Here’s HOPING You Will Understand

By Brother Michel Lankford

In the previous blog I touched on the idea of the differences between interpreting Scripture from the Greek Paradigm, and interpreting Scripture from the biblical Hebraic paradigm. As you will soon see, the, 'Mental Glasses' that we use to filter the biblical information we read can greatly impact what we believe that Scripture teaches, and what we believe that Scripture requires us to do as believers.


Have you ever found it curious how it is possible that two sincere believers in the same Bible, can read the same passage, and draw two distinctly opposite conclusions about what they think that passage requires us to believe or what the passage requires the believer to do? I mean you listen to the two arguments, and you wonder, do they really believe the same God? Do they really believe and try to follow the SAME Bible?

Yes, they may be truly sincere. Yes, they believe that the ‘God’ who revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush, is in fact the REAL and ONLY God. Yes, very often they believe in the SAME Savior, but their reading, their interpretation, their understanding, and how they respond to Scripture can be vastly different, based on the paradigm, or the internal filter that they are using when they are reading the Bible, and trying to learn what a passage means.

A paradigm is a set of widely accepted standardized rules about how something should be done, how something should be made, or how something should be thought about. These rules are generally so widely accepted as being true within a group or society, that they become internalized. They become automatic, or second nature, and these internalized accepted rules become the measuring stick by which all other truths or realities are measured.

Think of a paradigm as being a little bit like an operating system on a computer. The operating system is a core software program that affects how every other software program on your computer will function or operate. The same thing is true with our paradigm. It affects how you filter information, and how you will interpret and then use the information that you gather from reading Scripture.

Understanding Biblical vs. Pagan HOPE

While this can be difficult for some people to understand, it’s true nonetheless. Even though the Scriptures were translated into many different languages, almost every one of the biblical writers were raised, trained and educated as Hebrews. That means that they filtered, understood, interpreted and applied both their worldview, and the Scriptures through a HEBREW mindset. No matter how this may offend our Gentile pride, or traditional anti-Semitic tendencies, within western Christianity, that does not change the fact of the matter.

Most biblical writers interpreted reality, and wrote what the Creator inspired them to write from the Hebraic mindset and point of view. They were NOT writing with a Greek, Roman or Babylonian philosophical mindset or point of view in their hearts. They believed, lived and wrote as Hebrews.

Yes, they were anointed and led by the Holy Spirit, but still as Hebrews nonetheless. That’s how the majority of the Scriptures were written, even if some were later translated into Greek language for popular distribution.

They were still originally written from a Hebraic Biblical mindset, not a pagan philosophical one. Remembering this critical distinction is important because it can change our perception, and how we understand the Scriptures.

The reason this makes such a difference is when you encounter a key word or concept such as, HOPE, for example.

Hope from a Greek Paradigm

In our traditional Greek style of education, which originated from a Babylonian, Greek, Roman pagan Gentile anti-biblical origin, we tend to think of hope more in terms of a strong wish or passionate desire for something, instead of thinking about it in the way that the Bible describes what it means to hope.

In the pagan Gentile mindset; I want something really badly. My heart yearns for it deeply. I have a strong wish. I pray for, wish upon a star so to speak, therefore, I am said to have hope. Please understand that BIBLICALLY, when you see the word HOPE, the above picture is NOT what it means to have real HOPE. When you see the word HOPE in the Scriptures which were written with the biblical Hebraic mindset, the word picture is NOT of a passionate heartfelt wish upon a star. From a Greco-Roman philosophical filter or paradigm, it is entirely possible to have what is considered hope, and for the process to be ENTIRELY internal, emotional and theoretical.

• I YEARN for it deeply
•  I DESIRE for it greatly
• I WISH for it intensely
• I  may PRAY for it

Therefore, I am thought and said to ‘HOPE’ Regardless of whether or not my behavior actually changes.

Believe it or not, I actually heard a Christian testify once, “Oh yeah, I believe in Jesus and all like that, but that doesn't mean that it has to change the way I live, or anything?” He meant it. He was serious. I was HORRIFIED, because even I understood the implications of what he had actually said, and I barely had my paradigm screwed on straight at all.

Now, that person who shared their testimony video in our church, sincerely thought that he had hope and faith in the Messiah, but based on what HE SAID, there is NO WAY that he had any real HOPE and faith in Messiah at all – at least NOT Biblically speaking. He was clearly filtering his understanding of the concept of hope and belief  from a Greco-Roman philosophical paradigm. The guy may have been sincere, but he was entirely DECEIVING himself. That’s not being judgmental, it’s a FACT.

 

Hope from a Hebraic Paradigm

Biblical HOPE is NOT wishful thinking. From the biblical point of view, to HOPE has a completely different picture attached. In the Bible; to HOPE means to ACT based on CONFIDENT EXPECTATION of a promised or desired result.

It’s IMPOSSIBLE to “HOPE” without obeying what YHWH has said, because you are acting in expectation of receiving what He promised, and so you are preparing accordingly.

The picture is more of a bride expecting to be married, or of an expectant mother, expecting to deliver her baby.

When a bride is confidently expecting to be married, all kinds of preparations and actions take place, both for the wedding ceremony and for her upcoming life with her new Groom. She’s confidently expecting to be a wife, and she prepares herself for the enormous upcoming change in her life that this entails. The same holds true with the expectant mommy, who joyously makes countless preparations to get ready for her newborn. Biblically, this is what it means to hope for something.

 

Hope & the Bride of the Messiah

It’s NO accident that throughout the Second Writings, (‘The New Testament’), the body of believers is constantly referred to as the BRIDE of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit uses that context throughout the Scripture ON PURPOSE. How does an expectant bride who truly LOVES her betrothed behave? Does a faithfully engaged and betrothed woman go out and prostitute herself or choose to offer herself in the streets? Does she look up all of her old high school puppy loves, and does she seek to fornicate with each one of them one more time, before she marries her beloved bridegroom? Does a faithfully engaged woman defile her body and purposely disfigure her face in such a way that will bring disgust and revulsion to the bridegroom whom she supposedly loves and intends to live with forever? Would her future bridegroom and husband be honored with this? Is that the behavior of a faithful betrothed woman who expects to spend the rest of her life with a man she loves and is preparing to marry? On the contrary, that behavior is the OPPOSITE of someone who is HOPING or confidently expecting to marry.

The faithfully betrothed bride who is hoping and confidently expecting to marry does the extreme opposite of the behaviors just described above, doesn't she? If she loves her bridegroom, and she is joyously expecting to spend the rest of her life with Him, she will go out of her way to purify herself and to be ready for that relationship. The little black books of phone numbers and romantic pictures with the old boyfriends get burned. The future bride goes out of her way to make sure that there is absolutely nothing that could come between her and the beloved bridegroom that she intends to spend her life with. Her desire is to learn what delights Him, what pleases Him and what honors Him, and the faithfully betrothed woman wants to be that kind of person for her future bridegroom. She anticipates her new life with Him and joyously looks forward to it. She doesn't want to do anything or live in such a way that would ruin their relationship or future life together. That’s how a faithful bride who expects to be married and spend the rest of her life with her new beloved husband behaves. She is behaving according to her HOPE; according to the future results which she expects to receive. Please keep this CRITICAL picture in mind, because we will be using it again in future studies.

Let’s go back momentarily to the man who publicly testified that, “He BELIEVED in Jesus,” but it was not going to change how he lived or anything like that.” He was clearly understanding the word believe from the Greco-Roman philosophical paradigm, because from that filter or from that paradigm it is possible to think that you believe something, without that belief affecting how you behave or how you live. 

However, biblically speaking, if Messiah doesn't change how you live your life, then you are not ACTING with the CONFIDENT EXPECTATION of living with Messiah forever. He was not really HOPING in Messiah at all. If Jesus doesn't change how you live your life, then Messiah CANNOT possibly be your Lord and Savior.

In Hebraic thought, if you truly BELIEVE, then you will have to ACT accordingly. IF you DO NOT choose to act according to what Messiah says, then from the biblical point of view, you do NOT truly BELIEVE the Messiah.

So the guy in our witnessing example, professed to believe Jesus, and then immediately testified that he did not really believe Messiah at all.That's why I was SO aghast when I heard him say those words, because even then I understood the literal implications, of what he had actually said.

As it is written: 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NASB95)

So now the key question becomes, when Messiah said that we were required to believe in order to have eternal life, was He teaching the concept of believe from a Greco-Roman philosophical concept, or was he teaching that we should believe from a Biblical Hebraic mindset?

Well, setting all anti-semetic Greco-Roman bias aside, the real Messiah was born a Jew. In fact he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He thought, He believed, he lived, He preached, He taught, He died, He was resurrected as a Biblical Jew. Yes, the whole world can come to Him, and in faith be grafted in and saved through Him, but that does not change who He was, what He believed, or how he lived. Messiah was and is a Biblical Jew. That's just the way it is. So in all likelihood we know that when he preached the word BELIEVE, he meant it from a Hebraic concept, NOT a Greco-Roman philosophical one. If that's not enough for us, the CONTEXT of the chapter, verifies the point:

As it is written: 

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”” (John 3:36, NASB95)

So WHY does the wrath of God remain or abide on those who do NOT OBEY the Son? Because, from his Hebraic point of view,  it is IMPOSSIBLE to truthfully BELIEVE, and then NOT practice OBEYING the Son. If you believe, then your beliefs will cause you to OBEY Him. If you do not practice obeying, then you DON'T REALLY BELIEVE Him, Biblically speaking. 

KEY: The Paradigm or mental filter that we use when we read and interpret Scripture will greatly impact what we believe that Scripture is saying, and what we understand that Scripture is requiring us to do as believers. That is why it is critical that we do our best to define our key biblical terms, (such as e.g. believe, love, truth, etc.), in the same mindset that they were originally intended when YHWH or Messiah spoke the Words. Understanding the Scriptures through a Hebraic paradigm can be important, because we have a greater chance of interpreting Scripture in such a manner that is MUCH CLOSER to the way that they were originally given.

KEY: Do you truly, Biblically HOPE in Messiah? Do you truly, and confidently expect to be a member of the bride of the Messiah? If so, how are you preparing yourself to live in His household for all eternity? What are you doing to develop the attitudes, characteristics and behaviors of a faithful bride to the Messiah and Christ, which you are expecting to be someday soon? Remember, if your hope is not provoking you to action which is consistent with your future expectation, then you are actually WISHING. You are not really HOPING. There is a meaningful difference.

I have written this blog in sincere hope that you will understand.

Brother R Michel Lankford