Mike's Place on the Web

Archive Page 657

Hosea: A Divine Betrothal

Published August 19, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Hosea, Millennium, restoration of Israel

HOSEA 2

God’s love for Israel is hard to understand. Almost from the very beginning she had rebelled against Him, complained, and been guilty of spiritual adultery. Israel’s sin ran so deep; it was as though rebellion was in her DNA.

For their mother has committed adultery. She did a shameful thing when she said, ‘I’ll run after other men and sell myself to them for food and drinks and clothes.’ (Hosea 2:5 TLB)

But God’s love for Israel did not depend on her loveliness. In fact, God’s love for sinful man has nothing to do with sinful man.

In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins. (1 John 4:10 TLB)

Yes, God’s love is very difficult to understand. It’s agape love; a special love that is unconditional. God loves us as much as He can—He will never love us less, and He cannot love us more.

The allegory in Hosea illustrates this concept of God’s amazing love better than any sermon ever could.

I will bind you to me forever with chains of righteousness and justice and love and mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness and love, and you will really know me then as you never have before.

“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will answer the pleading of the sky for clouds, to pour down water on the earth in answer to its cry for rain. Then the earth can answer the parched cry of the grain, the grapes, and the olive trees for moisture and for dew—and the whole grand chorus shall sing together that ‘God sows!’ He has given all!

“At that time I will sow a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself! I will pity those who are ‘not pitied, and I will say to those who are ‘not my people,’ ‘Now you are my people’; and they will reply, ‘You are our God!’ ” (Hosea 2:19—23 TLB)

1. The manner of God’s betrothal

What exactly is a betrothal? Literally is means “to woo a virgin.” Or, we may say betrothal is the act of courtship. This is what God said He would do to Israel: He would court her. He would, in time, win Israel for Himself. This is God’s solemn promise to Israel that in the future she would be betrothed to Him forever. In that day, Israel will never again be estranged from God, as in Old Testament times.

How will God do this? This chapter of Hosea describes God’s technique for “wooing” Israel.

In righteousness

God would bind Himself to Israel in complete righteousness. His betrothal to Israel will be based on His perfect character and Israel’s real need. What is the thing that Israel needs most? She needs to be righteous. So what God is saying to Israel is that “in that day,” He would impute, or cover, her with His righteousness.

In justice

The betrothed, Israel, has been shown to be completely unworthy to be the Lord’s bride. She had been shown to be guilty of heinous and awful sins, completely covered in a sin-debt she could never hope to repay. How can she be made clean enough to be wed to God? God will deal with Israel is complete justice. Sin must be judged. Sinners must be paid their wages:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NIV)

But, through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, God is able to deal with Israel (and, in fact, all sinners) in a perfectly just way:

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 NIV)

He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the world’s. (1 John 2:2 TLB)

Sin and guilt must be judged and they have been judged in Jesus Christ. God’s eternal Son, in seeking to bind lost humanity to God the Father, took on its nature, bore its sin, and shed His Blood to cleanse us; to make it fit to be the betrothed.

In lovingkindness

This word has reference to the aspect of God’s covenant-keeping nature. His love for Israel will be manifested in His faithfulness to His Word or promise concerning her. This idea is expressed over 20 times throughout the Psalms. God promised some very specific things to Israel—things that have not come to pass yet—and His nature guarantees that those promises will be fulfilled.

In mercy

The word used here is ruhamah, or “compassion.” And God’s compassion for Israel is manifold! It is multifaceted.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one pall things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. (Ephesians 1:7—10 NKJV)

The mercy or the compassion of God is a strong motivational force that beckons us to completely yield ourselves to Christ. When you understand all that God did for you in Christ, don’t you want to love Him back? Isn’t that enough to compel you to live for Him?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1, 2 NKJV)

In faithfulness

Finally, this proposed marriage will be made by God in total faithfulness. God’s faithfulness to Israel is what is in view here, but faithfulness is a two-way street. In the Old Testament, God had always been faithful to Israel but that faithfulness was not returned. Therefore, there was a necessary separation between Israel and God. However, in that great future day of the reconciliation of all things, a brand new relationship will be established by God; that separation will come to an end and Israel will be faithful to God for the first time.

