God is Calling! Pick Up the Phone! Jonah, Chapter One

 

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3 KJV)

The Lord calls Jonah to go and preach to the “great city of Nineveh.” God offers a very compelling reason: “because its wickedness has come up against Me.” Isn’t it interesting that God is offended by a nation that He did not choose (unlike His beloved Israel) and whose sin He finds personally offensive? This city doesn’t even know Him, much less care about the God of Israel. Yet He is unwilling to ignore the stench of sin that is reaching His nostrils.

Even though the people of Nineveh are not His chosen people, He still loves them. They are part of the human family.

It gets even more amazing. God decides to choose one of Israel’s prophets to go and tell Nineveh of its sin! His love for Israel is not exclusive. Even a people who do not know Him are still precious in His sight. Nineveh is Israel’s enemy, and yet He cares enough to select one of His own prophets to proclaim His message to them. He speaks to His own and to everyone else.

Jonah’s ministry prefigures Christ’s ministry. Jesus shared His message to the Jews, and his words were also heard by the Gentiles.

God’s prophets always warn of His mercy before His judgment. His people have time to change their ways before the judgment comes. God is just. He despises sin, calling His people to turn away from it. If they choose not to, His judgment will come.

God does not engage in a divine “I told you so!” when Israel falls many times before the sword of her enemies. He takes no pleasure in watching her chastisement. He carefully apprises the people of the consequences of their behavior and disobedience. The prophets are His messengers and spread His word, even if the people fail to listen.

God warns Israel’s enemies of impending judgment as well. Consequently, Jonah is directed to one of Israel’s enemies. This tells us a lot about how God sees evil: He is angered by it. Evil destroys victims, to be sure. Evil destroys perpetrators as well, for it fosters dangerous and destructive attitudes that embolden the ambitious and cruel. Ultimately, evil sows its own destruction, but the innocent are brutally harvested as well. God takes no pleasure in that, but underscores time and time again through His prophets the need for repentance, so that His arm of wrath is stayed and His mercy may prevail.

Nineveh’s sin does not go unnoticed by God. It is no small town. In Genesis 10:11, Nineveh is referred to as “the great city,”[1] and later, King Sennacherib made it the capital of the mighty empire of Assyria.[2]

It has a large population. In Jonah 4:11, it is described as having “more than 120,000 people” in it. Nineveh is extremely wealthy. Another Old Testament prophet, Nahum, describes it this way: “The supply [of silver and gold] is endless, the wealth from all its treasures” (2:9).

Let’s imagine The Official Ancient Middle East Tour Book and read Nineveh’s entry:

Nineveh is the warm, balmy capital of the Empire of the Assyrians. If you plan a visit to our lovely capital, we welcome you! If you are an enemy, perhaps you should reconsider. Our reputation for cruelty precedes us. We have wonderful stone monuments that depict our brutal conquests, and the delightful things we do to our adversaries. Our enemies are stunned by our ferocity. Once we are done conquering you, we will ship your entire population (free of charge, of course) to the furthest outreaches of the Empire. If you are the leader of a conquered city, you will be entitled to our Royal Treatment: We will torture and mutilate you. In due time, we will execute you. One of our kings, the mighty Shalmaneser III, enjoys making pyramids of his enemies’ skulls, and we do so enjoy stacking up the dead right outside the city gates of the vanquished city. Nineveh is calling! We welcome YOU!” [3]

Seriously, Nahum gives us a chilling description of Nineveh: "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses…" (3:1-3 KJV)

Is Jonah’s reaction, “Yes, Lord, sign me up!”

Are you kidding?

He was probably thinking: I gotta run away! Now! Full speed ahead!

Let’s modernize Jonah’s calling to really understand how awful this appears to Jonah, and his all-too-human reaction against God’s command. You are a Jewish person living in 1930’s Berlin. You are commanded by God to go and announce to Hitler and the Nazis that God has seen their wickedness. This is the Berlin of the Gestapo, where people are arrested, tortured and deported to concentration camps. You have heard of Dachau, and all of its horrors, and those other camps where the only escape is through the chimneys of the crematoria.

Your reaction? You’d probably be like Jonah: looking for the fastest way out of there.

That’s exactly what Jonah does. He goes down to the harbor at Joppa in Judea, and books a ship out of Israel. Where to? The farthest place he could go: Tarshish, in Spain! It is 180 degrees opposite of Nineveh.

