Bible Reading Reflection from Hosea 1-7

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible] 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟙

The life of a prophet is not easy. He was told to marry a woman, most probably not of his preference, for he must be expecting to marry a godly girl.

Then he was told to call his children awful names:

1. Jezreel — judgment on Israel (v4)

2. Lo-ruhamah — no more compassion (v6) 

3. Lo-Ammi — not my people anymore (v9)

   # When we read the prophets, we will see God's righteous judgment against sin, whether it be committed by His people or the Gentiles.

   # Also, we will see God's mercy even amid His serious judgment that whoever turns back to Him will be delivered.

   # Also, we will see God's faithfulness that He has preserved remnants (the faithful) because He remains committed to preserving and fulfilling His promises.

Judgment. Mercy. Faithfulness. Even the names of the children of Hosea reveal these three characters of God vividly!

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟚

I see the beauty of the book of Hosea. He first proclaimed judgment upon Israel, and then when we, readers began to ponder what has happened to God's promise of preserving His people, Hosea proclaimed Salvation of God.

In Chapter 1, verse 1-9 is the rejection of Israel. Then v10-2:1 is the restoration.

Then chapter 2, v1-13 is the judgment again, v14-23 is the salvation.

I think this is true in our life too. God chastises us in sin and blesses us in righteousness. He will lead us into trouble for our sins, but He, because of His faithfulness, will rescue us again.

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟛:𝟝

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

Hosea, a prophet of God would have divorced his wife just as Joseph tried to divorce Mary, the mother of Jesus. And once divorced, he cannot marry her again. She shouldn't be accepted by her former husband again according to Mosaic Law.

However, God has the habit of doing illegal things. He can because it is His rule! 😂 I remember God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son on fire! 😱 What an evil demand! Huh!!?? But we realize that's how He is going to kill His Son Jesus for us.

Hey, btw, He doesn't break His rules. Otherwise, He can't be trusted. It looks like He is changing His rules here and there from our not-that-smart perspective, but it's not.

So, coming back to divorce, God divorced Israel, and then, He took her back. That's illegal of God according to Mosaic Law. But again, Law is for man, God is above the Law!

And even here, God is telling Hosea to bring his wife back!

Now, I am not a prophet. I have no special revelation. I am not a special man. I am just an ordinary Christian; therefore, I cannot do as Hosea did. Hosea's life is a special episode because God wants to communicate His love for us through his life.

I thought of sharing from verse 5, but if I do, it will be too long.😬

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟜:𝟞

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

Why is our heart troubled? Why is our life full of trouble? Why are we unable to navigate issues in our life? Why are we not prospering? Why aren't we joyful? Why aren't we living like a tree planted by the streams of water?

Answer: Lack of Knowledge, the Knowledge of God, the Scriptures, the Bible.

Albert Mohler said that our generation is the most illiterate generation in church history when it comes to Bible knowledge!

Psalm 1 tells us that a blessed person is the one who seeks to know God for he will be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. (Ps.1:3)

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟝

v6. "They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them."

Wow! God had withdrawn from them!

Did not the Scriptures say that whoever seeks God will find Him? But here they didn't find Him. In fact, God ran away!

Well, we see the answer in v15

"I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."

They were seeking, but not earnestly. God seeks earnest seekers. God wanted them to acknowledge their sins. In other words, "confession" of sins (1John 1:9).

Did not the Scriptures say that God saved us while we were His enemies? How comes He is rejecting His people now?

Well, we see the answer in v2, it's chastisement. [Chastisement in the Christian understanding is not a punishment that will be suffered in hell, but a punishment in our present life. And of course, no matter how one may suffer in this present life, it cannot be compared to the suffering of hell.]

Is this the Old Testament God? Is Jesus of the New Testament different?

Well, Jesus withdrew Himself many times from the crowd. They sought Him. He wasn't found. When they finally found Him, Jesus rebuked them for their superficial seeking. They wanted physical foods, not Him. We may read that in John 6 especially v15, 24-27.

It’s interesting to see the teachings of the Bible are unchanging: both in OT and NT.

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟞:𝟙

"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us."

Hosea was urging the Israelites to come back to God in the first-person plural pronoun "us". He identified himself with the sinning Israelites just as Jesus identified Himself with sinful humanity.

How we ought to urge one another, to encourage one another, to revive one another, to stir up one another in godly things, in repentance, and in all good works!

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟟:𝟙𝟚, 𝟚

𝕧𝟙𝟚. "When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly."

𝕧𝟚. "And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face."

God is unchanging. He is faithful. What He says He fulfills. That's true too: to save and to damn; to reward and to punish!

In this chapter, I see how God remembers each and every sin wicked people have committed. And like fishing, He will spread a net to catch them. They will not escape God’s net. As a man sow so shall he reaps.

