We could not function in this life without imagination. Webster’s dictionary defines imagination as “1a) the act or power of forming mental images of what is not actually present b) the act or power of creating mental images of what has never been actually experienced, or of creating new images or ideas by combining previous experiences; creative power.” We may never have thought of it but we actually think in mental images or mental pictures. If I say “dog” you don’t see d-o-g in your mind but you picture an actual dog. Perhaps if you own a dog the picture in your mind will be of that dog. I can affect the image you “see” in your mind by supplying various adjectives, such as a “ black dog,” or a “ mean , black dog.” If someone asks us how to get to some familiar location we can “see” the streets, traffic signals, etc. that one must travel down and through.
The Bible has a great deal to say about imagination. One of the first places is in Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This was before the great flood was brought upon the earth. Over a few more chapters we read another account, at the building of the tower of Babel. Genesis 11:6, “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”
The Hebrew word used in Gen. 6:5 is yetser, Strong’s number H3336. His definition is, “From H3335; a form; figuratively conception (that is, purpose): - frame, thing framed, imagination, mind, work.” Interestingly we use this in our language frequently, we speaking of conceiving an idea. This is what God was saying here in Gen. 6:5, “thoughts of the heart was only evil.” The thoughts, the imagination in the mind was conceiving wrong ideas, leading to wrong and evil actions.
Most of us are familiar with the statement James makes which bears this out. James 1:15, “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” One commentator, John Gill, has this to say, “...he admits of it, receives it, and cherishes it in his mind; he dallies and plays with it; he dwells upon it in his thoughts, and hides it under his tongue, and in his heart, as a sweet morsel, and forsakes it not, but contrives ways and means how to bring it about; and this is lust’s conceiving.”
In Genesis 11:6 where we read “imagined” there is another Hebrew word used, zamam, #H2161. The definition of this word is, “A primitive root; to plan, usually in a bad sense - consider, devise, imagine, plot, purpose, think (evil).”
There is another Hebrew word used a number of times that is translated “imagination.” It is shriyruth, Strong’s number H8307. The definition given is “From H8324 in the sense of twisted, that is, firm; obstinacy: - imagination, lust..”
A common denominator seems to be with all of these Hebrew words used and translated “imagination” or “imagined” is that they are all negative. They are used with the adjective “evil” or used within the context of evil and wrong ideas or thinking. In the New Testament there is a Greek word that is usually translated as “mind” or “understanding” but is translated “imagination” one time, and it is used there also in a negative sense. That passage is Luke 1:51, “He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.”
One begins to wonder, does the Bible speak of imagination in a positive way? Yes, it does, very powerfully but it uses a different word, one that we don’t always grasp. And, that word is “hope.” When we think of hope most likely we think of 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” So, hope is one of the “big three” that Paul speaks of. And, he helps us understand what hope truly is in Romans 8:24-25. “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” In other words, hope is “seeing” in our mind, in our heart, something that can’t be seen with the natural eye.
Another very well known Scripture is found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” As we proceed we will look a bit more at the relationship between faith and hope.
The Greek word translated “hope” is elpizo, Strong’s number G1679. Here is the definition, “From G1680; to expect or confide; - (have, thing) hope (-d) (for), trust.” It really is more than just expecting or trusting, although those aspects are very important. It truly is imagining in a positive way what we are desiring and seeking by faith.
Faith can be and is defined in many ways, but I believe in the context we are addressing it is acquired by hearing, reading, the Word and believing it to be The Word of God, who can not lie. (Rom. 10:17) We then can begin to hope, have a positive imagination, for what the Word says. Keep in mind the definition we read for imagination, conception. We begin to conceive in a positive way our receiving what we are believing for by faith.
Romans 10:17 referenced above speaks of how we obtain faith, but how do we get and build hope? Let us look at Scriptures that address how we obtain hope. First let us jump ahead in the book of Romans from where Paul instructed us about obtaining faith and he tells us how we get hope. Romans 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Hope also comes from reading and hearing what the Scriptures tell us.