God calls you to go to Hitler’s Berlin, and you book a flight to New York. You get the idea.

As he makes his way down to the docks, he may be thinking: How lucky could I possibly be? There’s a ship bound for Tarshish, and it’s leaving soon, and I have the right amount of money for passage…Woo-hoo! Coincidence? Nah! I am supposed to leave, because look how everything is falling into place!

Let’s look at this for a moment. Jonah is not alone trying to read God’s hand in things that are contradictory to His word and warnings. How often do people say,

• Well, I am unhappy in my marriage, and I know that I am not really all that active in trying to patch things up. Besides, I’ve met this wonderful person at work, and I am sure God wants us to be together. Why else would I have met that person? It can’t be coincidence! It is meant to be!
• I know that I am working for a dishonest person. He has encouraged me to lie as well. I can’t find another job so easily. Besides, I just got a promotion! I wouldn’t have gotten it without God’s help! There were three other candidates beside me! So it must be God’s will that I stay here!
• I know that I shouldn’t be drinking. But I am so lonely, and going to the bar makes me feel better. The church is so full of hypocrites anyway! I pray for God’s protection when I drive home, and He’s good! I haven’t been in an accident. I need to go now. Yeah, I am still buzzed, but God’s watching over me. He always forgives me!

Jonah knows that God has called him. He knows what a prophet is. It’s someone who is God’s mouthpiece and who has to be obedient to the calling: "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name." (Deut. 18:18-19)

Jonah walked with God in the past. He isn’t ignorant of what God demands of his prophets. In addition to being terrified, and seeking to read into every little thing a way out of his calling, he may have thought that if he leaves Israel, then he is leaving the spirit of prophesy. He may have seen prophecy tied to the land of Israel itself. Leave Israel, leave the calling. Right? No. How often do people think that once they no longer feel responsible for someone or something, then the rules of morality no longer apply?

• I left the church. Their rules no longer apply to me.
• I left my marriage. I am no longer required to be kind to my former spouse.
• Yeah, I hit the singles’ bars. I have been burned in my relationships, so I don’t have to be committed or careful of other people’s feelings.
• I left my job. Now I will tell you about what a loser that boss is.

The list of how we rationalize why we no longer have to be good goes on and on. How often do people grow tired of being good? They grow weary of the rules, and decide that once they are outside the “organization,” the rules don’t exist, or at least the rules no longer need to be acknowledged.

A word of caution here: Man-made rules, while they might have good intentions, are not necessarily tethered to the Word of God or are a stretch at best. It is imperative that we understand the principles of God’s Word, and then see if those man-made rules line up.

Let me give you a personal example. I taught at a Christian school that advocated modesty for its girls. That is absolutely in keeping with Scripture. Modesty is a woman’s best defense against being objectified: It maintains a woman’s dignity, and helps her be focused on pleasing God, not chasing after the approval of men. But this school decided that modesty extended to the color of nail polish. Only pinks and corals could be worn.

One student I had loved blue nail polish. She had a vibrant personality, and she enjoyed fun colors. I had to advocate on her behalf: I didn’t believe that blue nail polish made her less modest. She sincerely loved the Lord, and the attacks on her wearied her spirit.

If we take man-made rules and confuse them with Scripture, some people will throw out the man-made baby with the Scriptural bath water. Having to keep a mental scorecard of do’s and don’ts diminishes our joy in the Lord. It is easy to grow weary with being good. Some people even end up walking away from the faith.

What about Jonah? Does he think that God’s rules only apply in Israel, and somehow outside of Israel, he can get away with being disobedient? God’s principles are a lot like gravity. You can say that gravity doesn’t extend to this particular building, but if you take a step off the roof, you will find out that splat! Gravity still applies!

