Have you ever sat in a Bible class, in awe of the grace and knowledge of your brothers and sisters (2Pe 3:18)? Or heard a prayer in worship that you knew came from the heart of a righteous person (Jam 5:16)? The more you get to know these good people, the more you realize how much of that deep faith, hope, and love were developed outside the assembly. And when you visit with them in their homes, you find a well-worn Bible and a heart filled with songs and prayers.

In this series, you’ve hopefully seen why it’s so important for every Christian (and every Christian family) to set aside time each day for communing with God. And hopefully you’ve also caught some of the how: “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col 3:16 NKJV), learning to “pray without ceasing” (1Th 5:17), and meditating on the word “all the day” (Ps 119:97).

But among those three, you’ve definitely heard a lot more about the first two. That’s because meditating daily on the word really deserves its own series! But I don’t want to leave you hanging, so here are some pointers for those scripture readings included between your songs and prayers.

As C. S. Lewis once wrote, the best way to enjoy beauty is to simply, “Look. Listen. Receive” (An Experiment in Criticism, p. 19). Here’s how that works with the Bible:

• Look at what it says. Form is meaning; that means that how God speaks is the best way to tell what he’s saying. So are you reading narrative (43% of the Bible), poetry (33%), or discourse (24%)? Each of these has its own texture, so try not to flatten them out by reading them the exact same way. To recognize a text’s unique way of saying things, identify and define key words and phrases the Spirit keeps using. Keep your reading grounded in theses nitty-gritty details.
• Listen to what it means. Where does your passage fit into the Big Picture of the Bible’s story of redemption: creation, rebellion, rescue, or restoration? This question is the best clue as to what the passage means to God, to the writer, and to his original audience. Notice that “meaning” here isn’t just an academic question, but an emotional and relational one as well.
• Receive it as good news. Focus on the way a passage changes how we see Jesus, how we see ourselves, and how we are called to live into and back out of this good news. Let the shape of his story change the shape of yours. Start with this: you have to keep the mind of Christ, in order to seek the mind of Christ—deep humility comes before deep understanding (Php 2:5ff; 1Co 2:10ff).

So as we read Scripture, we’re not just skimming the words on the page; we’re reading at the pace our own heart can think. This may be a few chapters a day or just one, a few verses or a single verse. But when we do this well, we find that we’re not just reading Scripture, the Scriptures are reading us. For a great example of these principles in action, check out the Jews coming home after the exile in Nehemiah 8. For a not-so-great example, compare this to Jesus’ chat with “a certain lawyer” in Luke 10:25-37.

Of course, everyone needs some help sometimes, a “Phillip” to come alongside us as our guide (Acts 8:31). Here are three resources I really enjoy:

• ESV.org: The ESV does a great job of balancing accuracy and clarity, with beauty and depth. But regardless of the translation you prefer to read from, ESV.org has several good reading plans and other study tools, including free access to The ESV Global Study Bible.
• The Bible Project: I discovered this video-based resource a few years ago while teaching a middle-school Bible class and really enjoy it. They have also launched a partner website, Read Scripture, which includes its own reading plan and mobile apps (for iOS and Android). For starters, check out one of my favorites below: “The Bible as Jewish Meditation Literature.”
• ​Common Prayer: As you’ve probably figured out, the early church’s daily time in the Word was rooted in a long tradition of common worship in song and prayer​. Common Prayer brings this first-century approach to the twenty-first century with a full-size book, a pocket edition, a website, and a mobile app for iOS.

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However you decide to read each day, though, pick up a good Bible collecting dust nearby and put it to good use. Remember, these words are ancient, but ever true. Reflect on what God reveals to you through them. Their good news belongs in your heart. Teach it to others with every song you sing and every prayer you pray. Live out God’s own wisdom and grace. Grow more into him, and you will find your strength for the day.

It’s not about finding the perfect prayer routine or the perfect reading plan (though both can be helpful), but about drawing closer to the one who is Perfect. And don’t worry about how much progress you are making each day or whether you’re doing it right. Just remember those words of the Lord:

  In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
~ Psalm 4:8 ESV ~
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Finally, in all the old evening prayers, it is striking how frequently we encounter their plea for preservation during the night from the devil, from terror and from an evil, sudden death. The ancients were keenly aware of human helplessness while sleeping, the kinship of sleep with death, and the devil’s cunning in causing our downfall when we are defenseless.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, ch. 2 ~

I love starting each morning with a good cup of coffee and the word of God. For several years I’ve tried to read a few chapters each day, making my way back through the Bible’s story of redemption by the end of the year. And on days when my reading is shortened or pushed to later in the day (or the next!), I feel a bit off.