When the people of Israel have finally received all that God has for them, they will finally know God and will finally be faithful to Him. This new relationship was on Jesus’ mind in the Garden as He prayed to His Father:

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3 NKJV)

The simple fact is, the ability to “know God” is a gift from God. This gift is given to us as much as it will be given to Israel in that future day.

2. The purpose of the betrothal

The purpose of this betrothal is obvious: eternal union with God

That Israel may really know God

Israel certainly doesn’t know God today. As a nation, she is so secular she can’t get too much farther away from Him! But when their sin problem is finally taken care of, they will gain eternal perspective; they will finally see God for Who He really is and of course they will see Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

This kind of knowledge of God is not head knowledge, but rather heart knowledge. It is this heart knowledge that results in salvation.

The day will come, says the Lord, when I will make a new contract with the people of Israel and Judah. It won’t be like the one I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a contract they broke, forcing me to reject them, says the Lord. But this is the new contract I will make with them: I will inscribe my laws upon their hearts, so that they shall want to honor me; then they shall truly be my people and I will be their God. At that time it will no longer be necessary to admonish one another to know the Lord. For everyone, both great and small, shall really know me then, says the Lord, and I will forgive and forget their sins. (Jeremiah 31:31—34 TLB)

But this “change of heart” is not something Israel will be able to do for herself. God will do it; He will give her a new heart.

I will give them hearts that respond to me. They shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with great joy. (Jeremiah 24:7 TLB)

This is something every sinner can attest to: God has given them a new heart, one that beats after Him. It was a desire of David’s too, as he expressed it in Psalm 51:

Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires. (Psalm 51:10 TLB)

Israel will confess God

Verse 23 makes it clear:

You are our God!

Verses 22 and 23 constitute a play on words that doesn’t come across in the English translations of our Bible. The play on words has to do with Gomer’s children, a son called Jezreel, a daughter Lo-Ruhamah and another son Lo-Ammi. God will not only bring the family back together again (regather Israel), but they cease to be “Lo-Ruhamah,” the pitiless daughter of a harlot. God will show them mercy. In our day today, Israel is really “Lo-ammi,” they are “not God’s people.” But in that future day, God will finally declare that “they are my people” and they will say in all earnestness, “You are our God.” This isn’t happening yet. It will happen in the future. This is an exciting prophecy for the Millennium.

Israel will be partners with God

This is something to stop and ponder for a moment. According to Genesis, a wife is to be a husband’s helper; she is to bring into a marriage something her husband lacks. She becomes his partner in life. So it will be with Israel. When she is finally united to her Lord, she will become His partner in the Kingdom. Again, this finds its fulfillment during the Millennium when the Jews become the great evangelists, taking the Gospel of the Kingdom all over the world.

But consider how this applies to believers today. Today we are co-workers with Christ.

We are only God’s coworkers. (1 Corinthians 3:9a TLB)

We, who have become part of God’s family, have a responsibility today to work with Christ in building His Church; it is our responsibility to work to extend the Kingdom in the here and now through witnessing and sharing the Gospel with the lost. If you are in God’s family, then “the family business” ought to be yours.

Daniel: The End of the Dream

Published August 14, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Daniel, Millennial Kingdom, Second Coming

second-coming-01

Daniel 7

That was the end of the dream. (Daniel 7:28a TLB)

The historical section of the book of Daniel ended with the last verse of chapter 6. Now, Daniel begins the second part of his book which contains four prophetic visions which focus on the destiny of Israel in the world among Gentile nations. Chapter 7 parallels chapter 2, as both chapters put forth the four great world empires, followed by the rise of a fifth empire or kingdom which will be the final kingdom on earth, the great Millennial Kingdom, which Christ will inaugurate when He returns to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In chapter 2, the kingdoms of this earth are illustrated by a great statue, and in chapter 7 they are portrayed by a series of animals.

The book of Daniel is clearly not laid out in chronological order, and this drives the casual Bible reader crazy. Verse 1 indicates when this chapter occurs:

One night during the first year of Belshazzar’s reign over the Babylonian Empire, Daniel had a dream and he wrote it down. (Daniel 7:1 TLB)

So, we know that chapter 7 takes place somewhere around the year 553 AD. That means that some 50 years have passed since Daniel had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great statue. Now, the great Nebuchadnezzar had been dead a decade, and none of his successors where close to being the world leader he was. They were weak, impotent, and distracted men, and they lead Babylon to its end. Daniel had this vision about 14 years before the fall of Babylon, and it encompasses the nations of this world from Daniel’s time, about 500 years before Christ, to our time to the end of the ages.

