It was on this day, in 1907, that the Zionist Congress adopted the song, HaTikvah or “The Hope” as the official Zionist anthem. Today, this song is the national anthem of the state of Israel. As a nation, Israel has been well acquainted with the concept of hope. The Psalmist said:

“Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and forever.” (Psalm 131:3)

From the start, Israel has always faced overwhelming circumstances that they’ve had to overcome in order to survive. So for the nation to adopt this song as its national anthem is apropos because, for centuries, it looked as if there couldn’t possibly be a state of Israel. But against all odds, that impossibility became a reality in 1948. With God, nothing is impossible.

In discussing this, we need to consider that Israel is not limited to ethnicity because Israel, biblically speaking, is a people of faith. In other words, if we are in Messiah, we are considered as being part of this family called Israel — we have been grafted in. Consequently, we must also be acquainted with hope because it’s an integral part of our redemption. Paul addressed this in the book of Romans:

“For we are saved in hope. But hope that is seen is not hope; for what anyone sees, why does he also hope for it? But if we hope for that which we do not see, then we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24:25)

Put simply, hope must be present in our lives when the fullness of the promise is not. Furthermore, faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1) and we know that without faith it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). And so, when we hope for what we do not see, it manifests as faith because faith is the substance of those things that hoped for, which in this particular case, is the promise of redemption. Even when we can not see the fruition of the promise, we have hope that one day it will be a reality. As believers, we have not realized the fulness of the promise of redemption and, therefore, we wait and we hope:

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He shall be revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope on Him purifies himself, even as that One is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)

Because we have confidence that He will be faithful to His promise and that we will see Him, we continue to hope and that hope provokes us to purify ourselves. Purification is necessary if we hope to be received into the presence of a Holy God. And so all of these concepts work together to transform us into what we have been called to be. It will all come to fruition in the day that we see Him face to face. So whatever we’re facing, today, we must hope because, without hope, what is there? If there is no hope, there is no faith and without faith, we can’t please Him. Without the hope of redemption, there is no provocation to purify ourselves. So, let’s hope. Let’s hold onto our faith and believe, because one day everything we have hoped for will become a reality when we see Him as He is. 

Shalom.