I thank God for the gift of Jesus Christ. God doesn't remember (to find fault) my sins anymore. Christ has absorbed each and every sin of mine. That's as far as eternal judgment (Last Day Judgment) is concerned.

However, God disciplines His children just as a loving father disciplines his child. So, every now and then, when I wilfully sin, He chastises me. His chastisement is bitter at the moment, but it's for my own good. And there's the peace and joy of God when I submit to His chastisement.

Chastisement against the believers and punishment against the unbelievers is different! BTW, God chastises unbelievers too.

Sermon Tips from the text of 1 Peter 4:12-19

 Sermon Tips for Expository Preachers, Listeners, and Students

Bible Reading Reflection from Daniel 1-12

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (FG) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible] 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙:𝟠

"But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself."

Normal people follow the crowd. Normal people are actually "fools." That's why everyone wants to be somebody, better than normal people. Even smart and good people under pressure give up. Good people when they see others prospering through compromise, and when nothing bad happened to such, and everyone seems to be doing, they too are often swept away.

Well, a faithful man shines best in persecution, in darkness, just as your mobile screen shines best in darkness. Daniel was mandated to eat the King's food, by the order of the King. Daniel was a young boy, a captive, not even a citizen. He shone in this situation, and God honored him. There's no excuse when you say, "Everybody was doing it, so I thought it was ok." It should have been, "Everyone was doing like that, so I decided to be different. It motivated me all the more to be different"

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚:𝟚𝟠

"But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:"

Live differently because of your conviction upon your daily walk with God, and when people ask "Really?" you should be able to say, "Not really, but there's a God in heaven, and He is my God."

Start using "There's a God in heaven" in day-to-day life's conversation! 👍

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛:𝟙𝟟-𝟙𝟠

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

Everyone will pray more if God answers each time he/she prays. Everyone will serve God if God rewards him/her accordingly. Everyone will praise God if God blesses him/her prosperously.

And if you do that, you are not different from anybody. And if you stop when God doesn't respond, or if you would continue only if God continues, be aware that your god is yourself; you don't know the God of the Bible.

Satan thought Job would stop worshipping God if God stopped blessing him. Job knew the real God of the Bible. So, even in unthinkable suffering, Job worshipped God. He said that he will still worship God even if God slays him! Wow! Habakkuk decided to worship God even if there be no fruit on the vines and no herd in the stall. Daniel's three friends chose to worship God even when they were under torture. Even if God abandoned them to be burnt up, they will worship only God. These people truly know God.

Now, relate that to your prayer life. Relate that to your walk with God. Even if God shatters your dream, will you choose to live for Him? And btw, life is full of disappointments, shattered dreams, and failures. It will always be no matter whether you're righteous or wicked. And God does not exist to fix your problem. You exist to worship God. And he who lives for God, God makes sure to honor him.

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜:𝟙𝟡

"Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries!’"

Daniel served the king faithfully, desiring his well-being, his prosperity. This king is a pagan king and Daniel was a man of God.

You can serve your boss, your company, your government faithfully. You can desire their prosperity even if they don't know God. You can still love them and work for them. Look at Daniel.

But Daniel never compromised his conscience, so he was thrown into the pit of lions. Daniel was always godly. He would do nothing evil. But he lived with these pagan people without complaints, without disappointment. He seemed to enjoy his life. After all, everywhere is sinful and sinners all around. Even inside the church. So, live life.

However, in v27, we see the real color of Daniel. He always must have been preaching the gospel of repentance. He even preached to the king. True love speaks the truth. Daniel really loved the king enough to tell him the truth to repent.

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟝:𝟙𝟘-𝟙𝟙

"...O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕕𝕠𝕞 in whom is the spirit of the holy gods..."

The book of Daniel is famous for the phrase "there is a God in heaven." And deservingly, it is mentioned "there is a man in your kingdom" concerning Daniel.

Live a life that people may say about you like that— there's a man who can do this. Be that man!  Joseph Chamberlain said, "On every committee of thirteen persons there are twelve who go to the meetings, having given no thought to the subject and ready to receive instructions. One goes with his mind made up to give those instructions. I make it my business to be that one."

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟞:𝟝

"Then these men said, ‘We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.’"

Would we be blameless and faultless like Daniel! Even at the highest scrutiny, he was pure.

Jesus challenged His accusers if they could find any sin in Him; they couldn't!

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟟:𝟚𝟚

"Until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom."

Believers will be vindicated and be rewarded. After all, the universe is God's universe, therefore, the people of God will rule the universe again.

The godless, wicked, unbelievers, sinners are just like a vapor; they shall not last. We will reign with Messiah!

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟠:𝟚𝟝

"And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency."