Daniel was a faithful Jew, he was a man of God, an interpreter of dreams and visions, and he was a prophet. He was also life-long political presence in Babylon. But most of all, Daniel was a man of action. Let’s look this man’s vision and its implications for us, today.

1. The dream 7:2—14

Daniel’s dream and its interpretation are repetitions of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2. There, the four parts of the great statue corresponded to the four great world empires, beginning with Babylon, and here these same empires correspond to a series of animals.

The empire of Babylon=the head of gold=winged lion;
The empire(s) of Medo-Persia=breast and arms of silver=a bear;
The Greek empire=belly and thighs of brass=four-headed, winged leopard;
The Roman empire=legs of iron=dreadful beast.

The question Bible students ask, is: Why repeat God’s plan for the empires of the world? These two dreams or visions reveal to man God’s unfolding of history. Previously, God had given to Egypt’s Pharaoh two dreams about the same thing: one dream of seven cows and one of seven ears of grain. Joseph explained to Pharaoh why he had a dream with the same meaning twice, and Joseph’s explanation probably applies here, too:

“Both dreams mean the same thing,” Joseph told Pharaoh. “God was telling you what he is going to do here in the land of Egypt.”

The double dream gives double impact, showing that what I have told you is certainly going to happen, for God has decreed it, and it is going to happen soon. (Genesis 41:25, 32 TLB)

So what’s going to happen WILL happen, and it is happening today. Just because liberal Bible scholars attempt to poke holes in the tapestry of Bible prophecy as it hangs in Daniel doesn’t mean Bible prophecy isn’t true or dependable. The kingdoms of this world are portrayed as “animals” rising up out of the great sea of humanity; they are, without exception, beasts of prey—brutish, strong, living by instinct alone. If that isn’t an accurate picture of the nations of this world throughout history, nothing is! But the thing we need to remember is that God allows these various world powers to rise to prominence, and He permits other nations to take their place. We see the sovereignty of God at work here.

When you look back at history, you can see nations coming and going like images on a blackboard that get drawn, then erased, then drawn again. Part of this vision has already taken place—what was prophecy in Daniel’s day is merely history in ours. We have already witnessed the rise and fall of Babylon, Persian, Greece, and Rome. The rest will surely come to pass.

2. The blessed end

That was the end of the dream. When I awoke, I was greatly disturbed, and my face was pale with fright, but I told no one what I had seen. (Daniel 7:28 TLB)

Both the dream and its interpretation disturbed Daniel; the emotional shock of it all overwhelmed him to the point where he felt compelled to keep it all to himself. What would be the point to telling anybody in the royal court the dream? Belshazzar was no Nebuchadnezzar; he had no respect for Daniel’s spirituality or for God Himself. So Daniel didn’t tell the dream to anybody because nobody would appreciate the wonders of God’s revelations. This was something Jesus understood well:

“Don’t give holy things to depraved men. Don’t give pearls to swine! They will trample the pearls and turn and attack you.” (Matthew 7:6 TLB)

In his dream, Daniel saw new monarchies coming and going. But the last one astounded him. The history of the “beast kingdoms” has been written in blood and tears. But a final kingdom will come, and this new Kingdom will be the Kingdom of God and of His Christ.

The Second Coming of the Son of Man

Next I saw the arrival of a Man—or so he seemed to be—brought there on clouds from heaven; he approached the Ancient of Days and was presented to him. (Daniel 7:13 TLB)

What a glorious day that will be! The Son of God, in heaven, has been given all authority to take the kingdoms of this world from the Gentiles and to establish HIS kingdom. Jesus Himself once had this conversation with some religious leaders of His day:

Then the high priest asked him. “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?” Jesus said, “I am, and you will see me sitting at the right hand of God, and returning to earth in the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61—62 TLB)

Right now, this world is under the dominion of the kingdoms of man. But one day, man’s dominion of this world will come to its inevitable end when Jesus Christ returns in power and glory to build His kingdom. He will return and He will not be happy with the man’s kingdoms!

