6 Quotes from Overcomer, by David Jeremiah

If you have never had a test, you can never have a testimony. (p. 16)

When you write down what God has done for you in the past, you are preparing yourself to believe Him in the future! (p. 17

Do you know that in every situation you, too, can find the strength you need by remembering for whom you are fighting? (p. 20)

From the spiritual perspective, we’re not fighting for victory, but from victory, and this changes everything. (p. 24)

Quoting Jay Adams: “Evil is powerful, but good is more powerful.  In fact, evil is so powerful that only good has the power to overcome evil.  Darkness can be driven away only by light.” (p. 75)

It’s hazardous to go to church if your pastor is a Bible preacher.” (p. 154)

Grievous Consequences of Israel’s Infidelity, part 2 (Hosea 2:9-10)

Grievous Consequences of Israel’s Infidelity, part 2 (Hosea 2:9-10)

Thank you for joining me in our study of the book of Hosea, a tragic love story between Hosea and Gomer, which pictures the greater reality of God’s love for wayward Israel.  Gomer was an adulterer, chasing after lovers; Israel was idolatrous and trusting in foreign armies for help.  As a result, God is about to severely judge Israel.  That judgment would come within a couple of decades, as Samaria, the capital of Israel at the time, would be conquered by Assyria and the people would be taken into captivity.

In chapter two God is describing Israel’s infidelity and laying charges against her, all with the hope of bringing her to repentance.  Ultimately, God would rescue and restore Israel, but not before they went through judgment.

Last week we started talking about the grievous consequences of Israel’s infidelity, found in Hosea 2:6-8.  There we read…

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

Israel was taking the gifts that God had given her—both necessities and luxuries (in v. 8) and worshiping Baal with them.  So God was going to frustrate her and make her pursuit futile and empty so that maybe she will return to Yahweh.

Israel thought that she was getting these gifts from Baal.  She did not know—or did not remember—that it was God who gave her these gifts.

Before we move on to the next verse, let me just say a couple of more things about verse 8.  I want to focus on that last clause, “which they used for Baal.”

Whatever we give to an idol, we have received from God.  And that is what makes it so diabolical and such a betrayal of love.

She took God’s gifts and used them to worship Baal!  How dreadful is this sin!?!  To take the gifts that God has given and use them to commit spiritual adultery with a false god!

But sadly, we as New Covenant believers can be guilty of the same kind of sin when in prayer “we ask amiss that we may consume it upon our own lusts” (James 4:3, KJV). That’s why in the very next verse, James calls those who do such, “Adulterers and adulteresses!”(James 4:4).  “Why?” asks John Piper,

Because in his mind God is like our husband who is jealous to be our highest delight. If we then try to make prayer a means of getting something we want more than we want him, we are like a wife who asks her husband for money to visit another lover (John Piper, A Godward Life: Book Two, 356).

This is why Piper has written elsewhere in his excellent book on prayer and fasting titled A Hunger for God that:

The greatest adversary of love to God is not His enemies but His gifts.  And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God Himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable… These are not vices.  These are gifts from God.  They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God (A Hunger for God, 14-15).

Are you guilty of this sin of misusing God’s gifts as an end instead of as a means to an end?  All of God’s gifts should have the end result of the glorification of God!  If that is not the case, we are guilty of the same kind of misuse of God’s gifts that triggered his judgment upon ancient Israel!

God gave man wood and iron, and from that man formed a cross and nails and nailed Jesus Christ to that cross.  He willingly stretched out His arms in love, dying on the cross to take my guilt and shame, bearing the penalty of my sin, in order to provide a new, restored relationship with God.

We are always in the habit of misusing God’s gifts to fashion things for ourselves and our gods.  Or as John Calvin says…

It is, indeed, more than base for men to enjoy the gifts of God and to despise the giver; yea, to exalt his creatures to his place, and to reduce, as it were, all his authority to nothing.

This is why God goes on to more severe judgments in vv. 9-13.  God’s judgments go from merely depriving Israel and making life futile and frustrating, to forsaking her.

Note the “I wills” of this section. These are God’s active responses to Israel’s rebellion.

  • “Lest I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.” v. 3 (leaving her defenseless and helpless)
  • “I will not have mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry” v. 4
  • “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths.” v. 6
  • “Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness.” v. 9
  • “Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from My hand.” v. 10 (exposing her wickedness to her lovers)
  • “I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths– all her appointed feasts.” v. 11 (when in Captivity these days would cease)
  • “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.” v. 12 (removal of national blessings)
  • “I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers; but Me she forgot,” says the LORD.” v. 13 (the final word)

So verses 9-13 say…

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. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. 12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’  I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD.

This second therefore is in response to Israel’s blind stubbornness in the face of God’s goodness.  Because Israel had mistakenly believed that the productivity of their crops came from Baal, God was going to take it back and take it away.  Like Hosea, who threatens to strip his adulterous wife of what he had once bestowed upon her, the Lord will strip the land completely bare.

The Lord gives and takes away.  In this case He does it to make Israel see that it never was Baal who provided these things and to urge Israel to turn back to Yahweh.

It should be noticed that the items Yahweh will strip away from Israel are not the luxuries (silver and gold) but the necessities of food and clothing.  The punishment will be dramatic and severe, recalling the curses for apostasy found in Deuteronomy 28.  For example, Deuteronomy 28:18 says…

18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.

It will be obvious that God is cursing them, and should have been obvious that it was because they were breaking covenant.

The verb “take back” in v. 9 is literally “return and take,” which plays off the less-than-genuine return of Israel to her first husband in v. 7.  Since she has not mustered up the will to return to God in repentance; He will take the firm decision to return to her in judgment.  Israel will not return, so God will turn to judgment.

Hitherto He has been lavishing gifts on her, but she chose not to recognize their origin (v. 8).  Now she will be forced to do so.  He will change his policy, and take them all back.

According to Isrealite law, a husband was obliged to provide his wife with three things—food, clothing, and sexual satisfaction (Exodus 21:10-11).  If he failed to do so, she could leave him without penalty.  On the other hand, in case of adultery, the woman forfeits these rights, and in the ancient Near East generally the husband was entitled to recover everything from his wife as part of her punishment.

“Grain” and “wine” were listed in v. 8 as objects Israel believed came as gifts from Baal, instead of Yahweh.  Among the covenanted blessings is a promise to send rain on the land “in its time” (Deut. 11:13-17; 28:12).  To withhold it three months before harvest, as presented in Amos 4:7-8, would be bad enough, but here it is much worse, for it happens right at the time of harvest.

The “time” and “season” refer to the two harvesting times: May-June for grain; July-September for grapes.

