Have you noticed that there is a lot to unpack when it comes to hope? It is more than just a dream or desire, and we can make a deeper part of our lives. Having looked at expectation, patient longing and corded/attached hope, we talk about miqveh hope.
miqveh
miqveh is used translated as “hope” 4 times in the Old Testament (KJV), and is also translated as:
- linen yarn (4); gathering together (1); pool (1); plenty (1); abiding (1)
Examples
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.
(Ezra 10:2 ESV)O you hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
(Jeremiah 14:8 ESV)O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.
(Jeremiah 17:13 ESV)
Meaning
miqveh is rooted in the word qavah, and would literally be translated as confidence.
In the ESV, “hope” is found 6 times in the book of Jeremiah. Half of these use this word, miqveh, and are the majority of its use as hope. In each case it is in reference to God, who is the hope of Israel.
We spoke this morning about misplacing our hope. We have the ability to choose in what or whom we will place our trust. It could be our family, our workplace, ourselves, our God. For Jeremiah, the only true confidence for Israel was God.
God used Jeremiah to speak to the nation of Judah (the southern tribes of Israel) that they would suffer destruction if they didn’t turn from their evil ways. Before Jeremiah’s eyes, all of the earthly confidences we hold on to crumbled. The king and was taken as a permanent guest in Babylon, replaced with a brother of the king who would later see his own sons killed and have his eyes put out before being dragged off to Babylon himself. The Temple of God, the place of His presence on this earth, after having its prized decorations given as tribute, was later pillaged and torn down. The people scattered or were taken as slaves.
When the world came crashing down, it was obvious to Jeremiah that the only true confidence in this world is God Almighty.
Chris MacKinnon 