Category Archives: Hosea

For you in you the orphan finds mercy

02 Tuesday Jul 2019

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Sometimes there is a question as to the importance knowing the Biblical languages. And, it is true that in most instances, the English text very good. But there allusions which cannot be translated; there are connotations which cannot be understood apart from knowledge of the original. Here is one such example:

Hosea 14:1–3(NASB95)

1  Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2 Take words with you and return to the Lord.

Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity

And receive us graciously,

That we may present the fruit of our lips.

3 “Assyria will not save us,

We will not ride on horses;

Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’

To the work of our hands;

For in You the orphan finds mercy.”

I want to consider that last line, “in you the orphan finds mercy.” The first clue is that the line seems a bit out of place. Israel is called too repentance. Israel repents by asking to be forgiven and received. Israel renounces reliance upon politics and human power (Assyria and horses), and idolatry (which is a bogus technology which seeks to harness some magical power in the universe). Then comes a line which seems out of place, “in you the orphan finds mercy.”

One could understand the line in terms of a superlative mercy: you are so merciful that even orphan are received by you. But there is actually something are more grounded in the text of prophecy.

In chapter one, God tells Hosea to marry a “wife of whoredom”. She then has a daughter named, “No Mercy” and a son named “Not My People.” God utterly rejects Israel for her adulterous idolatry. Here, in the final chapter that theme is repeated:

Hosea 14:4 (BHS/WIVU)

4   אֲשֶׁר־בְּךָ֖ יְרֻחַ֥ם יָתֽוֹם׃

The last two words need our attention. First the word

יְרֻחַ֥ם

The verb rhm means “to show” mercy. In this verse the verb is in a passive form so rather than show it means to receive mercy. He finds mercy. This is the same root word which was used in chapter one to name the daughter “No Mercy”:

Hosea 1:6(NASB95)

6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lordsaid to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.

She was named Lo (No) Ruhamah (Mercy/compassion) because God will not show mercy on Israel any longer.

The son is named “Lo Ami”, not my people:

Hosea 1:9(NASB95)

9 And the Lordsaid, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.”

The father of the child is denying his position as father: The child has a mother, but no father: No My People.  The word for orphan here means a child without a father:

orphan, the boy that has been made fatherless

Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 451.

m. an orphan, from the root יָתַם, Ex. 22:21, 23; Deu. 10:18; 14:29. Used of a child who is bereaved of his father only, Job 24:9.

Wilhelm Gesenius and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2003), 376.

Israel was compared to a pair of children, No Mercy and Not My People. Here at the end of the book, when Israel finally comes to repentance, the people say that God shows mercy upon the child who has no father: which is precisely the description of Israel in chapter one.

The English translation is not transparent to this meaning. In chapter one, the translation is “compassion” which is appropriate and a valid translation; but in chapter 14 it is mercy. In both places it is the same Hebrew root at issue (whether a noun or verb).

Second, the word for “orphan” means a child without a father — which is precisely the child in chapter one: Not My People. His mother was known; it was his father who denied him.

Thus, the fatherless child — the very child rejected by God — will be shown mercy. This points forward to Christ upon the Cross:

Matthew 27:45–46 (NASB95)

45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

The here in a mystery of which one dare not speak, there is the language of Fatherlessness and of a loss of mercy but rather an outpouring of wrath. And yet is this Son who receives mercy and has been vindicated by God:

Acts 2:32–35 (NASB95)

32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,
“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’

Jesus is not abandoned and does receive mercy — and not merely mercy, but glory, honor and power. And this vindication then becomes the basis of God receiving the children without a father who have not received mercy:

1 Peter 2:7–10(NASB95)

7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

“The stone which the buildersrejected,

This became the very cornerstone,”

8 and,

“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doomthey were also appointed.

9 But you are a chosen race, aroyal priesthood, aholy nation, a people forGod’sown possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

The orphan who finds mercy is Israel; but it is even more truly Christ who takes the place of Israel (remember Matthew and Hosea, out of Egypt I have called my son? there is a parallel there). And it is that work of Christ which then becomes redemption of all human beings (because Christ is also the stand in for that “son of God” Adam– Luke 3:38; who himself became the first child without a father at the Fall).

This letter phrase in Hosea draws together the entire book, but also picks up the strands of Christ’s work both in redeeming Israel and in redeeming humanity.

Hosea 3

07 Thursday Feb 2019

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These are notes on a Bible study for Hosea 3

Hosea 3

“The third chapter of Hosea is, in my judgment, the greatest chapter in the Bible, because it portrays the greatest story in the Bible – the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for his people.” James Boice

Text:

Hosea 3 (NASB95)

Chapter 3

1          Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman whois loved by herhusband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

2          So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekelsof silver and a homer and a half of barley.

3          Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.”

4          For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacredpillar and without ephod or household idols.

5          Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.

 

Verse 1:

 

  1. Who is this woman?

 

  1. If it is Gomer

 

  1. What circumstances has Gomer found herself?

 

  1. How could she possibly be in a circumstance to “bought”?

 

  1. If she has left her husband and belonged to someone else, how do we think about the illegality of Hosea’s action? Deut. 24:1-4; Jer. 3:1

 

  1. Is this another description of Hos. 2:3?

 

  1. If it is another woman?

 

  1. Who is she?

 

  1. Is this a second wife?

 

  1. If this is a second wife, how does that make sense of the analogy to Israel and the Lord?

 

  1. Raisin Cakes:Apparently something to do with the idol worship, or possibly the benefit of worshiping the idols. There is nothing wrong with the raisin cakes per se. 2 Sam. 6:19.

 

III.       Translation issues:

 

  1. What does the “again” belong to?

 

  1. Does the Lord speak again?

 

  1. Does Hosea “go again”?

 

  1. The description of the woman.

 

  1. The NASB seems to follow the Targum (an ancient paraphrase). This translation is quite different from the other translations:

 

  1. Other translation possibilities:

 

  1. A woman loved by another
  2. A woman who is loved by her companion (the NASB seems to take companion/neighbor to equal “Husband”)
  3. A woman who is loved by another (other than her husband, the more common implication of the companion/neighbor). This also matches “she commits adultery”.
  4. A woman loved by evil (unlikely).
  5. A woman who loves evil LXX

 

 

  1. Observations

 

  1. The act of going after other gods, while it looked like freedom was actually an act of slavery.

 

  1. How does the person who is plunged into the sin view the sin? Do they see it as freedom?

 

  1. Even as the Lord loves

 

  1. The Lord’s love never varies. It is mentioned here in the midst of Israel’s complete rebellion.

 

  1. All of the Lord’s conduct toward Israel is thus consistent with his love of Israel: even the exile is consistent with the Lord’s love.