Grain, new wine, and olive oil were not only key products in ancient Israel but understood to come from God as blessings for covenant faithfulness (cf. Deut. 7:12-13; 11:13-14). Unfaithfulness, however, could occasion God’s withholding of such products as a means of punishment (e.g., Joel 1:10-18; Hag. 1:7-11) or they could be taken away by foreign invaders (cf. Deut. 28:47-51).

Remember that Israel was wrong on two counts.  First, they were wrong in attributing these gifts to Baal; second, they were wrong in understanding them as “my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink” (Hosea 2:5).  Thus, she is perceived as someone who has stolen what rightfully belongs to a faithful husband.

So this warning could be fulfilled by a drought (cf. Amos 4:7-8) or invasion, when it was the custom of the Assyrians, for example, to time their annual westward marches between the end of the spring rains and the beginning of the grain harvest.  This assured an army more than 630 miles from home adequate provision for their troops and compounded the devastation inflicted on their enemies or vassals.

Taking away these gifts in such dramatic fashion would exhibit God’s power, while at the same time highlighting the impotency of Baal in being unable to provide rain or protection from enemies.

The absence of “wool and flax,” snatched away by God, would also maximize the sense of deprivation.  But more than that, it points to the shame and disgrace of being unclothed.

The worship of Baal (v. 8) involved imploring him for a good harvest, and would often include sexually-oriented feasts.  This is why the taking away of wool and flax is specifically mentioned “to cover her nakedness,” which will be expanded in verse 10.  Anderson and Friedman conclude, “Since the lovers are in view in this action, it is more likely that the woman is to have her naked body put on display as obscene.  There is a poignancy in this.  Israelite society had strict taboos against public nakedness” (Hosea, p. 248-249).

Whereas the viewing of his wife’s naked body is a husband’s delight (according to the Song of Solomon), it is here seen as an extreme form of punishment, which fit the crime of adultery.  What she did secretly and for pleasure will now be done to her openly and for her disgrace.

They cannot hide themselves any longer.  They will be exposed for what they are—cursed by God for breaking covenant with Him.

The image of stripping the woman operates on three levels: as a warning of coming captivity, as a depiction of destitution, and as a mark of public humiliation.

The failure of the harvests, described in verses 9-12, appears to have a moral connotation. The grain, wine, wool, and linen production had been the means needed of continuing the spiritual immorality of idolatry.

Exposing Israel to shame “in the sight of her lovers” is poetic justice.

“Shame played a large role in the ancient world, and we should not underestimate the trauma involved in defeat and economic setbacks, which all would interpret as outer signs of moral and spiritual failure” (Duane Garrett, Hosea-Joel, p. 83).

When Israel went whoring to the Baalim or to the nations (Hosea 8:9) seeking help, God would now reveal their weakness so that these very nations would come against them.  They would not come to rescue, but to destroy and devastate.  Even if they did come to rescue, God would see to it that they could not.

The Lord will expose the Baals’ impotency so that Israel will know that no one shall rescue her out of my hand, for there is no other god (Deut. 32:39).  Hosea contrasts the power of God in laying waste to Israel with human or supposed divine inability to protect her.  “Neither military strength nor even prayer will be effective; and no one, by cunning, effort, or saintliness, can allay the coming disaster” (Duane Garrett, Hosea-Joel, p. 83).

In fact, Ezekiel 14:13-14 says…

13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD.

All of this reminds me of God’s judgment on the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-18).

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

Well, we will stop there for today.  The reality is that God loves us and we have entered into covenant with Him.  He feels just as strongly about our idolatries today as He did about Israel’s.

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, February 10

Today’s readings are from Genesis 42, Mark 12, Job 8 and Romans 12.

Genesis 42 presents Joseph’s brothers’ first trip to Egypt.  All of them went, except Benjamin.  Joseph recognized them and “treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them” (v. 7).  He charged them as spies, but in denying it they told more of their story.  He demanded that all be held hostage and one brother go get Benjamin.

This put them in a difficult situation and they began to feel guilty about their past.  It has returned to haunt them.  Joseph heard their guilt over mistreating him, and wept.  In the end, he kept Simeon and sent the others back.  On the way home, one of them found his purchase money still in his sack.  God was really working on their consciences.  Jacob, now bereft of Joseph and Simeon would not hear of sending Benjamin, even though Reuben pledged his own sons.

Having been rejected by His own people, Mark 12:1-12 gives a parable of judgment directed primarily towards the religious leaders.  It is a parable of a vineyard leased to tenants, who when it was time for an accounting, killed every representative, including the man’s son.  Thus, they ought to be judged and the nation, especially the religious leaders, would be judged.

Jesus’ opponents then try to trap Jesus with difficult questions.

  1. Should we pay taxes to Caesar?  Careful, Jesus, there were some radicals in the group.  Jesus asks for a coin and told them “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
  2. Whose wife will she be?  This exaggerated claim on the levirate marriage law assumes a tension between Moses and the resurrection.  Jesus tells them two things: first, there is no marrying or giving in marriage in heaven (and possibly no exclusive marital relationships, since we will be married to our Bridegroom, Jesus); and second, even Moses was told “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”  Therefore, God is the God of the living (not held captive to one period of time).
  3. Which law is greatest?  You have 613 to choose from Jesus, which one is it?  Jesus’ answer goes back to the shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

Jesus then asks them a question.  From the ESV Study Bible…

While in the temple, Jesus publicly raises a question that he has already discussed in private with his disciples: who is the Messiah of God—is he essentially the son of David or the Lord of David?  Jesus’ point is not to deny that the Messiah is a descendant of David (e.g., Ps. 2, 89; Isaiah 9:1-7; Jere. 23:5-6; Ezek. 34:23-24). The issue is that, in this passage (i.e., Ps. 110:1-5), there is no mention of the Messiah being the son of David; rather, the Messiah is here the “Lord of David”.  Jesus affirms the divine inspiration of the Psalm through the Holy Spirit. The Lord (Hb. Yahweh) grants to David’s Lord (Hb. ’Adonay) an exclusive place of honor at his right hand and helps David’s Lord overcome his enemies.

Scribes will receive a “greater condemnation” (v. 40) because of their pretentiousness, hypocrisy and greed, so beware their teaching (“leaven”).

Mark 12 ends with Jesus extolling the widow who put her last penny in the offering plate, totally trusting God to take care of her (vv. 41-44).

Job 8 begins Bidad’s speech against Job.  Bildad and Zophar will both pick up and expand on themes from Eliphaz’s speech.  Basically, Bildad exalts God’s justice (8:1-7).  He establishes his reasoning on experience of past generations (8:8-10), then illustrates Job’s godlessness (8:11-19) and encouraged Job to repent so he could receive God’s blessing (8:20-22).

From the ESV Study Bible:

In his conclusion, Bildad asserts two things: if Job were a blameless man God would not have rejected him (v. 20); and the tent of the wicked will not stand for long (v. 22).  Job will question the truth of each assertion: If a man were blameless, how could he show himself to be right before the God of justice (see 9:2)?  And if shame and disaster are the fate of the wicked, how is it that the wicked so often appear to prosper in relative safety (see 12:6; 21:7)?

Romans 12:1-2 gives us two very important principles in spiritual transformation:

  1.   Offer your body to God
  2.   Renew your mind in the Word of God

Verses 3-8 talk about spiritual gifts.  This is the normal consequence of offering our bodies and renewing our mind–serving the body of Christ.  The key words in v. 6 are, if we have gifts ” let us use them.”  Don’t let them sit dormant.  The body of Christ and the mission of Christ needs you to use your gifts.

I think verse 3 is talking about spiritual giftedness.  When Paul says…

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

That “sober judgment” has to do with our own giftedness.  If we have a gift, then we should step forward and submit it to the body.  We are not omni-competent; we need each other (not “more highly”), but we do have a strength to give to the body (“the measure of faith that God has assigned”).

Vv. 9-21 give several practical commands about how to get along relationally within the body of Christ, especially with those who harm us (vv. 17-21).  This last portion sets us up for Romans 13.  We are not to take vengeance, but leave it to God, and one of the instruments God uses to exact vengeance is government (13:1-7).

 

 

 

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, February 8

Today’s readings are from Genesis 41, Mark 11, Job 7 and Romans 11.

In Genesis 41 Joseph finally gets his opportunity.  Pharoah has dreams which bother him but his wise men couldn’t interpret them.  Joseph could and did.  Joseph was careful to give the credit to God in v. 28 “God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do” and in v. 32 “And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.”

Joseph also had a plan (vv. 33-36) which pleased Pharoah (v. 37) and Pharoah made Joseph second-in-command to carry out these plans–which would save Egypt, make them a power, and save Joseph’s family as well.

Take every opportunity to give God the credit for His providence.

Mark 11:1-11 is Mark’s account of the triumphal entry.

map of triumphal entry

Mark chose to record four events: the Triumphal Entry (Mark 11:1-11), the cursing of the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14), the cleansing of the temple (Mark 11:15-19), and the lesson of the cursed fig tree (Mark 11:20-25).  These events happened on three successive days (Monday through Wednesday) as the writer noted.

The cursing of the fig tree, when it appeared it should have fruit, illustrates the cursing of the nation for not bearing the fruit of repentance and faith in their Messiah.

Tom Constable notes:

“Withered from the roots” means that death was spreading through the tree beginning from its sources of nourishment.  The roots of the tree correspond to the religious leaders of the nation.  Death would pass from them to the whole generation of unbelieving Jews.”

In Job 7:1-6 Job is describing his miseries.  But Job begins to pray (7:7-21).

If Romans 9 presents Israel’s past and Romans 10 her present, Romans 11 speaks of Israel’s future.  Paul explains that Israel’s rejection is not final (11:1-10).  There is always a remnant.  Paul then describes that Gentiles can be saved because of Israel, because of their rejection.  But he goes on to explain that the inclusion of Gentiles is to drive Israel to jealousy, so that they will be saved.  Eventually, “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26), which I take to mean all surviving Jews at the end of the tribulation.  On reflection of God’s display of sovereign mercy Paul bursts into praise (11:33-36).

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, February 7

Today’s Bible readings are from Genesis 39-40 (because I was supposed to do Gen. 35 and 36 together), Mark 10, Job 6 and Romans 10.

Genesis 39 is the temptation and successful overcoming of temptation by Joseph.

Verse 1 restates the end of chapter 37, that Joseph had been taken to Egypt.  He had been sold to Potiphar.  God immediately began to bless Joseph, which caused Potiphar to make him head of the whole house.

2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.

The key is “The LORD was with Joseph.”  This is a consistent refrain (v. 2, 3, 21, 23) in this chapter.  Now remember, Joseph was a slave.  He was, in some sense, imprisoned.  Yet God was blessing him in that place.  That is why we need to trust God, that even in terrible situations, He is with us and makes us successful.

Joseph, being handsome and successful, attracts the attention of Potiphar’s wife, some we would call a “single married woman.”  She made eyes at Joseph, then made an enticing suggestion “come to be with me.”

Joseph seemed to be doing several things that would help him remain pure and faithful (Notice these, guys!):

First, he let his faith be known.  Potiphar and others knew that Joseph was blessed because of his relationship with God (39:3) which means that Joseph must have given verbal credit to God.

Second, Joseph kept busy.  One does not advance the way Joseph did without being a busy worker.  An old Turkish proverb says, “Men are usually tempted by the devil, but an idle man positively tempts the devil.”

Third, Joseph was careful not to be alone with Potiphar’s wife.

Why did this red-blooded young man say no to an available (and probably beautiful) woman?

Verses 8 and 9 give us two more answers:

First, he remembered that he belonged as a slave to Potiphar and she belonged to Potiphar as his wife.

That is in verse 8-9a:

8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am.  My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.

Second, Joseph remembered that, above all, he belonged to God.

How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (v. 9b)

Joseph knew it was sin and called it a sin.

Well, she still made her move, and Joseph did what we all have to do at some point: RUN FORREST RUN!

But, Joseph paid the price for doing the right thing.  You don’t always get rewarded…right away.  But God had not forgotten Joseph, even though he was thrown into prison.

In Genesis 40 Joseph sits in prison.  God is with him however and makes him successful there.  Joseph doesn’t focus upon his own problems, but notices the faces of two men–a baker and cupbearer.  They had both been “fired” by Pharoah.  Joseph interpreted their dreams–one good news, the other bad and asked the cupbearer to remember him before Pharoah.  He agrees, but forgets, causing Joseph to spend more years in prison.  But God was with him.  Better days would come.

Mark 10 begins with the discussion of divorce (10:2-11).  Again, Jesus confirms God’s good idea of lifelong marriage (quoting Genesis 2).  It is not a contract of temporary convenience and not a union that may be dissolved at will.

Jesus also instructs them about wealth (10:17-31), spurred by the situation with a rich, young man who was unwilling to give up his wealth (10:17-22).  Is giving up our wealth a condition for following Jesus?  Apparently it was for this man, for it had become his idol.  You cannot serve God and money.

Jesus again predicts His passion (vv. 32-34), which causes the disciples to jockey for important positions in the kingdom, and so he teaches them about serving and being last, rather than first.  Jesus, of course, is the greatest example, giving up his own life as a “ransom for many.”