It reminds me of what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2Co 4:16 NKJV). Despite everything else going on in the world around him, Paul knows why he does what he’s doing, and the One he’s doing it for.

With a little unpacking, he even tells us how that renewal comes about: the glorious light of the gospel of Christ is a treasure that God himself stores up within us, in our hearts and our bodies (2Co 4:4-7). It is his overwhelming power, shining through his word that renews our inner humanity. In short, the gospel belongs in our heart.

In fact, if we look back through Scripture we should begin to notice just how important this is to God:

• “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart” (Dt 6:4-6).
• “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. … Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps 119:11, 97).
• “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer 31:33).
• “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach)” (Ro 10:8).
• “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (Jam 1:21).

God’s own power for daily living, and daily renewal is opened up to us through the power of his word. What is perhaps surprising, though, is what Paul commands the church to do in order to get the word into their hearts: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col 3:16).

Catch that? Paul says we need to learn to sing. That’s how we treasure up God’s word, how God writes it on our hearts, how we keep it on the tip of our tongues, how we meditate on it all the day, and how we walk daily in the grace of Christ. That doesn’t mean we shelf our Bibles; it means we learn to sing the Word! Understanding the role of song and prayer helps us in two important ways.

First, it helps us go back and look at what the early church actually did. Kind of like last week, it shifts our question from, What should the church do? to What did the church do? What did daily devotions look like in the early church? Here’s a quick outline:

• The Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:91-13) formed the heart of early Christian prayer, and was used as an introduction or outline for their own prayers (Everett Ferguson, Early Christians Speak, Vol. 1, ch. XII; Didache VIII).
• The Psalms provided a ready-made songbook for the early church, using God’s own words to learn how to pray and sing to God. By the fourth century, Psalms 63 and 141 were recommended (Apostolic Constitutions 2.7.59). And later on they were joined by others, including Psalms 51 and 91.
• Other Canticles or Scripture-songs throughout the Bible helped connect the life of Christ to the bigger picture of God’s plan for all creation. Most common were the songs associated with the birth of Christ, like the Song of Mary (Lk 1:46-55), the Song of Zechariah (1:68-79), and the Song of Simeon (2:29-32).
• New hymns were then added to this vast store of Biblical songs, often rooted in the words of Scripture themselves. These include many songs still in our songbooks today, with titles like “Glory to God in the Highest,” “Glory to the Father,” “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” “Hail, Gladdening Light,” and “Lord, Have Mercy.”

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If we were to picture the shape of daily prayer, it might look a bit like this, with the Lord’s Prayer at the center, the canticles connecting the gospel to the big picture of the Bible, the Psalms making up the largest biblical cycle of songs, and our own human hymns pointing us back to the Bible:

Originally posted March 13, 2015. Video from Aug 29, 2018.

When we began our study of Hosea over a year ago, we noted that the book was among the most difficult in the Bible to read because of its tragic, satirical tone and graphic imagery. And yet the meaning of Hosea’s name points to a purpose beyond mere punishment: “Salvation.” God did not enjoy giving this message to his prophet, nor would he rejoice in seeing its fulfillment. Instead, the Lord speaks in hope that his people might once again listen to his voice and respond to his call. As Theodoret observed, “The reason that the God of all threatens punishment . . . is not to inflict it on those he threatens but to strike them with fear and lead them to repentance, and by ridding them of their wicked behavior extend to them salvation” (Commentary on Hosea, “Introduction”; see our first post for Works Cited). God judges in order to save, but accepting his salvation means rejecting the sins that bring judgment in the first place.

Hosea begins this last portion of his work calling Israel to give the fruit of her lips to the husband of her youth: “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity” (14:1 ESV). Though their sin had separated them from their God (Isa 59:1-2) and they had felt the wrath of his hands, there was only one step back to grace: “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up” (6:1). If she would remember her marriage vows, and put away her harlotries, God would have Israel back as his own: “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God” (12:6; see 2:19-20; 3:3). God’s holiness had sent his bride away, but his love now called her back to his side.

Israel’s restoration, however, could only begin by confessing her own sinfulness, and the sinlessness of the God she had left: “Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, ‘Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay the fruit of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, “Our God,” to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy’” (14:2-3; words in italics follow the LXX and Syriac; see ESV margin; Heb 13:15). Israel had first turned away from God in adultery at the altar, and then sought glory through their own political and military might. But Israel could not simply show back up in the temple and pretend nothing had happened. God did not want her songs, her prayers, or even her offerings; he wanted to see her broken heart and grateful mind transformed through sacrificial living (Psa 51:13-19; 69:30-31). He would not accept their worship or restore fellowship with her until she had confessed her sins before her God.