Psalm119 is the longest Psalm in the Bible and David covers a lot in that particular Psalm. And, one of those things is concerning acquiring hope. Let us notice 4 specific verses. Verse 49, “Remember the Word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.” Verse 81, “My soul fainteth for salvation: but I hope in thy Word.” Verse 114, “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy Word.” Verse 116. “Uphold me according unto thy Word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.” And, if you search the book of Psalms you will find that David writes and speaks of hope in many of his Psalms. We obtain hope by reading and seeing how God has kept His Word, how He has brought about what He has promised and proclaimed. We build our positive imagination as we read and study these accounts.
It appears there is another step involved in building and acquiring our hope, and that is meditation. God instructed Joshua to meditate in His law day and night, Joshua 1:8. David speaks often in the Psalms of meditation. Psalm 1 and verse 2 he says “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” The Hebrew word used in both of these verses is hagh, Strong’s number H1897. Notice the definition, “A primitive root (compare H1901); to murmur (in pleasure or anger); by implication to ponder: - imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar, X sore, speak, study, talk, utter.” We see that the definition includes imagining. Brown, Driver and Briggs adds a bit. “1) to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise plot, speak.”
A second word translated “meditate” is sayach, Strong’s #H7878. The definition is similar to H1897 above. “A primitive root; to ponder, that is (by implication) converse (with oneself, and hence aloud) or (transitively) utter: - commune, complain, declare, meditation, muse, pray, speak, talk (with)” Brown, Driver and Briggs says, “to put forth, meditate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing.”
The Greek word translated “meditate” means much the same. It is meletao, Strong’s # G3191. “From a presumed derivative of G3199; to take care of, that is (by implication) resolve in the mind: - imagine, (pre-) meditate.”
We looked at the verses in Psalm 119 that David spoke of hope. He also speaks of meditation, the connection I believe is very significant. Let us look at 5 verses from Psalm 119. Verse 15, “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.” Verse 23, “Princes also did sit and speak against me, but thy servant did meditate in they statutes.” Verse 48. “My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.” Verse 78, “Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.” And, verse 148, “Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy Word.”
I believe David acquired hope from God’s Word and as he meditated on that Word His hope grew and was strengthened. How does this work? Let us take an example. 1 Peter 2:24 says, speaking of Jesus, “by whose stripes ye were healed.” We can believe this statement. It is the inspired Word of God. We have faith that His Word is true and that it means what it says, we were healed. We now begin to study the Word, seeing all of the many healings that Jesus and the first century apostles performed. Our hope begins to grow, we can see in our imagination our healing. But, to really build that hope we need to meditate on those accounts of healing, seeing in our minds eye, in our imagination, ourselves being healed. We won’t receive with only faith, believing Peter’s statement that we were healed. We need to see ourselves healed, we need to picture it in our mind’s eye, in our imagination. We need to spend time reading the positive Scriptures and placing ourselves there through meditation.
And, then there is one other thing we need and we read that earlier. But, let us review again Rom. 8:24-25. “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Did you catch that? “We with patience wait for it.”
And, just what is patience? I often thought of it as gritting my teeth and enduring until something happened. That is not what we are being told. Notice the definition of hupomone, used here, from Strong’s. “from G5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: - enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).” The Biblical patience is something that we should be very cheerful and hopeful of. If we have truly studied the Word and had our hope built up, meditated on all of those items and have seen ourselves in those passages we can wait with excitement, can do so cheerfully and remain hopeful.
Hope and patience are very much connected and interwoven. Review again the verses we read from Romans 15. Verses 4 and 5, “...that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience, and consolation grant you to be like minded toward another according to Christ Jesus.” God grants us patience as we read and meditate on His Word.
So, again to review. We get faith from hearing and reading the Word. We come to know and understand what God has for us. We study to see how He has performed those and similar things for others. We meditate on those examples, picturing ourselves in the situation, seeing what we are believing for coming to pass, to manifest, in our lives. And, we then wait, cheerfully with a very thankful and positive expectancy. Again, Rom. 8:25, “then do we with patience wait for it.”
Garry D. Pifer
1/30/19
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