Hope vs. Optimism

Advent E1 — Over the next four weeks, we’ll be exploring the four key words associated with the Advent season: hope, peace, joy, and love, starting with hope. The Hebrew words often translated as “hope,” yakhal and qavah, are rooted in images of waiting and being stretched, like a cord pulled tight. From Noah waiting for the flood waters to recede, to Israel longing for God’s loyal love, to Jesus followers ultimate hope in the new creation, the Bible presents hope as an active trust in God’s character. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore how the biblical story reframes hope as active waiting, a practice that keeps us moving toward God’s promises.

FULL SHOW NOTES

For chapter-by-chapter notes including summaries, referenced Scriptures, biblical words, and reflection questions, check out the full show notes for this episode.

CHAPTERS

1. Yakhal, a Waiting Hope (0:00–11:26)
2. Qavah, a Stretching Hope (11:26–24:10)
3. Biblical Hope vs. Optimism (24:10–27:47)
4. Reflections on Hope With Dylan (27:47-32:50)

OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

View this episode’s official transcript.

REFERENCED RESOURCES

• The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner
• The Life of Moses and Homilies on the Song of Songs by Gregory of Nyssa
• The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
• Yakhal / Hope: Though not referenced directly in the episode, this 2017 video explores the same biblical words, yakhal and qavah.
• Check out Tim’s extensive collection of recommended books here.

SHOW MUSIC

• “Home For Christmas” by Lofi Sunday & Cassidy Godwin
• “That Gospel ft. Bobcat” by Lofi Sunday
• “Snowflakes” by Aves
• BibleProject theme song by TENTS 

SHOW CREDITS

Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who also edited today’s episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie. Special thanks to our guest Dylan Menges. 

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