And when Israel returned in confession and repentance, the Lord would forgive his people and restore to them the fruit of his fellowship. If they would reject apostasy for a life with him, his anger would flee and they would feel his loving embrace; rain and dew would return to their parched land; flowers would again blossom, and fields and vines would bear their fruit (Hos 14:4-7; see 13:15). If Israel would return and dwell with her God once more, he would be her Provider and Rest—a Husband only he could be (2:16). With her life of sin behind her, she could smile through her tears as God restates his own vows, “It is I who answer and look after you. . . . from me comes your fruit” (Hos 13:8).

In that fellowship, she would once again experience the grace enjoyed by one who walks with God. As John Cassian writes, “Holy people have never testified that they attained by their effort the right path to travel on as they made their way to the increase and perfection of virtue. Rather they would plead to the Lord and say, ‘Direct me in your truth’ [Psa 25:5] and, ‘Direct my way in your sight’ [Psa 5:8]” (Conference 3.13.1). As Paul would later point out, the fruits of obedience were themselves gifts of God and evidence of his work in our lives: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed . . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Php 2:12-13, emphasis added). But if our faith is not visible through a life of loving obedience, we are dead in our sins because God is no longer working within us (Jam 2:17, 26).

Israel’s confession to God would have been both lengthy and difficult, but that would not excuse her failure to give God the fruit of her lips. She had left the husband of her youth and borne him illegitimate children (1:1-2:1), she had traded the blessings of marriage for a half-life of harlotry (2:2-13), and had been driven to debt slavery by the depth and breadth of her whoredom (2:14-3:5). And rather than bringing her back to God, Israel’s leaders failed in every way (4:1-19): they convinced the people they could hide from the One who is everywhere (5:1-6:10), that their hearts of pride, lust and greed would be not only tolerated but commended (6:11-7:16), and that their alliances with Egypt and Assyria would keep them safe from any coming conflict (8:1-9:9).

But God’s wrath could no longer wait; they would be crushed as grapes in the winepress (9:10-10:10), harnessed and put to work like a common farm animal (10:11-11:11), punished for their complete devotion to the deceitfulness of sin (11:12-12:14), and for rejecting the Only One who could provide for them in times of feast and famine (13:1-16). Unfortunately, Israel’s repentance came only after retribution. Soon after Hosea completed his work, his prophecies were fulfilled through “at least six incursions into Palestine and its neighbors by an unstoppable Assyrian army” (ESVSB).  The day of the Lord had come, and God’s own people had found themselves on the wrong side of the cataclysm.

For the church of Jesus Christ, the message is clear: we must repent of our harlotries and live once again as the bride of Christ. We cannot pretend to make disciples apart from the watery womb of rebirth (Mat 28:18-20; John 3:3, 5; Tit 3:4-7), we cannot follow men and wear their names without giving up our place as disciples of Christ (Mat 15:7-8; Luke 14:26-27), and we cannot excuse or return to the very sins from which we’ve been freed by Christ’s own blood (2Pe 2:20-22; 1Pe 1:17-21). Instead, we need elders, preachers, and deacons who understand their role as servant-leaders (1Pe 5:1-4; 2Ti 2:24-26; Acts 6:1-7), who point the church outside of herself and to her Lord and Savior (Php 3:30-21; 2Pe 3:18), and who cultivate a living faith to combat the sensual thinking of this age (Eph 3:14-19; Rom 8:9-17).

And if we do not, our names will be scrubbed clean from the book of life (Rev 20:11-12; 22:17), we will experience the fury of the wrath of God’s winepress (Rev 14:18-20), we will feel the pain of eternal chains of fire and the corruption of an undying death (Rev 20:13-15; Mark 9:43-48), and we will suffer an eternity without the One who makes eternity worth living (2Th 1:6-9).

Hosea’s name and work shows the depth of God’s steadfast love for his people, but he is not the only child of God with this name, much less the most important. For Hosea (Hebrew) shares his name with the one and only Son of God: the Lord Jesus (Greek). “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mat 1:21, emphasis added). But such a salvation comes only from a conviction of sin that pierces the heart and cries out for the Lord’s deliverance (Acts 2:36-37; Rom 10:8-10), a visible repentance through baptism and sanctified living (Acts 2:38-41; Rom 6:3-4), and a life of grace among God’s people in worship and work, faithfulness and fellowship (Acts 2:42-47).

We cannot merely show back up to worship; we cannot hide or ignore our sin. If we want to be free of it, we must give it to God in confession. “Through [Christ] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb 13:15). Only then will we see the beauty of Christ’s love and radiate his own splendor as his bride. And then we shall sing in that great multitude: “‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Rev 19:6-8). Amen.

Originally posted March 16, 2015. Video from Aug 22, 2018, courtesy of one of our ministers in Warner Robins, Brother Tim Childs.

