The Hopeful Return of God’s People
by Chris Hendrix
Advent Devotional ~ Day 18
Read 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; Nehemiah 1
In our society today, a starvation of hope exists. In desperate attempts to find hope, people look within themselves, but only to discover that powerlessness and darkness are there. People look to politicians, governments, scientists, athletes, etc. for hope, but only to find that they fail, lie, cheat, and are morally bankrupt. People look to drugs, alcohol, working out, and food, but only to find that this leads to idolatry and the destruction of oneself. We see in the Scriptures that our society is not the first to struggle with hopelessness.
The people of Judah rebelled against the most Holy God. In God’s just nature, He Sovereignly ordained the Babylonians to take them captive as a result of Judah’s prideful and arrogant rejection of Yahweh. All seemed hopeless as the people of God were carried away into a foreign nation, and the City of David was destroyed along with the temple of God. Yet, hope was embedded on the pages of two prophets, Jeremiah and Isaiah. At the end of 2 Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra, we read that the Lord used a pagan King to fulfill His promises of hope. These promises come from Jeremiah 29:10, where Jeremiah specifically spells out that captivity would last 70 years, and Isaiah 44:28, where many years before King Cyrus is listed by name as the King who would make the proclamation for the Jews to return to the land.
As this prophecy was fulfilled, the Lord stirred the hearts of the people to move back to the land. A renewal of hope entered into the people as they returned to the promised land. This hope was founded upon the Lord’s Word, and ultimately His character. Because He is faithful and wholly committed to the covenant He made, He fulfilled His promises to His people. Yahweh is the only source of hope, and He is the One the people of Judah had to trust in and look to.
And this truth has not changed for us today. Our only hope is found in Jesus Christ. As William Gurnall penned, “Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called the rejoicing of hope.”
Reflection
This hope isn’t a conditional or uncertain idea, but it’s an unconditional and certain fact. That’s because it’s not based on us, our responses, or our faithfulness, but it’s based on God’s promises that He is sure to fulfill, just as the Jews experienced as they returned to their land. No matter what you are experiencing in this Christmas season, we have a hope that is founded upon Jesus Christ alone!
Application questions
1. How does a Christian’s understanding of hope differ from the world’s view of hope?
2. How can we impact the local community, the city, the country, and the world we live in with this truth of hope?
3. If we are promised by God this hope, then why do we so easily find hope in other things?