 

  1. Implications for us: if the Lord looks on Israel with love – even in the midst of her rebellion, how should we consider the Lord toward us?

 

  1. The Heart of Christ in Heaven (Thomas Goodwin).

 

  1. Christ’s restoration of Peter – contrast Judas’ despair and self-murder.

 

Verse 2

 

  1. The purchase:

 

  1. The verb “bought” implies haggle.

 

  1. What do we make of this strange price: money and barely?

 

  1. It appears to be less than 30 shekels (the price of a slave: Ex. 21:32/Lev. 27:4).

 

  1. Some commentators take it that this amounts to approximately 30 shekels.

 

  1. If that is the approximate price, was a slave still that price in Hosea’s time?

 

  1. There is a foreshadowing of Christ’s betrayal? Thirty shekels bargained for the redemption of the bride.

 

  1. Does this indicate some sort of scramble to find money? Did he use all of his silver and then find some grain?

 

  1. To whom is the money/grain paid?

 

  1. Note how bare a description this is: “So I bought”. It is a peculiarly spare description. Compare something like Abraham in Genesis 23.

 

Verse 3

 

  1. Stay with me

 

  1. The woman is kept from all her lovers.

 

  1. But she is also kept from her husband – and he is kept from her.

 

  1. He has cordoned her that previous sin: you shall not play the harlot.

 

  1. Hosea 2

 

  1. The prophecy of 2:6-7: a wall to keep her away from her lovers; she will not be able to pursue them..

 

Verse  4

 

  1. The symbol explained

 

  1. The woman is Israel

 

  1. “For the sons of Israel ….”

 

  1. The status of her confinement:

 

  1. She will lack her own government

 

  1. She will be not possess the implements of idolatrous worship

 

  1. She will also not be permitted the true worship (sacrifice and ephod). In particular, she will not know the Lord’s present will.

 

  1. This is Israel at present

 

  1. Even Jewish commentators see themselves as in the state of this woman

 

  1. This whole process is discussed in Romans 9-11

 

  1. How are we to consider ourselves in relationship to Israel?

 

  1. Romans 11:11-24

 

  1. Pay particular attention to Romans 11:22, Behold the kindness and severity of God.

 

Verse 5:

 

  1. Israel’s Restoration

 

  1. There is a pun in verses 4-5: remain (Israel will remain) and return (the sons of Israel will return) sound similar and have similar spelling: their remaining and returning are closely joined together.

 

  1. The two aims of the return

 

  1. They will return and seek the LORD

 

  1. As opposed to the false gods they have been seeking

 

  1. They will return and seek .. David their King

 

  1. This is a reference to the Messiah

 

  1. Hosea 1:11 says that Israel and Judah will have one leader

 

  1. How do we understand this dual return?

 

  1. Zech. 12:9

 

  1. This is God & Christ

 

  1. The manner of their return

 

  1. They will come trembling to the LORD

 

  1. This is a word which can refer to bodily shaking with either fear or joy. It is a very strong word.

 

(pāḥad). vb. to fear, dread, be in terror.Describes the experience of terror, likely with connotations of physical quaking in fear.

While the various verbs for “fear” in Hebrew are often used in similar ways, some contexts suggest pāḥadmay indicate a stronger form of fear than יָרֵא(yārēʾ). In Job, the use of the term suggests that the strong feeling has a physical effect like shaking or trembling (Job 3:25; 4:14; compare Jer 33:9). It is often used in reference to God’s judgment and describes the abject terror of those experiencing the wrath of God (Deut 28:66–67; Isa 19:16–17; 33:14; Mic 7:17). However, the greater intensity associated with pāḥadmay derive from its almost exclusive use in biblical poetry, where it occurs in parallel with many of the other roots for fear (with little besides context to guide making fine distinctions between the intensity or type of fear being described). Two other uses of pāḥadseem to associate it simply with strong emotional experience, such as joy at seeing the fulfillment of God’s promised salvation (Isa 60:5; Jer 33:9). Rarely the verb seems to describe the experience of awe or reverence before God (Hos 3:5).

פַּחַד(paḥad). n. masc. dread, terror.Refers to terrifying and crippling fear, perhaps accompanied by physical quaking or trembling.

The noun paḥadoccurs twice as often as the verb pāḥad, but as with the verb, many of the occurrences are in poetry. In the Song of Moses, paḥadfell on the nations of Canaan because of Yahweh’s awesome displays of power against the Egyptians (Exod 15:16). In Isaiah 2, the “terror (paḥad) of Yahweh” is mentioned three times (Isa 2:10, 19, 21; compare 1 Sam 11:7). At times, the noun indicates an object of terror or dread. In Jeremiah 48:43–44, “terror” is something to flee from. In Psalm 31:11, the psalmist describes himself as “a dread to my acquaintances.” Paḥadcan also indicate a proper reverence or awe of God. Jehoshaphat, during his reforms, encouraged the judges to have the “fear (paḥad) of Yawheh” (2 Chr 19:7) as they gave their judgments. This may also be the sense behind the use of פַחַד יִצְחָק(paḥad yiṣḥāq, “Fear of Isaac”) as another name for Yahweh (Gen 31:42, 53). The feminine form פַּחְדָּה(paḥdâ) is used once and has the sense of awe or reverence (Jer 2:19).[1]

 

  1. Deuteronomy 4:26–31 (NASB95)

26        I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

27        “The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you.

28        “There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

29        “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Himif you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

30        “When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.

31        “For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

 

  1. They will turn to the goodness of the Lord

 

  1. The goodness of God

 

This is a major theme. Stephen Charnock’s The Existence of Attributes of God has 150 pages on this single aspect of God.

 

DOCTRINES

 

Doctrines concerning Israel

 

  1. God loves Israel: “Even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel”.

 

  1. God will restore Israel: “Afterwards the sons of Israel will return.” This is a major theme in the prophets. See, e.g. Zeph. 3:12-20.

 

  1. The Church should rejoice in the expectation of the restoration of Israel. Romans 11 in particular sounds this theme:

 

Romans 11:12 (NASB95)

12      Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

See also, Romans 11:33-36.

