The protagonist in the Book of Job went through many trials but through them, Job shows us how to define our hope.  This is a Bible study teaching for “Hope Defined” on Job 14:1-14 from the “Explore the Bible” series from Lifeway.

Today is the second lesson in our new series on Job, and the title is “Hope Defined.” So what is your definition of hope?  We’re going to get into Job, but before we do, I’d like you to think about your own definition of what hope is to you. If you have a pen and paper, write it down and we’re going to discuss it in a little bit.

the book of Job

About the Book of Job

I think I mentioned the last time I taught that I’ve been doing Bible studies online and I’m actually going through Job right now, I didn’t know that it was on the schedule for Second’s lesson. But what is interesting is that it’s not just Second or just Baptists that are doing Bible study and sermon series on Job … a lot of people are: Catholics, Pentecostals. There is a big focus on Job right now.

Maybe you’re thinking, “well of course, we’ve been in the middle of a pandemic for a year.” It may just be that, but I think it’s significant that the Holy Spirit seems to be directing focus to this particular book at this particular time.

the problem of evil

So what is the book of Job about? Boiled down to the very core, the Book of Job is about the Problem of Evil, which asks the question, If God is good, why is there evil? Or why do bad things happen to good people? That sums up the entire book of Job doesn’t it?

A little bit about what the book of Job is and how it fits in the Bible. This is something that we teach to our third graders and that I learned from my co-teacher, Joanne Knight.

structure of the bible

There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. An easy way to remember this is 3 times 9 is 27.

sections of the Old Testament

The Old Testament is made up of 5 parts or sections, types of books, and there are only two numbers you need to remember 5 and 12.

  • There are five books of Law
  • Twelve books of history
  • Five books of wisdom and poetry
  • Five major prophets
  • Five minor prophets.

the five books of wisdom and poetry in the bible

The major prophets aren’t more important, they are just longer. Now Job is the first book in the section of wisdom and poetry: Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

age of the book of job

Job is the very oldest book in the Bible. That is why in 2019 when we went through the One Year Chronological Bible we went from Genesis and the flood, to Job, and then back to Abraham. Most scholars date Job about the time of the patriarchs, or 2300 BC, but there is debate about that.

The Hebrew Bible is not the only place where this sort of discussion can be found. We have fragments of two other works from about the same time. One is “A Dialogue Between a Man and His God” which is Akkadian and “A Man and His God” which is Sumerian. In both of them the writer is asking the same question that is examined in Job, “Why are bad things happening to me.”

why does God allow bad things to happen to Good people

We don’t know who wrote the Book of Job or if what we have is it’s original form, but here is one thing I’d like you to remember. The oldest book of the Bible, our first inspired book in the Word of God, is about the problem of evil. It is an apologetic work that starts the Bible off.

Because, if you talk to skeptics and unbelievers, often you will find that it is the problem of evil that is a block to faith in God. They will ask, “How can a good God allow this to happen.” Have you ever heard anyone say this?

Most of the time, it is said in a spirit of pride as if their standards of right and idea of what should happen give them standing to challenge God. They also often seem to have this idea that the only reason Christians believe in God is because this question has never occurred to them before. Which is absurd, because not only have Christians been discussing and writing on this topic for 2,000 years, not only did the Jews before that, but the oldest book in the Bible addresses that very topic.

structure of the book of job

Structure of the Book of Job

The book of Job has 42 chapters broken into three main parts, a prologue that is a narrative, poetry, and an epilogue that is again a narrative.

chiastic structure of the book of job

It’s in what is known as a “chiastic” structure which is “A literary device that presents a series of ideas or forms and then repeats them in the opposite order.[1]

definition of hope

What is Hope?

Let’s go back to the word hope and what it means.  So what is your definition of hope?