Even the high and mighty of the earth are nothing in the sight of God. The most powerful person ever in world history will be the Antichrist. And some of the most powerful people ever will be those who oppose God.

No surprise if powerful people are full of anti-Christian activities, values, or teachings. And no surprise if we lose and they succeed in a moment. They shall lose and we shall triumph in the end. For believers, victory is not primarily the survival of the physical body, but the endurance of the faith on this side of heaven.

The real victory in every sense awaits, not in this life!

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟡:𝟛

"So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes."

The discipline of a pious man. Piety is an art we must recover again.

Prayer. Supplications. Fasting.

It even had sackcloth and ashes!

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟘:𝟙𝟛

"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia."

Do not misapply this verse to think that fasting or prayer or spiritual discipline should last for at least 21 days. Daniel never had that thought. Actually, he intended to keep going until he understood v12. Probably he thought a day fasting would be okay, or a week, but he would go on until he understood.

Do we pray like that? Do we wait on God like that? Or do we give an ultimatum to God? Why do we set fixed days or amounts of time for certain things, which btw is not wrong? Actually, Paul recommended that to the Corinthians. But do you think through why, and know why any fixed days or amount of time? Daniel didn't have a fixed number of days, but until he understood.

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟙:𝟙

"In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him."

An angel protecting king Darius. God sustains life. The devil wants to steal, destroy, and kill.

It's God who sustained Hitler till his death. It's God who sustains Modi, Kim Jong Un, everyone. When He said, it's done, like the dogs that come for the crumbs under the table when the master had his lunch, the devil will pounce upon.

God, indeed, sustains both the righteous and the wicked. Nobody lives on his own by his own strength or wisdom. Actually, even this angel was unable to battle against the demonic force, so Michael, the commander of God’s army had to help him. And puny man thinks he can hold off, that he can handle by himself!

 

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚:𝟚

"Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt."

It's like the book of Revelation. The resurrection of the dead – to life and to shame. And Daniel was assured of the resurrection to everlasting life in the last verse of the last chapter of the last book of the Major Prophets of the Old Testament (v13)

Bible Reading Reflection from Ezekiel 40-48

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (SSEU), a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible] 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟘:𝟜

"The man said to me, ‘on of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.’"

Declare all that you see. That's it

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟙:𝟙

"Then he brought me to the nave and measured the side pillars; six cubits wide on each side was the width of the side pillar."

Is there anything profitable in chapters 40-41? 😂 Of course, it's boring, and one would want to take scissors and cut them away like Thomas Jefferson. Unless one understands why these are included. It tells us what matters to God. He is detailed in His description of what is sacred to Him, and man ought to fear and tremble before Him.

How casual we are in church! We even say, "Come just as you are" Well, God doesn't say that. Some of the things God said, "None of you shall appear before me without an offering"

Hmm!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟚:𝟙𝟜

"When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people."

A different dress for God and a different dress for people. Well, the cleanest, best, most expensive dress should be for God. God deserves the best.

And some people dare to come to church in half pants and a t-shirt. Well, some people come almost naked as well. Well, let sinners do whatever they like. But godly people revered God!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟛:𝟟

"He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die’"

In the previous account of Ezekiel, God's glory was departed, and so, God allowed His house to be profaned, desecrated, and destroyed. Now is the time for restoration. The glory of God comes back, and there shall be no desecration anymore.

Takeaway: It's the withdrawal of God that leads to the destruction of the temple.

As long as God remains, nothing can touch the people or temple of God. It reminds me of a situation when American Soldiers abandoned Afghanistan last year!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟜:𝟚

"The LORD said to me, ‘This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.’"

When Messi retired from Barcelona there were some people who demanded Jersey no 10 be retired. Now, think of that and re-read this verse. God is unique and nobody should even dare to imitate Him, and must treat God differently!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟝:𝟡

"Thus says the Lord GOD, "Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people," declares the Lord GOD."

How God wants leaders to reflect God's nature! To be caring, helping, and resourceful.

Human Leaders tend to corrupt, to abuse, to oppress, to cheat, to discriminate, to flatter, to nepotism, to oh... so many things...

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟞:𝟚𝟜

"Then he said to me, ‘These are the boiling places where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.’"

God has a long, long list of prescriptions for how he must be worshipped. And how different that we love to say we can worship God as we like!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟟:𝟞

"He said to me, "𝕊𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕒𝕟, 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤?" Then he brought me back to the bank of the river."

Well, God is revealing (illuminating) the truth, and we shall see if we take time to think about God. I would like to think one of the ways is meditating in the word of God.

We live in this world, and we don't need to spend a laborious hour studying the culture and times in this world. When we are deep in the word of God, we will detect the ups and downs of our world.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟠:𝟛𝟝

"The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The LORD is there.'"

That's the name. A name has meaning, significance, and reason. And how interesting is it that its name is "the LORD is there."