Job 6 is Job’s response to Eliphaz, which will extend into chapter 7.  Job felt like the only thing that made his suffering bearable was that he could complain about them (6:1-7).  He believed God’s words (6:10) but acknowledged that he had no hope and no help to live.  His friends definitely were not helping (vv. 14-23) so he invites them to identify which sin he is being punished for (vv. 24-30).  Job was confident he had not sinned.

Romans 10:3 says…

3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

This was the problem for religious Jews, and religious people today.  As Tim Keller says, there are unsaved immoral people and unsaved moral people.  Sometimes it is not our sin which separates us and keeps us from salvation, but our self-righteousness.

In v. 14 Paul asks a series of questions that shows that there is no salvation without faith and there is no faith without the proclamation of the gospel.

  • to call, one must believe
  • to believe, one must hear
  • to hear, someone must preach
  • to preach, someone must be sent

 

Grievous Consequences of Israel’s Infidelity, part 1 (Hosea 2:6-8)

Over the last couple of weeks here on Grace Still Amazes we’ve been looking at God’s Charge against Israel’s Infidelity.  Israel, like Gomer, was pursuing other lovers, believing that those lovers provided for her the necessities and even the luxuries of life.  In reality, however, it was Yahweh who had provided these things for his bride, Israel and He was about to take them back.

Keep in mind that even in judgment, God would be gracious to Israel.

So we’re going to start in verse 6 this morning, and we’re going to be looking at the grievous consequences of Israel’s infidelity.

6 Therefore 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 shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them.  Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ 8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. 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. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. 12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. 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.

Verses 6, 9 and 14 all begin with the word “therefore,” indicating that what is predicted here is God’s judgment upon Israel’s pursuit of other gods, in particular the Baals.  God’s first judgment against Israel was to place obstacles in her way, painful obstacles, that would hopefully cause her to turn back to God.  This is the purpose of God’s discipline in our lives as well—not to drive us away, but to encourage us to turn back to Him.

Verses 6-8 describe the futility that characterizes infidelity.

The obstacles in verse 6 are the “hedge” and the “wall.”  Job employs the term “hedge up” to refer to God’s providential care for His people (Job 1:10; 10:11-12), and this same providential care is in evidence in Hosea as God chooses to remove all temptations from his wife.  Thus, any attempt to pursue other lovers will be met with frustration.

Hedges

Albert Barnes says…

“Thorns” then may be the pains to the flesh, with which God visits sinful pleasures, so that the soul, if it would break through to them, is held back and torn; the “wall” may mean, that all such sinful joys shall be cut off altogether, as by bereavement, poverty, sickness, failure of plans, etc.

Keil and Delitzsch believe that this refers to the distress and tribulation of exile…

in which, although Israel was in the midst of idolatrous nations, and therefore had even more outward opportunity to practise idolatry, it learned the worthlessness of all trust in idols, and their utter inability to help, and was thus impelled to reflect and turn to the Lord, who smites and heals (Hosea 6:1).

Notice the “I wills” of God here—“I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her…”  This is in response to what Israel said in verse 5—“I will go after my lovers…”  It is the will of sinners to rebel against God and pursue other gods; it is the will of God to make it hard on His people to run after other gods.  Israel would be shut in to “paths of righteousness” instead of veering off to run after her lovers.

“How like the unfulfilled desires of contemporary persons: individuals who appear to have everything but who have nothing that brings genuine satisfaction.  To a restless, searching, unsatisfied generation, the words of Hosea are uniquely appropriate: Failure to live out a dynamic relationship with God and with the community of faith brings an accompanying lack of satisfaction” (Roy L. Honeycutt, Hosea & His Message, pp. 13-14).

Of course, we don’t like hedges and walls placed in our path when we are intent on sin.  We would prefer a clear path towards sin.

God will guarantee us a path out of temptation, but never a path towards temptation.  He will not make it easy for us to sin, but difficult.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul tells us

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Thorns, since the initial curse, have signified the difficulties resulting from sin.  But, there is often mercy even in God’s harshest judgments.  Without the “thorns” of difficulty that scratch us, pierce us, and pain us, would we ever hate the sin which caused them? Would we ever want to be free from the sin of this world?  Would we ever cry out for our wounds to be healed and our pains relieved?

Keil notes:

All such hindrances to idolatry and wickedness, as visible here in the case of old Israel, have their counterpart in God’s cursing of the ground for Adam’s sake (Genesis 3:17, 19), and the continuation of such divine interference with nature as a means of human discipline throughout history, a divine action still visible today.  The wretchedness of the entire world, groaning in the anguish of sin, debauchery, idolatry, violence and poverty at the time when “The Dayspring from on High” entered our earth-life in Bethlehem, is but a larger picture of what is here primarily focused upon the old Israel.

Our great and good Shepherd sends pain-filled difficulties into our lives to frustrate our sinful desires and directions.  Perhaps your ambition made an idol of your job.  But now you have lost your job.  God has hedged up your way with thorns.  Perhaps you were proud of your family.  But now a son has rebelled against you.  God has hedged up your way with thorns.  Perhaps vanity was puffing you up.  But now God has sent disease into your body.  God has hedged up your way with thorns.

These are painful experiences which pierce deep into our hearts and minds.  But they are sent in love to stop us from going farther away, to make us examine our wounds, to cry for help and healing, and to turn us back to God’s pathway.

Times of plenty, when “everything’s going my way” dull our senses to the illusory nature of these gods and their gifts.  Like Israel, we mistake God’s gifts for the work of our hands, the ingenuity of our minds, the luck of our gambles.  Especially in our scientific, secular world, we are unlikely to attribute to God what we can imagine might come from human innovation and technology.

Only when life falls apart and health fails and relationships dissolve and people turn their backs on us do we begin to see the shallowness and emptiness of what this world and its gods can give us.

And notice again God’s purpose in all this.  It was not to destroy Israel, but to restore her.  “One way of persuading Israel to return to Yahweh was to convince her that the things she longed for would never be realized through the Baalim” (David Garland, Hosea, p. 27)

God doesn’t want Israel to “find her paths” back to the Baalim.  Her familiar pathway to her gods was now altered by hedges and walls, all to keep Israel to himself.

Stuart finds in this metaphor of the hedge and the wall an allusion to the confining of “a dumb animal who tends to wander off from its owner (cf. 4:16 where Israel is called a ‘stubborn heifer;’ 8:9)” and suggests that the threatened restraining will be realized in progressive foreign encroachment, which eventually will lead to Israel’s subjugation.

And John Trapp notes…

Man is fitly compared to a wild ass’s colt used to the wilderness, snuffing up the wind at her pleasure, rude and unruly, untamed and untractable, Jeremiah 2:24, Job 11:12.

