What Happened to the Tikvah?
As the coordinator for the Tikvah Team, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry’s volunteer network, I am grateful to be in the business of bringing hope. The Hebrew word tikvah means “hope,” and the Tikvah Team’s tagline is “Small Acts, Huge Hope.”
Scripture uses the word hope much differently than we do today. I can say, “I hope the Cubs win the World Series”; but this “hope” is really only a wish or a desire. Biblical hope is far more than a wish; it’s an eager expectation and assurance of good things to come.
The Scriptures speak of a “blessed hope.” The apostle Paul wrote that the grace of God teaches us to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Ti. 2:12–13).
Many Christians understand Paul’s exhortation to live soberly, righteously, and godly. But what of the hope that involves the eager expectation and assurance of Christ’s return?
Hope Neglected
I distinctly remember a conversation I shared many years ago while enjoying lunch with godly, spiritually mature friends. Our discussion sparked my thoughts about the Rapture—the future event when Christ “will descend from heaven” and believers in Christ “who are alive and remain shall be caught up [Latin, rapturo] . . . to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Th. 4:16–17).
When I mentioned my excitement for the Rapture, their responses stunned me. They thought “hoping” for the Rapture was selfish and believed we shouldn’t focus on wanting to leave this world but instead on making a difference in it. They said it was lazy to desire to “get out” of the trials that life on Earth brings.
I was dumbfounded. The only biblical response I could muster was to remind them of the “crown of righteousness” the Lord has promised to all who look for His coming (2 Tim. 4:8). This reference seemed lost on them. It seems that we still tend to make life all about ourselves when we do good works. Many believers apparently think the righteousness associated with this crown becomes our own responsibility, as we seem to be more zealous to work for Christ than to be with Him. From the beginning of the Bible to the end, its major theme is Christ’s Kingdom glory.
Unfortunately, five misguided mindsets about the hope of Christ’s return prevail among many Christians:
1. “I don’t think about it at all.”
2. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
3. “There’s too much controversy surrounding end-times events.”
4. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
5. “I want to experience many things on Earth before He returns.”
Our Blessed Hope lies in the fact that Jesus one day will gather His church to Himself. We will be blessed beyond measure when we see Christ. Yet, this truth often escapes 21st-century Christians who can be wildly exuberant over all the “Kingdom work” they do with minimal thought for the glorious return of the King Himself.
I remember growing up in church singing many hymns about Christ’s reappearing—“When We All Get to Heaven,” “Face to Face With Christ My Savior,” “Christ Returneth,” and “What If It Were Today?” But in recent decades, the Rapture has disappeared from most sermons and worship services.
Why Don’t Christians Talk About the Rapture?
One reason for this departure is the relative ease in which some Christians—particularly Americans—live. We are so comfortable in our own homes, planning remodels, looking for the next great place to vacation, and launching our kids into successful careers, that we leave little time to think about, much less hope for, a place we’ve never been. The term Maranatha (the early Christians’ greeting to one another, meaning “our Lord come”) only surfaces when trials mount. But this look heavenward quickly fades when those hardships cease.
Another reason Christians no longer talk much about Christ’s return is because they hold to Replacement Theology, which allegorizes Scripture, rather than taking it literally. The allegorical approach strips the Bible of many absolute truths by claiming the words mean something other than what they actually say. Replacement Theology also falsely teaches that God has cast Israel aside permanently and replaced it with the church. When Christians believe God is finished with Israel and that every promise in the Bible now belongs to them, Scripture’s meaning becomes extremely blurred.
There are also Christians who believe the church will endure the future Great Tribulation before the Lord returns. (It’s no wonder they aren’t looking forward to His coming.) They deny Christ will remove the church via the Rapture before that seven-year time of worldwide horror, wondering, Why should we be spared from the Tribulation?
Here are three important purposes of this future Tribulation that explain why the Lord first will gather His church to Himself:
1. To discipline Israel. The prophet Jeremiah called this seven-year period “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), indicating that this chastening is meant for Israel, whom God has upbraided for centuries for its disobedience and waywardness. By the end of these seven years, two-thirds of Israel will have perished (Zech. 13:8); but then, “a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (v. 1). Clearly, these passages refer not to the church but to Israel.
2. To bring about a great revival. The result will be that “the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations” (Mt. 24:14). At this time, 144,000 Jewish men will evangelize every tribe, tongue, and nation; and multitudes will come to God through faith in Israel’s Messiah (Rev. 7:4, 9–14).
3. To punish the wicked. God’s judgment will fall on those (Jewish and Gentile) who hardened their hearts and refused to “believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Th. 2:12). God’s justice demands punishment for their wicked hearts that are only evil continually (Isa. 26:21; Jer. 25:30–32). And even as God’s wrath is poured out on the earth and unbelieving mankind, people will continue to curse Him and reject Him (Rev. 16:9, 11, 21).
Looking for the Blessed Hope
The church, Christ’s bride, is not destined to go through the Tribulation. That time is reserved for unbelievers. Jesus’ return for His bride is imminent—and it will be awesome.
We will hear “the voice of the archangel” and “the trumpet of God,” and “the dead in Christ will rise” from their graves to be joined with their souls in resurrected bodies (1 Th. 4:16). Believers still living on Earth also will receive resurrected bodies and meet the Lord in the air to be with Him forever. I can hardly read this passage in Scripture without getting choked up with emotion.
How should this Blessed Hope of Christ’s any-moment return affect us? The apostle John wrote, “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as [Jesus] is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3). John emphasized that the tikvah, the hope of Christ’s coming—not our works—purifies us.
Jesus’ imminent return should motivate us to live godly in an ungodly world. As Paul instructed Titus (Ti. 2:13), we should be “looking” for this Blessed Hope, living each day in continual anticipation and expectancy, earnestly believing that Jesus could come at any second. This hope glorifies God (1 Cor. 10:31).
So, where is the tikvah today? It’s in the hearts of believers who know and understand God’s Word, who take what He has said literally, not allegorically. It’s in the occasional expectant glance toward the sky, or in hearing a distant trumpet and wondering if it’s the one promised long ago.
Let’s start pounding out those old hymns on the pianos of our churches again and sing with the gleam of eternity in our eyes in glorious anticipation of meeting our Savior Jesus Christ in the air, “and thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Th. 4:17).