In the last three chapters or so of his work, Hosea summarizes much of the case he has brought against the nation of Israel. As we saw last week, this summary began by reminding them of who they are, whom they serve, and what the Lord had done for them (11:12-12:14). In chapter 13, he now continues his summary by recounting the charges on which Israel is being indicted. The chapter therefore contains many parallels to the first four chapters of the book, though stated with even greater force and brevity. In every case, though, Israel’s sin is depicted as an ungrateful abuse of the good things God had given them.

Israel’s primary offense is therefore stated again: they had traded their relationship with God for a hunk of metal. “When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen” (Hos 13:1-2 ESV)! During the height of Israel’s monarchy, they were truly a force to be reckoned with. Though never reaching the same proportions of the great empires of their day, Solomon “ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah” (2Ch 9:26-27; see too Isa 7:2). Yet from this very silver and these very trees, Israel sinned against the God who had given them both (4:12-13)!

The Lord would therefore punish his people for ungratefully turning their blessings into abominations, as he said before: “The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame” (4:7). When we use our fortunes for faithlessness, God has every right and all the power to remove them—and he will. Not only that, but he will remove from us even the most basic elements of living: grain and water. “Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window” (13:3). Like Israel’s faithfulness, her sinfulness would not last long (6:4); it would be carried away on the winds of judgment, fanning the flames of God’s wrath.

The once luscious land would therefore be turned into a wilderness, even worse than the Sinai. “But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me” (Hos 13:4-6). Jehovah was their only God (12:9), he was their only Deliverer (11:1; 12:13), the one who dwelt among them (Exo 40:34-38), the one who provided them water, bread and meat (Exo 15-17; Num 11), and brought them into the Promised Land (Jos 21:43-45)—but the name of the Lord had been forgotten (Hos 2:13). So now his judgment would rise as “the east wind, the wind of the LORD . . . rising from the wilderness, and his fountain shall dry up; his spring shall be parched; it shall strip his treasury of every precious thing” (13:15; 12:1; Jer 18:15-17).

And so the “land flowing with milk and honey” would become a fruitless forest filled with wild beasts (Exo 3:8; Hos 2:3, 9, 12). But the King of the beasts would not go hungry. Since God could not be their protector, they would become his prey: “So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open” (Hos 13:7-8; see 5:14). For her unfaithfulness, Israel would be ripped open and feasted upon by the winged lion of Babylon, the devouring Persian bear, and the four-headed leopard of Greece (Dan 7:2-6, 17; 2:37-39); all under the command of the Lord of heaven and earth.

And since Israel had denied the Lord as their King, he would remove even their earthly rulers. “He destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper. Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? Where are all your rulers—those of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’? I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath” (Hos 13:9-11). It was Israel who had requested a king in the first place, and though Yahweh allowed Samuel to accommodate their request, God pointed out what this meant for the people spiritually: “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them . . . forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them” (1Sa 8:7-9).

Israel’s dynastic history attests to this same unfortunate trend. Time and time again (through ten dynasties!) Jehovah would raise up a leader to judge Israel’s king, take the throne, and restore the nation. But greed, lust, and politics would interfere and turn away the hearts of even the deliverers, so that the Lord could say in truth, “They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not” (Hos 8:4). So when the kings were gone, the people knew they were done for; they had traded the Hope of heaven for the pleasures of earth, and would now lose both: “We have no king, for we fear not the LORD, and a king—what could he do for us” (10:3)?

So, having chosen the paths of death, they would now suffer the consequences of a life without God, that is, until that too was taken away. “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is kept in store. The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb” (13:12-13). And not even their children would escape the carnage: “they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open” (13:16). Again, the prophet’s imagery is both tragic and graphic. Israel’s names are bound up as if in a scroll of sins, a record of wrongdoing; Hosea lists the stillborn and the slaughtered together, neither of whom could be delivered (Isa 8:16; Deu 32:34-35). Israel had born illegitimate children, and since they were Not His People, they would receive No Mercy (1:6-9).

But there would be no mother to mourn the loss of the child.  The Lord thus asks rhetorically, “Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death?” (Hos 13:14). He answers with a resounding, No, calling on the Grave to open wide and do his worst: “O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.” If Israel wanted hell, then hell is what they’d have; without the compassion of God, they would find only the corruption of the Grave. As Korah’s sons sang of the fate of fools, “Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd . . . . Their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home . . . [they] will never again see light” (Psa 49:14, 19).

God’s blessings become curses when we forget the Giver and use his gifts against him. Moses had foreseen these unfortunate  trend during his own lifetime, and warned the people not to allow history to repeat itself: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deu 30:19-20). But Moses’ plea fell on deaf ears; Israel failed to listen and honor God for their blessings, so they would now suffer the curses of his covenant.