He goes on to say…

To be kept by hedges and fences within a pasture, seems to such no small punishment: neither count they anything liberty but licentiousness; or a merry life, unless they may have the devil their playfellow: but the devil plays at no small games:  he plays indiscriminately, he lies in wait for the precious life, as that harlot, Proverbs 6:26; nothing less will content him.  In great wisdom, therefore, and no less mercy to men’s souls, doth God restrain, and bind them by afflictions that they may not run wild as they would nor feed upon the devil’s commons, which would fatten them indeed, but for the slaughter.

Israel’s God, and our God, is a jealous God.  He told Israel at their beginning, “You shall not no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).  No other gods—no rivals, no colleagues.  He will not share His glory with another and He will not share us with another.  Just as no husband shares his wife with another, God will not share us with another.

He will hedge up our ways and wall us off from other lovers so that we will be frustrated and feel the emptiness of our pursuits.

Verse 7 goes on to say…

7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them.

The words rendered “follow after and seek” (רדך, בקשׁ ) are intensive (Piel form) and express “eager, vehement pursuit,” and “diligent search.”

Thus, Albert Barnes comments:

She shall seek far and wide, minutely and carefully, everywhere and in all things, and shall fail in all….The sinful soul will too often struggle on, in pursuit of what God is withdrawing, and will not give over, until, through God‘s persevering mercy, the fruitless pursuit exhausts her, and she finds it hopeless.  Oh the willfulness of man, and the unwearied patience of God!

According to John Calvin, this verse shows just how hard and obstinate their hearts were.  Though it be more difficult now to pursue other gods, pursue them they will.  In “mad zeal” (like an animal in heat) they will pursue their lovers, but to not avail.

Like the blinded Sodomites groping at the door, or Pharoah pursuing Israel into the wilderness after ten plagues, or Balaam who had an angel stand in his path, they do not learn from their sufferings, but instead push stubbornly on.

This led Matthew Henry to note:

Crosses and obstacles in an evil course are great blessings, and are so to be accounted.  They are God’s hedges, to keep us from transgressing, to restrain us from wandering out of the green pastures, to withdraw man from his purpose (Job 33:17), to make the way of sin difficult, that we may not go on in it, and to keep us from it whether we will or not.  We have reason to bless God both for restraining grace and for restraining providences.

The reality is, Israel and Gomer would still try to pursue their lovers, but would no longer be able to overtake them.  There is emphasis on sustained, aggressive and intentional action on the part of Israel.  No initiative is pictured from the lovers, no seduction from them.  How pathetic!  Her lovers are not seeking her out, not seducing her to do something she doesn’t want to do.

They would always be out of reach.  Israel would seek them but not find them.

Yes, Israel might be able to burrow her way through the hedge and climb over the wall, but even then, those gods will not be found.  They will not answer, like the Baalim on Mount Carmel.  They cannot be found.  They have “left the building.”

As James Burton Coffman reminds us, a non-entity cannot be found.

How different from pursuing God, for He promises flirtatious Israel in Jeremiah 29:

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

On the other hand, the Baalim would never provide anything but constant disappointment.  Contentment would only result from covenant faithfulness to Yahweh.

“I escaped not Thy scourges,” says Augustine, as to his pagan state, “for what mortal can?  For Thou wert ever with me, mercifully rigorous, and with most bitter alloy all my unlawful pleasures, that I might seek pleasure without alloy.  But where to find such, I could not discover, save in Thee, O Lord, who teachest by sorrow, and woundest us, to heal, and killest us, lest we die from Thee” (Conf. ii. 4).

Israel’s attempts to get what she needed from foreign nations and their gods would come to naught.  But that disappointment is a blessing.  At the end of verse 7 says…

7b Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’

At first glance this seems a glad and direct contrast to verse 5.  There Israel had said, “I will go after my lovers” with a rebellious heart; but here “I will go and return to my first husband” with a repentant heart.  Similar words, but worlds apart, for they represent a 180 degree change.

This is God’s desire, and why he treats them with severity.

It anticipates what will ultimately happen, the promise of verse 16

16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’

Israel will ultimately be restored.

Given the context, however, I believe this is an incomplete or insincere repentance.  It has the language of repentance, to “return to my first husband,” but neither Israel nor Gomer seemed to follow through.  As David Hubbard says, “Much has to happen before that repentance is a reality.”

She only “says” that she would return.  Unlike the Prodigal, who “came to his senses” and started the journey home, she seems to toy with this thought in her mind but never follow through on it.

Exposed to the meaninglessness and futility of life apart from God, she seems to decide to return to her “first husband,” to Yahweh, as opposed to the Canannite gods.  But this doesn’t seem to be the reality, yet.  They would have to suffer more in order to truly return to Yahweh.

Notice also the reason that she thinks about returning….” for it was better for me then than now.”  She was only interested in going back because it was better for her, more to her advantage, more convenient to her.  She was ever looking after her own advantage, not the glory of her covenant God.  (Although this is similar to the prodigal’s own desire to find food in the Father’s house.)

If her repentance was real, as with the Prodigal, God would come running.  But instead, he will afflict them with further judgments until they truly repent.

Again, this is the form of genuine repentance…”I will return.”  Albert Barnes, quoting someone, says…

“Mostly, when we cannot obtain in this world what we wish, when we have been wearied with the impossibility of our search of earthly desires, then the thought of God returns to the soul; then, what was before distasteful, becomes pleasant to us; He whose commands had been bitter to the soul, suddenly in memory grows sweet to her, and the sinful soul determines to be a faithful wife.”

Notice finally the sad refrain of verse 8

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.

This is the reason that Israel’s repentance, at this stage, is but a fleeting aspiration.  They still believed it was the other gods who had been good to them, not Yahweh himself.

Israel, due to their zeal in pursuing idols, really believed that their grain, wine and oil, came from these agricultural gods, rather than Yahweh.  They were deluded into thinking that their “silver and gold” came from either their devotion to their gods, or their own efforts.

And beyond that, they then turned around and used God’s gifts to worship Baal.  As James Burton Coffman says…

[The] very wealth which God had bestowed upon Israel was used to build, ornament, promote and worship the vulgar old god of the Canaanites, Baal!  Gold was used for images of that so-called `god’, as when Jeroboam I manufactured and installed the golden calves at Dan and at Bethel.  Such wealth was also lavished upon the building of pagan shrines, the support of the pagan priesthood, etc.  Thus, the very wealth which God had bestowed upon them became, in their hands, the instrument of their dishonoring him.

This word “know” is an important one in the theology of the book of Hosea.  To “know the Lord” is the true goal.  Here, however, they are ignorant, willfully ignorant of God and his goodness, believing instead that other lovers had been the source of blessing.