Jonah is faced with a decision that left him opting for the easy way out. Let’s tune in on Jonah’s mind (with my paraphrasing of course!):

• I am thinking that once I am gone, I am free of this prophet thing. Let’s see. What are my choices? Can I even call them that?
• I could travel down a long unfamiliar road, arrive at Nineveh, enter this big nasty city and preach God’s anger to those who could care less. I think not.
• I could lose my life along the way or survive the hard journey, only to be killed inside Nineveh once I open my mouth. Fun.
• I could share my God with those evil undeserving pagans who probably won’t listen to me anyway. After all, who has ever heard of Jonah? Or, for that matter, God Himself? Sounds like a winner.
• I help God’s favor (because of my big mouth, I might add) shift to Nineveh and leave Israel in the dust. Once Israel finds out I am responsible for this shift, I will be doubly hated. The Ninevites won’t like me because I have to tell them they are wicked. The Israelites will rue the day I ever left with this message. They will cry, “Why couldn’t you just preach God’s sacred words to us alone? Telling pagans they are wicked (we get that) but inviting them to be with our God? Good idea, buddy boy!” Awesome.
• Last, but certainly not least, we will have to share our God with them! That will make us (shiver) some kind of kin? Oh, joy!
• The options, dearest Lord, are just not my cup of tea. I decline Your invitation. Can I put You on hold for a moment? Hello, Princess Cruise Lines? A ship to Tarshish? Today? Perfect. I’m on it!

[1] NIV Study Bible, note on Genesis 10:21.

[2] NIV Study Bible, note on Jonah 1:2.

[3] NIV Study Bible, notes on Nahum 3:1 & 3:3.

Let's Go Fishing! A Study of Jonah in Our "Majoring in the Minor (Prophets)" Series

We begin with a new prophet, Jonah.  Join me on this new exploration of another one of God's interesting men that He chose to carry His words to the people.  But not the chosen ones!  The disgusting ones! Pagans!

Let's see where this takes us!

Jonah knew God.  Jonah heard the call.  But before we dive into what that call was, and what Jonah’s response was, let’s explore what Jonah’s name means.  It says a lot about the nature of Jonah’s call and how God is going to use him. 

Names in the Bible are not simply markers of identity.  They identify characteristics of the person, as well as his or her relationship to God. What does Jonah’s name mean?  It means “a dove.” Let’s look at doves in the Bible.  They will give us an insight to Jonah’s mission.

Doves are a kind of messenger.  After the great Flood in Genesis, Noah wants to know the world’s condition.  What does he send out? 

Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. (Gen. 8:8-11)

The dove was a messenger not only of the receding waters but also of God’s receding wrath against the earth.  The flood waters were disappearing and the trees were again sprouting.  A dove announced to Noah and his family that the days in the ark were drawing to a close. The dove announced the dawning of a new day in the life of mankind. 

A dove announced God’s Son and the ministry He would embark upon:  

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  (Matt. 3:16-17)

God had enveloped Himself in our frail human flesh to provide the sacrifice for our sin.  This Dove’s arrival, God’s Holy Spirit, confirmed to everyone watching that the Messiah was here. His life would be an offering to His Father.  Jesus would bring back the olive branch of redemption.

Doves were also used as sacrifices in the Old Testament.  When God wanted to impress upon His people the seriousness of sin, the creatures sacrificed were utterly innocent.  Bulls, sheep, lambs and doves were used.  They had no fault of their own but they would die on behalf of the person making the offering.  Their blood would be a stark reminder that “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22).  The person stood there, watching in horror as the priest pulled back the neck of the lamb and slit its throat, or killed the quietly cooing dove.  God’s hope was that this person’s heart would be softened, feeling remorse for the sin committed as well as grief for this innocent animal’s death. 

What was God’s lesson for His people? We must recoil from sinning again.  Why? Sin breaks the bond between God and us.  This is the greatest horror of all: We are out of fellowship with the Father, and He with us.  

When Jesus hung on the cross, He cried, “My God, my God, why have You forgotten me?” (Matt. 27:46).  At that moment, when Jesus bore the weight of the world’s sin, His Father turned away from Him, and it was more than Jesus could bear.  The physical pain of the cross was nothing compared to the pain Jesus suffered when His Father, Who cannot look upon sin, turned away from Him.    

The death of an innocent animal for an offering foreshadowed what God would ultimately demand of His innocent Son:  an offering for all of our sin, for all time.  

Many kinds of offerings were given in the Old Testament.  What kind of animal could be used?  If you were really poor, a dove was sufficient for a burnt offering as well as a sin offering. 

So, we of whom Jesus has said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3), see this Dove as a messenger of God’s love for us. In our spiritual poverty, God’s forgiveness is not out of reach. He makes provision that all may come and receive it.

Finally, doves are messengers of an innocence of spirit.  Jesus commands His disciples to be “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). 

