Monday, October 12, 2009, 8:22 a.m. – When I woke this morning, I had two hymns running through my mind simultaneously. They were “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross” and “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.”
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Then, I read Hosea 10:
My Understanding: [All definitions come from Encarta on-line dictionary and thesaurus.] It is a cold, dark, rainy day here in South Carolina this morning. My mind and my body are working in slow motion. I know God has much to teach me this morning through His Holy Word. So, I pray, Lord, that you would take over my mind and body and that you would give me the strength that I need and the understanding that you would want me to have, and to share, from this passage of scripture this morning. In Jesus’ awesome and wonderful name I pray, amen!
This passage is about Israel, as a nation and as a people of God. The people of God today, where the temple of the Lord now dwells, are the church, i.e. the Body of Christ. So, this will be applied to the church, and more specifically to the church in the USA where I live.
In John 15 we learn that Jesus is the true vine and we (true believers in Jesus) are the branches. V. 4 says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” In contrasting this passage in John 15 to Hosea 10, I see John 15 as a true picture of how our relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ, his Son is supposed to work. Yet, Hosea 10 gives us a different picture. Here God’s people are a vine unto themselves, they bring forth fruit for themselves, they build altars to false gods (i.e. worship of man and man-made things) and they participate in hypocritical, ritualistic forms of worship that are not true worship of God. They are deceived into thinking that God is pleased with them, when he is not pleased.
The punishment here appears to be in the form of the loss of a king or kings (could be their kingdom, i.e. this could be talking about the USA losing our sovereignty and our independence as a nation). The people will then realize that this loss of king and/or kingdom was because they did not revere the LORD. Yet, the question is posed, “But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?” The people will realize, when God brings his judgment upon them, that their kings were worthless and the only one who can help them is God Almighty.
Then, the uselessness of these kings is described – they are men and women who make many promises that they don’t keep, and they take false (fake or insincere) oaths (pledges). Though most people are guilty of this at some time or another and so this certainly can be applied to all people, I believe that this is specifically concerning our leaders who make false promises to the people or they make promises that they don’t keep. Whereas men do break their promises, God’s promises never fail. He always keeps his oaths. Because these leaders (and people) make agreements that they don’t keep, lawsuits spring up “like poisonous weeds in a plowed field” – this goes along with yesterday’s dream, “Moldy Bread and Dog Doo-doo.” http://www.christianforums.com/t7408933/
So, what should our response be to all of this? Verse 12 is key here, I believe. In yesterday’s writing, we had the song “What goes around comes around… what you reap is what you sow…” What we reap is what we collect, gather, produce from what we have sown (planted). It is the end result of our actions. V. 12 tells us to sow (plant; distribute; spread) righteousness (what is honest, upright, moral, blameless) and we will reap (collect) the fruit (outgrowth; result) of unfailing love. It also instructs us to “break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD…” When ground is plowed, it is ready for seed to be planted in it so that it can reap a harvest of righteousness. When it is unplowed, it is hardened and the seed can not go into the ground and can not produce anything. So, breaking up our “unplowed ground” means to allow the Lord to convict, reprove, correct and train us in righteousness. It means giving God permission to reveal to us any areas of our lives that need conforming to the image of Christ and it means responding to God in faith, repentance and obedience. In other words, it means revival of the church.
When I sat down to write this morning, this song was running through my mind: Trophies of Grace / NewSong [If you see any errors in the lyrics, let me know.]
