Question:
Please explain Proverbs 11:7. What kind of hope is it?
Answer:
Genuine faith is founded upon God’s Word, and genuine hope rests upon His promises. Hope is more than desire; it is desire joined with the expectation that what is desired will be received.
The hope of the righteous is the expectation of good in harmony with God’s will and character. The wicked may also hope for good—even for blessings that God has promised—but without surrendering to the righteous conditions upon which those promises are based.
God reproved the false prophets for strengthening “the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life” (Ezekiel 13:22). Their assurances encouraged sinners to expect life while continuing in sin.
This is the hope of the unjust: an expectation that can never be fulfilled because it is separated from repentance, righteousness, and God Himself. When the wicked die, that hope perishes, for God was never the foundation of it.
