Dei Time

God Loves His Children

Hosea 11:1 - 12

God refuses to give up His people forever. He begins this chapter stating that He rescued them from slavery in Egypt, but then they persisted in pursuing other gods. Here is God as a loving Father expressing His love for a rebellious child. Verse 4 expresses what real parental love is. What ties people to their children? Some would say duty, or blood, or responsibility, but God says that it is kindness and love. In human relationships there are frequently examples where that isn't true, but it is what God intends. We are tied to our children out of an unexplainable love for the little trouble-makers. They pull at the "cords" constantly, thinking that they are hindrances when in reality they are made up of the strands of concern, protection, a desire to teach, and a desire to be the friend and advisor to our children who will never fail them. It really is a good picture of God and His people as well as our children and us.

Then in verse 5 God says that He has done all that He can to convince His children of His love, but they insist on going their own way, and it can destroy them.

If not for His unexplainable love, God would have sent lightning and fire into the midst of this rebellious nation. Their rebellion, after all, was not a new thing.

How often does our temper flare at the child who constantly disobeys? How often are we hurt when the child accuses us of hatred or stomps from the room? How often do they just KNOW that we are wrong and they are right? In how many families has tragedy resulted from young pride and disobedience?

If you take all of these things and multiply them into national and even world-wide proportions, you can almost get a feeling of God's pain and frustration over His people. But it is still greater than we can imagine because God's love is perfect, something that no human parent can claim.

He knew what tragedy awaited His disobedient people; He knew that Satan was determined to destroy God's people, and that they seemed willing. But, whatever it took to keep His children for His own, He was willing to make happen; even if it meant sending His own Son to pay for their sin.

Are We Cows Who Only Love Pulling the Thresher?

Hosea 10:1-15

Chapter 10 begins with the word that the richer the nation becomes the faster rebellion grows. In the New Testament, Jesus spoke of the difficulty that a rich man has entering the kingdom of heaven. The riches are not sinful, nor do they keep him from God's mercy. His sins are greed and self-reliance; his fear is, "What if I lose something by following Jesus?"

Both the northern and southern kingdoms were very good at worshipping God when the enemy was pouring over the city wall. Then God was welcomed with knees to the ground and faces upraised in tearful praise, but as times improved, self-confidence and greed always returned.

As disaster nears, Israel begins to see the truth (vs.3). The people who had demanded that God give them a king so that they could be like other nations now moan that a king cannot help them because they have turned from God. Their idols will be taken away, and the nation that called Samaria its capitol will become a wilderness.

In verses 11-12, the prophet compares Israel to a cow. Why would a cow enjoy pulling a dredge over grain to husk it? Actually, it was a pleasant task for the animal. Their great bulk had little trouble pulling the load and God's law said that the owner could not muzzle them while doing their job. That meant that they could munch all day on the grain before them, without thought of responsibility. God says that a plowing yoke, involving a much more difficult task, will replace the thresher.

Judah to the south is included in the warning. They must plow and plant righteousness if they are to avoid God's anger.

Meanwhile, the prophet returns to his warning to Israel. They are self-deceived and self-reliant, which will lead to their downfall.

We can do little to speak directly to our whole nation about the importance of heeding God. However, we can make a difference one-on-one. We can continually act in the love of Christ; encourage our neighbors to return to the morality taught by God; and to depend on Jesus for salvation. What good could that do for our nation's current moral malaise? Remember the words by those who did not want God's love to succeed in changing the world as recorded in Acts. They say of Christians, "These men who have caused trouble all over the world!" Christians witnessing one-on-one changed everything.

 

I Feel Like a Frog in Warming Water

Hosea 9:1 - 17

Chapter 9 describes the turmoil in Israel that is consuming everyone from the man on the street to the priests. He makes it clear that His judgment against His own people is just. He wants to judge them holy, but cannot because of their reckless and deliberate sin and rebellion.

Verses 7 through 9 say that, "Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac. ^8 The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. ^9 They have sunk deep into corruption,…"

O my goodness. How much more relevant could the Old Testament get than these verses? Christians today are considered by many to be either fools or maniacs. The world seems to deliberately place traps in their paths with the "you should not have" incidents around the country. "You should not have": invited a coworker to your church; laid your Bible in plain sight on your desk; peacefully demonstrated at an abortion clinic; wrote a paper for school on Jesus as your most admired hero; told someone that salvation comes only through Jesus. Even some Christian leaders have fallen to the temptation to adjust their words so as not to offend the world's sensibilities.