It sounds eerily like the words of Jesus, crying out to a nation that rejected Him again, the true God…

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.  (Luke 19:41-42)

Israel didn’t know, because they chose not to know.

I want to end today with a prayer from Scotty Smith’s book Heavenward:

The Gift of Precious Providential Thornbushes

Posted: 25 Feb 2017 08:55 PM PST, Scotty Smith

I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, “I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.” Hosea 2:6-7 

Lord Jesus, I’ve praised you for the kaleidoscopic foliage decorating the mountains of Switzerland, the wind-dancing sea oats covering the dunes of Florida’s Gulf, and the über-intense green painting the cliffs of Northern Ireland. But today, I praise you for the gift of thornbushes. They’re not pretty, but they are precious—as you make quite clear in these verses from Hosea.

Jesus, you love us so much that when we love you less, you come after us with bulldog-tenacity and uncomfortable providences.  You are unrelenting in your commitment to rescue our hearts from broken cisterns and worthless idols—from anything to which we run and cling, when your love and grace don’t seem to be enough.

Continue to block our path when we begin chasing after lesser gods and other lovers.  Hedge us in like a formidable fortress, when we let our longings or lusts, pain and fear have more power over our hearts than the gospel.  When we set our heart’s GPS for any destination but you, Jesus, cause us to lose our bearings and way.

That you are jealous for us is the greatest compliment you could ever pay us, Jesus.  Who are we that the Lord of glory would make us his Bride?  Who are we that you would rejoice over us with the festive joy, the impassioned delight, and the desire-filled gaze of a Bridegroom?

We long for the Day when we’ll never again need to say, “I will go back to my husband as at first“—the Day you return to finish making all things new.  Until that Day, Lord Jesus, keep us sane, centered, and satisfied, through the riches of the gospel.  So very Amen we pray, in your holy and loving name.

 

Links I Like

Here are some links from this week…

Self-Control, the Leader’s Make-or-Break Virtue, by Drew Dyck

Something that we all need.  A fruit of the Spirit, yes, but also a virtue that we don’t hear enough about, that we can build through habits.

More Than a Game, Less Than a God–A Christian Perspective on Celebrating the Super Bowl Together, by Bruce Ashford

How appropriate for Super Bowl Sunday, especially after preaching on Exodus 20:3 today!

What We’re Missing in the Ralph Northam Scandal, by Russell Moore

There’s been a lot said about Ralph Northam’s statement and whether he really was advocating infanticide.  Russell Moore reminds us of another important point–that the abortion culture and racial injustice are the same issue.

I Learned to Read the Bible through Tears, by Vaneetha Rendall Risner

Martin Luther once said that true Bible reading or study consists of Oratio, meditatio, tentatio” (prayer, meditation, trial).  This article from Vaneetha Rendall Risner is her testimony of the value of trials in helping her understand Scripture.  This article is from Desiring God and I could include a helpful link from them every week!

 

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, February 6

Today’s Bible readings are from Genesis 38, Mark 9, Job 5 and Romans 9.

Genesis 38 moves away from the Joseph story (Gen. 37-50) and highlights the character and line of Judah, the Messianic line.  Through his Adullamite wife Hirah, Judah has several children.  The firstborn, Er, he procured a wife, Tamar (38:6).  But Er was wicked and the LORD put him to death, so Judah told Onan to fulfill his Levirate duties (Duet. 25:5-10) and bring forth a grandson (and a son for Tamar), but God put him to death too.  They were both wicked.

Since Judah never provided a son for Tamar to bear children with (perhaps he thought she was a black widow), she pretended to be a prostitute.  Judah went in to her.  He gave her a pledge of payment.  When she was found to be pregnant and Judah condemned her, she brought forth the pledge and Judah acknowledges his own fault in not taking care of her.  She gave birth to Perez and Zerah.

Mark 9 begins with the transfiguration of Jesus.  Some would see Jesus in (partial) glory, and of course John would see Him in greater glory in the vision of Revelation 1. Jesus also heals a demon-possessed boy that His disciples could not.  Jesus seems to rebuke both the crowds and His disciples as “faithless.”

The response of the father to Jesus’ statement that He could do anything for one who believes is a classic, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Isn’t that what we all feel?  We all experience a mixture of faith and doubt.  We do need Jesus (or the Spirit) to help us “overcome” our unbelief.

Jesus once again predicts His death (9:30-32) and explains to his disciples, who were jockeying for position and status, that the first will be last and it would be better to be a servant.  Jesus then points out the folly of their sectarian attitude (vv. 38-40) and the serious danger of causing “little ones” to fall into sin (vv. 41-48).

Job 5 is more of the same, the continuation of Eliphaz’ speech from chapter 4.  On and on he goes, trying to prove that–since Job was suffering, he must have sinned.

Eliphaz reminds Job that God will graciously restore those who repent of their sins and turn to him.  This, of course, is absolutely true.  The problem is that Job had not sinned.

We should learn from this speech not to judge another person”s relationship with God by what they may be experiencing, whether it be adversity or blessing.

The reliability of God’s Word is foundational to our hope of justification, sanctification and glory (Romans 1-8).  God’s Word also hasn’t failed with regard to Israel (Romans 9:6) and that is what Romans 9-11 is about, showing how God’s Word towards Israel is true, even though much of Israel at that time was unsaved.

Although Paul’s primary concern is to vindicate God’s righteousness, he prefaces his remarks by expressing his own deep sorrow over Israel’s unrepentant state (9:1-5).  Then he details how God has dealt with the nation in the past (9:6-33).  In essence, God’s choice was completely sovereign and gracious (9:1-29), as can be seen in Israel’s very history (9:6-13), as well as on the basis of the principle of God’s sovereignty (9:14-29).  Further, they have rejected their Messiah by clinging to the Law (9:30-33).

Notice the questions in Romans 9, and the answers God gives:

  • To the question—Is God unjust?—he replies with Moses’ words that God will be merciful and compassionate to whomever he chooses (v. 15; citing Exod. 33:19).
  • To the questions—“Why does he still find fault?  For who can resist his will?”—Paul replies that we have no right to question God or his ways (Romans 9:20).

Although some believers hold that God chooses us because he foresees our choice of him, Paul excludes both human will and effort in salvation (v. 16).  Instead, he asserts God’s freedom to show mercy to or harden “whomever he wills” (v. 18).  God is the One with the will and effort that can effect salvation.  God has rights as Creator to choose as he desires.  He is the divine potter who fashions “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” and “vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (vv. 22-23).

 

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, February 5

Today’s readings are Genesis 37, Mark 8, Job 4 and Romans 8.

Jacob and his family are living in Hebron (35:27).  In Genesis 37 Joseph gives a bad report on his brothers (v. 2).  Jacob’s favoritism and Joseph’s dreams made him more hated by his brothers (37:3-11).

When Joseph’s brothers are watching their flocks near Shechem, Joseph is sent to see how they were doing (opportunity for another bad report??).  Joseph found them at Dothan.  Tell Dothan is located in the northern Samaria Hills on the eastern side of the Dothan Valley some 13.6 miles north of Shechem.

Bible Atlas

Image result for dothan israel

A view of the west side of Tel Dotan.  Ferrell Jenkins

They initially conspired to kill Joseph, but threw him in a pit.  Reuben thought he would later return to rescue Joseph, but in the meantime the brothers sold him to some Ishmaelite/Midianite traders on their way to Egypt.

They put some blood on Jacob’s garment, returned it to Jacob and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not” (v. 32).  And Jacob believed that his son was dead.

Here are five symptoms of a dysfunctional family:

1. Estrangement—Family members who avoid other family members.

2. Anger—It may be expressed or repressed.

3. Lack of Trust—Seen in faulty patterns of communication.

4. Deception—Inability to speak the truth to other family members.

5. Unhealthy Secrecy—Refusal to face the truth.

Do you see all of these in Genesis 37?  But take heart, God can redeem dysfunctional families.

The chapter ends with Joseph in the house of Potiphar, “captain of the guard” and apparently wealthy (he had many slaves).

Didn’t Jesus just do this miracle, feeding thousands of people with a small amount of food?  And the disciples still hadn’t learn to trust Jesus fully (Mark 8:1-19).

Again he takes them in a boat “to the district of Dalmanutha” (v. 10).  Some believe this is in the same area as Magadan, in the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee.  There, Jesus is challenged to give a sign, to which Jesus refuses (vv. 11-12).  Then He instructs His disciples to beware of the leaven (bad teaching) of the Pharisees, which they misinterpret (maybe they were hungry) (vv. 13-21).

When they reach Bethsaida, Jesus heals a blind man in two stages (vv. 22-26).  Why?  I believe it was to illustrate that the Jewish people, including the disciples at this point, were not understanding, they didn’t yet have spiritual sight and a further work must be done to open their eyes.

Jesus and his disciples continued traveling north (vv. 27-29) from Bethsaida toward Caesarea Philippi, where Herod Philip lived, that stood about 25 miles away.  The disciples confessed their belief that Jesus was Lord near the place where the pagans confessed that Caesar was Lord.  According to Matthew’s gospel, Peter’s ability to correctly confess that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, was because God revealed it to him (Matthew 16

The timing of this question in Jesus” ministry was very important.  The disciples had believed that Jesus was the Messiah from the beginning of their contact with Him (John 1:41, 51).  However their understanding of the Messiah then was the traditional one of their day, namely, that of a political leader.  The multitudes likewise failed to understand that Jesus was much more than that. The religious leaders were becoming increasingly antagonistic.  The disciples were about to receive new revelation regarding Jesus that would have costly implications for them.  Therefore it was necessary for them to confess Jesus’ identity clearly and unmistakably now.

Jesus then teaches them about discipleship,  Just as He was destined for the cross, so each of them must “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).  Be willing to give up your life for greater gain.

Job 4 begins the first cycle of speeches between Job and his friends.  Each cycle consists of speeches by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, in that order, interspersed with Job’s reply to each address.  This pattern continues through the first two cycles of speeches (chs. 4—14 and 15—21) but breaks down in the third when Zophar failed to continue the dialogue.

Throughout the three cycles of speeches, Job’s friends did not change their position.  They believed that God rewards the righteous and punishes sinners in this life, the theory of retribution.  They reasoned that all suffering is punishment for sin, and since Job was suffering, he was a sinner.  They believed that what people experience depends on what they have done (cf. John 9:2).  While this is true often, it is not the fundamental reason we experience what we do in life, as the Book of Job proceeds to reveal.

Job 4 is Elphaz’s first speech.  Why do bad things happen to good people?  Eliphaz makes three false assumptions:

  1. Good and innocent people never suffer (see v. 7).
  2. Those who suffer are being punished for their sins (v. 8)
  3. Job, because he was suffering, must have done something wrong in God’s eyes.  Job must repent (5:8)

Romans 8 is the Mount Everest of this great epistle.  The first part (vv. 1-17) deal with the contrast between the flesh and the Spirit.  It gives the secret for overcoming the struggle presented in Romans 7–the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The second part (vv. 18-39) deal with the contrast between suffering and glory.  We may suffer significantly now, but we will definitely experience greater glory in heaven, because of that suffering.

Romans 8:1 tells us we are free from the guilt of sin.

Romans 8:2 tells us we are free from the power of sin.

What we could not do for ourselves, God did for us (v. 3) so that now, through union with Christ, all the requirements of the law are fully met in us (v. 4).

Those who live according to the flesh or have the mind of the flesh are unbelievers.

The Spirit indwells us at conversion (Romans 8:9), frees us from the law of sin and death (v. 2), puts life in our bodies (v. 11), mortifies the flesh (v. 13), leads us (v. 14), bears witness with our spirit that we are indeed God’s children (v. 16).

Do the math, Paul says next, whatever sufferings we endure now, will be rewarded with glory far beyond compare.  If we put our sun on the suffering side (quite a large and significant object, because our sufferings may be quite difficult to endure), then we must put Canis Majoris on the glory side.  Now, Canis Majoris is so large that if our sun was the size of a golf ball, Canis Majoris would be the size of Mount Everest.  Even from the mountains around Mena, you would be unable to see a golf ball in the valley.

Then Paul says that all creation is up on tiptoes, awaiting that moment when we are revealed in glory (v. 19).  Why?  Because that means it will be renewed (vv. 20-21).  Also, it is the time when we come into our full adoption and receive our resurrection bodies (vv. 22-23).

When Paul says that God works “all things together for our good” (v. 28), it doesn’t mean that everything that happens to us is good.  God takes the good things (like reading our Bibles, praying, and fellowship with believers) and the bad things (trials, irritations, even temptations) and works them all together for good.  The “good” that God is working toward, according to v. 29, is that we become more like Jesus Christ.  That is the process that God has guaranteed, from predestination to glorification (v. 30).