What fools the nations are to rage against the Lord! How strange that men should try to outwit God! For a summit conference of the nations has been called to plot against the Lord and his Messiah, Christ the King. “Come, let us break his chains,” they say, “and free ourselves from all this slavery to God.”

But God in heaven merely laughs! He is amused by all their puny plans. And then in fierce fury he rebukes them and fills them with fear. For the Lord declares, “This is the King of my choice, and I have enthroned him in Jerusalem, my holy city.”

His chosen one replies, “I will reveal the everlasting purposes of God, for the Lord has said to me, ‘You are my Son. This is your Coronation Day. Today I am giving you your glory.’ ” “Only ask and I will give you all the nations of the world. Rule them with an iron rod; smash them like clay pots!” (Psalm 2:1—9 TLB)

When the Lord returns, His kingdom will not be waiting for Him. He will build it. Jesus will come with the conqueror’s sword and He will bring the nations of man into line then He will establish His kingdom.

The destruction of the beast’s power

As for the other three animals, their kingdoms were taken from them, but they were allowed to live a short time longer. (Daniel 7:12 TLB)

The kingdoms of this world have had their way. The first four beasts were destroyed, but the ideology and philosophy of the kingdoms will continue. Until the Lord returns and puts down all rebellion, no matter what nation or kingdom dominates the world, the same beast-like philosophy will always prevail. A quick glance around at our own culture certainly bears this out! There are no more Babylonians, the Medes and Persians as world powers vanished, the Greek empire has all but vanished. Rome fell, yet the sins that caused it to disintegrate are all alive and well in America today; they are deep in the hearts of sinful man.

But, praise God, on that great day when Jesus returns, all rebellion will be put down from the four corners of the earth, in every land and ever nation.

3. A new kingdom is established

He was given the ruling power and glory over all the nations of the world, so that all people of every language must obey him. His power is eternal—it will never end; his government shall never fall. (Daniel 7:14 TLB)

The kingdom of Christ, the Millennial Kingdom, will be universal in scope—all over the world, people and nations will submit to the Lordship of Christ. Christ’s kingdom will ultimately be an everlasting kingdom. It’s true that part of it will last one thousand years, but the Millennial Kingdom will merge into the Eternal State, carrying on into all eternity. Imagine that. The eternal kingdom of Christ begins on earth at the Second Coming, continues here for 1,000 years, then morphs into the Eternal state. It will take all of eternity for God’s people to just begin to learn the fullness of God’s greatness.

4. Victory of the saints

…the Ancient of Days came and opened his court and vindicated his people, giving them worldwide powers of government. (Daniel 7:22 TLB)

“The Ancient of Days” is Christ. “His people” refers to the saints of God. God’s program for the universe will prevail and His people will prevail. It may not seem like it right now. In the cheap seats of history, it’s difficult to see what’s going on and understand how it all fits into God’s plan. The thing is, God is slowly and inexorably moving the kingdoms of this world toward their inevitable end and there is nothing any prime minister, president, king or potentate can do about it. God’s program for the universe will finally prevail through His people, the saints.

Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah, “Rule as my regent—I will subdue your enemies and make them bow low before you.” Jehovah has established your throne in Jerusalem to rule over your enemies. In that day of your power your people shall come to you willingly, dressed in holy altar robes. (Psalm 110:1—3 TLB)

In a real sense, Christ’s ultimate victory will also be our ultimate victory. We will be vindicated! Our faith will finally be sight. All the promises we believe and trust will finally come to pass, and they will come to pass before everybody’s eyes! No wonder in that day:

…every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11 TLB)

Whether they want to or not, all people, all over the world will acknowledge exactly who Jesus Christ is. His vindication will also be ours.

Don’t you know that someday we Christians are going to judge and govern the world? (1 Corinthians 6:2 TLB)

The end of history will not be an atomic bomb or global warming or cooling or a collision with an asteroid or even the destruction of all this is good on earth. The goal of God’s plan for the universe, and for our planet, is the establishment of an eternal kingdom and the consummation and preservation of all that is good, and beautiful, and true, and holy (Roy Swim).