Unfortunately, time has not strengthened the ears of the church. We have traded the living God for lifeless idols of silver and gold (1Th 1:9; Mat 6:24), we have given up our inheritance for the wilderness of sin (1Co 10:1-12; Heb 3:7-12), we have rejected our King for the sake of license (1Ti 6:3-16), and we have accepted a half-life of harlotry in place of the romance of righteousness (1Ch 16:29; Eph 5:24-27). And yet the promises of God stand firm: if we seek, we will find him (Hos 5:15; Mat 7:7-8); if we will bow, we shall rise (Hos 13:14; 1Co 15:55); if we submit, we will reign with David’s Son (Hos 3:5; Rev 3:7; 2:26-28); and if we love, we shall wed (Hos 2:16-20; Rev 19:7-8). Israel had turned her God-given blessings into curses, but the curses would be reversed when they once again blessed the One who gave it all.

Originally posted March 9, 2015. Video from Aug 15, 2018.

One of the several recurring themes throughout the Old Testament is the relationship of a name to the person or object it represents. To know a person’s name and what it means is to know the person herself, and allows us to understand her place in God’s providential plan. Hosea has used several techniques to reinforce the image of Israel as an impenitent sinner. So far he has depicted Israel’s unfaithfulness through the example of Gomer (chs. 1-3), as a crime of adultery against her husband, the Lord (4:1-9:9), and as a violation of the natural and moral order, both past and present (9:10-11:11). He turns now, then, to several wordplays on the names of Israel, the Lord, and various cities in order to demonstrate the close connection between the people’s sin and their own identity.

First, God’s people were defined by their devotion to deceit. Israel’s sin has long since been established in the mind of the reader, but God’s people had still not gotten the message. Hosea therefore adds to the list of her charges: “Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit” (Hos 11:12; unless otherwise indicated all Scripture quotations are from the ESV); “they multiply falsehood and violence” (12:1); she is, “A merchant, in whose hands are false balances” (12:7). What is more, is that the nation had acted this way from before its birth, just like their father Jacob: “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor” (12:3-4). As the NBC points out, though, Jacob’s deception is more than an historical note--it’s his name: “The name Jacob is connected with words meaning ‘follow at the heel’, or ‘supplant’ and means figuratively ‘to deceive’ (Gn. 25:26; 27:36). . . . Hosea uses the picture to illustrate how Jacob/Israel has been deceitful right from the beginning of his existence” (see our first post for Works Cited).

The prophet also draws on Jacob’s struggle with the Angel of the LORD in Genesis 32:22-32. There, alone and wearied from his journey, Jacob had fled from his father-in-law Laban but feared the homecoming planned by his brother Esau. Like a cornered beast, Jacob fights the Man who then approaches him, wrestling until the first light of morning. And when the fight is over, he has the wound to prove it—his hip is out of joint. Jacob, however, refuses to let him go; that is, until he blesses him. And then the Angel surprises us (and perhaps Jacob) by obliging: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen 32:28). But Jacob knew strength when he felt it--the Angel let him win. “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered’” (Gen 32:30). He prevailed because he had been saved; he was victorious only when he admitted defeat. But while Jacob had learned his lesson, Israel’s children were still striving against the Lord.

Secondly, Israel’s sin separated her from her Savior. The nation’s crimes were no mere misdemeanors; they were personal assaults on the character of Yahweh himself: “Ephraim surrounds Me with lies And the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is also unruly against God, Even against the Holy One who is faithful” (Hos 11:12 NASB). The contrast could not be more apparent: he is true, they are liars; he is faithful, they are traitors; he is holy, they are profane. The prophet tries to wake up the people to this irony in 12:6, but this time the Lord does not allow a chance for them to speak. Instead, he mocks them with disdain: “Ephraim has said, ‘Ah, but I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin’” (12:7-8). And then the Lord’s laughter stops, and he answers in his fury: You may rich, but “I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast” (12:9, emphasis added).

It is a declaration Israel has heard before: “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess” (Gen 15:7). “I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them” (Exo 29:46). “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:44). “You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God” (Lev 18:4). “You . . . shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Lev 19:18). “I AM WHO I AM. . . . The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob . . . . This is my name forever” (Exo 3:14-15). The “LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is his memorial name” (Hos 12:5, all emphases added). Israel may have forgotten who they were, but their even greater sin was forgetting Jehovah, the Everlasting God; and God would not let them forget it.

