Advent Study #1 – Hope
Scriptures of Hope
And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Genesis 28:13-15)
Comment
God gives us the promises of land, progeny (children and family), God’s presence, and the Messiah (our Savior, Jesus). 
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11: 1-12)
Comment
Characteristics of the Messiah:
- Spirit-given wisdom
- Power
- Knowledge
- Awe-inspired respect
- Righteousness
- Judgment
He will establish Peace on Earth, so “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain”. He will spread the knowledge of God throughout the Earth and all people will be filled with God. He will recover the remnant of the faithful from all parts of the earth.
Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.
The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.
And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.
And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.
And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.
Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. (Acts 13:16-24)
Comment
Paul rehearsing the recapture of the Promised Land by the Children of Israel, four centuries after they abandoned it. The promise of the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus, the God/man.
Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. (The Revelation 22:7)
Comment
Jesus promised to return.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (The Revelation 22:20-21)
Comment
The earnest cry for the return of our LORD.
Questions of Hope
What do these passages have in common?
Answer: they all are looking forward to Christ’s Coming, either the first time or the second, or both. That is the sure and certain hope of every believer!
What gives you hope?
Answer: Jesus confirmed he is faithful with numerous infallible proofs. His confirmations are daily, if we just look with our spiritual perception, instead of our material perception.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:1-13)
Are the promises in scripture ever a discouragement to you?
Answer: No!
If so how do you resolve the problem?
Answer: Because Despite the reality that I will never measure up to God’s promises, He, in love, has freely given the promises to me – not from my deserving, but through His election.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:14-17)
These last couple of verses in the Bible express a longing for Jesus to come again. What does this say to you?
Answer: Maranatha! Even so LORD Jesus come quickly? I am eager to be fully in my Messiah’s presence, and in the presence of my heavenly Father, and in the Presence of the Holy Spirit (in the way we can never be in our material state).
Reflection Question:
Because the future is unknown and we cannot control it, what gives you hope?
Answer: My hope is in nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
… for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.”
“But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-10 & 13)
