of your as-yet-unrealized future? Is it stacked and balanced properly with good hermeneutics? Are you prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within you (I Peter 3:15)? This would be somewhat contiguous to having our “waybill”—the record of what is stored in our cargo hold. Our waybill is the "confession" of the hope that is within us. Are you holding fast to that waybill? Do you know what's in your hold?
A great resource for restocking your “hold” with hope of heaven is the book by Randy Alcorn titled Heaven.
A great resource to understand more about hermeneutics is the dvd titled “Herman Who?” by Todd Friel.
Until next time…HOLD FAST
Excellent work!
ReplyDeleteWhenever people tell me that someone is too heavenly minded to be any earthly good I remind them that the Bible tells us to "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Col 3:2).
I do have one question though. Is hermenutics the art of interpretation by girls? If so, then for a boy to do it wouldn't it be himenuetics.... :)
*anchors tongue in cheek* Pastor Way...we are NOT gender neutral here, like the TNIV--I suppose they would call the interpretation that THEY do "neuterneutics". Sounds just as silly as it, in actual fact, is. *removes tongue from cheek as giggle escapes*.
ReplyDeleteSetting our minds on things above in earlier seasons of my life always meant to me that we should think of better things (like being nice, and not saying bad words, and putting priority on others) rather than thinking about Heaven. But one can see from the context (another of those oh-so-helpful HERmeneutics rules) that it doesn't mean that at all, since it excludes thinking about "things on earth".
Have you read Alcorn's book?
I only take issue with one of your examples of things that we hope for. I never have--and never will--hope that the Cowboys will win...unless a Cowboy victory will help the Texans in their playoff hopes. :p
ReplyDeleteAn excellent post and a wise reminder, Esther. Thank you!
Shema;
ReplyDeleteSee...that's how much I know about sports. The Cowboys are the only team I know the name of, so that's what I had to use in my post. Please feel free to insert your favorite sports team in that sentence, lol!
Amen! It is so easy for me to forget that our hope is something so much bigger even than the hope of "being better Christians" here. That 'slippery' thing again.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what a fantastic image of a ship's hold, honestly, I don't check my cargo enough to make sure it's all in the right place and the right stuff. Praise God that He's the one truly in charge and teaching me all the time how to!