This week’s topic is one that I was positive we had covered before. I searched and searched to make sure I added a “Part 2” to the title if needed, but couldn’t find where we talked about it. We have definitely discussed hope many many times as a part of other topics, but have not had a dedicated look at it as of yet. Perhaps it just wasn’t the right time!
As mentioned last week, I have been studying and researching eschatology topics for quite some time now. I’ve joined groups centered around various aspects, beliefs and interpretations of eschatology, and subsequently left some of those groups for various reasons. The main reason being I determined that the views of those groups did not match up with what I had found in scripture.
There is a common statement among most eschatology groups that people make to sort of calm people down and provide perspective when emotions run high: “eschatology is not a salvation issue.” While I agree with this statement on its face, there is an underlying aspect of what we believe eschatologically that actually is important for us as followers of Yeshua. It’s not necessarily a matter of what we believe about end times that determines our salvation, but a matter of what those beliefs mean as far as how we live, think and act in our lives. And as we find time and time again in scripture, how we live and what’s in our heart matters very much in terms of our salvation.
As a reminder of this fact, we only need to look to Yeshua’s teachings for its proof. He stated that even some of those who act in His name will not enter His kingdom because their heart wasn’t right so they didn’t listen to the will of YHWH (Matthew 7:21-22). He preached that those that didn’t care for others would go into everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:31-46). He listed a whole bunch of characteristics people should have and live by which would result in heavenly rewards (Matthew 5:1-12).
So, how does that relate to our beliefs about the end times? I mentioned last week that there are subsets in certain overarching end times beliefs that have resulted based on small decisions people have made regarding what certain words and phrases mean in scripture. I learned that one of those subsets includes a belief that the whole of scripture was meant for, and directed to, only those considered Israelites based on descent, to include a belief that Yeshua only came as an atonement for the sins of those people.
Now, I have not determined if the people that believe these things are actually serious or if they are “internet trolls.” Either way, they need our prayer, because they’re either Christians severely deluded by evil or they entertain themselves by legitimately arguing absurd points (I mean, they’re using verses in scripture and everything). However, if it is the former, you can probably see how a belief like this can affect how a Christian would act in their day to day life.
Their basis for Yeshua only dying for Israel’s sins is due to the fact that Israel was the only group of people that were given YHWH’s commandments. Therefore, in their view, Israel was the only group of people that were actually sinful and needed atonement for it, because they have associated the term "law of sin and death" only with the violation of the commandments given to Moses and the associated consequence of that violation. When asked, their view is that rather than Adam being the father of all mankind (which would mean his sin affected all mankind), he was only the father of the nation of Israel (meaning that first sinful act in the garden was only imputed on Israel), and that view is based on one verse (Isaiah 43:27).
As ridiculous as this belief might seem to us, there was a series of small decisions these believers made that led them to it. From a decision to believe that all of scripture has been fulfilled, to a decision that if that’s true a certain phrase means the same thing throughout all scripture to figuratively represent something, to a decision that if that’s true the account of creation is a figurative representation of the origins of the Mosaic covenant, etc., they have wound up walking the path to foolishness rather than the path to wisdom and truth. And effectively, they have decided themselves out of YHWH being the God of all creation and into YHWH being only the God of Israel.
You may be saying to yourself, “wait, I thought this week was about hope, not a second installment of decisions!” That’s right, it is! Just take a moment to think about what that “Israel Only” view means to those who believe it. First off, none of scripture is intended to have any relation or mean anything to you if you’re not a descendent of Israel (and because we have no record of who is actually one of these descendants at this point, that means no one even knows if scripture should mean anything to them). Second, if scripture is not related to us in the least, that means all statements of entering the kingdom of heaven, being blessed and rewarded there, and receiving eternal life, are not applicable to us. So, what is there to hope for?!
One of the most well used verses in scripture on this topic is where Peter states that believers should always be prepared to provide a reason for their hope (1 Peter 3:15). Have you ever looked at the context of this statement? Everything Peter is talking about in this passage is about suffering, and right before he says this he’s talking about suffering for doing what is right (1 Peter 3:14)!
If the whole Bible had nothing to do with you, and you were going through suffering for doing something that was right, would you hope for a salvation from that suffering? Would you hope for relief from the attacks of evil that you experience? Would you hope for simply a rest from what the world has become in terms of what you have to do in it just to live without struggling? No, because you'd have nothing on which to base that hope.
And to bring it back to how we act in this life, if you had no hope for any of those things, how would you then look at others in the world? Would you care for those you don’t know? Would you help those in need? Would you even choose to suffer for what is right, or would you just decide it’s not worth it and do what’s wrong?
Hope is an interesting thing, because in the realm of the intangible, it’s something that’s even more intangible. When you think about emotions, and their intangibility, you can see that there are tangible, external factors that lead to those emotions. Someone wrongs you, so you get angry. Someone does something nice for you without you asking, so you’re happy. The emotion itself is intangible, but the event or action that caused it is tangible.
Hope is about believing, wanting something to be true, without knowing if it is, or if it ever will be. I could hope for something tangible to happen to me like being blessed with something I needed or even just for a meeting or interview to go well, but it very well could be that none of those things ever happen. Regardless of if it happens though, up and to the point at which the thing should have happened, the hope of it happening drives our thoughts, our actions, and our emotions.
The word hope appears 143 times in the New King James Version of the Bible. A little under half of those occur in the New Testament, where the majority of verses referring to Yeshua’s salvation exist and of course verses where believers fit into end times. What we believe, how we interpret these verses, has an enormous impact on how we live our life, and subsequently whether or not we will be a sheep or a goat at the end.
We saw in our study of Romans that Paul mentioned hope a lot. In every case, he refers to a hope that originates from YHWH, whether it be from one of His promises to a father like Abraham or His promises to us about what is to come and what He showed through His Son Yeshua. In fact, hope is a huge theme throughout Paul’s writings, and even Peter and John mention it in some of their writings.
One of the more interesting statements Paul makes about hope is that before being in Yeshua, the Gentiles didn’t have hope (Ephesians 2:12-13). He’s not referring to just any hope of course, because we see elsewhere that there were non-believers that had hope (Acts 16:19). This hope was in material things though, like being successful and powerful in life, and gaining monetary wealth.
Paul was referring to meaningful hope. A hope that in the future there is something beyond this life. A hope that life is not just about living and then you die. An eternal hope that is the opposite of this temporary, physical life. One in which we can actually live in harmony and love with each other rather than fighting or trying to get ahead of each other. A place where we can live with our YHWH and Yeshua, so that we can know that they are with us instead of having to rely on faith.
Hope is necessary and important for us as believers, and as surprising as it may sound, our end times beliefs play a part in our hope in addition to with our beliefs based on the rest of scripture. Hope helps us live the way Yeshua taught to live, and helps us to obey Him and YHWH, even when the world would try to convince us to do otherwise. Without hope in YHWH and His promises, anything we would choose to live for is fleeting and meaningless, because His hope is in something eternal.
What is your hope in? And what is your basis for that hope? As a believer, it is essential for us to ask ourselves these questions, study His Word and talk with Him to find the answers, and live our lives according to what that hope means for us.
We hope you have a wonderful week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!
-Rob and Sara Gene
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