Innocence doesn’t mean ignorance.

Innocence means understanding sin’s alluring power and yet, in His power, keeping ourselves away from it.  If His disciples were to have credibility in preaching love and forgiveness from sin, they had to maintain a walk that pointed to the Father: “…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). 

Our sinning puts the focus back on us.  When others see our failures and our hypocritical behavior, their view of God comes to a screeching halt.  We are to shine His light so that He can be praised.  We are to be His candle, with His light emanating from us. How can others see this relationship between this God we profess and us?  By our deeds!  What we do is a louder witness than all the fine words we say. 

Jesus also mentions a snake along with the dove.  Snakes navigate through the tall grasses. They don’t run into stones. They are constantly on alert as they travel about.  They move with intention.

We are to be alert and aware of our surroundings (like the snake), being in the world but not beholden to its values.  Our innocence of spirit (like the dove) will be proof enough that God is in us.  We navigate with His wisdom.

The world enjoys watching innocence be corrupted.  How many actresses or singers want to spice up their image, from innocent girl to someone who gets noticed by sexualizing her image?   Then, after they lose their innocent image, we see a downward spiral into more and more dangerous and destructive behaviors.  Some end up broken, having lost everything.  

The world has an agenda and is always asking, “Hey!  What’s in it for me?”  How utterly opposite from this are we to be as Jesus’ followers.

So, let’s summarize the dove idea, and tie it into Jonah.  A dove is a messenger that:

v proclaims God’s mercy and receding wrath;

v proclaims God’s provision for our sin by confirming that Jesus is the Messiah;

v proclaims how serious sin is, and how the poor are provided for;

v proclaims how we must be to the world: innocent (not corrupted), aware of sin without being drawn into it;

v proclaims His light in the darkness.

Now, let’s see how this applies to Jonah.  He is called to proclaim mercy and forgiveness to an evil pagan city called Nineveh.  He will show that God’s desire is for all to come to Him and that none should perish, just as it says in John 3:16.  Even the lowliest person is not beyond God’s reach. 

Jonah must walk in obedience in order to be a good witness.  He is called to share the light of God to those who sit in darkness. 

Let’s follow this “dove” on his journey. 

What’s in a name?  Apparently, quite a bit. 

 

---

Hosea XXIV: Confession and Restoration

God's final words to His people encourage them to confess so that they may be restored. 

Isn't that what God is all about?

No, God is not vengeful.  

That would imply He strikes us out of anger.

That He has a contentious and capricious spirit.

That He bears a heart that wishes to crush us without mercy by ignoring our pleas.

That He leaves a debris trail behind Him, and walks out of our lives satisfied that He made it clear who is Boss.

(That sounds like us, not Him.)

Perish the thought!

Throughout Hosea, God has warned and wooed.

Cautioned and cajoled.

How have the people reacted? 

Let's start with chapter 14, the final chapter of Hosea, and watch one more time this striking interplay between His justice and mercy.

4 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” (1-3).

God even gives them the words to say.  This passage feels as if it's a kind of ceremony, such as a wedding, with vows to be spoken. When the priest or pastor says to the couple, "Repeat after me," those words are binding once the couple speak them.  

God is effectively saying, "Repeat after Me," and those words are binding once the people speak them.  He will accept the words as a confession their sins, as they choose to turn from their evil ways. 

Then the Lord, if His people confess their sins, says, as if He is reciting a vow, 

The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.
I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.

My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon (4-7).

Because of His covenantal relationship with His people, these words are indeed like a vow.  He made His covenant with His people a long time ago, vowing to stand by Israel.  His adherence to the covenant was not based on Israel's obedience. If that were so, God would have abandoned it and His people a long time ago. No, He upholds the covenant, because it is based on His loving-kindness.  

The word for lovingkindness and covenant are the same: hesed.  

How else could God deal with a sin-soaked universe and a desperately fallen people?  If He based it on anything else but His beautiful lovingkindness, we would have no hope.  

God wants to bring His people back to a new life, one that is vibrant, alive and in love with Him.  In other words, God's renewal always has one goal: to restore our relationship with Him.  And as a result, with each other.

God's last words to His people through Hosea are ones that should seep into our own hearts: 

O Israel, stay away from idols!
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me (8). 

Wow.  Do you hear Jesus' words here?  

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (John 15:1-8). 

