Tuesday, December 22, 2020

COMPASSION CAN BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE: The Prophet Hosea

 

 
We wonder why life must be so painful. Why must there be death? Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? Perhaps getting our way is self-destructive?
 
Perhaps we don’t know what is good for us? Many think, “If only I’d win the lottery, I’d then be happy.” However, studies have shown that it is more likely that we will experience the opposite thing.
 
Let’s illustrate this principle spiritually. Through the Prophet Hosea, God revealed that His blessings had caused more problems than they had healed, at least in the long run. He rescued Israel out of bondage in Egypt, but the more God lovingly shepherded them, the more they rejected Him:
 
·       “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him. I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him…For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me. (Hosea 11:1–4, 7 (NLT)
 
Israel history had been one of ingratitude. The more God blessed them, the more they turned away. God therefore lamented:
 
·       “I have been the LORD your God ever since I brought you out of Egypt. You must acknowledge no God but me, for there is no other savior. I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. (Hosea 13:4–6)
 
The Prophets of Israel had consistently proclaimed that the fault wasn’t God’s but Israel’s. He had given them everything He possibly could:
 
·       “Now I [God] will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill. He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter. Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard. What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes? Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it. I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it. (Isaiah 5:1–6)
 
God grieved that even after he had done everything that He could do for Israel, His people turned away from Him. How then would God get His beloved people to turn back to Him? He would replace their blessings with extreme depravations so that they would call upon their Savior. Therefore, the Book of Hosea closes with God’s plea:
 
·       Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down. Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises. Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made, ‘You are our gods.’ No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.” The LORD says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.” (Hosea 14:1–4)
 
In the end, reconciliation to their God did not require animal sacrifices, just their sincere confession of sins. He would then heal their unfaithful heart. This healing will be sufficient to satisfy God’s anger forever.
 
This could only be accomplished through the Messiah’s death for the sins of the world. Once this price was paid to satisfy the righteous nature of God could He then open the door to change, intimacy, and even an indissoluble eternal marriage through the payment of a wedding dowery:

·       “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. (Hosea 2:16–20)
 
This marriage would be consummated “in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.” These would come as a gift from our Husband. He would cloth His bride in these garments, which she could never provide for herself. This marriage meant that there would have to come a time when the separating curtain between Israel and her God would be torn asunder, and His Holy Spirit would reside with His people.
 
Meanwhile, we await the full consummation of the marriage:

·       For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? (Romans 8:22–24)
 
We now endure the necessary groaning and wait in hope for His return.

 

 

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