How many Christians today have also joined ancient Israel in their pursuit of idols? Our idols are not made of stone, but of steel, electronics, investments, power, prestige, and our position compared to our neighbors'.

How do we answer our culture, and even some of our Christian brothers and sisters? We answer with love. No, not the love that says we approve of the disastrous changes in our country's moral center, but the love that says we care enough about the people around us to speak out.

Too many of us are speaking by our silence. We grant de facto approval to the sin going on around us by remaining silent. Is the fear of being labeled as a Christian fanatic worth allowing sin to be promoted on television, in books, in movies, sometimes on the news, and even in the courts, without refutation? The Holy Spirit lives in us. He has the power to work through us, but we have to be willing participants. Through us He can show a world that is convinced that we are judgmental jerks that Jesus really does love the sinner but hate the sin.

Tolerance Draws to a Close

Hosea 6:7 - 8:14  

What does God expect of a nation? As chapter six draws to a close God cites the violence in Israel—not the violence of war against an enemy, but violence of His people against one another. He has told them in verse six that mercy is more important than their insincere sacrifices, yet they continue to do evil to one another. How many times have you been disappointed by someone that you trusted? How much violence do we see in our own nation? How often do Americans cheat one another in order to up the profits? The big I in sIn is alive and well even here, in the most free and wealthy nation of the world. In the time of Hosea even Judah—the nation that had birthed King David would fall into the same kinds of sin and rebellion. (vs.11)

Chapter seven continues God's description of His people in the midst of revolt against Him. The description of the baking bread was obvious to Hosea's listeners. Most of us no longer bake bread on stone, but verse eight describes a bread cake left to cook without turning. Soon becomes burned on one side and white and hard on the other—useless.

Beginning in verse eight He reveals their pursuit of foreign allies instead of their God. These allies will "sap his [Israel's] strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice. Israel's arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the Lord his God or search for him." God's words were true. Over a period of only twenty years, 752-732 B.C., those seeking power assassinated four kings in Israel.

When Israel flies to her political allies for protection, God will bring them down and destroy their evil rebellion (vs.11-13). In verse 14, the people come to worship and sacrifice so that they will receive the gift of good crops, but with no heart for God.

Readers and listeners in Judah would have reacted differently than those in Ephraim/Israel. They probably nodded and smiled in agreement at the attack of words on their brothers to the north, but verse 14 undoubtedly cleared the smiles away. Judah was committing the same sins against God.

Hot on the Road to Destruction

Hosea 5:1-6:6

Chapter 5 begins with God's pronouncement to the leaders and the royalty of Israel. Mizpah and Tabor were places of false worship in Israel that had been established and encouraged by the leaders who were to keep the people from wandering from their God. They have become depraved (vs.2 NASB).

All of God's people have stumbled, even those in Judah to the south, where David's family continued to reign. God will withdraw His protection from them and their enemies will wreak havoc. Verse 13 indicates that both kingdoms, in the midst of danger, will still not turn to God, but will try to align themselves with other nations for protection. As chapter 5 ends it is clear that the nations will have to suffer complete devastation before they will come to their senses and turn to God for rescue.

Chapter 6 begins with the words that Israel will come to believe and to profess—this may be the prophet speaking to them (vs.1-3).

In verse 6, and throughout the prophets, we are often reminded that God does not seek specific liturgical styles or traditions as our primary worship. When we attend worship, but let our minds wander to the events of later in the day, we miss the point of worship. God says that, "I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." While He approves our worship practices, if our hearts are not devoted to Him, then our worship practices are worthless. When we speak the words of worship, do we hear and understand their meaning? Do we understand that we belong to God, and He is to be first in our hearts?

Growing Evil in Israel

Hosea 4:1-19

Chapter 4 begins with some interesting "because" and "therefore" statements. Because the traits of kindness, faithfulness, and the knowledge of God were lacking and thought unneeded, therefore there was "cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery"; "Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away."