Paul ends the chapter asking (and answering) four questions:

  • Is God for me?  Of course, He already has done the hardest thing (not sparing His one and only beloved Son), so He is committing to “graciously give us all things,” which I think in the context is “all things” that contribute to us becoming more like Jesus.
  • “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” v. 33  Some of them would be charged with treason (worshiping Jesus instead of Caesar) or cannibalism (eating the body and blood of Jesus), but it is “God who justifies.”  The highest judge in all the universe says, “Not guilty!  You are righteous.”
  • “Who is to condemn?” (v. 34)  This goes a step beyond charging with a crime.  This is sentencing.  Now, Satan is our accuser, but cannot condemn (see v. 1).  Instead, we have Jesus praying for us.  He is our intercessor, our advocate (1 John 2).  Like He prayed for Peter, that his “faith would not fail,” He prays for us.
  • Finally ” Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (v. 35)  Paul lists several things that maybe they thought proved that Christ didn’t love them–“tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword” but even though they really experienced these things (v. 36) we turn out to be super-conquerors (v. 37) because there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ! (vv. 38-39)

M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, February 4

Today is my wife’s birthday.  Happy birthday Becky!!!

Today’s readings are from Genesis 36, Mark 7, Job 3 and Romans 7.

Genesis 36 gives the genealogy of Esau’s family.

from Logos Bible Software

Back in Genesis 27 Isaac gave Esau a blessing that stated:

39“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.” (NIV)

And this passage shows that this is exactly what happened.  This passage shows that God was keeping His promises.  Even though Lot, Ismael and Esau were not part of the promised line, their descendants multiplied.  Also, Esau’s descendants moved away from the land, while Jacob’s (born in Padan-Aram) moved into the land.  Esau’s line developed kings long before Jacob’s did.

Mount Seir

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Mark 7 illustrates once again how the Jewish religious leaders took little things and made them extremely important, and difficult.  The issue in vv. 1-5 is that they criticized Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before they ate.  Now, likely your parents taught you to wash your hands before eating.  But this isn’t for health reasons, but for ritual (religious) reasons.

David Guzik explains…

For these ceremonial washings, special stone vessels of water were kept, because ordinary water might be unclean.  To wash your hands in this special way, you started by taking at least enough of this water to fill one and one-half egg shells.  Then, you poured the water over your hands, starting at the fingers and running down towards your wrist.  Then you cleansed each palm by rubbing the fist of the other hand into it.  Then you poured water over your hands again, this time from the wrist towards the fingers.

A really strict Jew would do this not only before the meal, but also between each course.

The rabbis were deadly serious about this.  They said that bread eaten with unwashed hands was no better than excrement.  One rabbi who once failed to perform the ritual washing was excommunicated.  Another rabbi said that the sin of eating with unwashed hands was equal to that of lying with a harlot.   Another rabbi was imprisoned by the Romans, and he used his ration of water for ceremonial cleansing instead of drinking, nearly dying of thirst.  He was regarded as a great hero for this sacrifice.

Jesus confronted them with their hypocrisy–presenting clean external appearances but having a heart that was “far from me.”

Legalists like to take actions that are not commanded in Scripture and make them commands to obey, while at the same time ignoring (or arguing against) the real commands of Scripture (Mark 7:1-13).  Legalists want to appear righteous, but their hearts are not clean.

Jesus leaves Galilee to go to Tyre.  There, he marvels at the faith of a Syro-Phoenician woman and casts a demon out of her little girl (vv. 25-29).  Then, he goes back down to the Decapolis and healed a deaf man (vv. 30-35).

37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Job’s continued pain brought him from the silent, submissive attitude in chapter 2, to an assertive and angry expression in chapter 3.

First, he wishes that he had not been born (3:1-10).

Evidently the reason Job longed for nonexistence was his failure to understand his relationship with God or his place in the universe.  Job did not know as much about life and death as he assumed (cf. Job 38:2, 17).  Job does not aim for theological accuracy here, as much as expressing the deep agonies of the sufferer’s heart.

Second, Job wishes he had died at birth (3:11-19), and last he wishes he could die then (3:20-26).

Job was bitter (v. 20) but not out of control.  He was angry with God (v. 23) but not cursing God.

The writer used the same Hebrew word to describe Job as one “hedged in” by God with darkness and disfavor (v. 23) that Satan used to describe Job as one whom God had “made a hedge about” to protect him from evil (1:10).

Job was in despair but not defiant toward God.  He was feeling his pain intensely but not accusing God of being unjust.  His grief had not yet descended to its lowest depths.

“Where in the world will you find a sadder strain of more hopeless, uncontrolled, and unbroken lamentation and mourning?” (Bradley) Yet, “Such outpouring is a far more healthy thing for the soul than dark and silent brooding.” (Morgan)

Notice that although Job wanted to die (a common human response to pain), he did not attempt suicide.  People usually attempt suicide when they have lost all hope.  The pressure of pain squeezes out the memories of past pleasures and blessings.  The present agony becomes so overwhelming that sufferers often cannot see hope beyond it.

This might be hard to hear, but extreme pain may be the will of God for some people.  But we must remember that God will walk with us through our sufferings and that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to our future glory (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:16).

Romans 7, in its description of the person who desires to keep God’s law, yet cannot, has spawned many interpretations.

Paul first gives an analogy from marriage to illustrate the believer’s new relationship, or non-relationship, with the law.  Legally, a person is no longer married after death.  We died, and are therefore no longer legally bound to the law.  Now we are bound to Christ.

Then Paul talks about his relationship with the law in vv. 7-25.  Some believe this is an unbeliever speaking, others that it is Paul alone, or a representative Paul.  I believe that it is a believer speaking.

First of all, this person hates the sin they are doing, which seems unlikely for an unbeliever, who loves the darkness (John 3:19).  He says in verse 15, “I do the very things I hate.”   In verse 19, “the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”   In verse 21 he says, when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.”  These are the words of someone who hates sin and wants to please God.

Second, he humbly and honestly acknowledges the struggle he still faces.  He calls his actions evil in Romans 7:19, 21. He says that, “nothing good dwells in me” (Rom. 7:18). He calls himself a “wretched man” in Romans 7:24.

Third, he is happiest when he is obedient to God.  In verse 22, Paul shouts a truth that is only true for born-again believers. He says, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being.” Like the man in Psalm 1, His delight is in the law of the Lord.  He understands that true joy is only found in those who listen to and obey God’s Word.

Fourth, he is hoping for heaven.  After walking through the despair of the Christian life, the knowledge of the fact that he will never be fully successful in his quest to put to death the deeds of the flesh, his only solution for it all is to rejoice in the deliverance found in Jesus Christ (Rom. 7:25).  Until then, he (we) will struggle with sin.

Joni Eareckson Tada, who has constantly battled pain throughout her life, said it best when she said,

“Don’t be thinking that for me in Heaven, the big deal after I get to see Jesus is to get my new body, no, no, no I want a glorified heart!  I want a glorified heart that no longer twists the truth, resists God, looks for an escape, gets defeated by pain, becomes anxious or worrisome, manipulates my husband with precisely timed phrases…”

The above arguments and quote from Joni is from an article by Jordan Standridge.