I Knew I Forgot Something

 Ever have one of those projects where it seems way too easy? I don't do "topical" Bible studies because I find them way too much work. The level of detail I like to sift makes a topic truly massive. I finally decided, since I knew it was so foundational to so much of our life with our Savior, to study "hope". So, on top of a topic already being a big task because it's topical, I picked a huge topic. Not my brightest moment.

The method I use to study a topic is by doing a word-study. Since what I was after was how we, as disciples of Jesus, should understand hope, I sought the Greek word for hope, elpis for the noun, and elpidzo for the verb. Sounds easy, right? It should have been easier than it was because I started wrong. I didn't notice this until pretty far into the process.

Since my understanding was for the first believer's perspective, I would need to use both their Scriptures and the writings of the apostles. Since most of the writings of the apostles which survived were written to disciples outside of the region of Palestine, the Scriptures they used was the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Septuagint. On the one hand that makes it easier because I'm looking for the same Greek word in both places. On the other hand, that makes it more difficult because now I need to search two versions of the same Scriptures. I just didn't realize that at first.

I had worked all the way through the Septuagint use of the Greek word for hope, and started in on the Christian Scriptures when I discovered I had done the search wrong, and missed many places in the Hebrew Scriptures where hope was used. My findings were now off, and I hoped they were not too far off. But they were. I had more to learn, and I wanted to be done with this particular pursuit. That is sort of where I am now. 

Maybe you've been down this same trail, or a different wrong trail, only to discover all you have reached is the scenic overlook of the place you were trying to reach, not the place itself. If so, I have some hope for you that I'm grasping for myself:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 NASB)

The end of this particular journey isn't a better understanding of hope, the end of the journey is the very throne of our Creator in His heaven. I want a better understanding of hope. What my Master is giving me is a better understanding of Him, how He works, and where He is leading me. Sometimes the overlook reached by accident is actually the view that provides the vital context to better understand the destination. 

For those of you who pushed through the boring part at the beginning, I hope you were encouraged by the ending. Enjoy the view!

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation