Not Nineveh! #4

 

Read Jonah 4

Background:  After an eventful detour, Jonah had finally made it to Nineveh to deliver the message from the Lord.  The response was overwhelming and immediate: people from great to small had responded in repentance and making vows to change their ways.  God responded by offering forgiveness and relenting from the announced judgment.  Jonah did not find it so easy to forgive.  His attitude is immediately clear:

Key Verses: But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Thoughts: Jonah was angry at God for being consistently merciful.  He confesses that as being the reason he had run away from his calling in the first place.  He just wanted to die.  God continued to pursue Jonah.  When Jonah left the city God sent him a plant to protect him from the scorching sun. Jonah did not appreciate it, and when God removed it, he complained.  He wanted a corner on God's mercy, while he felt he could deny mercy from those who needed it most.  We leave Jonah sitting there pouting, with the haunting question: Are we too stuck in his self-righteousness?

Not Nineveh! #3

 Read Jonah 3

Background: Having run away from God's call to go preach at Nineveh, Jonah was swallowed by the great fish.  There he finally called out to God and vowed to serve Him, resulting in God having fish spit him out onto dry land. Physically, it looked like Jonah was "heading in the right direction."  In this chapter, Jonah went into the city preaching, and within a day revival broke out, word spreading everywhere, including the palace of the king.  It was a preacher's dream come true.  The king publicly repented and called on all his people to do so.

Key verses: 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Thoughts: The King called for a fast, along with demonstrating repentance with sackcloth and ashes, accompanied by prayers and a change of lifestyle.  This was what God was looking for, so he did not bring the destruction of judgment He intended to.  All they needed to do was to hear God's message and they changed.  That was the message Jonah needed to hear, and His own people needed to follow themselves.

Not Nineveh #2

 Read Jonah 2

Background: Having tried his best to run away from God's calling, Jonah ended up inside a big fish. Now he was very much a captive audience, who chose to request audience with God. He realized how close to death he had been, and the one thing he focuses on is worshipping God at His temple.  When he was on the ship, he had heard the men all calling on their pagan idols to no avail.  He realized afresh that his God was the true and living God who does answer prayer.  

Key verses: 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
    turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
    will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
    I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Thoughts: Jonah realized God had delivered and preserved him for a reason. He responded with thanksgiving and praise, as well as vows to offer sacrifice when he returned to the temple to worship. But the key is found in his vow to say: "Salvation comes from the Lord."  That is the message God wanted him to take to Nineveh.  Once Jonah committed to taking that message, the Lord delivered from his jail in the fish.  Jonah appeared to be ready to finally obey God's call. 

Not Nineveh! #1

 Read Jonah 1

Background: The event recounted in this chapter is one of the best-known accounts from the Old Testament: Jonah and the big fish.  Having been told by God to do something totally reprehensible: call on the people of Nineveh to repent, Jonah headed the other way.  The trip on the ship was interrupted by God, and God used the big fish to set him back on course.

Key Verses: (It's hard to not choose them all!)  8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

Thoughts: Each man on the boat had called out to his own god, but the storm kept increasing.  They must not have been calling on the god that controlled that part of the sea. When they found out about the God Jonah worshipped, Who made the sea and controlled it everywhere, they were overwhelmed with fear and awe.  By the time we get to the end of the chapter, they were calling out to Him and making vows to Him, while Jonah festered in his rebellion.  God used Jonah whether he was willing to or not. Fortunately for Jonah (and us) God was not done with him yet.

The Day of the Lord #6

 

Read Zephaniah 3

Background: Having talked about everyone else's sin in chapter 2, Zephaniah returns to God's foremost concern: Judah and Jerusalem.  She is full of wall-to-wall sin, down to the royal family, prophets and priests.  There is oppression, disobedience, and unrighteousness everywhere, which much be dealt with. God's hope was that seeing the other nations being judged they, of all people, would repent, but they did not.  Despite all of this, God holds out hope for the restoration of a remnant in the future.

Key verses: 18 “I will remove from you
    all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
    which is a burden and reproach for you.
19 At that time I will deal
    with all who oppressed you.
I will rescue the lame;
    I will gather the exiles.
I will give them praise and honor
    in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
    at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
    among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes
    before your very eyes,”
says the Lord.

Thoughts:  Those who truly miss God's presence will be rewarded.  He will bring them home. 

The Day of the Lord #4

 Read Zephaniah 2

Background: In chapter 1 the prophet announced that the Day of the Lord, the day of judgment, was coming for all the disobedience and idolatry they had been committing.  Chapter 2 begins with a call to repentance, then a list of all those nations surrounding Judah which had been oppressing them, and the judgment they too would face.

Key Verses: Gather together, gather yourselves together,
    you shameful nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
    and that day passes like windblown chaff,
before the Lord’s fierce anger
    comes upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s wrath
    comes upon you.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
    you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
    perhaps you will be sheltered
    on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Thoughts: God was preparing to blow the people out of their land and have the city and temple burned.  As He often did, He called on a faithful remnant to repent - those who humbly sought God's will and His righteousness.  Perhaps they would be able to find shelter in the storm of God's wrath.  God then moved on to name names and the nations that would be punished because they were "all to willing" to be part of disciplining His people: Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Cush, and especially Assyria, which dealt with a heavy hand for almost two hundred years.  They were not going to escape the Day of the Lord. 

The Day of the Lord #4

 

Read Zephaniah 1

Background: Zephaniah was written about two hundred years after Joel, but contains a lot of the same themes, including The Day of the Lord.  In fact, Zephaniah includes more mentions of the Day of the Lord than any other books of the Bible, yet it is one of the least known books within it.  Zephaniah spoke for God in some of the darkest days of Judah, beginning his ministry in between the great kings Hezekiah and Josiah.  Those kings between these two revivalists were some of the most wicked and useless kings of Judah.  Like Joel, he pointed to how bad things were as warning signs of how much worse they would be when The Day of the Lord would come.

Key Verses: 7 Be silent before the Lord God!
    For the day of the Lord is near;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
    and consecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice—
“I will punish the officials and the king's sons
    and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
    everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master's house
    with violence and fraud.

Thoughts: After announcing what would happen, Zephaniah shuts the mouths of those who would complain that God was being unfair.  They were guilty of idolatry, oppression, violence and fraud. Zephaniah then proceeds with a description of the Day of the Lord much like that given by Joel: near and hastening fast; bitterness and wrath, distress and anguish, ruin and devastation, darkness and gloom, clouds and thick darkness.  Their sin had gotten them there, and all the gold in the world would not get them out. 

The Day of the Lord #3

 

Read Joel 3

Background: In the first two chapters Joel described the judgment of God on Judah in terms of a locust invasion that totally devastates the land, destroying all crops and the livelihood of the people.  This was to be understood as "payment" for the people turning their backs on God and trusting in idols.  In this chapter God makes it clear that The Day of the Lord is not only for Judah and Israel, but for all nations that take what He gives and claim it as their own.  The neighboring nations of Israel had repeatedly harassed them, taking captives and plundering them of the good gifts God had given.  Even though God allowed this for the sake of disciplining His people, it did not make their actions moral or just, and they would be punished. This principle applies throughout history and will be applied some day in the Great Day of the Lord. 

Key verses: 18 “And in that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
    and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
    shall flow with water;
and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
    and water the Valley of Shittim.
19 “Egypt shall become a desolation
    and Edom a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the people of Judah,
    because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
    and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood,
    blood I have not avenged,
    for the Lord dwells in Zion.”

Thoughts: Once again, after the judgment of the present, and the future, there is the hope of restoration and renewal, dwelling under the protection and blessing of God.  This is available to all who will turn and trust in Him.  

The Day of the Lord #2

Read Joel 2

Background: Having given a description of a devastating locust invasion in chapter 1, he then compared that picture to "The Day of the Lord," a time of judgment.  In this chapter he twice gives the command to "Blow the Trumpet", calling for a holy convocation of God's people.  After detailing the destruction which would come, he then gave an important announcement that needed to be made to the whole congregation: The Day of the Lord is coming, near, and there is a need for repentance. 

Key Verses: 12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    and he relents over disaster.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

Thoughts: This was a turning point, as apparently the people did repent. The chapter goes on to describe both the physical and spiritual blessings that came upon Judah because of that repentance. By the end of the chapter God announces another Day of the Lord in the future of even greater magnitude, which again would be following by a greater restoration. Repentance is never out of style. 

The Day of the Lord #1

 

Read Joel 1

Background: The book of Joel begins with the picture of a locust invasion, destroying the whole economy.  The devastation has been so bad that it has: dried up and surpluses, denying the lazy of their luxuries; severely cut back on offerings available for temple sacrifice, including the daily offerings; brought a famine so severe it affects daily existence.  God uses this situation to warn that the coming judgement will be far worse.

Key Verses: 14 Consecrate a fast;
    call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
    and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?
17 The seed shrivels under the clods;
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because the grain has dried up.
18 How the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.

Thoughts: Situations so severe demand fasting on the part of all because it affects all - even to the animals and produce. The Israelites should have recognized the locusts as one of  the Covenantal curses prophesied in Deuteronomy 28, but instead they kept on with life as usual, ignoring the worship of God. They thought things would get better by their own methods, but they were sorely mistaken.

The Loyal Love of the Lord #14

 

Hosea 14

Background: This last chapter of Hosea is a final plea to return to the Lord.  Hosea calls on his people to turn from their trust in idols and the Assyrians, and sincerely and humbly come back to God in full reliance. It is He who truly loves, heals, blesses, provides for and protects them; they need to trust in Him alone. 

Key Verse: 8 

O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    from me comes your fruit.

Thoughts: God reminds them that He is the only God Who answers when they call.  Idols do not answer, do not protect, do not provide, and do not care about them.  Hosea concludes with one last plea:

9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;

    whoever is discerning, let him know them;

for the ways of the Lord are right,

    and the upright walk in them,

    but transgressors stumble in them.

The Loyal Love of the Lord #13

 Read Hosea 13

Background: As Israel experienced judgment for her great immorality and idolatry, rather than repent and receive forgiveness, she sinned more and more, causing greater consequences for her rebellion against God. They turned to every other god and every other king possible seeking help, but refuse to turn to Him. All other pursuits would prove useless, and ultimately she would experience defeat, dispersion and death.

Key verses: 4 But I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
    and besides me there is no savior.
5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
6 but when they had grazed, they became full,
    they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    therefore they forgot me.

Thoughts: God constantly called to His people to remind them of Who He was and what He had done: He brought them out of Egypt to be His people, promising to provide all they needed.  They accepted His offer, but became proud and forgot Him, their only Savior.  All others were Not God.  None other loved them as He did. 

The Loyal Love of the Lord #12

 Read Hosea 12

Background: As God has collected all the "evidence" against His people Israel for her unfaithfulness to Him, He finally presents a formal indictment.  You may remember in chapter 2 that there was a "Plea", a formal complaint, filed by Him against her and her children for infidelity and rejection of Him as Husband and Father.  He now lists the things they have done: false balances, oppression, arrogant self-sufficiency, false worship (of the golden calf they had made) and idolatry.

Key Verses: 2 The Lord has an indictment against Judah
    and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
    he will repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
    and in his manhood he strove with God.
4 He strove with the angel and prevailed;
    he wept and sought his favor.
He met God at Bethel,
    and there God spoke with us—
5 the Lord, the God of hosts,
    the Lord is his memorial name:
6 “So you, by the help of your God, return,
    hold fast to love and justice,
    and wait continually for your God.”

Thoughts: This indictment continues to be a plea to return to Him. His goal is not to "put her away  forever."  He takes Israel all the way back to when they were Jacob, "wrestling with God" for His blessing and direction.  That encounter left Jacob stronger in faith and commitment to the Lord. It was God's purpose in this new "wrestling match" to do the same. 

The Loyal Love of the Lord #11

 Read Hosea 11

Background: Through the illustration of Hosea and Gomer, God has demonstrated His faithful love despite Israel's faithfulness.  He now pauses to look at that love from another perspective:

Key verses: When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more they were called,
    the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning offerings to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords of kindness,
    with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and I bent down to them and fed them.

Thoughts: God looks back as a parent on the early days of Israel, when He called them to be His people, taught them how to walk in His ways, and provided for them in the wilderness.  As the chapter continues, He says there is no way He is going to send them back to slavery in Egypt, but instead scatter them in Assyria.  In His faithful love, He cannot see Himself giving up on His people:

My heart recoils within me;

    my compassion grows warm and tender.