The nation had forgotten that the evil beginning to override God's moral decrees could begin to dominate their lives. Not only would God be forced to punish the nation, the growing evil in their land would cause havoc. Evil, once given a foothold, does not stay satisfied. Satan desired that the evil in God's nation grow to consume it and eventually destroy it forever. Only God's intervention could stop Satan's plan.

Some of the references in today's reading sound unfamiliar, but were obvious to Hosea's hearers and readers. Worshipers of Baal used the "raisin cakes" in 3:1 in their celebrations. The objects in verse 5 were all associated with pagan worship.

Judges often sat at the gates of the city to hear cases between residents. Chapter 4 is much like a case presented at a city's gate. The people of the land, the religious leaders, and the king were guilty of rebellion against the Lord. God had a legal right to be at odds with His people, yet He illustrates His continuing compassion for the people in verse 6—"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." The priests were especially guilty because instead of leading the people to God, "They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness." (vs.8) Verse 14 literally describes the pagan practices of the Canaanites, including consorting with prostitutes at the temples of Baal.

Since it is believed that Hosea often visited Judah, verse 15 is a warning that the residents there heard, but apparently did not heed.

Are We an Adulterous Nation?

Hosea 2:1 – 3:5 

Hosea's message from God in chapter 2 relates to the "adulterous" nation that He has established. The reason for the metaphor is that Israel had left God, her "husband", to eagerly pursue other gods; not only the idols of the Canaanites, but the lifestyles that ruined their society. Cheating one another, using the poor to feed the rich, concentrating on wealth at the expense of family relationships, ignoring God's laws if they cost in terms of commitment, charity, or loss of power were also part of their idolatry. When we look at the situation in these terms, we clearly also pursue our own idols still today.

God says through Hosea, "They have not acknowledged that I was the one who gave…. (vs.8). Isn't that the rejection that we find in our own nation? We are the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, and yet we are adamantly and deliberately pushing the God who has so blessed us out of any mention in the land. Will we ever realize that we are worse off without God? (vs.7)

God makes it clear in His word that He controls the fate of nations, whether they acknowledge Him or not. Do we have God's chastisement in our future? If so, we may take comfort in the verses of restoration that Hosea prophesies. Or, has the unchangeable God changed since the Old Testament? Does He still view nations as His domain? Some say that these verses are only for Israel in the Old Testament; that God does not concern Himself with nations anymore. Some say that He has no right to interfere in a nation that has decided to travel in a direction away from Him; that religion is a philosophy and that our human philosophy is as valid as any religion. What do you think about these questions?

Hosea, God’s Visual Aid

Hosea 1:1 – 11

Hosea was one of four prophets in the 700's B.C. who dictated their prophecies to a scribe or personally wrote them down. He and Amos ministered to Israel to the north. Isaiah and Micah ministered to Judah in the south at about the same time. All had the same message—the unfaithfulness of God's people and coming judgment, but each stated it a little differently. Hosea is the first of what are called the writings of the "minor prophets", but this refers only to the length of the writing, not to the importance of the prophet.

God chose to reveal very little of Hosea's background, perhaps to help us stay focused on Hosea's marriage, meant to reflect God's relationship with His people.

Although Hosea only mentions Jeroboam II as king of Israel, there were six northern kings during the time of the southern kings mentioned by the prophet. In those days Assyria and Babylon were busy in other areas, so the nations of the future Palestine were free practice their commerce, gain wealth and stability, and live in relative peace.

Unfortunately, there were two major moral problems building in both nations. The rich took advantage of the poor in order to build their own power and wealth, and both nations pursued idols instead of remaining faithful to the true God. The prosperity of the region would collapse as Hosea's ministry closed.

From the comments of the prophet and his description of historical events, commentators estimate that God called Hosea as a prophet in the later years of King Jeroboam II, around 760 B.C. He ministered at least thirty years, perhaps almost until Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. Some scholars believe that Hosea's apparent familiarity with Judah may have resulted in the preservation of his writing, as those in the south took them and protected them from destruction.

Hosea's marriage was to illustrate the relationship between God and His people. Like Gomer, they were unfaithful; like Hosea, God would take them back even in their guilt.