We were dead in our sins
Hopelessly bound within
But the one who created us
Brought us to life again
God delivers each one
By the blood of His Son
Who was crucified
And though it’s hard to believe
Our God could receive no greater prize
We are trophies of grace
Perfectly placed in the Body
Bought with a price
The supreme sacrifice of our Lord
We were wooed by His Spirit
We were won by His love
Exalted with Him to a heavenly place
We are trophies of grace
That is given to Him,
Trusting His strength alone
Representing our Lord in this world
As we make him known
And like trophies displayed
Our lives will convey what his love will do
And we will not be ashamed to lift up His Name
And declare His truth
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Then, I read Hosea 10:
My Understanding: [All definitions come from Encarta on-line dictionary and thesaurus.] It is a cold, dark, rainy day here in South Carolina this morning. My mind and my body are working in slow motion. I know God has much to teach me this morning through His Holy Word. So, I pray, Lord, that you would take over my mind and body and that you would give me the strength that I need and the understanding that you would want me to have, and to share, from this passage of scripture this morning. In Jesus’ awesome and wonderful name I pray, amen!
This passage is about Israel, as a nation and as a people of God. The people of God today, where the temple of the Lord now dwells, are the church, i.e. the Body of Christ. So, this will be applied to the church, and more specifically to the church in the USA where I live.
In John 15 we learn that Jesus is the true vine and we (true believers in Jesus) are the branches. V. 4 says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” In contrasting this passage in John 15 to Hosea 10, I see John 15 as a true picture of how our relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ, his Son is supposed to work. Yet, Hosea 10 gives us a different picture. Here God’s people are a vine unto themselves, they bring forth fruit for themselves, they build altars to false gods (i.e. worship of man and man-made things) and they participate in hypocritical, ritualistic forms of worship that are not true worship of God. They are deceived into thinking that God is pleased with them, when he is not pleased.
The punishment here appears to be in the form of the loss of a king or kings (could be their kingdom, i.e. this could be talking about the USA losing our sovereignty and our independence as a nation). The people will then realize that this loss of king and/or kingdom was because they did not revere the LORD. Yet, the question is posed, “But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?” The people will realize, when God brings his judgment upon them, that their kings were worthless and the only one who can help them is God Almighty.
Then, the uselessness of these kings is described – they are men and women who make many promises that they don’t keep, and they take false (fake or insincere) oaths (pledges). Though most people are guilty of this at some time or another and so this certainly can be applied to all people, I believe that this is specifically concerning our leaders who make false promises to the people or they make promises that they don’t keep. Whereas men do break their promises, God’s promises never fail. He always keeps his oaths. Because these leaders (and people) make agreements that they don’t keep, lawsuits spring up “like poisonous weeds in a plowed field” – this goes along with yesterday’s dream, “Moldy Bread and Dog Doo-doo.” http://www.christianforums.com/t7408933/
So, what should our response be to all of this? Verse 12 is key here, I believe. In yesterday’s writing, we had the song “What goes around comes around… what you reap is what you sow…” What we reap is what we collect, gather, produce from what we have sown (planted). It is the end result of our actions. V. 12 tells us to sow (plant; distribute; spread) righteousness (what is honest, upright, moral, blameless) and we will reap (collect) the fruit (outgrowth; result) of unfailing love. It also instructs us to “break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD…” When ground is plowed, it is ready for seed to be planted in it so that it can reap a harvest of righteousness. When it is unplowed, it is hardened and the seed can not go into the ground and can not produce anything. So, breaking up our “unplowed ground” means to allow the Lord to convict, reprove, correct and train us in righteousness. It means giving God permission to reveal to us any areas of our lives that need conforming to the image of Christ and it means responding to God in faith, repentance and obedience. In other words, it means revival of the church.
When I sat down to write this morning, this song was running through my mind: Trophies of Grace / NewSong [If you see any errors in the lyrics, let me know.]
We were dead in our sins
Hopelessly bound within
But the one who created us
Brought us to life again
God delivers each one
By the blood of His Son
Who was crucified
And though it’s hard to believe
Our God could receive no greater prize
We are trophies of grace
Perfectly placed in the Body
Bought with a price
The supreme sacrifice of our Lord
We were wooed by His Spirit
We were won by His love
Exalted with Him to a heavenly place
We are trophies of grace
That is given to Him,
Trusting His strength alone
Representing our Lord in this world
As we make him known
And like trophies displayed
Our lives will convey what his love will do
And we will not be ashamed to lift up His Name
And declare His truth
