Friday, July 26, 2019
“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall. The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols. I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood. “When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria—to the great king there—but he could neither help nor cure them. I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them. Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.” Hosea 5:10-15[2]
Hosea’s
prophecy is not gentle bedtime reading. As
a native of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th Century B.C.
this man of God was familiar with the corrupt ways of God’s leaders, the
priests. He also had a front row seat to
how the people had bought-into the priests’ leading, and how close to the edge
this ship was to sinking into the East…namely giving allegiance to Assyria
(modern day Iraq). Hosea’s message was a
severe warning of an event that colors today’s tension in the Middle East, and
the ancient struggle between Isaac and Ishmael.
The prophecy came to fulfillment at the start of the 7th
Century; Israel was devastated. Those
who survived the siege were scattered and most of the young, bright men and
women brought into captivity. This was a
national ship destroyed by its own rotted wood.
They had worshipped idols and it cost them everything!
At the
risk of sounding like a “broken record” it’s hard to hear the familiar strains
of this tune humming in the background, of ancient Israel’s having God’s
blessing, then turning apostate, leaving the God they once loved, as being what
is now playing out in the New Israel, God’s church falling apart with rotting
timbers.
Scholars
debate whether it’s just figurative imagery that Hosea really did marry a prostitute
to dramatically illustrate how serious it was that a righteous God, Jehovah,
would have an illegitimate bride, Israel.
It may have been that Hosea did just that; there are stranger things in
God’s Word.
But,
whether we have a metaphorical illustration, or a flesh and blood harlot, the
message cannot be missed – Israel’s prostitution of her Godly, spiritual
heritage had put them squarely in God’s crosshairs. They were in for it!
And the
point is…so are we.
Israel
turned away from the God they couldn’t see to the native culture of worshipping
idols they could carve with their own hands.
That sounds alarmingly like today’s church vesting a whole lot more
trust in balance sheets, demographic preferences, technology, and slick
presentations…all which we can see, touch (and manipulate for greater impact),
trying to get the world’s attention with the world’s methodologies…rather than
a plain stepping out in faith in-between the walls of water through the Red
Sea. We have come to trust more in
ourselves (leaning on our own understanding), rather than rest in the arms of
Jehovah.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6
With a
mild apology for co-opting a campaign slogan, the church has chosen to buy-into
Making America Great Again rather than worshipping at the feet of
the One who was never anything but
Magnificent! Are we making the same
mistake Hosea’s hometown made nearly 3000 years ago? I cannot help imagining I hear the roaring
young lions about ready to rip into the rotting wood of Zion’s ship.
For You Today
God is the Master Builder; the church is His ship; it belongs to no one
else!
Go to VIDEO
[1]
Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from
The
New Living Translation©
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