Hosea: Spiritual Ignorance

Published August 13, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Hosea, sin and rebellion

Hosea 4:6—11

Israel was in deep trouble. Hosea’s marriage was on the rocks because the unfaithfulness of his wife. Out of the heartbreaking experiences in own life, Hosea the prophet well understood how God felt. God loved Israel, yet Israel had been behaving just like Hosea’s adulterous wife; she was cheating on God! Like Gomer, Israel had become no better than prostitute. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament talks a lot about two things: how to live in harmony with God and the importance of avoiding prostitutes. The two issues are not unrelated and Hosea demonstrates the wisdom of wisdom literature. Consider Proverbs 23:26—28,

O my son, trust my advice—stay away from prostitutes. For a prostitute is a deep and narrow grave. Like a robber, she waits for her victims as one after another become unfaithful to their wives. (TLB)

Love that doesn’t cost the lover anything is not real love. Both Hosea and God paid a high price to love. Hosea sought out his wayward wife and literally bought her back. God seeks out sinners and brings them back from their broken lives. Hosea and God paid the whole price with real love.

Chapter 4 of Hosea delves further into the problems of His sinful people. The more God spoke through Hosea’s words, the more the religious leaders opposed him. Religious leaders are frequently unable to deal with the true Word of God. Amos, another minor prophet, faced similar opposition from a priest at Bethel named Amaziah:

“The idol altars and temples of Israel will be destroyed, and I will destroy the dynasty of King Jeroboam by the sword.” But when Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, heard what Amos was saying, he rushed a message to Jeroboam, the king: “Amos is a traitor to our nation and is plotting your death. This is intolerable. It will lead to rebellion all across the land.” (Amos 7:10, 11 TLB)

If you want to get the ire of religious leaders up, just preach the simple Word of God! Nothing drives them crazier than that. Why? It’s because while they may know a lot about their brand of religion, they know little of the Word of God. And frequently, Biblical doctrines are at odds with religious doctrines. Ignorance is not really bliss, especially when it comes to God.

1. Ignorance of God is very common

The Lord has filed a lawsuit against you… (Hosea 1:1a TLB)

This is pretty serious! God was angry and hurt with His people, and the only way He could get their attention was to “file a lawsuit” against them! In all, the Lord lists three things in His suit against His people: they showed no faithfulness , no kindness (or mercy), and there was no knowledge of God in the land. How could this be? These were God’s people, after all. How could there no longer be knowledge of God in the nation? Where did all that knowledge go? How many generations does it take for memories of God to fade away? The first two charges—no faithfulness or kindness—are completely natural results of not knowing about God. A person’s actions begin in his mind, and if he has no knowledge of God, how can his actions be godly?

In years gone by, Israel had enjoyed many manifestations of God’s presence, wisdom, and power. They witnessed supernatural demonstrations of God and heard His word through the prophets. In spite of such blessings, the people had for generations drifted further and further away from God.

The same is true today, even in our “Christian nation.” In terms of knowledge of God, this present generation is probably the most ignorant ever. Ask many people about whether they “know God” or not and often you’ll get a response similar to, “God is unknowable.” While this sounds like an intellectual, progressive thing to say, it’s actually dumb and flies in the face of what the Bible declares:

Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. (Colossians 1:15, 16 TLB)

How can anybody claim that knowing God is impossible? If you can read, you can read the Bible and get to know God. If you can hear, you can listen to the audio Bible and get to know God. So, of course you can know God. The problem is, most people don’t want to know Him, and so there is widespread ignorance.

2. Ignorance of God is usually willful

My people are destroyed because they don’t know me, and it is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me; therefore, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten my laws, I will ‘forget’ to bless your children. (Hosea 4:6 TLB)

The very root of Israel’s sin was a lack of knowledge of the Word of God. If you are a Christian, you are doomed to mediocrity at best if your knowledge of the Word is lacking. Regardless of how many camp meetings, Bible conferences, evangelistic revival meetings you go to, or the number of hours you spend listening to KLOVE, if you don’t know what’s between the covers of your Bible, there is no way you can live a successful Christian life in this world.

There are no gimmicks or short cuts that can replace study of the Bible. People are literally destroyed from a lack of knowledge. The reason is simple and has been stated all ready: our behavior descends from our knowledge. If our minds are filled with the Word of God, that knowledge will dictate our behavior. But our minds are like a vacuum—something will fill that space if the Word isn’t there. And given human nature, that “something” will be sinful.

