“Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee.” Zechariah 9:12
This verse was written by Zechariah to the Jews who had just returned from Babylonian captivity. Since they had just returned, were they not free? From the world’s point of view the situation the Jews faced at that time was pretty hopeless, since their city was in ruins. They were an impoverished people, yet God calls them “prisoners of hope”.
The returned exiles thought themselves to be the prisoners of circumstance, but God gave them something to hope for. He promised deliverance from their seemingly hopeless situation if they would diligently obey His voice. They seemed hopeless and helpless from the world’s point of view, but they were “prisoners of hope” from God’s perspective. They were promised double if they would hold on with hope to the promise that God had given them.
How can you be a prisoner of hope?
Hope means: a confident and eager expectation of something good, while prisoner means: a person that is deprived of liberty. They seem so opposite. No freedom, but confident, expecting something good from something that does not appear so good. How can we be a prisoner of something good? People like hope; the word has a positive connotation. However, the word prisoner has a negative connotation. How can we reconcile the two ideas?
Many prisoners are held in captivity due to some crime they committed. They are often not happy to be in their situation, and wish to be free. Then there are prisoners who are held captive, not for any crime they committed, as was Joseph in the Old Testament. Their liberty is restricted. Or today, some people doing humanitarian work in various war-torn countries have found themselves hostages by rebel soldiers. They also are not happy in their situation, wishing freedom.
Jesus says, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32. So, if the truth liberates us, why are we a prisoner of hope? How can hope imprison us? Does not hope set us free?
Although we may not be behind prison bars, there are times when we may feel a prisoner of our circumstances in life.
God had promised David that he would rule the kingdom of Israel, and Samuel had anointed him for the position (1 Samuel 16:13). But after David had been anointed as king of all Israel, he had to go back to tending sheep. It was years before the promise came to pass for David, and he spent many of those years being chased by the man whose throne he would inherit. Back in the pasture on his father’s farm, he did not envision himself hiding out in caves or pretending to be a madman in order to save his own life (1 Samuel 21:13–22:1). King David, before he became king, likely did not feel truly free when he was living in a cave and fleeing from King Saul. He knew he was to be the next king, but why was he running for his life? His faith even faltered at some point when he cried, “Mine eyes fail for Thy word.” Psalm 119:82. Perhaps he felt as though the promise would never be fulfilled. But it was. God’s promises will never fail.
Perhaps Moses also felt “in prison” when he was 40 years in the wilderness tending sheep, knowing that the promise had been made in the past that he would be the one to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. Did he have hope? Did he see it as a hopeful situation? Perhaps not at the time.
People living in free countries today still feel like prisoners. Maybe their circumstances are not what they want them to be. They feel trapped and imprisoned, with no way out. They eat, sleep, work to pay their bills, and life goes round and round in that cycle.
We may be a prisoner of time. We have so much to do, but the time does not allow it all to be done. We are held captive to time.
Can we say we truly are living in hope in these varied kinds of experiences?
The promise is, “God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him.” –The Ministry of Healing, p. 479. We have to believe His promises and trust Him fully—have hope.
In the New Living Translation of the Bible, the text in Zechariah 9:12 reads: “Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles.”
Here it reads, “prisoners who still have hope.” Captives who have hope of deliverance because they are still trusting in God. Or, in other words, those who feel like prisoners (whether an actual prisoner physically or a prisoner of circumstances), can find hope. And they are promised “two blessings for each of your troubles.” “That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.” Isaiah 49:9
Being a prisoner of hope is not a shameful position to be in. “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5
What results in this hope that the Apostle Paul wrote of? How is it obtained? Let us read the verses preceding this in Romans chapter 5. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.” Romans 5:1–4
Hope is the end product of tribulations. It is something to the glad about. “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.” Romans 12:12. Yes, have hope, as the promise is, you will be given two blessings for each of your troubles.
“Tell Jesus your wants in the sincerity of your soul. You are not required to hold a long controversy with, or preach a sermon to, God, but with a heart of sorrow for your sins, say, ‘Save me, Lord, or I perish.’ There is hope for such souls. They will seek, they will ask, they will knock, and they will find. When Jesus has taken away the burden of sin that is crushing the soul, you will experience the blessedness of the peace of Christ.” –Our High Calling, p. 131
Do you feel sometimes as though you are hopeless? Well, you are not without hope; you are not hopeless, but you are helpless. God has put you in a position of helplessness or complete dependency on Him, and you are helpless to help yourself. You struggle to gain some measure of control over your life, but your pride is being crushed during this helpless state, and the only thing for you to do is to surrender and receive God’s peace. You may feel hopeless, but really it is the condition of helplessness that is causing you pain. God wants you completely dependent on Him, and He will keep you a prisoner of hope until you are.
What now feels like a prison cell to you, God sees as a fortress. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10. He loves you and if you give Him control of your life, He will guard it for you. Perhaps what feels to you like a prison cell may really be your place of safety and protection. David did not like being in a cave, but it saved him from King Saul. You may not like the circumstances you are in now, but do not run from them. They may be what are saving your life. Be patient in your particular tribulation. Take the words of Jesus to heart. If you rejoice in your tribulation it will work patience, then experience, and then hope, in your life.
“Christ became the sinless sacrifice for a guilty race, making men prisoners of hope, so that through repentance toward God because they had broken His holy law, and through faith in Christ as their Substitute, Surety, and righteousness, they might be brought back to loyalty to God and to obedience to His holy law.” –Faith and Works, p. 117. “We may make mistakes; we may err; but God will not leave us in error. ‘If we sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ There is hope for us; we are prisoners of hope.” –Selected Messages, vol. 3 p. 192
Just ask the Holy Spirit to lead you and He will use you to inspire others to become prisoners of hope. “There
is no excuse for the faith of our churches to be so faint and feeble. ‘Turn you to the Stronghold, ye prisoners of hope.’ Zechariah 9:12. There is strength for us in Christ. He is our Advocate before the Father. He dispatches His messengers to every part of His dominion to communicate His will to His people. He walks in the midst of His churches. He desires to sanctify, elevate, and ennoble His followers. The influence of those who truly believe in Him will be a savor of life in the world. He holds the stars in His right hand, and it is His purpose to let His light shine through these to the world. Thus He desires to prepare His people for higher service in the church above. He has given us a great work to do. Let us do it with accuracy and determination. Let us show in our lives what the truth has done for us.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 418
“Often the hearts of men will harden under rebuke, but they cannot withstand the love expressed toward them in Christ. We should bid the sinner not to feel himself an outcast from God. Bid the sinner look to Christ, who alone can heal the soul leprous with sin. Reveal to the desperate, discouraged sufferer that he is a prisoner of hope. Let your message be: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 279
“God calls upon His faithful ones, who believe in Him, to talk courage to those who are unbelieving and hopeless. Turn to the Lord, ye prisoners of hope. Seek strength from God, the living God. Show an unwavering, humble faith in His power and His willingness to save. When in faith we take hold of His strength, He will change, wonderfully change, the most hopeless, discouraging outlook. He will do this for the glory of His name.” –Prophets and Kings, p. 260
Many Christians may be prisoners “with” hope. Through all their trials and difficulties, they have hope for a better future, if not on this world, then when Christ will come. David and Moses both had this kind of hope as they were given the promise of leadership and they held on to this hope.
Here is another slightly different way of looking at this verse in Zechariah 9:12 as opposed to being a prisoner “with” hope. What other way can we be described as, being prisoners “of” hope as written in the original King James Version?
The Apostle Paul tells us that we are servants. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Romans 6:16–18
The Greek word for servants here used is, “douloi”, which is literally translated to mean, slaves or bond servants. A slave is regarded as property and the master can dispose of him as he pleases. Under a cruel master the life of a slave is very oppressive and he is often treated worse than an animal. This is the true condition of every sinner. They are a slave to Satan, who is a cruel taskmaster, who has relentlessly enslaved people with evil desires and appetites. Those who serve sin and Satan are the slaves of their own impulses and passions, which in turn are under the control of Satan. Ask a smoker to give up his habit, and see how easy it is. Ask a person with any addiction to give up his addiction. They feel bound by chains of circumstances that they cannot free themselves from.
Interesting that Paul uses the same Greek word to describe the followers of Christ. By doing so, he states that the Christian is the property of Christ. Since Christ is a good and benevolent task master, then serving Him truly is freedom because He requires no obedience that He does not turn into eternal advantage for His servants.
Paul goes on to say we cannot serve two masters. We only serve one. The conduct of our life will reveal which servant we are obeying.
So, conversion is simply a change of masters. The believer is delivered from the slavery of sin and becomes a slave of righteousness. But slavery to righteousness equates with freedom. A slave then could be said to be a prisoner as they have no freedom to do what they want. They are obeying one master or the other.
Hence, a person who surrenders to Christ can they not be said to be a “prisoner of hope”?
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19–20
The converted man is a willing slave (prisoner) of Jesus Christ, who lives only to please his Master. Being a slave, the true Christian is the property of Jesus, bound to live mentally, physically and spiritually as God directs. Gladly will he rather be a prisoner of hope than a prisoner of his evil passions and desires (the devil).
Or you can choose to be a slave (prisoner) to Satan, and then you will be bound to live, mentally and physically as he directs, fulfilling all fleshly desires and passions. Although Satan presents it as a life free from restraint, it is truly the worst kind of slavery, which only the power of God can deliver a man from.
The choice is ours. We are a prisoner of the devil or a prisoner of Christ—a prisoner of hope.
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” 1 Kings 18:21
By every decision we make daily, whether small or large, we are deciding who is our master/Master.
We will speak the words of our chosen master/Master. We will eat the foods of our master/Master, we will spend our time as our master/Master would. We will dress like our master/Master, we will think and act like our master/Master.
“We have done great dishonor to our Master in turning away from Christ to seek wisdom from finite human beings. Shall we continue to cherish the sin of unbelief, which doth so easily beset us, or shall we cast away this weight of unbelief, and go to the Source of strength believing that we shall receive pity and compassion from the One who knows our frame, who loves us so well that He gave His own life for us, who bore in His own body the strokes which fell because of our transgression of the law of God. All this He did that we might become prisoners of hope.” –Lift Him Up, p. 93
Make a decision to cultivate an attitude of hope in your life. Remember the promise, two blessings for each of your troubles. Speak positive things about your future and refuse to be negative. You may not always feel hopeful but do not give in to your feelings. Catering to bad feelings feeds and empowers them. But standing our ground and not giving in to negative feelings starves them and causes them to lose their power over us.
“Turn to the Lord, ye prisoners of hope. Seek strength from God, the living God. Show an unwavering, humble faith in His power and His willingness to save. From Christ is flowing the living stream of salvation. He is the Fountain of life, the Source of all power. When in faith we take hold of His strength, He will change, wonderfully change, the most hopeless, discouraging outlook. He will do this for the glory of His name.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 12. Amen.
Wendy Eaton