And finally, God’s people would be punished because they played with his providence. An unholy people simply cannot dwell with a holy God, and since Israel had turned from the Holy One himself, they would have to leave the Holy Land. The justice of God demanded payment, and payment he would give: “The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds” (12:2). And so to drive home the point, Hosea piles on the word plays: “If there is [nothingness] in Gilead, they shall surely come to nothing: in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; their altars also are like stone heaps [galliym] on the furrows of the field” (12:11; see BKC, NET). Hosea first plays on synonyms that in Hebrew both mean nothingness/nothing, and then complements this connection by repeating the G and L sounds in Gilead, Gilgal and galliym. In other words, the very place Israel inaugurated her arrival in the Promised Land had become a seat of idolatry (Jos 5:8-12).

Hosea then draws an historical parallel based on the word for “guarded”: “Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep. By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded. Ephraim has given bitter provocation; so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds” (12:12-14, emphasis added). At first, the metaphors don’t seem to mix, but in essence, Hosea says, “Don’t forget your humble beginnings. What you have is not a result of your own efforts, but it is yours because God has been gracious to you” (LASB). But since God’s people had turned to other gods, they would now receive some unwanted attention from their Provider (Deu 4:25-31).

As Christians, there is no greater honor than the name we wear as disciples of Jesus Christ. As Isaiah records, the Messianic hope included the promise of a new designation for the people of God: “The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give” (Isa 62:2). And only one name is worthy of such a promise--the name of Jesus: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Php 2:9-11). And as his disciples, and his church, we take on the name of our Teacher, in both this life and the next (Acts 11:26; Rom 16:16; Rev 2:17).

But Christianity is more than a name; with this honor, comes an incredible responsibility: to live like Jesus. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1Pe 1:13-16). The Christian life requires laying all we have—all our mind, all our soul, all our passions, all our habits—at the feet of the Holy One we serve. Hosea’s plea to Israel therefore becomes our own call to repentance: “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God” (Hos 12:6).

Originally posted March 10, 2014. Video from Aug 8, 2018.

As you now know all too well, Hosea’s message is designed to hurt before it heals. But that healing sometimes alludes us because of the work’s focus on judgment. The prophet’s emphasis, though, is intentional: “The reason that the God of all threatens punishment . . . is not to inflict it on those he threatens but to strike them with fear and lead them to repentance, and by ridding them of their wicked behavior extend to them salvation” (Theodoret, Commentary on Hosea, “Introduction”; see our first post for Works Cited). Throughout the book, though, there are glimmers of God’s love that shine through Hosea’s doom and gloom, offering hope to the people of God. Three weeks ago, I was reminded of this silver lining, when my granny (whom I called, Mama Ruby) passed away, joining Papa Troy in Paradise where he waited joyfully for fourteen years. So when Hosea continues his case against the Lord’s people by turning to the family farm, I find myself comforted by the hope of Yahweh’s plea: the hope of the farmer, the hope of the father, and the hope of coming home.

The Hope of the Farmer. Growing up, both of my parents worked indoors with relative stability and job security. Of course, teachers and accountants could be laid off (and we went through our fair share of those), but generally the work was steady and paid modestly. My dad’s parents, though, owned and worked a family farm. Papa Troy and Mama Ruby managed about 60 head of cattle on 120 acres in Rio Vista, Texas. I spent most of my free time on their farm until I realized it was no longer “cool.” As enjoyable as my time there was, though, I was also well aware of the risk involved in their way of life. My grandparents subsisted on two things: their own food and the Farm Bureau, and when one slackened the other would have to step up to make ends meet. Being a great farmer didn’t necessarily mean a great year. And yet, thankfully, Granny kept raising cattle with the help of her sons and grandsons until the work simply became too much (but not until after her 90th birthday, mind you). Her love for the life and the animals drove her through even the toughest times, including droughts, blights and the loss of her husband.

Jehovah understands the hopes and frustrations of the farmer, because he shares that same sense of hope for his people. The prophet therefore compares Israel again to the thing they worshipped: “Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself” (Hos 10:11 ESV). As Kidner points out, “threshing was a comparatively light task, made pleasant by the fact that the creature was unmuzzled and free to eat . . . as it pulled the threshing sledge over the gathered corn” (Love for the Loveless, 97-98 in BKC). Israel, though, had rejected the light burden of devotion to Yahweh and would instead experience the toil of hard labor (see vv. 13-14). But God obviously wants better for his people: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hos 10:12). Hosea here essentially sums up the message of every prophet sent to the Israelites over the years, and yet any penitent fruit it bore would last only a generation before sin would spring up again. So God would harness his people, and put them to work, while still holding out the hope of rest in his righteous love.