Hosea's son, Jezreel, reminded the people of the injustice done by Jehu when he exceeded God's instruction in his slaughter of King Ahab's family. His daughter's name, Lo-ruhamah, meant "not pitied". His second son's name meant "not my people". Yet, along with the announcement of judgment is the promise of restoration.

In verse 7, Hosea's message from God emphasizes that, at least at this time, He will continue to protect and rescue Judah to the south.

Daniel’s Vision of the Future

Daniel 10:1 - 12:13

Two histories seem to be included in the angel's visit to Daniel. One history is about spiritual warfare, the warfare of which we are aware, but do not yet see. In that spiritual battle, Satan's forces tried to stop Gabriel from coming to Daniel, but the angel Michael came to Gabriel's assistance. The second history presented to Daniel concerned his own world and coming kings and nations.

Since chapter 11:2-32 is an almost exact history of Alexander the Great and the families and national upheaval that followed his death, it is hard to dispute that part of Daniel's vision was fulfilled prior to Jesus' birth. On the other hand, Jesus affirmed Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 when He said, "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel…" (Matthew 24:15), so we are still left with the question of whether Daniel's apocalyptic vision has a further purpose in God's plan for the world. Verses 36-45 of chapter 11, for instance, are far harder to place in history. Why?

The answer to that question may be found in the first few verses of chapter 12, where the angel states that some of these things will occur not in the immediate future but at the end when "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." (12:2)

This was Daniel's final apocalyptic vision. The angel's words bring to mind a couple of things. He said that many will be resurrected to "everlasting contempt". Many of those around us will awake not to joy but to condemnation. While it is tempting to spend our time trying to interpret the visions and recognize the exact events that will come, it is far more important to share Jesus with as many as we can. God does not want any to be lost, so we serve Him best by witnessing His reality, love, and free salvation to others. Another point to consider is that the presence of even God's angels was so overpowering that Daniel could hardly breathe. Our God is a God of power as well as love. No matter what happens in our world as Jesus' return nears, we have nothing to fear. Neither Satan nor man can stop the all-powerful God from fulfilling His plan for the universe.

If you are interested in some of the history involved in Daniel's vision, the following is a pretty good site about the Seleucid dynasty that inherited part of the empire of Alexander the Great: http://www.livius.org/se-sg/seleucids/seleucids.html

 

A Prayer and a Prophecy

Daniel 9:1 - 27

Were the prophets known in their own time, or did their writings came to light only years after their deaths? Daniel tells us that Jeremiah was well known and well respected, at least after his unwelcome messages proved to be true. Daniel studied the prophet's words years after his death (vs.2).

Daniel noted that 66 of the 70 years of exile prophesied by Jeremiah had passed. In relation to his observation, he prayed the prayer that we read today. In it is Daniel's open confession of his sin and the sin of his nation. In verse 18 Daniel implores God's mercy not because of any merit of his or the nation, but "…on account of Your great compassion."

We may ask why Daniel would include himself with the sinful nation? We have seen him only as an upright and holy man. Like us, Daniel was a sinner. It is a condition into which we are born. We cannot avoid it. Daniel realized that in God's eyes, his sin was as condemning as the nation's, and that God's love and compassion could not die. God's mercy was and is everlasting through His gift of life through Christ.

Gabriel's entrance to the scene is an assurance about God. He does indeed know what lies in our hearts even without our confession. Gabriel tells Daniel, "At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you…." God does not need our prayer in order to know our needs, but He commands that we pray so that we may understand the importance of talking with Him about every concern.

What did the vision portend? There are many views on this, but the title "Anointed One" can very properly be translated "Messiah". Knowing this, we may assume that Jesus' reign, whether His ministry on earth or His eternal reign, is involved.

However, how should the numbers be interpreted? Jesus' earthly ministry was longer than 62 weeks. In addition, who is the destroying "ruler" and who are "his people"? As you can see, there can be many ways to interpret the words in their historical perspective. Even the translators of the words are not in complete agreement. NIV, for instance translates a phrase near the end of today's reading as, "on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." NASB translates the same phrase as, "on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." This does not mean that we cannot trust God's word to be true or comprehensible! It does demonstrate that, when it comes to apocalyptic visions, we will know only at the end of history exactly what historical circumstances were described.