Only through God, born anew by confessing our sins and asking Him to live in us, can we produce the kind of fruit He greatly desires from us:  love, devotion, obedience and relationship.

I love God's last words, spoken by a prophet who has walked this long journey with God's people and wants them to think long and hard about the future: 

Let those who are wise understand these things.
Let those with discernment listen carefully.
The paths of the Lord are true and right,
and righteous people live by walking in them.
But in those paths sinners stumble and fall (9).

Wise words then.  

Wise words now. 

Hosea XXIII

The parable of the prodigal son is echoed in chapter 13 of Hosea. We will walk through both.  We will see two different endings.  Each ending will come from a conscious choice. 

Let's walk through both and see the tearing of familial bonds. 

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. (Luke 15:11-16)

A son: The pride of the father's heart. 

A nation: The pride of the Father's heart. 

Then came the words that tears the bond apart: A beloved son wants his money.  Right now. He wants to go his own way, disregarding all that his father has done for him.  His father concedes, deeply hurt and afraid for his son's wild abandon of all that is good in his life.  

A beloved nation wants its freedom.  Right now.  It wants to go its own way, disregarding all that the Father has done for it. The Father watches His wayward nation careen out of control, as they lie to themselves as to who has provided all they have. 

   
When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
Now they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss calf-idols!”
Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
like smoke escaping through a window. (1-3)

The son in Jesus' story comes to his senses--he remembers how much his father loves him, and he feels shame.  Such shame that he will not return as a son, but as a slave. 

When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants." So he got up and went to his father. (Luke 15:17-20) 

This nation has to be reminded of how the Father has cared for it.  This nation is not coming to its senses. 

But I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Savior except me.
I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me. (4-6)

An embrace. A celebration. The bond is restored because that was what the father wanted all along.  

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son."
But the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:20-24) 

But what of the beloved nation?

No repentance. No willingness to return in humility, seeking forgiveness and longing to be restored to the Father.  No coming to its senses. 

You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.
Where is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
"Give me a king and princes"?
So in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.
The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.
Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb. (9-13)

This story will end in bloodshed.

The Father will turn into a righteous Judge.

No embrace. No celebration.  No bond restored.

Only heartache.

The beloved son chose his ending.

The beloved nation of Israel chose theirs. 

Hosea XXII

We are reading in Hosea, chapter 12, how God is asking His people to repent and return.  Even their ancestor, Jacob, crafty and manipulating as he was, he still managed to return to God--he even had the privilege of meeting God face to face! (12:4)

The people of Israel have the same opportunity. God is asking them to return and in essence, meet Him face to face--metaphorically speaking.  They can walk, confer and interact with Him as Jacob did.  They can honor Him in their worship and in their behavior.  They, too, can go from being crafty to contrite to connected. 

But no. 

God continues to speak through Hosea: 

But no, the people are like crafty merchants
selling from dishonest scales—
they love to cheat.
Israel boasts, “I am rich!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
My record is spotless!” (12:7-8) 

Isn't it funny when we use the world's standards to prove how spiritual we are?  The world is fallen, so the standard it sets is--no surprise here--fallen.  We do not measure how good we are by how the world defines it. We do not measure how spiritual we are by how the world defines it.

God is the standard. Period. 

Remember He said, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." (Lev. 19:2)

Again: "You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine." (Lev. 20:26)

God's character is one of utter integrity, compassion, justice and mercy.  We, who are His, cannot use any other standard than the one He sets for us. 

But as fallen creatures, how can we be holy?  God gave His people His Law.  Then His prophets.  Then His Son.  He never asks us to be holy without providing the means.

Yes, we are imperfect.  He prepared for that by setting up the sacrificial system that allowed us to be cleansed from our sins.  First, from a lamb.  Then from the Lamb.  His Son is the final revelation and fulfillment of how God provided the means whereby we can be holy--set aside for His sacred use and a testimony to His presence in the world. 

But we were once slaves to sin.  Slaves are anti-holy.  They have been set aside for exploited use. Evil use.  Alienated use. 

In Hosea, God wants to remind His people of their pre-holy use.  

They were set aside long before the Exodus but later the verses in Leviticus reminded them of that call. The verses about being holy answered the question, "Why did God redeem us?  For what purpose?" 

He originally revealed His purpose to Abraham: 

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:1-3)

But later in their history, the enslavement of His people moved them into an anti-use.  You cannot be used by God if you are enslaved to sin. You have another master.  Sin will seep into you, driving you deeper into bondage, and into places that God, in His holiness, will not countenance.  

But He is the Redeemer.  God recounts His liberation of His people, implying that now they are back to operating in an anti-holy capacity.  Verses 7-8 show their attitude.  They show their  hardened hearts as they think they have been successful due to their own ability and that their record is "spotless."  With all we've read in Hosea, their record is quite the opposite.  It is full of sin.  They are steeped in arrogance, disobedience, corruption, violence and an utter disregard of God and His holiness.

Their record is spotless only because they think they haven't been caught. 

But God sees them in the shadows, just as He did when Adam and Eve hid away after they sinned. 

But I am the Lord your God,
who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
And I will make you live in tents again,
as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.
I sent my prophets to warn you
with many visions and parables. (12:9-10) 

So, children of Israel, you want to be like pagans?  God will allow a ruthless pagan army to sweep in one day and take you into a society that does not love Yahweh and His holiness in any way.

You want to choose how you live?  Then one day you will be homeless, living in make-shift dwellings, torn away from your homes and back to being slaves of an imperious empire that cares not a wit for the values of Yahweh. 

God is very specific about how this is going to end, not due to a capricious decision on His part, but because of the natural consequences of the people's utter disregard for His holiness:  

But the people of Gilead are worthless
because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
along the edges of a plowed field.
Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.
Then by a prophet
the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt;
and by that prophet
they were protected.
But the people of Israel
have bitterly provoked the Lord,
so their Lord will now sentence them to death
in payment for their sins. (12:11-14) 

Earlier in Hosea, God describes Gilead as "a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood." (6:8) Gilgal in 4:15 is described as a place where the Israelites put up a religious shrine and Bethel ("House of God") was sarcastically rendered as Beth Aven ("House of Wickedness"). [1]

In other words, both places are invoked by Hosea as reminders of the kind of evil that stalks the land--pagan in practice and in values. 

Jacob came to repentance by settling down with a wife, going on the become one of the founding fathers of Israel. Moses, redeemed from a kind of slavery in the pagan Pharaoh's house by God's call, led the people out and brought them back into their purpose to be a blessing to all the nations. 

Now?  Having gone back to a spiritual Egypt, and having embraced an anti-use, an anti-holy set of values, they will receive the consequences of their choices.

It hurts our hearts to read of this, because we know what happened to them.

It hurts God's heart to see what we are doing, because He knows what will happen to us.

His love endures forever, but His justice does as well. 

[1] NIV Study Bible, 1985, p. 1327.

Hosea XXI

Deceit.  

Deception. 

Being deceived. 

Israel and Judah are in that danger zone of thought. In chapter 12, God is accusing them, starting with Israel, of chasing after deception (even though they would not call it that): 

The people of Israel feed on the wind;
they chase after the east wind all day long.
They pile up lies and violence;
they are making an alliance with Assyria
while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt. (12:1)

Israel thinks that what they are basing their national life on is secure.  They don't need to rely on God.  They have figured it out:  Give your enemies what they want and they will stand by you. 

They are seeking to take good from evil. Something from nothing. Think about it: Isn't that what deception is? When what you are considering looks like something that you want or think is necessary, but you have no guardrails to guide you, you risk deception.  Deception can take you, given enough time, into something deeper, darker and more corrupting than you think.

Deception appeals to pride: I got this all figured out. I am smarter than that guy. I know what this all really means. You are too stupid to see how wonderful this is! You just don't get it: This is everything we have hoped for and wanted--you need to be like me and get on the bus.

That is why deception is so dangerous. It starts from a place of limited knowledge and thus the real consequences of that knowledge. Otherwise, deception wouldn't work. If you knew what was really going on and how devastating the consequences would be, you'd avoid it. 

Israel is deceived in thinking that God is not their sole Protector and that they need allies.  Pagan allies. Huh?

Pagans have a different value system than Israel.  You can't negotiate with evil.  Its "moral" code is derived from what is culturally determined.  The moral code of Israel and Judah was not crafted by human beings; it was given to the people by God through Moses. It transcended culture and time. God said His ways were the basis upon which the people should live.  

No exceptions. No deceptions. 

But evil is based on the reasoning of fallen human beings, who are deceived by their sinful blindness to truth and justice. Assyria and Egypt's values are based on empire: unrestrained power, violence, exploitation, the devaluing of human life and using whatever means are necessary to further their advancement in the world. 

Judah and Israel have the Torah.  The prophets.  The very words of God Himself.

But they are now deceived.  

But do deceived people know they are deceived?  

The way to expose deception is with the truth. 

I just finished watching Nuremberg, starring Russell Crow.  I have studied the Holocaust for most of my adult life, and so I was eager to watch this movie.  It was excellent. 

This trial of the Nazi leaders begins with the prosecutor reading out the charges against the defendants. They all sit there, listening through their headphones with stony faces.  Each one, of course, says, "Not guilty" to the charges. 

After some preliminary testimony, the prosecution shows the film footage the Allies shot as they liberated the camps. The prosecutor says that this is the first time this film has been shown.  

The implication is: You wanted the Final Solution?  Well, here it is:  Stacks and stacks of bodies; bulldozers pushing bodies into ditches; more bodies; ovens with burned bodies still in them; skeletal bodies of people barely able to walk and still more bodies.  

Camp after camp after camp.  The images are relentless because the evil the Nazis operated in was relentless.  

We see the faces of the people in the courtroom, who are devastated by what they are seeing. They didn't truly know what had gone on in these camps. We then see the faces of the Nazi leaders and some are visibly shaken. How much did they know?  Did it matter?  They were all complicit in one of the worst crimes that humans could devise. 

The deception that these were just relocation or work camps is destroyed by the unrelenting truth of the film's images. The Final Solution's goals were not just rhetoric or grandiose language uttered by a maniacal leader: it was a policy of extermination, implemented with devastating consequences.  

The people sitting in that courtroom in 1945 saw into the abyss of where deception takes you: into the very regions of hell. 

God does not tolerate deception in any way, shape or form. He knows all too well where it leads.  Adam and Eve's deception by Satan led to a fallen and sin-soaked planet.  The fact that Israel and Judah, who had received the very words of God, were allying themselves with the forces of darkness is a recreation of what happened in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had the very words of God, but listened to the seductive and deceitful words of evil.  

Where did it lead?  Sin's road is littered with murder and mayhem. Those images in those liberation films should still shock us, because deception is still alive and well.  

God's truth, spoken by His prophets, is to counteract the deception His people fall under, and Hosea's words are no exception.  God wants His children to live in truth and by truth, so that deception will not gain a foothold and lead to literally God knows what. 

God then invokes one of the Jewish people's founding fathers: Jacob.  He uses the truth of Jacob to remind the people that repentance and return is always God's desire: 

Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah.
   He is about to punish Jacob* for all his deceitful ways,
   and pay him back for all he has done.
Even in the womb,
   Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
   he even fought with God.
Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
   He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.
There at Bethel he met God face to face,
   and God spoke to him—
the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,
   the Lord is his name!
So now, come back to your God.
   Act with love and justice,
   and always depend on him. (11:2-6)

Jacob was a deceiver and even he found his way back to God, wanting God's blessing in the end. The verses here really speak to Isaiah 59:1: "Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call."

God will always bring truth to counteract deception. We now have the ultimate truth:  Jesus Christ Himself. 

The writer of Hebrews puts it beautifully:

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. (1:1-3) 

Amen. 








* "Jacob sounds like the Hebrew word for 'deceiver.'” (Bible Gateway notes on verse 2)

Christmas: Something to Lose, Something to Gain

Come, stand with me. Let's look into the manger with eyes willing to see anew this familiar picture. It is indeed a holy night. Everyone who journeys to this manger has something that will challenge them. They will all have to give something up. But on this holy night, they will have something so much more to gain.

The Three Wise Men: They give up the safety of their homeland as they travel from Persia to Israel. This is a risky journey. They carry valuable items for the newborn King.  They have only a star to follow. What did their compatriots think as they load up and head out? These men have a reputation. These are men of books, stars, and maps. What if they are wrong? They are traveling to a foreign land. Will they be accepted by the people of that land? Will they arrive on the appointed day and time? Will they be able to find and worship this King? Will doors be slammed in their faces because they are not Jewish?

They are wise men, possessing a lot of head knowledge. But they must follow that star! Despite the danger to self and reputation, they must go. Yes, there is a lot to lose, but look at what they will gain! The hardest journey for these men will be only a distance of fourteen inches--from their heads to their hearts.

They fall down on their knees once they come near to the Baby King. Any doubts they carry with them are cast into the light coming from His precious face. The very gifts that made their trip so dangerous are now placed at His side. Each gift reflects this Child.

Gold is precious beyond measure. It must be burned in the fire to purify it. He is precious beyond measure and His excruciating death will purify us from our sins.

Frankincense is burned to release a sweet fragrance. His death will release the sweet fragrance of the penalty paid, to be inhaled by all those who believe.

Myrrh is an aromatic resin with a slightly bitter taste. It is used for embalming but also for healing. His death will be bitter, but His Resurrection will be the healing of our souls.

These men lay their gifts before the manger. Into their empty hands is given the greatest gift of all: They look upon the face of God. Their hearts now know that God keeps His promises.

The Shepherds: They give up watching their sheep momentarily. They know their job, their responsibility. They are in the outskirts of town. They are low in status, but they will break through that and go into town, emboldened by the message they hear. They risked scorn and disapproval: “Do angels really sing praises out where people like you may hear them? Oh, come on!” But here they come. Nothing will stop this excited band of men, whose ears still ring with the heavenly chorus.  Their gain? They are going into the manger to see this Baby. They are trusting God to watch their sheep.

He is the God of the big things, such as this news and the voices of praising angels! He is also the God of the little things. God will keep the flock together while the shepherds seek and find His newborn Son. They step off the hillsides in a faith that will never leave them.

Joseph: He had to give up his fear or at least, not allow it to paralyze him. Has Mary betrayed him? Is she lying to him? He is wounded by the possibility of her infidelity. Doubt, anger, consternation and hurt all swirl in his heart, wounding him over and over.

He is a craftsman whose reputation in the community keeps his trade alive. Will it be undone by whispering? What will others think? He feels such shame for Mary and his heart seizes up when he ponders the consequence of her actions: death. All these questions and more challenge him to the very marrow of his bones.

Yet, he will hear the voice of God as he sleeps. He will arise out of his slumber a determined man. He will provide for Mary. He will gain a journey. Not just any journey, but one alongside the Son of God. He will raise the Boy, teach him to hew wood and cut stone. Someday this very Child will hang from a wooden cross and lie behind a large stone. But Death will not hold Him for long.

Joseph cannot see what the future holds, but he knows Who holds the future.

Mary: She gives up her reputation. She will give up peace. Her sense of what is normal will be replaced with a fear of husband’s distrust or reprisal, of public humiliation, and even of death.

But she will gain the smile of God. She will nourish the Son of God Who will someday nourish her. She will comfort Him when He cries. One day, she will be comforted by Him when He hangs on a cross and gives her John to care for her. She will treasure much in her heart to sustain her in the coming days when she cannot understand Him. The day He hangs on a cross will require her to reach into her heart deeply. But her greatest treasure will be when she beholds Him once more: glorified and radiant on that future Sunday morning.

Where do all of these people go from here? 

The three wise men will leave Bethlehem, hearing of the butchery by King Herod to root out all the male children under the age of two. An earthly king will mercilessly kill to stop the heavenly King. The men ride back into the west, grief-stricken. They will cling to the promise of "Peace on earth, good will to men."

Joseph and Mary will leave for Egypt, far away from everyone to avoid the coming slaughter. It is not their Lamb's time yet. They will long return home someday. In the future, when they hear of Herod's death, their joy will turn once again to fear as they learn of Herod's son on the throne. They must go and settle in yet another village. Do they ever stop looking over their shoulders while Jesus is small? Will evil men come for Him to take Him to His death?

Not for now.

But someday, He will go willingly with evil men. 

He came to die for men like these.  He even will forgive them from the cross. 

What do we give up?  We lose the loneliness and alienation from the King of the Universe, who came to be the King of our hearts. 

What do we gain?  

We gain the gift of eternal life through His death.

We gain His abundant life as we peer into His empty tomb that spring morning.

In every season we travel, are we realizing with ever increasing confidence that whatever we are  challenged with, whatever we have to give up, is nothing compared to the beauty of the Son and the life He offers? 

Stand at the manger and know that God loves us beyond measure.

Stand at the cross and know that God loves us forever. 

May His shalom be your portion this Christmas season!