 

Doctrines Concerning Salvation

 

  1. The state of a human being outside of the redemption of God.

 

  1. God is sovereign in the redemption of human beings.

 

  1. The manner in which the redeemed should approach the Lord.

 

Doctrine of God

 

  1. The love of God.

 

  1. The patience of God.

 

  1. The goodness of God.

 

 

[1]Miles Custis, “Fear,”ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

Some introductory notes to a sermon on Hosea 2 (To Know God)

23 Wednesday Jan 2019

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To Know God

Hosea 2

The judgment and blessing of God are measured to His purpose. God not judge from a senseless rage, and He does not bless without purpose:

Psalm 104:24 (NASB95)

O Lord, how many are Your works!

In wisdom You have made them all;

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom of God!” Romans 11:33. His every decision, from the fall of the sparrow to the fall of an emperor are purposed by the unsearchable wisdom of God.

 

God has promised that all things work together for good: God will bring honey from the carcass of a lion (Judges 14:8). That all things work together for good is not some vague statement that I will get a better job when I have lost one; it is not my cancer will bring about a cure. God’s goodness does not track our desires.

 

Yet, the goodness of God always works the purpose of God. Think carefully of the promise:

Romans 8:28 (NASB95)

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to Hispurpose.

There is the purpose of God embedded in the promise of God. What then is that purpose to which He calls? What is the end of this goodness of God? To be conformed to the image of His Son. Rom. 8:29. The goodness of God is shape, to form, to break and remake until the image of Christ is stamped upon the soul. The Son is so dear that the Father will see that image upon all the people called according to His purpose. What greater goodness could there be than to be made lovely to the Father?

In Colossians 3:10, Paul that the redeemed are being “being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” There is a true knowledge of God that works upon and forms the redeemed: that knowledge of God makes one new; it stamps the image upon the soul

God has a purpose a plan in in the life of the redeemed: God seeks to remake them into the image to which they were called. God in his goodness seeks to conform all the people of God to Son of God. And as we gaze upon the glory of the Son of God, we are transformed into that glory. 2 Cor. 3:18

Where then will we look to see this glory? How is the glory of the Lord displayed? Will certainly the creation. Ps. 19:1 But there is a place in which the glory of God shines more brightly than elsewhere: in the Son. Hebrews 1 tells us that while God spoke previously through the prophets, in these last days He has spoken in His Son. That Son is the radiance of the glory of God. There is true glory of God shining with unvarnished beauty and brilliance.

And where would we look to see this glory? We could dare to look to where the Son of God is seated at the right hand of majesty on high – there he dwells in unimagined brilliance and glory.  For it is in Jesus Christ that the glory of God is displayed to all creation.

But the glory of God will not be seen by earthlings grasping at heaven. There is a view of this glory – a view beyond all delight – but that view can only be seen when one has passed the strait gate, when one has walked the narrow way.  You can see the majesty of the world from the top of Mount Everest – but only when you have climbed the mountain. And you will see Christ in his beauty; but only when you have passed the narrow gate.

That narrow gate passes through the cross of Christ and the tomb of Christ: death comes before resurrection, and resurrection before glory.

We come to the knowledge of God through the knowledge of Christ. Think of that most famous of all passages in the Bible, John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son ….

Do not pass over the verb: He gave. The love of the Father is seen in the given Son, the Son delivered over to death for us all; the Son delivered over to death for our sin. We cannot see the love and glory of God outside of that terrible sight of our sin hung upon Christ, our sin which he bore in His body on the tree.

It is the good purpose of God that we should know God. It is the good purpose of God that we should be conformed to the image of the Son. But that knowledge is found in a gold mine, deep in the dark; that glory is found in the Valley of Humiliation; that glory is found in passing through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

But it is there, as the prophet Hosea says, that we will find the door of hope:

The Valley of Achor, the valley of trouble, the valley of judgment where the stones piled upon over Achan’s sin, there in the valley of Achor is the door of hope:

I will give her  — says the Lord –

The valley of Achor as a door of hope.

Hosea 2:15

Here look upon judgment, come look upon sin and its sad end, come here to the valley of Achor and I will open up a door of hope. Here in the narrow way, I will lead you out to the knowledge of God.

It is this passage from a knowledge of sin – a knowledge which Israel did not realize – that leads to a knowledge of God. That is the judgment and promise of this second chapter of Hosea

[the movement of the passage is from judgment, brought about because she does not know and has forgotten God to a blessing which is to know God and to say, You are my God! There is a movement of increasing despair of ourselves, which leads us finally to a knowledge of God]

{two quotes to be used later}

As the Spanish theologian Juan de Valdes (ca. 1509–1541) discovered, the only true knowledge of God is the knowledge of Christ, and this presupposes the experiences of the knowledge of sin through the law and the knowledge of grace through the gospel.156 Although it jolts what we might intuitively suppose, our experience not only of guilt but also of condemnation and despair is integral to knowing God. But of course there is no gospel at all if there is no redemption, and it is to this that Hosea now turns.

Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 87.

 

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

 

 

 

Some Further Notes on Hosea 2:14-15

11 Friday Jan 2019

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Hosea 2:14–15(ESV)

The Lord’s Mercy on Israel

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.

This comes to the next question: How does God speak?

This question actually breaks into two question: First, how does God in the sense of mode: What manner of speaking does God use? Does God speak from mountain? Does God send a prophet? Does God send an angel?  The second question concerns justice: How does God overcome the injustice of Israel? How can God do this thing and redeem this bride?

 How Does God Overcome Justice?

To take the last question first, we need to consider the problem. God is our judge and the offended party. Justice must be done by both and for both.

If I am slighted by you, I can certainly overlook the wrong. We all do this every day; someone is brusque: someone bumps you carelessly, someone cuts you off on the freeway, someone answers discourteously. There are a thousand minor insults we all suffer and all overlook.

Now let us consider more serious wrongs: some does you a serious wrong: someone steals from you, causes you physical injury; someone slanders you and ruins your reputation, runs off your friends and takes your job. When someone causes a substantial injury, a substantial reconciliation must take place. A simple, “Sorry!” won’t restore what has been lost.

But let us consider something even more substantial. You have suffered a true and terrible criminal wrong. Someone has murdered or raped. The culprit has been apprehended. Trial has been conducted, and the culprit has confessed. The wrong is real, the wrongdoer has been caught, and the judge is called to execute the sentence.

Think of the evil which would result if the judge simply ignored the fault. It would be morally wrong, it would be truly evil if the judge refused to bring justice to bear.

We all rightly know the outrage we feel when we see a true monster go free. Justice demands justice. It is not mere emotion: it is an objective need that justice right what is wrong. If the judge refuses to do justice, the judge himself has become unjust. A judge who lets a murderer go free, is a judge who taken part in the murder; the judge has joined himself to the murderer.