3. Willful ignorance of God is fatal

Destruction follows ignorance of God. It is fatal to ignore God.

Don’t be misled; remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows! If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death… (Galatians 6:7, 8a TLB)

This “spiritual decay and death” involves the following:

a. God’s rejection

…you yourselves refuse to know me; therefore, I refuse to recognize you… (Hosea 4:6b TLB)

This particular admonition is aimed squarely at the priests of Hosea’s day but the principle encompasses all who claim to be believers. We have a responsibility to “know” God. All human beings are created in the image of God, and that image of God is stamped on our hearts whether we acknowledge it or not. All human beings therefore have a desire to worship—to get to know—God. Romans 1 makes it clear that no one is without excuse in this matter. Not knowing God is almost always a result of refusing to know God. Refusing to recognize God will result in God not recognizing you. Most of us are vaguely familiar with what Jesus said along these lines:

If anyone publicly acknowledges me as his friend, I will openly acknowledge him as my friend before my Father in heaven. But if anyone publicly denies me, I will openly deny him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32, 33 TLB)

To reject the call of God to salvation is to be ultimately rejected.

b. Glory turned to shame

The more my people multiplied, the more they sinned against me. They exchanged the glory of God for the disgrace of idols. (Hosea 4:7 TLB)

Previously, God had promised Abraham to bless the nation by causing them to multiply. It’s undeniable that this had always happened; wherever the Jews ended up, they grew in numbers. God declared that His people had exchanged His glory for the pseudo-glory of idols. The “glory” of Israel was God’s Shekinah glory; the visible presence of God in the Temple. His glory was their glory; the glory of being the one nation that worshipped the One true God while all the nations around them worshipped a multitude of idols. That was their glory, and that glory was obvious in the world; even the Queen of Sheba came to visit! The fame of Israel was God’s presence among His people.

But, thanks to fraudulent religious leaders who led the nation astray, the people forsook God; they ignored Him and God withdrew His presence from the Temple. And this was to their shame. The one thing that set Israel apart from all other nations was gone.

Israel’s decline was a result of their willful ignorance of God, but it was God who caused it to happen. Notice how the NKJV translates verse 7:

The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.

Our God is a jealous God, and He will not tolerate any idol in His place. He will not put up with any rival for our affections. If you are determined to let any idol take God’s place—an idol could be your job, your children, your spouse, money—that idol will certainly be changed into something shameful.

c. Fruitless effort

They will eat and still be hungry. Though they do a big business as prostitutes, they shall have no children, for they have deserted me and turned to other gods. (Hosea 3:10 TLB)

The priests were “eating” the sins of the people (verses 8, 9); that is, their appetite for sin was literally insatiable. But also, a real famine was coming to the land. This famine would cause real hurt and it was a direct result of the sins the people were committing.

God’s judgment is always interesting to consider, unless it’s against you. When you are in willful sin; when you are turning away from God and attempting to fill your life with idols, whatever you try to cram into your heart to make you feel good and satisfied will never be enough. This is most certainly the experience of every backslider. Those who try to find meaning outside of a relationship with Christ will always find disappointment. Searching for love, peace, acceptance, or anything meaningful outside of God will be a fruitless effort. Jesus said that He was the “bread of life.” If you seek satisfaction from other bread, you won’t find the life you are looking for.

Hosea’s Israel was lost and spiritually blind and had no interest in doing what needed to be done to change their deplorable condition. Do you? True, lasting fulfillment is found only in a relationship with Jesus Christ:

For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power. (Colossians 2:9, 10 TLB)

Help For Your Family: Finances

Published August 12, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Chrisatian giving, finances, financial problems, Help For Your Family

Money, they say, can’t buy happiness. Of course, like so many axioms, this one is also false. Money can buy happiness. And depending on how much money you have, you can buy a lot of happiness. The downside is that happiness, like money, is hard to hold onto. Being happy is addictive, and it isn’t long before it takes more and more of your resources to feed that addiction. The problem, you see, is that happiness is terribly temporary; it’s not a permanent state of being. Most of us have a mistaken idea that our happiness depends on our circumstances. Or a relationship. Or a job. Or even the weather. If you are a Christian and think this way, hold onto your hat and read these verses:

Be delighted with the Lord. Then he will give you all your heart’s desires. (Psalm 37:4 TLB)

God blesses those who obey him; happy the man who puts his trust in the Lord. (Proverbs 16:20 TLB)

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. (Proverbs 14:13)

For the Christian, happiness—abiding happiness—is not found anywhere but in the Lord. It is not found in the blessings of the Lord, although they can make you happy. Certainly lasting happiness is not found in money, even though prosperity (and money) are blessings from the Lord.

