BibleProject Podcast

Episode: Hope: Waiting, Stretching, and Trusting

Date: December 1, 2025
Hosts: Tim, John, Dylan, Tyler

Overview

This episode kicks off a special Advent series on the four themes of the season: hope, peace, joy, and love. Focusing on "hope," the hosts dig deep into the biblical origins and nuances of hope in Scripture, its difference from mere optimism, its connection to waiting and tension, and the purpose underlying seasons of anticipation. Through Hebrew word studies, biblical stories, and thoughtful reflections, the discussion explores how hope in the Bible is less about passive wishing and more about an active, expectant tension rooted in God's promises—even (and especially) in times of uncertainty.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Advent and Hope: Setting the Stage

• [00:24] Tim: Advent marks the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, focusing on virtues of patient waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise—the coming of the Messiah.
• The four themes discussed over four weeks: hope, peace, joy, and love.

2. Hebrew Words for Hope: 'Yahal' and 'Kavah'

A. Yahal: Waiting with Expectation

• First occurrence: Noah waiting for floodwaters to recede (Genesis).

  • [03:36] Tim: "The word here is yahal…This is one of the main Hebrew words that gets translated as hope. But the first time it appears, it…Very clearly just means wait."

• Nuance:

  • Not just the act of waiting, but waiting for something specific—God's action, deliverance, or promise.
  • The waiting often involves emotional investment and the outcome deeply affects the heart.

• Proverbs 13:12 Example:

  • "Tokhelet (derived from yahal) deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."
  • [05:41] John: "Desire fulfilled is a tree of life. The point of the tree of life is…to participate in God's life."

• Application:

  • Waiting without fulfillment leads to heart sickness; ultimate fulfillment is found in union with God.

B. Kavah: The Tension of Hope

• Etymology:
  • Derived from "kav," a cord that is stretched tight—implying tense anticipation.
  • [17:06] Tim: "So you kava, you cord…It's a state of tension to anticipate."
  • [17:25] John: "To be a cord pulled tight."
• Biblical Imagery:
  • Isaiah 5: God expects (kavah) good grapes from his vineyard, but receives wild grapes—his hope was in the outcome.
  • Psalm 25: "Indeed, none who kavah for you should be put to shame."
• Insight:
  • Kavah expresses not just waiting, but an active, almost straining anticipation—hope as lived tension.

3. Hope as Generative, Not Just Passive

• [19:00] John: "The cord has a purpose, and the purpose cannot be achieved until it's stretched. So…to live into your purpose, you need to be stretched."
• Gregory of Nyssa’s ‘Epectasis’
  • [20:30] Tim: "He thinks of the new creation as just an infinity…He calls it the epictasis, the internal stretching out of the human soul."
  • In life with God, fulfillment is endless; for every satisfaction, a new "horizon" opens up—eternal hope is an infinite pursuit, not stagnation.
  • [22:32] Tim: "It's…a feature, not a bug…that desire creates in us, that hope drives us onward…when you find the One who is infinite moreness, then…you've got a sweet existence."

4. Hope vs. Optimism

• [24:36] John/Tim:
  • Optimism is based on positive circumstances or trends.
  • Hope, biblically, is not rooted in visible circumstance but in trust in God—often in the face of difficult or impossible situations.
  • [24:48] Tim: "Hope…is something the biblical authors want us to sustain regardless of the circumstances. Or actually in the face of…opposite circumstances."
• Psalm 33: Don't put hope in armies or horses (military power), but in Yahweh's loyal love.

5. Learning to Hope for the Right Things

• Proverbs and Psalms teach us to redirect our hopes from unreliable objects or outcomes to God Himself.
  • [26:13] Tim: "It's teaching us to separate our real hopes from any of the objects or experiences that we tend to put our hope in…"

6. Advent: Embracing the Stretch

• The season is about actively residing in the tension of anticipation, learning to appreciate the stretching and waiting as purposeful.
  • [27:02] Tim: "There's purpose in that waiting, in that anticipation. So the first week of Advent is about anticipating, waiting…being stretched as we wait for the arrival of God with us."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |-----------|-------|---------| | [03:41] | "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." | Proverb cited by Tim | | [17:06] | "So you kava, you cord…It's a state of tension to anticipate." | Tim | | [17:25] | "To be a cord pulled tight." | John | | [19:00] | "The cord has a purpose, and the purpose cannot be achieved until it's stretched. So embedded in this metaphor is the idea…in order to live into your purpose, you need to be stretched." | John | | [20:30] | "He calls it the epictasis, the internal stretching out of the human soul…for God to be God…we'll never know the full depth…yet every step forward…will simultaneously satisfy us, but then make us realize there's another horizon." | Tim (about Gregory of Nyssa) | | [24:48] | "Hope…is something the biblical authors want us to sustain regardless of the circumstances. Or actually in the face of…opposite circumstances." | Tim | | [27:12] | "Being stretched as we wait for the arrival of God with us. God and human united as one in the true human, the true king and Messiah. And he's the one in whom we can place our hope." | Tim |

Staff Reflection: Living in the Tension of Hope

[28:06–31:02]

• Tyler interviews Dylan, BibleProject designer, on hope:
  • Hope is more than optimism; it’s choosing to live in the tension between the present and ultimate restoration.
  • The Israelites in the desert are an example—waiting can stretch through an entire lifetime, but God's small provisions give reminders of hope.
  • Dylan finds hope in noticing simple things—birds, moments of God's delight—as reminders of His care.
  • [29:24] Dylan: "God's past faithfulness motivates us for the future…I slow down long enough to go, okay, why am I putting energy into all that stuff versus just resting in a God who wants the best for me…"
  • Hope must be shared to persist—sharing the energy of hope propagates it, rooted in God as its ultimate source.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:06–01:08 — Introduction to Advent and themes
• 01:08–07:19 — Exploring 'Yahal' (waiting/hope) in Genesis, 1 Samuel, Proverbs
• 07:43–10:46 — Hope in the Psalms; God's loyal love as the ultimate hope
• 10:46–19:02 — 'Kavah' and hope as tension; cord metaphor
• 19:02–22:53 — The purpose of being stretched; Gregory of Nyssa’s idea of infinite longing and fulfillment
• 24:18–27:47 — The difference between optimism and hope; hoping in God versus circumstance
• 28:06–31:02 — Staff reflection—Dylan’s personal take on hope and living in tension

Conclusion

Hope in the Bible is not wishful thinking or mere optimism; it's rooted in an active, sometimes uncomfortable tension—waiting on God’s promises, being stretched, and learning to find meaning and energy in the anticipation itself. The Advent season invites us into this waiting, teaching us to redirect our hopes toward God and to share hope as a community, confident that the stretching itself is part of God's generative purpose for us.