Israel’s wrongs were astounding: the wrongs went back centuries. The Israelites had become no better than the Canaanites whom the Lord had driven from the land. They were as depraved, vicious, perverse as those whom God removed. God could not be God, God could not be just, could not uphold his own word if God were to simply ignore Israel’s evil.

And this is perhaps the element which is hardest for us to understand – and yet it is the element which displays the greatest evil – Israel rejected the worship of the true God. Israel knowingly and purposefully refused to believe, trust, thank the one who had created and sustained them, the one who fed and protected them.  As Paul says in Romans 1

Romans 1:21 (ESV)

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

They were not thankful.

What is God to do? This is not a mere matter of God overlooking their wrong: they have obliterated their duties, their affection, their relationship with God. They have trampled upon the Law and ignored justice. God would himself be unjust God to simply forgo justice in the name of mercy. That would be no mercy, but would rather be another round of injustice.

How is God to settle the score of Israel’s injustice and so speak tenderly to her?

How Does God in Fact Speak?

God does in fact speak from a mountain (but not a flaming mountain). God does send angels. God does send prophets. God does speak tenderly. God does speak to Israel in the wilderness. God does speak.

But where and how?

First, God speaks:

John 1:1–14 (ESV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

God did send angels:

Luke 2:8–21 (ESV)

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14         “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

 

God spoke from a mountain:

Matthew 5:1–2 (ESV)

5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

 

But not a flaming mountain:

Hebrews 12:18–24 (ESV)

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

 

God did send prophets:

Matthew 11:8–10 (ESV)

8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

“ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.’

 

Matthew 21:11 (ESV)

 

11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

 

God did speak to Israel in the wilderness:

Mark 1:1–4 (ESV)

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way,

3           the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’ ”

4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

 

God did speak tenderly:

Matthew 23:37–39 (ESV)

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

 

And he is speaking now:

Hebrews 12:25 (ESV)

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

Why the Scripture Uses Poetry (Hosea 2:14-15)

10 Thursday Jan 2019

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Morning in the Vinyard

[Photograph by Michael Pardo]

Hosea 2:14–15 (ESV)

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.

Notice the structure here:

Notice the structure here:

Speech:  allure

Land:  wilderness

Speech: speak tenderly

Land: Vineyard

[Valley of Achor]

The Scripture relies upon a variety of types of writing/speaking: there are stories, contracts, law codes, letters (public and personal), poems. The prophets seem particularly drawn to poety.

Why is this? Why does the Bible rely upon poetry? Poetry doesn’t mean symbols, images, rhythms, rhymes or patterns. Poetry certainly uses all those elements; but so do other forms of language. In fact all good writing and speaking must be cognizant all such elements (and more). I say this, because there is a bizarre belief that poetry means “symbolic” (this is seen in the strange argument that if Genesis 1 is poetry it somehow is non-literal; such an argument could only be made someone who knows little to nothing about poetry).  Poetry can be quite “literal” (read some Homer or Alexander Pope).

What poetry does in particular is to compress language with great deliberate intricacy. The purpose of poetry is both pleasure and to change how we think.

The pleasure of poetry’s compression is typically lost on contemporary readers: we are not a people who treasure words. We are a distinctly anti-rhetorical people. And so, I will pass over pleasure at this point.

But the compression and difficulty of poetry forces us to think along lines and in patterns which differ greatly from our “normal” life. Just the use of deliberate rhythm and sound makes poetry different from common speech.

This makes poetry especially useful for achieving one of the principle features of the Scripture: to change the way we think. We think wrongly – and poorly. We think up is down, evil is good. We desire those things which will destroy us; we ignore those things which will save us. We kill Christ and make a king of Herod. We count the rich man at his dinner in the best of positions; and ignore Lazarus at the gate.

And so the Scripture has been given not merely to inform us like a manual (yes there is much information in the Scripture), but to transform us:

Romans 12:2 (ESV)

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The patterns and complications of poetry make us stop and think slowly and carefully. We cannot breeze through poetry and still maintain a high degree of comprehension. Hebrew poetry emphasizes the complication of thought – often in ways which can be discerned only after puzzling upon a pair of lines.

While we tend to think of poetry as defined by verse (metrical writing often with rhyming), Hebrew poetry depends primarily upon the rhyming and dissonance of ideas. Yes, Hebrew does concern itself with sound and rhythm (for instance in the passage quoted above, the word “wilderness” sounds very similar to the word “speak” in the next line; there is a reason for this).

This fact of Hebrew poetry relying so heavily upon the concept as opposed to the end rhyme is a boon to translation. Translation of rhymed verse is very difficult to achieve in a second language; but the translation of ideas can be done without repeated the sound qualities of the original language. This is an instance of providence, that God chose the Hebrew language.

The patterns of ideas are meant to force us to compare and contrast the parts. We hold up two ideas for careful examination, noting how they compare and differ: in so doing, we learn both elements better.

Pick up any common object: a coffee mug, say. Describe it. Then choose a second cup and compare the two. You will easily learn more elements of each by means of the comparison than you would have noticed by considering one. This process is especially true when ideas are compared and contrasted.

Hosea purposefully sets up a contrast and comparison here. First there are two lines about speaking:

I will allure

I will speak tenderly

Then are two lines about the land and plants

Wilderness

Vineyards

The overall pattern is

Allure

In the wilderness

Speak tenderly

Give vineyards.

Let us consider first the two descriptions of speech:

Allure and speak tenderly.

The English translation “allure” does not quite capture the range of the Hebrew:

PIEL פִּתָּה.—(1) to persuade any one (πείθω), Jer. 20:7; especially in a bad sense, 1 Ki. 22:20, seq.; Jud. 14:15; 16:5; 2 Sam. 3:25; hence to entice, to seduce, Ex. 22:15; Prov. 1:10; 16:29.

(2) to deceive any one, to delude with words (Gr. ἀπατάω, to which Greek etymologists commonly assign an incorrect derivation), Psa. 78:36; Prov. 24:28, הֲפִתִּיתָ בִּשְׂפָתֶיךָ “wilt thou deceive with thy lips?” i.e. deceive not, see הֲ No. 1, a.

Wilhelm Gesenius and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2003), 696. The word used to describe God’s speech to his wayward wife is a word which means something like entice, seduce, deceive. The Septuagint (the ancient translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek) uses the word which means “lead into error” to translate the word pettah here.