What is your attitude toward money? Do you think you achieved your prosperity and success by using your talent and hard work? Did you know that you own nothing? Let’s see how we should be thinking about money.

1. Having the right perspective, Matthew 6:19—24

(a) Treasures, verses 19—21

Don’t store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen. Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value and are safe from thieves. If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there too.

Jesus said a lot in these verses that would have hit His listeners right between the eyes. Back in those days, “treasures” included fine robes and costly garments. We haven’t changed much in the intervening 2,000 years. Our treasures today may include fine clothing, but also big screen TV’s, new cars, social position, and so on. Jesus taught that acquiring these kinds of treasures was pure folly. Why? Because all those things are temporary; they can be destroyed, lost, stolen, or they just wear out.

Jesus gave His listeners, and us, an important principle: “If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there also.” What did our Lord mean? He simply meant that if all you want are earthly, temporary treasures, that’s all you have. But if we live our lives with one eye on Heaven, then we will give to the work of the Lord. Believe it or not, your preacher is doing you a great service when he gives you a chance to give your offerings every Sunday morning, because where your money goes, there also your heart will go. It’s a Biblical principle that can’t be avoided.

(b) Light and darkness, verses 22, 23

If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul. But if your eye is clouded with evil thoughts and desires, you are in deep spiritual darkness. And oh, how deep that darkness can be!

Jesus taught that a good eye brings light—goodness—into the whole body but an evil eye leaves the body in darkness. Jesus’ point is sometimes lost, yet it’s a very simple one. Only singleness of purpose, or purity of intention, can keep the inner man in the light of God’s truth.

It’s about a proper perspective. If your spiritual vision is out of focus and blurred, your understanding of the truth will also be out of focus. This is why it’s so important to see the importance of service to God as a pathway to happiness.

(c) Two masters, verse 24

You cannot serve two masters: God and money. For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around.

Verse 24 is all about money. God claims absolute loyalty from those who claim to be serving Him. A true child of God cannot have a divided heart; he cannot divide his loyalty between God and the pursuit of worldly possessions.

2. Make wise financial choices

(a) Honoring God brings blessing, Proverbs 3:9, 10

Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wines.

These verses come as part of a package of teaching on being faithful, which began back at verse 5:

…trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself.

When we trust the Lord, we can’t trust ourselves. This is a long-standing Biblical idea:

The heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is! (Jeremiah 17:9 TLB)

The rest of the admonitions build on this foundation. To trust the Lord means to avoid evil, which is hard to do because we are all inclined toward evil; it always looks good to us. But we can’t trust ourselves. Also part of trusting God is giving back to God some of your wealth as a way of showing Him that you understand that He gave it to you in the first place. Your heart may tell you, “I can’t afford to give an offering this week,” but we know that you can’t trust yourself—you can’t trust your heart because it’s deceitful.

(b) Honorable work brings prosperity, Proverbs 13:11

Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows.

Solomon well understood that steady and wise work and investment produces prosperity. This is a warning against gambling and speculation. The “hard work” of The Living Bible comes from the Hebrew “hand by hand,” stressing slow and diligent work or growth of one’s investment. In other words, wealth that comes too quickly, or with little effort often disappears in the blink of an eye.

(c) Debt equals slavery, Proverbs 22:7

Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.

Anybody who has ever had a mortgage or a car loan understands the wisdom behind this verse! The reason is simple: debt (or poverty) makes you dependent upon others. Borrowers are quite literally subservient to the lender. Now, contextually, this verse probably has a reference to the practice of the Israelites selling themselves into slavery in order to pay off a debt. But what’s the difference between that and paying out 30% of your paycheck to your mortgage company? Debt of any kind puts you at a distinct disadvantage. As A.L. Williams once said, “Nobody is free until they are financially free.”