The dictionary gives three definitions of the word “hope,” two nouns and one verb. The first is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” The second is “a feeling of trust.” Hope as a verb is to “want something to happen or be the case.”

hebrew words for hope

But in Hebrew, there are seven different words that are translated into hope in the Bible. I came across an article on “Hope in the Hebrew Bible” by a theologian named Cherice Bock.[2]

  • בָּטַח (batach): trust, with a secondary meaning of hope
  • חָסָה (chasah): refuge, shelter, trust in for safety and protection
  • יָאַשׁ (ya’ash): despair, no hope
  • יָחַל (yachal): wait, hope, patient waiting, longing, so far disappointing but still hoping and waiting
  • בֶּסֶל (basal): the loins, trusting or hoping with the confidence of the place where a man’s strength comes from
  • קָוָה (qawah): “to hope strongly; to stretch out the mind in a straight direction towards an object of hope or expectation” (222); includes תִּקְוָה and מִקְוָה.
  • שָׂבַר (sabar): look for expectantly, hope for

Job and his three friends

Lead Up

Now that we’ve gone through what hope means, let’s go back to Job. This is chapter 14. Going back to our outline of Job, we see that we have been told how Job lost it all, his friend come to comfort him. In chapter 3, Job expresses his despair … he is in the dark night of the soul. Then his friends begin a conversation with him. Chapter 14 is Job’s response after that first round of conversations.

I’m not going to read chapter 3 right now, but maybe later today when you have some time, read chapter three and compare it with chapter 14 and notice the difference in Job’s perspective. So let’s read chapter 14.

Job 14

“How frail is humanity!

How short is life, how full of trouble!

2 We blossom like a flower and then wither.

Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.

3 Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature

and demand an accounting from me?

4 Who can bring purity out of an impure person?

No one!

5 You have decided the length of our lives.

You know how many months we will live,

and we are not given a minute longer.

6 So leave us alone and let us rest!

We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.

 

7 “Even a tree has more hope!

If it is cut down, it will sprout again

and grow new branches.

8 Though its roots have grown old in the earth

and its stump decays,

9 at the scent of water it will bud

and sprout again like a new seedling.

 

10 “But when people die, their strength is gone.

They breathe their last, and then where are they?

11 As water evaporates from a lake

and a river disappears in drought,

12 people are laid to rest and do not rise again.

Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up

nor be roused from their sleep.

 

13 “I wish you would hide me in the grave

and forget me there until your anger has passed.

But mark your calendar to think of me again!

14 Can the dead live again?

    If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,

    and I would eagerly await the release of death.

15 You would call and I would answer,

and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.

16 For then you would guard my steps,

instead of watching for my sins.

17 My sins would be sealed in a pouch,

and you would cover my guilt.

 

18 “But instead, as mountains fall and crumble

and as rocks fall from a cliff,

19 as water wears away the stones

and floods wash away the soil,

so you destroy people’s hope.

20 You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene.

You disfigure them in death and send them away.

21 They never know if their children grow up in honor

or sink to insignificance.

22 They suffer painfully;

their life is full of trouble.”

resurrection mornig

Hope in the Resurrection

There are a couple of things that we are going to look at here. When you take time to read chapter three, I think what will stand out to you is Job’s complete lack of hope. His focus is on the calamities that have befallen him. After this first round of discussions with his friends, his focus has begun to shift outward. He is still focusing on immediate troubles, but he says “Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death.”

Job is saying that knowing that this life is not the end would give him hope.

definition of tiqvah hebrew word for hope

Hope Defined

The other thing we are going to look at is the “hope” that job is talking about. Remember we learned that there are seven different words for “hope” in Hebrew?

In verse 7, Job says.

7 “Even a tree has more hope!

If it is cut down, it will sprout again

and grow new branches.

This is the word Tikvah.

תִּקְוָה tiqvâh, tik-vaw’; from H6960; (compare H6961) literally a cord (as an attachment); figuratively, expectancy:—expectation(-ted), hope, live, thing that I long for

definition of yachal hebrew word for hope

In verse 14, Job says

14 Can the dead live again?

    If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,

    and I would eagerly await the release of death.

This is a different word, it is yawchal

יָחַל yâchal, yaw-chal’; a primitive root; to wait; by implication, to be patient, hope:—(cause to, have, make to) hope, be pained, stay, tarry, trust, wait..