The Hope of the Father. One can understand a farmer’s frustrations and disappointments without being able to put himself quite into those same shoes. But as a parent, empathy with hurting parents is something none of us avoids. We try to do the best we can to train them up in the way they should go, but some still depart (Pro 22:6). God understands this pain as well. The Most High practically chokes back tears as he relates his time spent with young Israel. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols” (Hos 11:1-2). But it would be another 800 years before a son of Abraham would rise up and truly reflect his Father’s love (see Mat 2:15). God had loved them, God had called them, God had saved them, and yet within the year they had fallen in love with someone else. But just as at the beginning, Egypt would not be able to save them, nor would their new ties to Assyria (Hos 11:5-6).

Hosea then mixes metaphors by returning to the image of the young calf: “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them” (Hos 11:3-4). The connection may seem strange, but even in English farmers and fathers share a deep connection, being called by the same word (husband) for most of our history. For me, though, the image here remains that of Granny. A young female calf had been born weak and the bull had made known his intentions to kill the calf early on. So Granny mended a fair sized dog run behind her house and kept the calf there, feeding it from a bottle, teaching it to walk, and leading the calf around on a dog leash. Rose (as my baby sister soon named her) might not have known it at the time, but Granny had saved her life (well, at least until adulthood). But while Rose seemed to enjoy the attention, Israel acted less than grateful: “My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all” (11:7).

The Hope of Coming Home. God, however, had not given up on his son. Yes, pain would come as a result of his sin, but he hoped that by holding back his mighty wrath and complete destruction some would still come back home. “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? . . . My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath” (Hos 11:8-9). God only asks these questions because he knows his answer: he had not loved so much, only to let them die. But Israel would return to a home that was not the same as the one they left. Old men would cry as they saw the temple in shambles, even after its renovations (Ezra 3:11-13). And all would struggle with many of the same problems as before (Ezra 9-10; Neh 13). When I visit Granny’s farm, I find myself with that same sense of longing: the ones who made it home are no longer there. As Darryl Worley sings, “Now all the rockin’ chairs are empty, I hate to think how tall the weeds have grown. I’d give back everything the good Lord gave me, If I could just go back where I belong.”

But God is the only one who makes us feel truly at home, in this life and the next; he never really left. “They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD” (Hos 11:10-11). God would send his people away, so they would listen for his voice, to await his call, “Come home.” The Lion of the tribe of Judah would again be their deliverer; and they would respond as doves, no longer stupidly denying God’s protection, but returning swiftly to his side (see 5:14; 7:11). Many times I either disobeyed Granny or simply wanted to be alone, and would roam the fields aimlessly (or at times, mischievously), but there was always one thing that brought me back: the sound of her voice. And whether I heard in it anger or fear, I knew that both were rooted in love.

God doesn’t want to be the bad guy; he doesn’t want to be the one whipping his people back into shape. But God judges because he is holy, and in his love he has given us not only the sole path to forgiveness, but the opportunity to share in his very being (1Pe 1:13-21). God’s discipline is therefore his testimony that you belong to him: “God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? . . . For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness” (Heb 12:7-10, emphasis added). Not only that, but he will come again one day to call us home: “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (Jam 5:7-8). Granny’s journey is over, but mine’s not, so whether I go to be with her, or she comes to take me away as well, after that day “we will always be with the Lord” (1Th 4:17), and that is one homecoming I do not want to miss.

Originally posted March 3, 2014. Video from Aug 1, 2018.

The image of grapes is used throughout the Bible as a symbol of both blessing and wrath. On one hand, the fullness of the winepress indicates the abundant blessings God has given and a call to share freely with those who have less. So, for example, the Israelites are commanded to provide for freed servants out of what God has provided them: “You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him” (Deu 15:14; see too Num 18:27, 30; unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the ESV). But when these blessings are abused, the winepress also serves as a useful analogy for judgment. Isaiah records for us the terrible significance of the symbol. When the Lord ascends from Edom and Moab in robes of crimson red, the people ask why he’s covered in grape juice. Jehovah’s response is terrifying: “I have trodden the winepress alone . . . I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments . . . . I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth” (Isa 63:3-6). Hosea, though, sees an even more troubling future, one in which God’s own people are grapes prepared not for drinking, but for crushing.

First, we incur wrath when we refuse our love. The Lord’s unrequited love is one of the major themes of Hosea’s work. But Israel had always had an “open relationship” with God, as Yahweh himself points out: “Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved” (Hos 9:10). Though the Lord had rejoiced in calling out a people for himself, his delight would soon turn to despair, finding out that his new bride had (literally!) prostituted herself to the god next door (see too 4:13-14; Num 25; Deu 7:14). But unrequited love can only last so long, even when your beloved is Love himself: “Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more” (Hos 9:15, emphasis added). The Lord’s house is not a house of sin.