That word alone is arresting: God is going to deceive his wife? But that word is then paired with the line “speak tenderly to” (literally speak upon her heart). The words are used to describe careful, tender speech between lovers. How then should we think about the manner in which God speaks to Israel?

Next we have speech in the connection with wilderness and cultivated plants of a garden (a vineyard). This harkens back to the wilderness of Exodus and the land of Canaan. It also harkens to the Garden of Eden and the wilderness outside the garden. It also reminds us of the difference in the world before and after Adam’s fall.

These allusions are coupled to God speaking. All of these instances are marked by the speech of God:

Deuteronomy 4:33 (ESV)

33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?

Compare that to the idols which have been viciously seducing Israel to her harm:

Psalm 115:5 (ESV)

5    They [idols] have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

Next: the idols whom Israel worshipped in the hope of obtaining luxuriant vineyards brought them to exile and wilderness (when in reality it has been the Lord):

Hosea 2:8–9 (ESV)

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.

9    Therefore I will take back

my grain in its time,

and my wine in its season,

and I will take away my wool and my flax,

which were to cover her nakedness.

— This only begins to uncover the complications and allusions in the text. The allusions and complications are developed even further in reference to Achor and then the discussion of the wife’s response (which again brings about speech and a remembrance of the wilderness). Further speech by God brings about even greater degrees of transformation.

This then raises the question of precisely how is God going to “allure” and “speak tenderly”? Will it be speech from Mount Sinai again? That hardly sounds like a tender and ardent lover:

Hebrews 12:18–21 (ESV)

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”

How then does he speak? What does he say? You start to see how the layering and patterns of the language require careful thought and attention to understand. This is one reason why the prophets are so often skipped over and thought to be obscure. Yet the prophecy here is not obscure, it is only very dense.

Introduction to a Sermon on Hosea 2:14-23

31 Monday Dec 2018

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Look down at Hosea 2:14, consider that word

Therefore

The God of Israel having pronounced judgment upon his adulterous wife says

Therefore.

It is a word which should not be in this place. It is a word of miracle; it is a marvel, a wonderous act of God; a lightning bolt of grace from beyond the creation. It is a word which is inexplicable other than as the descent of grace and mercy, undeserved and unexpected.

We all know how stories work: there is a problem; there is a resolution. In Hosea, there is a problem; the wife is unfaithful. She has had the best of husbands; she can have no complaint.

Her husband found unlovely: she was a miserable slave in Egypt. She had nothing to offer. She was not seeking the Lord. Still her husband, faithful to a promise he had made hundreds of years before, sought out Israel. In an overwhelming display of power and majesty, the Lord rescued Israel from her taskmaster.

To gain Israel, God did what Israel could not do; God did what no force on earth could do. God destroyed the power of Egypt, the Lord broke the arm of the most powerful nation and ruler on the planet. God humiliated the gods of Egypt. Her husband having rescued her from Egypt prepared a place for his new bride. He drove out the nations and gave her a land flowing with milk and honey.

Her husband remained utterly faithful, unchanging in his goodness. He never varied from the least promise. Yet Israel proved herself again and again unfaithful. She showed herself unfaithful before she even entered the land. She danced about a golden calf just after she entered into covenant with the Lord of Heaven and Earth. It is as if she cheated on her husband on their wedding night.

And for hundreds of years she again and again strayed, denying her marriage, denying her covenant and chasing after gods who are no god. All the while, her maker, her creator and husband did her good.

Her adultery was inexplicable; yet a madness gripped Israel. Her children were monsters: she was married to the best of all husbands and yet claimed demons as the source of good.

And so, as we read in Hosea, God finally pronounces judgment upon his wicked bride. God condemns the wife whom he loved – unlovely as she was. A husband with whom she could find no fault.

God says, he will have no mercy upon her children; he will hedge up her way with thorns; he will put an end to her mirth; he will “punish her for the feats days of the Baals”. He will punish her, because she “forgot me, declares the LORD”.

This is the end, the resolution of the problem. The wife has rejected the marriage; the husband has sent her away. This is the end promised by God in the Covenant. If Israel rejects the Covenant, there will be a curse. And now the curse has come.

This is the end of the story: it is a sad end. The marriage which began in a rescue ends in a rejection. This is the end of the movie, the credits role.

But here we read the word

Therefore

There is no “therefore” at the end. But not just “therefore” – next is the word “behold”. There really is no good English word for the Hebrew. The Hebrew word is used to introduce a marvel, a miracle. But no one says, “Behold”. Maybe if one shouted “Look!” and pointed we could get the idea. The word means the next thing will be something no one could expect.

What wonder is here to observe?

Some Notes on Hosea 2:2-13

03 Monday Dec 2018

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Notes on Hosea 2:2-13. 

Verses 2-13 constitute an indictment and sentencing for the adulterous wife:

Hosea 2:2–13 (NASB95)

Introduction/Original Charge:

2 “Contend with your mother, contend,

The word “contend” can be used to introduce a formal legal charge. Here, it is used to introduce the charge against Israel for violating the covenant:

For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband;

This is the both the guilt and the sentence. The Lord is calling for a divorce. In the next couplet, he specifies the wrongdoing. But interestingly, he phrases it as a plea for her to stop:

And let her put away her harlotry from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,

Her evil is written on her face. It is obvious to everyone. She plainly is experiencing no shame about her sin:

Proverbs 30:20 (NASB95)
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wrong.”

In verse 5, she will be explicitly condemned for acting “shamefully”.

A note on shame:

There are three ways to consider shame:
1. A shameful action
2. Being put to “shame”, that is at the mercy and control of another
3. The subjective experience of shame, which should cause one to stop one direction and take a new direction.

[Sometimes there are those who are sinned against and who experience shame and then have a subjective experience of shame which does not require repentance. For instance, someone who has been wrongfully treated (put to shame) may feel ashamed, even though they have done nothing wrong.]

The First Sentence and Accusation.

The prophet will go through three rounds of sentencing. Each section begins with a statement of the consequences which will befall the wife, followed by an explanation of why the sentence is warranted:

Here is the first accusation:

3 Or I will strip her naked
And expose her as on the day when she was born.
I will also make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land
And slay her with thirst.
4 “Also, I will have no compassion on her children,
Because they are children of harlotry. [Dt. 28:32]

Some notes on the sentence. There allusions here to both the exodus and Eden. Eden was a land of water and abundance. Adam and Eve were naked and not-ashamed. The exodus was through a howling wilderness which delivered the Israelites into a fertile well-watered land. Dt. 8:10, 32:10. There is a fundamental de-creation which takes place here. Israel is being cast out of the land and into the wilderness. Is. 41:18, etc.