9 I will not execute my burning anger;

    I will not again destroy Ephraim;

for I am God and not a man,

    the Holy One in your midst,

    and I will not come in wrath.

The Loyal Love of the Lord #10

 

Read Hosea 10.

Background: Having thoroughly spelled out Israel's sin and spiritual harlotry, God now gives a more complete description of her judgment; she must "bear her guilt."   It will begin by the tearing down of the golden calf they had erected for their "fake" worship of God; the gold would be taken by the Assyrians. Their kings would "be no more," having been taken captive as well.  Thorns and thistles would grow on their place of worship and the people would become totally despondent, and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

Key Verses: 11 Ephraim was a trained calf
    that loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put Ephraim to the yoke;
    Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

Thoughts: in the core of this chapter, God compares Israel and Judah to a pair of oxen pulling the plow. Now there would only be one.  Judah would have to carry the "burden" herself and was called to do a much better job of pursuing righteousness and living and God's people before the world.

The Loyal Love of the Lord #9

 

Read Hosea 9

Background: Using his wayward wife as an illustration, Hosea has been confronting Israel as being unfaithful to her God: breaking His commandments, worshipping false gods, living immorally while pretending to be religious.  Now it's all going to stop. With a series of descriptive illustrations, he says it is "game over" - the wine vats and store of grain will be empty, the House of the Lord will be closed, their women will be barren and any children they do have will die by one means or another.  They will be taken from the land, which would not be able to support them anyway.  During this time prophets will be pulling their hair out, wondering why no one will listen to their warnings.

Key verses: 16 Ephraim is stricken;
    their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
    I will put their beloved children to death.
17 My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Thoughts: This last verse is the final insult and disgrace: they will be rejected and homeless.  Because of their continual rejection of God as her husband, they will never find the place of true peace and security.

The Loyal Love of the Lord #8

 Read Hosea 8

Background: Having recorded the repeated spiritual adultery and idolatry of both Israel and Judah - especially the former - the Lord announces with the trumpet blast that judgment day has come.  With a special emphasis on the Northern Kingdom's sins: breaking covenant, "spurning" good, choosing kings He has not approved, setting up a golden calf as their "god" and all kings of other altars to other idols, He announces that He will no longer accept their insincere sacrifices to Him. They went through the motions, but their hearts were far from Him.  

Key Verses: 7 For they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
    strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
    already they are among the nations
    as a useless vessel.

Thoughts: God had promised that there would be famine and exile.  Even if they had food, there would be no one left there to eat it.  Their seed was going to be take and scattered among the nations conquered by the Assyrian Empire.  The same fate would follow for the Southern Kingdom of Judah as well, if they did not change from their path:

14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker

    and built palaces,

and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;

    so I will send a fire upon his cities,

    and it shall devour her strongholds.

The Loyal Love of the Lord #7

 

Read Hosea 7

Background: This chapter actually begins in the closing words of chapter 6 - one of those poor chapter divisions.  God is talking about the "harvest" that is to come.  Israel and Judah had been depending on God's "bad memory" - that He would not remember all the evil they had done in forsaking Him, turning to idols, and trusting in pagan nations instead.  He refers to them as an overheated oven ready to explode in total destruction, burning them as unturned bread inside.  As they run further and further from Him, He promises that He will cast his net to catch them and discipline them.

Key verses: Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
    Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
    but they speak lies against me.
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
    but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
    they rebel against me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
    yet they devise evil against me.
16 They return, but not upward;
    they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
    because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Thoughts: As we saw yesterday, any seeming repentance was not real; they had cried out for help, but were not willing to admit they had been unfaithful and not willing to receive the help God offered.  Eventually they all would go back into captivity - some in exile to Babylon, others returning to Egypt, one of their many places of false hope.  

The Loyal Love of the Lord #6

 

Read Hosea 6

Background: As we saw yesterday, Israel and Judah were going to face judgment for their repeated sin of idolatry and turning away from God.  At the beginning of this chapter, it sounds as if they are beginning to repent and come back to God, but it soon becomes evident that they are just talking the talk and not truly coming in confession and repentance.  God gives a very clear comparison going back to Adam and Eve:

Key verses: 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
    What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
    like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
    I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
    and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;
    there they dealt faithlessly with me.

Thoughts: What appeared at first to be repentance was like a temporary fog or quickly passing dew.  There was no true, covenantal love for the Lord being demonstrated.  Any sacrifices were meaningless ceremonies, and any religious words were merely hot air.  They continued to be faithless. Judgment was inevitable, yet we once again end with a note of hope:

For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.

When I restore the fortunes of my people,

The Loyal Love of the Lord #5

 Read Hosea 5

Background: So far in this prophecy we have seen a Husband (God) taking a wife of shaky background (Israel - both Northern and Southern Kingdoms). Though He is faithful to provide for her and her children, she is unfaithful, turning to numerous men and their false promises, bringing shame to herself and to her Husband.  Nonetheless, He pays the price to buy her back from her fallen life, only to have her faithlessly betray Him again.  This chapter pronounces judgment on her fitting to the life she has chosen.

Key verses: 8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
    the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
    we follow you, O Benjamin!
9 Ephraim shall become a desolation
    in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
    I make known what is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become
    like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
    my wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
    because he was determined to go after filth.
12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
    and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

Thoughts: Both Israel and Judah had ensnared themselves in this life of sin and seemed unwilling and unable to pull themselves. out.  They chose not to.  They turned to other nations and to other gods for help, but refused to return to their loving God.  But God is waiting. As he wraps up this chapter, He says: 

15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

The faithful Husband is patiently waiting for his Wife to come to her senses and return home.

The Loyal Love of the Lord #4:

Read Hosea 4

Background: Having seen His bride run off, leaving Him behind, along with her children of unfaithfulness, the Husband had repeatedly pursued her, paying the price to get her back home. But her unfaithfulness continued, so He confronted her directly:

Key verses: Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
    for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
    and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
    they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
    and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
    and the birds of the heavens,
    and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

Thoughts: God had given the land to Israel and provided bountifully for her, but she had polluted the land with sin and idolatry.  the description in verse 2 above sounds all too familiar for our society as well - not just in the slums of our cities, but throughout our institutions and communities.  Our land mourns.   The rest of the chapter goes on to show how deeply sin had become ingrained even into the priests and prophets and proclaimed worship of God.  It was that deeply embedded. Was there any hope? This sad saga was far from over. 

The Loyal Love of the Lord #3

 Read Hosea 3

Background:  Having taken an immoral woman as wife, having children with her, and then watching her run to the houses of other men, the Husband still takes her back, brings her home, and offers her all the safety and supply she needed.  She had gotten herself into a situation similar to that of the prodigal son, with no way out, and her true Husband came to her rescue, paying the price to buy her back.

Key verses: 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

The picture here is of the exile the people of Israel would go through. They would lose everything, be taken far away, and live as servants to their captors.  When it came time to return home, they would have nothing of their own to bring - especially their pagan idols.  But God would bring them back into His house, under His safety and provision.  He is always faithful to deliver, to provide and protect. 

The Loyal Love of the Lord #2

 

Read Hosea 2

Background:  As we saw yesterday, God called on Hosea to do the unthinkable: take an immoral woman as his wife, representing the relationship of God to His people Israel.  This union resulted in three children named Jezreel (for punishment), No Mercy, and Not My People.  The wife is unfaithful to her husband. In this chapter, the husband appeals through the children for the wife to return.  She has wrongly turned to trust in "the other man" (Baal) to provide for and protect her, when in fact he only uses and abuses her.  Her true Husband holds out hope that she will "come to her senses" and return home.

Key Verses: 7 She shall pursue her lovers
    but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
    but shall not find them.
Then she shall say,
    ‘I will go and return to my first husband,
    for it was better for me then than now.’
8 And she did not know
    that it was I who gave her
    the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold,
    which they used for Baal.

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

    and bring her into the wilderness,

    and speak tenderly to her.

15 And there I will give her her vineyards

    and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,

    as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

Thoughts: In between these two sets of verses is a description of the punishment and trials the wife, Israel, will go through on her downhill slide - all the way to exile.  But once again there is this hope of reunion, as if she were once again that young bride who loved the sound of her Husband's voice.  She would realize that He is the only One who truly cares about her and provides for and protects her.  

The Loyal Love of the Lord #1

 Read Hosea 1

Background: This book is a tough read, but a necessary one.  The people of Israel had been repeatedly and increasingly unfaithful to the Lord while He had continued to show His faithfulness over and over again. While God seemingly asks Hosea to do the impossible, His love and mercy shines through making all things possible.  

Key Verses:

2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”

10  Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”

Thoughts: Hosea obeyed command and they had three children, whose names announced punishment, no mercy, and "not My people."  It would in fact appear that God was totally turning His back on His people, when, in fact, He was taking them through the process of living discipline they needed for their own good. To be sure, our great loving God still does the same today.  

Worship in the Wilderness #28: We Don't Do It That Way...

Read Leviticus 28 (Not really... it's not there!)

Background:  In the Old Testament, the book of Leviticus is one of the most ignored because it seems so alien to one of non-Jewish background. In the New Testament, the book of Hebrews falls in the same category. That would because they are related. The book of Hebrews explains how Christ fulfilled all the sacrifices described in Leviticus. Consider the following: 

Heb. 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

10: 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 

13:11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 

Thoughts: The verses above, and those surrounding them, could make up what we would call Leviticus 28 - written centuries later, helping us look back and make some sense of the laws in Leviticus. They show that Christ is indeed the better priest, the better sacrifice, the better and truly only way to God. It we want to worship God, it is through Christ, His Son, Who is now sitting at the Father's right hand. 

Worship in the Wilderness #27: Final Details

 

Read Leviticus 27

Background: As we come to the final chapter of the book, God addresses just a few final details on kinds of offerings that are "above and beyond" the prescribed ones already mentioned.  There would be those who, in response to God's goodness and their understanding of His greatness, would want to vow to God more of what they had and even who they were.  This would include animals and produce, houses and land, even persons. These vows were entrusted to the care of the priests. In the very probable event that they would need or want these back, there was a way to calculate the number of shekels to redeem them. There were, however, exceptions to these standards:

Key verses:  26 “But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord's. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.

28 “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. 29 No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

Thoughts: The firstborn would not be dedicated because it already belonged to God.  This of course is a picture both looking back to the Passover and the dedication of the firstborn, as well as a looking forward to God giving His Firstborn - there was no retraction of God giving His Son. He never turned back. Also, something "devoted" could not be redeemed.  This was much more binding that a basic "vow." The one last exception to the general rules was obvious: the "tithe" was expected - not above and beyond, and if the tithe was given in terms of animals, it could be redeemed at the given rate. 

Worship in the Wilderness #26: Blessings and...

 

Read: Leviticus 26...

Background: God had spoken through Moses to the people of Israel and given them instructions on how they were to come and worship Him.  He had provided details on how to bring offerings, keep themselves holy and clean, and live lives to glorify Him and support one another.  He had also told the priests what their part was in this process and charged them to help the people worship.  Finally, He had given them all sorts of special days, months and years to constantly remind themselves of Who He is and who they were: His holy people. Now we come to the concluding challenges and "what if we do, and what if we don't...?"

Key Verses: 1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you...

14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you:...

Thoughts: God made things very clear: If they walked in obedience, He would give them rain, abundant harvests, security, peace, victory, full storehouses, freedom, and most of all: His continual presence and blessing.  But if they chose to abhor and ignore Him, He would allow fear, famine, disease, defeat, wild beasts, invasions, starvation, and eventually, exile.  The chapter actually progresses from good to bad to ugly.  But it does not end on that note: there is always hope if they repent and confess.  He promises:

44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

Worship in the Wilderness #25: Always Something to Share

 Read Leviticus 25

Background:  Having gone over the various feasts and celebrations to be held each year, God went on to give instructions about special years: Sabbatical Years (every seventh year) and Jubilee Years (after seven series of Sabbatical Years.)  The purpose of the former was to give rest to the land and the people to make them more productive, but even more so to show their reliance upon God.  He would make sure the land produced enough "on its own" so that combined with the extra left from the six years, it would be enough to see them through the seventh year as well.  These times of rest would also provide more time to study and worship and keep their relationship with God in good fellowship.  The Year of Jubilee went even further, putting in place the forgiveness of debts and the return of land and people to their original owner.  This reminded them that all land really belonged to God and was entrusted by Him to them.  It was a built-in reset that was a defense against greed and oppression and in effect, had an anti-inflationary influence, allowing the nation as a whole to build up true wealth, while making sure all the people had what they needed.

Key Verses: 13 “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15 You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

Thoughts: These special years were a reminder that they were living life before God and that He was watching how they treated one another.  Did they truly fear Him?  The chapter goes on to share God's plan of redemption, which was integrally tied into the year of jubilee.  The redemption price one would pay for land or freedom was determined by how many more years it was to the next year of Jubilee. The price Christ paid for our redemption was infinitely great, as His year of jubilee will be for eternity. 

Worship in the WIlderness #24: Always There

 

Read Leviticus 24

Background: God was all about having special days, weeks and years of celebration and remembrance, but He did not want His people to only think about Him or fellowship with Him at those times. He made sure that there was a daily reminder of His presence:

Key Verses: 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4 He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord regularly.

5 “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. 6 And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord's food offerings, a perpetual due.”

Thoughts:  The Light is always on; God is always there ready and waiting, morning and evening and every moment in between.  He also is constantly providing for all His people - all twelve tribes are equally represented before Him.  He also promised to provide the daily needs of His servants if they were faithful. He is the same today as then.

If you're interested about the origin of the phrase "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," make sure you read the second half of the chapter.

Worship in the Wilderness #23: Something to Celebrate!

 Read Leviticus 23

Background:  Having described the day to day operations of the Tabernacle and responsibilities of the priests, God now gives instructions about special celebrations throughout the year.  Some of these have already been alluded to, but here they are reviewed, put on the calendar, and prepared for in advance. The Sabbath was a weekly time of rest to focus on God and His goodness as creator and provider. The Passover was held annually to commemorate God delivering them from bondage in Egypt to bring them out to worship and serve Him.  It began and ended with days of "convocation" - a holy gathering of all to worship Him.  This was followed by the Feast of Firstfruits, celebrating the promised provisions they were beginning to see, the beginning of the harvest.  Like most of the celebrations, it involved both offerings and fellowship meals.  The Feast of Weeks we know better as Pentecost, 50 days after Firstfruits.  It commemorated the conclusion of the harvest. It also served as a reminder to care for the poor by allowing them to glean the fields.  The Feast of Trumpets was actually the beginning of a month of celebrations, including the Day of Atonement. This day was the only day of the year the High Priest, and only he, could enter the Holy of Holies.  It was a day for everyone and everything for unconfessed sins collected throughout the year.  The following week they would commemorate the Feast of Booths, when they would stay in temporary shelters, which would recall this present time of them wandering in the wilderness. Like all of these feasts, there was a mixture of celebration with solemn reflection of their call to be God's holy people.

Key Verses: 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Thought: God gave Israel, and He still gives us today, every opportunity to remember His calling us to be His people, and to look around and see His blessings still today.

Worship in the Wilderness #22: Things to Watch Out For

 Read Leviticus 22

Background: Chapter 22 continues from chapter 21 in giving special instructions to priests.  Because of the great responsibility entrusted to them they needed to be extra vigilant in maintaining the holiness of the tabernacle and offering sacrifices.  What they did or failed to do not only affected them, but the whole congregation. God begins by telling the priests to be especially vigilant about uncleanness in their own lives, lest they profane the temple with their leprosy, discharges, or contact with something unclean and then pass it on to the people.  Next He told them to beware the temptation to become lax about what they did with their part of the offerings: it was for their dependents, not extended family or friends. They should not become accustomed to giving any "extra" to others to ingratiate them. A major part of their job as priests was to screen the offerings being bought as we see in verses:

Key Verses: 17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.

Thoughts: The priests were to make sure that the offerings brought to them, and especially the ones they themselves gave, were "up to standards."  It they were to let anything less "slip through" they would send the wrong message, as if God's ways were "negotiable." Finally, in the last paragraph, they were told to not allow newborn animals to be separated from their mothers. As with clean and unclean, there was this consistency with how animal life and human life were treated. There was to be no cruelty.