Many today would like to separate the God of love, grace and mercy from the God of holiness, purity and justice. They’d like to have Jesus as their Savior, but reject him daily as their Lord. Often times this takes a more theological form, casting dichotomies like law versus gospel, grace/faith versus works, or love versus obedience. But as the Bible itself points out, each one is integrally connected to the other. So while the Father and Son are both identified as our Savior in the New Testament (24 times in the ESV), it is far more common for them to be referred to as Lord (657!). Likewise, the gospel is referred to as “the law of liberty” (Jam 1:25), grace is said to inspire works (Tit 2:11-14), and our love is measured by our obedience to him (John 14:15). Our relationship to God rightly depends, then, on a proper response to his loving kindness. We must listen to the voice of the Lord, letting his words sink into our ears and responding in heartfelt obedience (John 10:16, 27; Luke 9:44). Otherwise, we will fail to love, fail to listen, fail to follow, and therefore be cut off: “My God will reject them because they have not listened to him; they shall be wanderers among the nations” (Hos 9:17).

The second point follows the first: we invite wrath when we refuse our thanks. Israel had forgotten the source of her blessings: “Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars” (Hos 10:1-2). The image of Israel as a vine is a common one throughout the Old Testament (see too Psa 80:8-16; Jer 2:20-21; Eze 15:1-8; 17:1-10). Here, Hosea uses the image to demonstrate the misuse of Israel’s blessings (a theme that recurs often in his work; see 4:7, 12:8 and 13:6). And Israel could not look to their false god to save them from Jehovah; in fact, he would go with them! “The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—those who rejoiced over it and over its glory—for it has departed from them. The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol” (Hos 10:5-6).

God is the source of all blessings, as James writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (Jam 1:17). But when we reject God as the Giver of these blessings, only idolatry and covetousness can come of it (see Eph 5:5). As Paul writes of first-century heathens, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom 1:21). Paul warns Timothy of this problem as well, writing of the “many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction,” all because of their love of money and their unhealthy craving for more of it (1Ti 6:9-10; see Mat 19:23-24). Would, that we could pray with Solomon, “[Give] me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (Pro 30:8-9).

And finally, we experience wrath when God refuses his blessings. Like a good parent, the Lord knows just how to handle possessiveness and ingratitude among his children. By taking away his blessings, he intends to show them just how much they live in his grace in order to call them to live out his grace, reflecting his own divine character. As the prophet then says, “Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird — no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them! Ephraim’s sons, as I have seen, are destined for a prey; Ephraim must lead forth his sons to slaughter” (Hos 9:11-13 RSV; compare the LXX, NET, 9:16; see our first post for Works Cited). This may at first seem harsh; after all, what good father kills his grandchildren to make a point!? But as before, Israel has chosen her own punishment. She chose to commit whoredom with Baal, she chose to bear illegitimate children; Yahweh merely recognizes what Israel has assumed all along: they are not his people (see Hos 1-2). Even Hosea now realizes the hopelessness of the situation. Though he had previously called the people to repentance in 6:1-3, the prophet now joins Jehovah’s tirade: “Give them, O LORD—what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts” (6:14 RSV).

There are two additional ironies in Israel’s situation. The first is that Israel’s purpose in conquering the Promised Land was to remove the presence of idolatry, including their high places and altars to false gods (Deu 12:2-3). But they not only failed to do this, they joined their neighbors in false worship! And because of this, the LORD himself will come to purify the land (see Lev 26:30-31; BKC). The second is that while it was political rebellion that caused their first problems, it is political rebellion and conquest that God will use to accomplish his ends: “Samaria’s king shall perish like a twig on the face of the waters. The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, ‘Cover us,’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us’” (Hos 10:7-8). Israel’s false prophets, false priests, false kings, and false god would not be able to save her. Instead, their persistent sin defined them as a rebellious nation that could only be gathered, bound and punished (Hos 10:9-10). Despising God and his blessings is the surest path to having those blessings removed.

As the church of our Lord, we as Christians are branches on the grapevine of Christ. While we remain faithful and grateful to him, we have absolutely everything we need or could ever want—he is everything to us. But apart from him we have nothing, can do nothing, and are good for nothing (John 15:1-11). But Jesus’ expectations for us are profoundly simple: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10, emphasis added). As members of the Lord’s covenant people, then, we are called to give ourselves completely to the Prophet promised long ago by Moses, saying, “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people” (Acts 3:22-23, quoting Deu 18:15-19; emphasis added).

Our Christian moment therefore reaches back before the giving of the first covenant and forward to culmination of the second. Just as we have been grafted into the grapevine of the Lord, we too will be judged by our faithfulness to the Root of Jesse (Rom 11:17-24; 15:12). For one day the Lord will command his angel, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe,” and the servant will heed his Captain’s charge: “So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia” (Rev 15:18-20). The choice is simple: will you be covered by the blood of Christ, or will he be covered in yours (Rev 7:14; 12:11)?