(d) Faithfulness brings reward, Luke 16:1—12

This is the called “the parable of the unjust steward,” and is often misunderstood because it seems like Jesus is actually commending a crook. But Luke often used these kinds of parables as a way of contrasting something with something else. Matthew and Mark, on the other hand, use Jesus’ parables to show a comparison. The point of the parable of the unjust steward is not that “greed is good” or anything like that. It’s that very often worldly people—unjust stewards—are more consistent with their beliefs and practices and work harder to achieve their ends than do Christians. They aim low but they aim better; they work hard at making the most of their opportunities and doing the hard work that is needed to succeed and prosper.

The key word is probably found in verse 8:

The rich man had to admire the rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the citizens of this world are more clever in dishonesty than the godly are.

Believers need to learn to be as clever in honoring God as a crook is in finding ways to be dishonest.

3. Become a generous person

(a) Help others, Proverbs 11:16, 24, 25

It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself. (vs. 24, 25 TLB)

This seems like a real paradox! But Jesus said essentially the same thing: if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly. It’s another divine principle that can never change and works for anybody. The general principle is that if you are generous with the resources you have, you will have more resources. This certainly applies to giving to your church and giving to the work of the Lord.

Ironside wrote this:

Bunyan’s quaint rhyme, propounded as a riddle by Old Honest, and explained by Gaius, is in itself a suited commentary on these verses—

A man there was, though some did count him mad, The more he cast away, the more he had. He that bestows his goods upon the poor shall have as much again, and ten times more!

You can never lose out in helping others. What goes around, comes around. You really do reap what you sow. When you bless others, you will be blessed.

(b) Give cheerfully, 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7

But remember this—if you give little, you will get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much. Everyone must make up his own mind as to how much he should give. Don’t force anyone to give more than he really wants to, for cheerful givers are the ones God prizes.

These are powerful verses. Notice that the Christian giver is like a farmer: he sows. This is a remarkable statement. A farmer plants seeds to reap a harvest. A Christian is supposed to give for the same reason. Proper Christian giving will NEVER result in poverty or destitution because proper Christian giving will always result in a harvest.

The world gets richer by taking from others. But the Christian enriches himself by giving to others and to the work of the Lord. The key is to be generous with what you have. It’s not only the rich that are able to be generous, “everyone,” according to Paul, is to give generously. And God especially loves those who give “cheerfully.” The Greek puts the emphasis on “cheerful” and “God.” Hilaron is the Greek word translated “cheerful,” but we get our “hilarious” from it. God loves hilarious givers! They impress Him greatly.

(c) God will be generous with you, 2 Corinthians 9:8—11

God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others. (vs. 8 TLB)

Yes, God will give you much so that you can give away much, and when we take your gifts to those who need them they will break out into thanksgiving and praise to God for your help. (vs. 11 TLB)

God is able to give you both the motivation and the means for generous giving. If you want to become a generous giver, if it’s truly your heart’s desire, God will give you the ability and the resources to be that kind of giver. It’s a grace from God. The Christian who has the grace to get along with less has more for others! And God can and He will give that giver all that he needs, both spiritual and material blessings.

Verse 11 describes a kind of single-minded spirit of generosity from which comes selfless living so that the needs of others may be met. This kind of giving—real money in the form of offerings collected from the church—would result in God being praised. When Christians behave like Christians, when we give generously as we are able, and as we give with a smile on our faces, God is the One who will be praised.

It was Daniel Webster who famously observed—

The most serious thought that has ever occupied my mind was that of my individual responsibility to God.

How seriously have we considered our responsibility to God in terms of our giving? We should all think about this because we will all be held accountable to God.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Mike's Place on the Web

Archive Page 657

Hosea: A Divine Betrothal

HOSEA 2

Daniel: The End of the Dream

Daniel 7

Hosea: Spiritual Ignorance

Help For Your Family: Finances

Recent Posts

Another great day!

Meta

Blog Stats

Jump To…

Never miss a new post again.

Archives

Email Subscription

Top Studies

Places I find interesting

Who’d have guessed?

My Conservative Identity: