The Hope of the Bible

What is our Hope?

The hope of the Bible is what Paul the Apostle calls the “Hope of Israel” in Acts 28:20. It is this hope that the gospel preached by Jesus is based on. Israel is God’s chosen people, and all who would be chosen by God, and “saved”, must become associated with the Hope of Israel through Jesus Christ.

What is the Gospel?

The gospel is the good news, or glad tidings, of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. This is the grand message of the Bible. All things written in scripture are based on this one underlying theme of God’s plan and purpose with the earth.

Mark 1:14-15 … Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying ‘The time is fulfilled’, and ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel.’

Matt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, ‘Repent: for the Kingdom of the Heavens is at hand.’

Matt 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Acts 8:12 … when they believed Philip preaching (literally, “gospelizing” or “evangelizing“) the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Acts 19:8 And he (Paul) went into the synagogues, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of God.

Acts 28:30,31 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes (the gospel); to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

What is the Kingdom of God?

It is a dominion established on earth which will overthrow all existing kingdoms, supersede them, and last for a thousand years. Its capital will be Mount Zion in Jerusalem; its subjects will be mainly the people of Israel, and all the nations that will be united with Israel; its king and ruler will be Jesus of Nazareth with his brethren as the princes underneath him.

Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Dan 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded: and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Luke 1:31-33 And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Rev 20:4-5 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: … and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

The Gospel based upon the Promises
Made to Abraham and David

The promises made to Abraham and his seed give the land of Canaan to Jesus by inheritance. The promises made to David give Jesus the throne and kingship over the nation of Israel. These promises have not been fulfilled yet.

Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying ‘In thee shall all nations be blessed.’

Gen 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Gen 12:7 Unto thy seed will I give this land:

Gen 13:15-17 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, ‘And to seeds’, as of many [seeds]; but as of one [seed], ‘And to thy seed,’ which is Christ.

Gen 15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.

Gen 17:2,4-8 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. … As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be thier God.

Gen 18:18 … Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Gen 22:16 ‘By myself have I sworn,’ saith the Lord, ‘for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.’

(Same promises made to Isaac and Jacob, Gen 26:3-4; 28:13-14.)

2 Sam 7:12-16 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity (or, Being caused to bow down [die] for iniquity), I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. (See also 1 Chron 17.)

(2 Sam 23 and Psalm 89 confirm this promise. See also Luke 1:31-33, 55, 69, 73; Acts 2:30, 13:23, 32-33; Rom 1:1-4 for applications to Jesus as the promised seed.)

In proof that the “Hope of Israel” and the “Gospel of the Kingdom of God” are one and the same, Paul the Apostle says:

Acts 23:6 … of the hope and resurrection from the dead I am called in question.

Acts 26:6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.

Acts 28:20,23 … because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. … And when they had appointed a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the Kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.

How do we obtain the salvation spoken of in the Bible? A person must understand and believe the promises made of God. Then, he must “put on” the name of Christ in order to become an heir of those promises, by being baptized into Christ. In this way, a person’s sins are forgiven, or righteousness is imputed to them. A believer thus justified, or accounted righteous, who also walks in newness of life, will in the Kingdom Age inherit eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:38 Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Gal 3:26-29 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek [gentile], there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Rom 2:6-7, 10 God will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life … Glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good …

Rom 5:18-21 … That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

THE COMPLETE AND FINAL RESTORATION
OF THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL
BY THE POWER OF CHRIST, THEIR COMING SAVIOR
as testified by the prophets and apostles

Jesus testifies to this full restoration of the twelve tribes of Israel under a new Hebrew Commonwealth. And much of the prophetic writings give testimony to the complete restoration in beautiful terms. Though token restoration has been made in ages past, yet nothing of the magnitude of the full restoration of all tribes has yet taken place; this being reserved for the true King of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth, to accomplish.

Matthew 19:28 Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the Regeneration (the New Beginning, or Creation) when the Son of Man shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Acts 3:19-21 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the Times of Refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the Heaven must receive until the Times of Restitution (or, Restoration) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

The basic outline of the prophetic word is that the nation of Israel will come under a final oppression by a fierce king, but will be saved from destruction by the return of Christ. The power of the king and his armies, consisting of many nations, will be “broken to pieces”, and the Lord Jesus will then set up his throne in Zion and gather all Israelites from the countries they have been scattered to. He will then institute the worship of the Heavenly Father and build a sizeable temple, which will be called “the House of Prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 2:1-5; 56:7; Zechariah 6:13; Joel 2-3; Ezekiel 38-39; Revelation 16:14,16; 19:11-21). At that time, the promise made to Abraham and David will be fulfilled.

The following are but a sample of the verses in the prophets which describe the final and complete restoration of the nation of Israel:

Isaiah 65:17-25; Jeremiah 31:31-40; 32:36-44; 33:7-26; Ezekiel 20:33-44; 36:21-38; 37:1-28; Hosea 1:10-11; 2:14-23; 3:5; Amos 9:8-15; Obadiah 17-21; Micah 4:1-8,10,13; 5:2-15; 7:14-20; Zephaniah 3:11-20; Zechariah 1:12-21; 2:4-7,10,12; 8:2-8,11-15,20-23; 9:8,9,12-17; 10:3-12; 12:6-10.