The concept of Hope is a key pillar upon which all faith (trusting loyalty) is established. Without Hope it is impossible to exercise our faith in the real world. In our Western culture Hope is usually looked upon as wishful thinking.
We hear elaborate sermons on positive thinking and what to say when you talk to yourself, but these psychological concepts fall far short of understanding the scriptural concept of Hope (Tiqvah or qavah).
To an Israelite the exercising of hope (qavah) means to to wait, look for, hope, or expect. In other words HOPE is an expectation, but it is not a baseless expectation or wishful thought. IT IS AN EXPECTATION BASED ON A PROMISE.
Without a knowledge and understanding of the promises of God we having nothing to base our hope (expectation) on. When we exercise hope in God and his word we engage in actions of trust based on his promises. In other words we do not just sit back and think positively on an idea with no basis or engage in random wishful thinking.
To exercise HOPE we must search the word of God for the promises he has made to us and the Fathers and then go forth in the expectation that God will fulfill his promises. Just as the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was the expected end or HOPE of the Torah and the Prophets so too is our HOPE based on the promises given in his word.
So let's put the formula together:
"Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me the fountain of all righteousness." (Ether 12:28)
Faith (loyalty to God) + HOPE (expectation based on his promises) + Charity (Tzedekah - which we will cover in the next post) = the fountain of all righteousness.
So to boil it all down HOPE is an expectation that I have based on a promise given from God in his word! Without the promise, we do not know what to expect and are left in maze of positive thinking and wishful thinking! Shalom.
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