The last use of hope in the passage is in verse 19, is again tikvah. This is where Job says

18 “But instead, as mountains fall and crumble

and as rocks fall from a cliff,

19 as water wears away the stones

and floods wash away the soil,

so you destroy people’s hope.

Sounds a little depressing doesn’t it? But let’s look again at what that word means.

tiqvâh, tik-vaw’; from H6960; (compare H6961) literally a cord (as an attachment); figuratively, expectancy:—expectation(-ted), hope, live, thing that I long for

The thing that stands out to me about this definition is that the literal meaning is that of a cord, an attachment. This is the key of this passage. Job is saying that his attachments to the things that happen to him in this life bring him discouragement, but if he knew there was something more, he would have hope.

We have to learn to trust in God, to let go of the attachments and believe in him for his good. End. Sometimes, God does have to remove those “hopes” or attachments for us to be able to do that.

where is our hope

Believing for the Beyond

This is commentary from the study guide this week that I thought was good

The key words in verse 7 are hope and sprout. Even after it is cut down, there is hope for the tree to sprout again. There is hope for renewal and new life for a tree even after it appears to be dead.

In spite of the fact that a tree is old, its roots are buried deep in the earth, and its stump is dying, the scent of water gives it hope. Just the smallest amount of water is able to make all the difference.[3]

The commentator also points out

But a person marks the sharp contrast between Job’s observations of a tree and a human being. The irony is in Job’s word choice for person in Hebrew. Instead of using the typical words ish or adam, he used the word geber, which is associated with the idea of being “strong” or “might.” The irony is that a strong person could lay low a tree with an axe, yet the tree will survive while the person who was able to cut it down will fade away. The strength of every person will be laid low. Job emphasized this truth with the question, where is he?[4]

A Future Hope

Losing hope in the future saps strength in the present. So if we are grounded in ourselves and focused on ourselves? How can we possibly have hope? But when we put our hope in God and trust in his plan, knowing that he is God, all powerful, and all just, how can we have anything but hope?

This is a quote from that article about hope on Cherice Bock’s site.

This is a much deeper and richer understanding of hope than can be found when looking at hope simply as goal creation, as Snyder and others do when looking at hope from an individual psychological perspective. When we recognize a hope that goes beyond our personal lifetime and that is mediated by a broader vision than our own comfort or current level of life satisfaction, we are able to draw on a vast and deep well of experience, communal vision, and purpose than we can when we only have our own life experiences and past successes and failures upon which to base our hopes. This communal understanding of hope allows us to continue working for justice and righteousness even when we despair of that hope manifesting fully in our lifetime.[5]

When we see so many discouraging things around us, this is what we have to remember. What we are working towards. I just read a book about Donaldina Cameron, who was an abolitionist working to free Chinese women and girls from slavery in San Franscisco in the 1900’s. I didn’t until I read this book.

story of donaldina cameron fierce compassion book review

Did you know about that? She fought not only for them but for change. The change came, but it took decades. . But my main takeaway is that change may be slow, but change comes. We just have to remember who we’re working for and who we have our hope in.

2 Corinthians 4

5 You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

Psalm 42:11

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and my God!

Psalm 42:11

Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again—

my Savior and my God!


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12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. Hebrews 12:12-13

12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. Hebrews 12:12-13

Hebrews 12:12-13

So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.


This Bible lesson was originally taught by Carla Alvarez on June 13, 2021 in the Kingdom Citizen Bible study Class at the Second Baptist North campus in Kingwood, Texas.


Endnotes

[1] http://www.bible.literarystructure.info/bible/18_Job_e_1.html

[2] Cherice Bock, “‘Hope’ in the Hebrew Bible,” Cherice Bock, March 12, 2016, accessed June 13, 2021, https://chericebock.com/2016/03/12/hope-in-the-hebrew-bible/.

[3] “Hope Defined: Job 14:1-14,” in Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide (Nashville, TN:Lifeway Christian Resources. 2021), 23.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Cherice Bock, “‘Hope’ in the Hebrew Bible,” Cherice Bock, March 12, 2016, accessed June 13, 2021, https://chericebock.com/2016/03/12/hope-in-the-hebrew-bible/.