Hope in the Old Testament
Let us journey through the pages of the Hebrew Bible to explore the theme of the jubilee year we are about to begin: hope
To understand this fundamental attitude of our human life, present since the dawn of time, the first thing we need to do is … to clean up what we believe it to be.
“Wait and hope...” is one of our most common sayings and, normally, it signifies a renegade and defeated attitude, as if to say that it is typical of people who do not want to get busy, who wait (in vain) for help to come to them from somewhere. “Wait and hope…” nothing will come anyway! This interpretation of ours, also typical of societies that have erased God from their horizon, is clearly not what the Bible presents us with.
The path of hope
The Bible is human history, a history of human experience accumulated over the centuries, then passed through the test of time and, often, shared by various cultures, then expanded into human space on every continent. But it is at the same time divine history, the history of a God who did not stay in the heavens to watch, but wanted to mingle with humanity, “groaning with his bowels of mercy,” compatising, intervening, helping human beings in the concrete of their existences. Even in sacred texts, therefore, hope is colored by many nuances. Let us look at some of them.
One of the oldest texts is from the book of Psalms, which, although composed in later times, reflects very traditional, ancient ideas underlying the religiosity and faith of the Israelite believer:
“Remember the Word given to your servant; with it you have given me hope,” the psalmist prays (Psalm 119:49).
The verb used (yahal) in other texts is precisely synonymous with “waiting,” but a waiting full of confidence, a waiting confident that what is expected will come, certainly! The prayer of this text, then, is very clear: the object of waiting, of hope is precisely the Word of God. He with His Word creates new situations, certainly He will bring to pass what He promised!
This is an expression typical of an “oral” society, where the given word had more guarantees than our PEC of today. A handshake and the given word were tantamount to a fine and good contract, which could not be broken, on pain of losing face, losing the trust of the entire human society, no one could ever again be trusted to do business or enter into any contract with a person who does not keep what he says! The distance to our world, where what is said is said and contradicted with extreme ease, could not be greater.
However, even at that time it was known that human words are not as stable and sure as divine words: the Word par excellence, the Word of God, is stable, faithful, sure. Yet these texts remind us of a fundamental truth, which remains so even if we deny it: even human words create new situations. Although fragile, our human word carries enormous weight! We can speak from the heart words of love that create bonds that last a lifetime, we can assure with our word an eternal friendship, a being that will never fail. Here is the first hope-certainty.
For so many human beings, delusion is placing hope in one’s own good deeds, in one’s own knowing how to behave well: “Is not your fear of God your confidence? And is not the integrity of your life your hope?” (Job 4:6). Job’s friends, who rushed to comfort him in his sorrows, repeat a commonplace, so common and well-known even in our day. Instead of leaning on the Word of God, one places one’s hope-certainty in one’s own goodness of life: I do nothing wrong, I respect my neighbor, I keep the commandments … I’m all right! It is the illusion that it is enough to clean “the outside of the cup” (Matthew 23) without caring about the essentials: what makes us pure or impure comes from within, from our heart. What comes out of our thoughts, projects, makes our lives pure (i.e. whole, blissful, full of meaning).
The prophets often highlighted this illusion with different nuances. Rather than in their own (supposed) good behavior, many believers have often been drawn throughout history into placing their hope in their own capital (Lamentations 3:18), in armies (Ezekiel 37:11), in horses (today’s tanks), in political alliances with strong allies (Egypt or Babylon). The king’s adviser, the esteemed court prophet Isaiah often returns to the theme, inviting – instead – trust in God. For the Lord saves not by powerful armies or allies, but by humble and simple means: “For to him who is united with all other living things there is hope: it is better a dog lives than a lion dies” (Qoelet 9:4). Hence our saying, “As long as there is life, there is hope.”
In the book of Wisdom
The book of Wisdom, rereading the story from its origins, recalls at the tragic moment when the whole earth was being submerged again by the waters, all human hope in the world was placed in a small raft, the small boat with which Noah saved the life and future of humanity from the universal Flood. From there, life restarted for all (Wisdom 14:6). Great teaching still for our time: even when it seems that evil floods the whole world like a great flood, there is always hope that some human being will create a space in which to defend life, in which life is possible, an Ark in which life floats and overcomes the death of the waters.
It is the same book that, reflecting on so many aspects of our human life, addresses the Lord, saying, “You have filled your children with hope, for you grant conversion after their sinning” (Wisdom 12:19).
Sinfulness, our mistakes, errors in judgment, weaknesses are not the last word on us.
The Lord always gives the opportunity to “change our mindset” (metanoia), to rise up from our falls, to have a new heart, as he says elsewhere in the sacred texts. Our certainty (= hope) is that human sin is not stronger than divine mercy, ever!
Again here, we find another wonderful text, in which he reflects on what often haunts our lives as well: the wicked prosper and nothing seems to bother them, while those who try to do good are tormented, persecuted, suffering: “The lives of the righteous are in God’s hands. […] They are in peace. Though in the eyes of men they seem chastened, their hope is full of immortality” (Wisdom 3:2-4). Wonderful meditation on our fragile human existence. Often what we see is appearance (illusion, Buddhism would say), a kind of mirage, similar to the optical effects to which the human eye is subject in the desert. But the reality of things, the truth of ourselves, is another. The apparent defeat of the world’s many poor, the little ones, the helpless, the martyrs is transformed into a victory song, full of immortal hope.
Even the book of Maccabees, written in a time of fierce persecution, in a time of struggle for one’s faith, even in the face of martyrdom the hope of being resurrected remained alive and strong (2Maccabees 7:14). Fear, violence, and attempts to overpower and bully believers never remove from their hearts the hope “that He will use mercy on us and gather us together again” (2Maccabees 2:18).
Conclusion
These texts from the Old Testament have briefly shown us that in the experience of humanity condensed in human time and space in the books of the Bible, there is always the possibility of choice for human beings. One can choose to live captive to fear, adverse circumstances, and anxieties, allowing oneself to be carried away by the majority, or one can build in one’s heart a space of light, of hope in God, a space in which He Himself comes to dwell, bringing — through us — love and peace to the whole world.
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