Tag: last days

Israel in the Lion’s Mouth

Amos 3:7-15

In the book of Amos, we have the written record of his prophetic ministry in which he proclaimed God’s judgment on the northern kingdom of Israel. Have you thought about how difficult a task this was? People want to hear good news, especially about their future! But Amos was charged with delivering a very unpopular message.

We, too, have an unpopular message to deliver. People in our culture don’t want anyone with religious views telling them what to do, especially if they speak for the true God. (But they will allow anyone in the media to tell them how to think!) Yet we must speak. How can we speak up in the face of determined resistance? Obviously we need some motives that spur us on. Let us learn from Amos at this point.

Let us think first of the power of God’s message (3:7-8).

The source of the message is the Lord and not the prophet (3:7; cf. 2 Peter 1:16ff). This is a recurring theme in this section (3:11, 12, 13, 15). God’s authority is the bedrock on which every ministry for the Lord rests. Unless you know that you are telling people God’s message, you will not speak up in the face of opposition.

The judgment that would come on Israel would arrive because the Lord planned that judgment. He let people know this by telling it to his prophets. The actions that God is doing in our age are a fulfillment of prophecy. The Lord told us what the last days would be like, so we should not be surprised when history looks like prophecy. But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people (2 Timothy 3:1-5 CSB; cf. 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-23). 

By the way, we do not have to be confused about what God’s will is. It has been revealed for us in the Bible. The question is “do we search the Scriptures intently to find out what God’s will is?”

The imperative behind the message—it must be delivered (3:8). Compare 1 Corinthians 9:16; Ezekiel 2:5-7.

We must deliver God’s message because we are his servants. A servant does what his master desires (cf. Luke 6:46). I think that this is the first time that this idea (of the prophet as God’s servant) was used in redemptive history. When we come to the New Testament Scriptures, it is an important concept. Think of Paul, James, and Peter; they called themselves servants or slaves of God and Jesus Christ.

We must deliver the message because of the nature of the message.  It is like the roar of a lion in the preacher’s ears! Listen to what Jeremiah also said about being a prophet. I say, “I won’t mention him or speak any longer in his name.” But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail (Jeremiah 20:9 CSB).

The clarity of the servant’s perception of the message will show itself in the urgency of his presentation. Casual, light-hearted words free from a zeal to persuade people to turn from their own ways and follow the Lord will make all that the speaker says to be trite and “take it or leave it, it’s up to you.”

“I find, and this is somewhat of a confession as well as an exhortation, that my own words mock me too often when I preach – when I can say the word ‘hell’ and not feel the horror of it; when I can speak of heaven and not be warmed with a holy glow in the light of the fact that this is the place my Lord is preparing for me.” (Martin, “What’s Wrong with Preaching Today?” p. 10)

Let us be motivated by the power of God’s word (Romans 1:16-17)!

Grace and peace,
David

A Time for Reconciliation (Part Two)

Hosea 3:1-5

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and five bushels of barley. I said to her, “You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you” (3:2-3 CSB).

The book of Hosea portrays the amazing love and grace of the Lord God towards his sinful people, Israel. As we have said, it is a biting, heart-wrenching portrayal of adult love in the worst conditions. In presenting this love story, God uses the marital experiences of his faithful prophet Hosea toward his unfaithful wife, Gomer, to show his desire to be reconciled with his people. God. We usually think of the parable of the Lost Sons (a.k.a. the Prodigal Son), as a remarkable picture of God’s love, and it is. But this account reveals the “ugly side” of the cost of true love.

Here we read a painful experience (3:2-3). Hosea must purchase Gomer from her sin.

She had fallen so low that the only way out was for her husband to buy her back. Sin promises freedom from restraint, but it always leads to a deeper, darker, degrading, disgusting bondage. Apparently, Hosea had to scrape together the purchase price, because he paid partly in silver and partly in goods. Love is costly! No illustration is perfect in all points, because God is no beggar but infinitely rich! But his love toward rebellious sinners was costly for him, because he had to give his dearly loved Son to redeem us.

Do you catch the emotion in this? Hosea had to pay the price to free Gomer, because she sold herself into the bondage of sin. We, too, sold ourselves, and only God could pay the redemption price! “Amazing love, how can it be”?

Hosea restructures their relationship. As her liberator, indeed, you could say her owner, he tells her how she must now live. In the same way, the Lord has his owner’s rights over us. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV; cf. 1 Pt 1:17-19).

But Hosea wanted more than obedience. He wanted a wife who responded to him in love. Therefore, he promised his faithfulness to her.  Although sin leads us to wander from God, he promises to be faithful to his people always (cf. Hebrews 13:5).

Next, the story points to a better future. For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days (Hosea 3:4-5).

The Lord through Hosea applied the story for Israel’s benefit. The immediate future was not bright (3:4). Israel would be wrecked militarily and politically. With their rebellious attitude, God would not let them off easily. There would be benefits, surprisingly, for Israel would in that extended time become rid of idolatrous practices. It was a hard cure, but God has preserved his ancient people through the judgment.

The more distant future would be extremely bright (3:5). God promised that Israel would someday return to the Lord and her rightful king. Her hope lies in the line of David, which means in David’s greater Son, Jesus the Messiah.

God points to the time; this return will happen in the last days, which are the days in which we live. God has promised that the Israelites will be restored to the kingdom of God. Today, we believing Gentiles and a few believing Jews comprise the chosen people of God. But God has promised that the Jews will one day be restored to him. There is hope for Israel, but that hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 11:25-32)!

Pray for the salvation of Israel. God’s purpose in election cannot fail. Since this is so, we ought to pray more zealously. But first, are you yourself right with God?

Grace and peace, David