Here is the first rationale/explanation: She thinks that the idols (her lovers) have provided her good things:

5 “For their mother has played the harlot;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’

There is nothing wrong with what she desires: These are all good things. The trouble here is two-fold: First, she wrongly thinks the idols have provided her prosperity. Second, she does not know that the Lord has given her all good things. These things were all promised to her in the Mosaic Covenant. Dt. 28

Consideration of idolatry: Idolatry as a wrongful means to obtain a good thing. Idols are not ultimate, but rather functional: one uses an idol to get something else. The Lord was considered as an idol: I want “x”, if the Lord won’t get it for me, I’ll go somewhere else. The application is obvious.
The Second Sentence and Accusation

6 “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
7 “She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.

The Lord will stop her from pursuing her “lovers”. For the language of wall see Lam. 3:7-9.  The language of thorns recalls the curse of Genesis 3.

This sentence is no strictly punitive: rather it is meant to correct and change her. That is seen in the next couplet which comes in the middle of this section (thus giving it an emphasis):

Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,
For it was better for me then than now!’

Here is the first hint of hope, which will be developed at length in the next section.

Second Rationale:

8 “For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain,
the new wine and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.

The wife does not know. She is not an atheist, per se; rather, she doesn’t understand God. This is an instance of the “noetic effect of sin”, the effect sin has upon our understanding. James Boice says this is like an adulterous wife using her husband’s money to pay her lover.

Third Sentence and Accusation:

9 “Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
Given to cover her nakedness.

All things are the Lord’s even after he has given them to us. 1 Chron. 29:14. This begins an interesting rhetorical parallel. The prophet repeates and restates some theme from the first and second charges (and rationales). This first accusation in part three echoes the Second Rationale, above. This alternation increases the intensity of the charge and sureness of God’s judgment.

There is again the echo of Eden: God had provided a means to cover her shame, which she has misused.

10 “And then I will uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

The first sentence/accusation.

11 “I will also put an end to all her gaiety,
Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths
And all her festal assemblies.

The Second Sentence/Accusation

12 “I will destroy her vines and fig trees,

I will make her a wilderness: First Sentence/Accusation

Of which she said, ‘These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field will devour them.

Second Sentence Accusation

13 “I will punish her for the days of the Baals
When she used to offer sacrifices to them
And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry,

From the original charge.

Third Rationale:

And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Two things here: First, this is another noetic effect of sin. Second, this raises the theme of memory and forgetting. We are what we remember ourselves to be (imagine awakening with amnesia. Your thoughts would be where am I? Who am I?). The matter of forgetting and remembering is very important in Deuteronomy. See for example:

Deuteronomy 6:

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Deuteronomy 8:11–20 (ESV)
11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Since they have forgotten, they will be returned to the wilderness to remember.

The Anchor Bible commentary on Hosea (Friedman) noted the three accusations (She thought, she does not know, she forgot).

A Brief Biblical Theology of Hosea’s Two Children: Lo-ami and Lo-ruhamah

10 Saturday Nov 2018

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(note for a Bible Study)
In Hosea 1, the prophet has two children who received the God-given names, Lo-ami (not my people) and Lo-ruhamah (no-mercy/compassion). These children will be emblems for the rejection of the Kingdom of Israel – and also tokens of hope, because God will again show mercy upon “my people”.

To rightly understand the significance of these names, we need to understand the biblical theology which underscores these names. The names have roots in the covenant and tie us to the New Testament.

“my people”

While the primary uses for Hosea come from Exodus, there uses in Genesis which help us understand the significance.

The phrase “my people” has the obvious significance of one’s own familial relations. So Ephron the Hittite uses the phrase “my people” in Genesis 23:11 to refer to his relations. It used in a similar way by Jacob in Genesis 49:29, when he speaks of death, when “I am to be gathered to my people.”

The phrase not only means relations, it also signifies dominion or kingship. So, Pharaoh in Genesis 41:40 refers to the people of the kingdom as “my people”.

God first uses the phrase “my people” when speaking to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3, “I have seen the affliction of my people”. Ex. 3:7. Moses is sent to Pharaoh to rescue “my people.” Ex. 3:10

When Moses comes to Pharaoh, he gives the command of the Lord, “Let my people go.” Ex. 5:1. Moses then repeatedly uses the phrase to refer to the Israelites, 7.4, 7.16, 7.26, 8.16. Indeed, one level of understanding of the conflict is a dispute between God and Pharaoh over who has dominion over Israel.

Finally, Pharaoh makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt (a distinction which God first made) when he tells Moses, “go out from among my people”. Ex. 12:31.

God then Israel out to the wilderness where he makes a covenant with them. There was also an earlier covenant with Abraham which was the (a?) basis for the designation of the descendants of Abraham as “my people”.

God then speaks to Israel and tells them that when they interact with another Israelite, they are meeting one who belongs to God, “My people”. Ex. 22:24

When God comes to establish a king over Israel, he is to protect “My people”. 1 Sam. 9:16. David is then given the task of caring for “my people”. 2 Sam. 3:18, 5:2, 7:7.

When Solomon comes to the throne, the Lord makes a covenant with Solomon, that if Solomon will keep the covenant, God will not “forsake my people”. 1 Kings 6:13 [Solomon of course fails in this respect. But a second and greater son of David will come who will be king and will keep the covenant; thus, the Lord will never forsake “my people”]

The people fail in their covenant with God, and so God addresses the fault of “my people”. Isaiah 1:3, “my people do not understand.” “My people have committed two evils”. Jer. 2:31 “My people have forgotten me.” Jer. 18:15

But there will be a restoration of “my people”. The Servant will be “stricken for the transgression of my people.” Isaiah 53:8. The “days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people”.

Ezekiel 37:13 (ESV)
13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

This is the promise of Hosea, and of the other prophets, e.g., Joel 2:26-27.

As for compassion/mercy, that too is anchored in the Mosaic covenant and extends through the exile to the restoration (the Second Exodus)

In Exodus 33:19 (the first use of this particular word), God announces this compassion as his sovereign prerogative:

Exodus 33:19 (ESV)
19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

God speaks of compassion as a fundamental benefit of keeping his covenant. Dt. 13:18-19. In 2 Kings 13:23, God determines to show compassion upon Israel, because of his covenant.

God then says, because his people will not keep covenant, he will no longer show them compassion. Is. 9:17, 27:11. And those who bring the judgment will themselves have no compassion. Is. 13:18, Jer. 6:23, 13:14, 21:7.

But with the judgment there comes a promise of future compassion. While there will be repentance, the compassion begins in God. Jer. 31:20. Yet, the compassion will begin when they repent. Dt. 30:3, 1 Kings 8:50, Is. 30:18, 55:7; Jer. 12:15, 30:18, 31:20, 50:42; Micah 7:18; Zech. 10:6 The judgment is temporary, it is compassion which will be eternal. Is. 54:8-10; Lam. 3:32.

There are also prayers for God’s future compassion and restoration: Zech. 1:2; Ps. 103:13.

The two strands (both laid out by Hosea’s children) are brought together in the NT:
Romans 9:15–26 (NASB95)
15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”
18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”
20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?
21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?
22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.
25 As He says also in Hosea,
“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’ ”
26 “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

1 Peter 2:9–10 (NASB95)
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Teaching Outline Hosea 4:1-3

13 Friday Jul 2018

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(This is an initial outline and observations on Hosea 4:1-3)
Hosea 4:1–3 (ESV)

4 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.

Observations:

This text consists of four parts:

First, a command

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,

Second, the basis of the command

for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

Third, the substance of the “controversy”:

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.

Fourth, the results of bad acts (which are the substance of the controversy):

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.

I. The command: Hear or Listen to the word of the Lord.

A. What is it to hear/listen

1. It is not bare auditory reception.
2. It is hearing coupled with response: there must be an acknowledgement which goes beyond a passive “hearing”.

B. What is meant by the “word of the Lord”?

II. What is meant by a “controversy”?

A. Translations:

ESV: controversy
NET: covenant lawsuit
HCSB/NASB95: case
NIV/NIV84: charge

B. What do we make of this?

1. A legal proceeding.

2. The covenant between YHWH and Israel

III. What is the substance of the charge

A. What Israel has not done

1. The specific elements

a. no faithfulness

i. This element is often found in conjunction with hesed/steadfast love

Genesis 24:27 (ESV)
27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

Genesis 24:27 (ESV)
27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

2 Samuel 2:6 (ESV)
6 Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing.

See, also gen. 24:48-49

ii. It is a characteristic of God

Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV)
6 The Lord passed befor
e him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

2 Samuel 7:28 (ESV)
28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

Jeremiah 10:10 (ESV)
10 But the Lord is the true God;
he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

iii. It is an aspect of God’s goodness

Isaiah 38:19 (ESV)
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.

Isaiah 42:3 (ESV)
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.

Isaiah 61:8 (ESV)
8 For I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Jeremiah 32:41 (ESV)
41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

iv It is an element of true worship/life before God

Joshua 24:14 (ESV)
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

1 Samuel 12:24 (ESV)
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

1 Kings 2:1–4 (ESV)
When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

2 Kings 20:3 (ESV)
3 “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Isaiah 10:20 (ESV)
20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

v. It is what God requires:

Ezekiel 18:5–9 (ESV)
5 “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7 does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8 does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 9 walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.

(This has multiple parallels to Hosea 4:1-3)

v. It is truth in communication

1 Kings 22:16 (ESV)
16 But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom,

vi. It is security in the social world:

2 Kings 20:19 (ESV)
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

vii. God condemns its lack among his people:

Isaiah 48:1 (ESV)
Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.

Isaiah 59:14–15 (ESV)
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.

Jeremiah 9:4 (ESV)
4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

b. no steadfast love

This is the goodness of relationship between human beings and between human beings and God:

1. joint obligation between relatives, friends, host and guest, master and servant; closeness, solidarity, loyalty: a) חֶסֶד and בְּרִית (שֹׁמֵר הַבְּ׳ וְהַח׳ Dt 79, with שָׁמַר 712); בּ׳ comes about by a ceremony ח׳ results from the closer relationship between two people, the obligations are largely the same; ח׳ וֶאֱמֶת Gn 2427.49 and אֱמוּנָה וְח׳ Ps 8925 lasting loyalty, faithfulness; עָשָׂה ח׳ to show loyalty Gn 2123 Jos 212 Ju 124 835 1S 156 208 2S 38 91.7 102 Ru 18 1C 192; b) ח׳ exists between a son and a dying father Gn 4729, a wife and a husband Gn 2013 (cf. Jr 22 || אַהֲבָה), relatives Ru 220, guests Gn 1919, friends 1S 208 2S 91, people who do each other a service Ju 124, king and people 2S 38 2C 2422; c) > esp.: אִישׁ ח׳ confidant Pr 1117, cj. אִישׁ חַסְדְּךָ your faithful servant Dt 338 (alt. favourite) אַנְשֵׁי ח׳ the godly Is 571; מַלְכֵי ח׳ loyal kings 1K 2031; אִישׁ חַסְדּוֹ each one’s faithfulness Pr 206; d) community > protection Ps 1442 (prp. חָסְנִי), > favour Ezr 29.17 (חֵן וָח׳), ח׳ לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ the favour of the king Ezr 728; תּוֹרַת ח׳ kind teaching Pr 3126; charm (of flowers) Is 406 (cf. MHb. חסודה lovely, cj. חֶמְדּוֹ); —2. ח׳ in God’s relationship with the people or an individual, faithfulness, goodness, graciousness: a) ח׳ י׳ Ps 335 10317, ח׳ אֱלֹהִים 2S 93 Ps 5210; ח׳ עֶלְיוֹן 218; לְעוֹלָם חַסדּוֹ Jr 3311 Ps 1361-26 1005 1061 1071 1181-4.29 Ezr 311; cj. Ps 44 (rd. חַסדּוֹ לִי) and 122 (rd. חֶסֶד), בְּחַסְדְּךָ in your faithfulness (to me) 14312; mercy חָפֵץ ח׳ :: אַף Mi 718; b) עָשָׂה ח׳ to show faithfulness with עִם Ru 18, with לְ Ex 206 and above (→ 1a); שָׁמַר ח׳ Dt 79 Da 94 and נָצַר ח׳ to keep faithfulness Ex 347 זָכַר ח׳ to remember Ps 983, עָזַב ח׳ מֵעִם to withdraw faithfulness Gn 2427; c) God is רַב ח׳ abounding in faithfulness Ex 346 Nu 1418 Jl 213 Jon 42 Ps 865.15 1038 Neh. 917; —3. pl. חֲסָדִים, חֲסָדַי etc. the individual actions resulting from solidarity: a) (of people) godly action, achievements: by Nehemiah Neh 1314, Hezekiah 2C 3232, Josiah 3526; b) (God’s) proofs of mercy Gn 3211 Is 637 Ps 892 Lam 322; חַסְדֵי דָוִיד mercies shown to David Is 553 2C 642; רַחֲמִים וַחֲסָדִים Ps 256; —Ps 523 rd. חָסִיד, Pr 2028b rd. בַּצֶּדֶק (?).

Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 336–337.

c. no knowledge of God in the land

Joshua 4:23–24 (ESV)
23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

1 Kings 8:59–60 (ESV)
59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.

Isaiah 5:11–14 (ESV)
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 They have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people go into exile
for lack of knowledge;
their honored men go hungry,
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,
her revelers and he who exults in her.

Isaiah 11:2 (ESV)
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:5 (ESV)
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.

Ezekiel 38:16 (ESV)
16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Malachi 2:7 (ESV)
7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
(God will condemn the priests for not teaching in the remainder of Hosea 4)

Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Which implies that the people addressed by Hosea do not have the fear of the Lord; rather, they are “fools”
Proverbs 1:29 (ESV)
29 Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

2. Why are these particular things important?

A. These are the prerequisites for serving God and for living rightly in society. There can be no right action before man or God without right knowledge of relationship to God (knowledge of God).

B. We can think of these as a summary of the covenant obligations: Knowledge of God and right life before God and with men. Or,

Mark 12:28–34 (ESV)
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

(Note also “hearing”).

B. What Israel has done?

1. there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

2. Details of these elements:

a. Swearing

1 Kings 8:31–32 (ESV)
31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

Hosea 10:4 (ESV)
4 They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.

Matthew 5:33–37 (ESV)
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

James 5:12 (ESV)
12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

b. Lying

כָּחַשׁ (kā·ḥǎš): v.; ≡ Str 3584; TWOT 975—1. LN 23.142–23.184 (qal) be thin, become lean, i.e., lose body weight as an indication of lack of health (Ps 109:24+), see also domain LN 86.1–86.3; 2. LN 17.20 (nif) cringe, cower, i.e., bow in submission, but in fear and not in respect or relationship, as an extension of lying or not being truthful in the relationship (Dt 33:29+); (piel) cringe, cower (Ps 18:45[EB 44]; 66:3; 81:16[EB 15]+); (hitp) cringe, cower (2Sa 22:45+); 3. LN 33.251–33.255 (piel) lie, deceive, i.e., to not tell the truth by speaking lies, or acting in deception (Ge 18:15; Lev 5:21[EB 6:2],22[EB 6:3]; 19:11; Jos 7:11; 24:27; 1Ki 13:18; Isa 59:13; Jer 5:12; Hos 4:2; Zec 13:4+), see also domain LN 72; 4. LN 57.37–57.48 (piel) fail, lack, i.e., not have enough of a quantity of items (Hos 9:2; Hab 3:17+); 5. LN 34.31–34.39 (piel) disown, i.e., to no longer be in association, and so be unfaithful (Job 8:18; 31:28; Pr 30:9+)

James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

Leviticus 19:11 (ESV)
11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.

c. Murder

Exodus 20:13 (ESV)
13 “You shall not murder.

Numbers 35:30–34 (ESV)
30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

d. Adultery

Exodus 20:14 (ESV)
14 “You shall not commit adultery.

Jeremiah 23:9–14 (ESV)
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

(There are multiple parallels with Hosea 4-5)

C. The list of what has and has not been done roughly parallel the Ten Commandments

IV. The Results of the Sin

A. De-creation:

1. Zephaniah 1:2–6 (ESV)
2 “I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by Milcom,
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

2. This is a specific instance of the general curse of the Fall:

Genesis 3:17–19 (ESV)
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

Romans 8:19–22 (ESV)
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

3. When God brings judgment, he removes his blessing – which entails even the existence of the created order.

B. Common Grace is implied here. Discuss that doctrine?

V. Use

Use 1. Israel’s fault was first not listen. Therefore, we must know how to listen rightly. Hebrews 3-4

Use 2. Why did Israel fall into this sin? Because they stopped hearing, they stopped listening to the word of the Lord.

a. Why does one stop listening?

1. Idolatry (Ps. 115/Mark 4:9)
2. Trials and riches: Mark 4:1-20
3. Heb. 3:12-13

Use 3. Why does God call Israel to hear if he has convicted Israel of crime and has already pronounced sentence? God’s pronouncement of judgment is first meant to sound an alarm to bring sinners to repentance. Jonah 4

Ezekiel 18:21–23 (ESV)
21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

Repent and believe

Mark 1:14–15 (ESV)
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

“We want something inherent in ourselves to comfort and encourage us”

03 Thursday May 2018

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These sermons on Hosea by Samuel Eyles Pierce, published in 1822 are remarkable for their encouragement gospel grace. Here is a bit from the first sermon on Hosea 14:1, “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” The sermon ends as follows:

It is very delightful to go over the Scriptures in a way of believing, and consider how they most exactly suit all our cases. You and I, men and brethren, need the grace and mercy recorded in them, in our own persons and cases. We are the subjects of sin, and each of us have our personal and particular plague sores and maladies.

We all need continual light and instruction, how to apply to the Lord Jesus Christ, immediately and particularly with our guilt, and that even whilst it is upon our consciences; yet we find an averseness so to act, thereby making more of sin than we do of Christ; and because it makes a great alteration within us, and upon our minds, we conceive it must also on Christ’s.

We cannot think it right to go with a fresh contraction of sin and guilt immediately to the Lord Jesus; but are for praying it away, and getting into a better frame.

We want something inherent in ourselves to comfort and encourage us, notwithstanding the apostle says, If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins.

And the Lord in our text says to us, as truly as he did to his people of old, Return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. There are seasons, and cases, in which we never needed Christ more, and it may seem to us never so much: let us improve the same by going immediately and directly, in the exercise of faith on the blood and righteousness of Jesus, to Him, and that with all we are and all we have done.

This is the only way for us to be brought into an actual intercourse with Christ, when we are oppressed with our spiritual maladies. Let not the consideration of any thing we have done, or may feel, or be chargeable with, keep us one single moment from Christ. If we cannot say more than Lord save, or I perish, let us be thankful to be enabled thus to cry.

Samuel Eyles Pierce, An Exposition on the Fourteenth Chapter of the Prophet Hosea (London: L. Nichols, 1822), 19–20.