epcblog

Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Monday, August 11, 2008

Hosea 11

God’s love always comes first. We love because He first loves us. God made the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be His Israel. He loved them even before they were in bondage in Egypt. He told Abraham back in Genesis 15 not only that His descendants would be servants in a land that was not theirs. He even told them how long they would be there. Then at just the right time He called Israel out of Egypt through Moses. Many centuries later, Jesus would so identify with God’s people when He came to atone for our sins, that He would bring a new fulfillment of Hosea 11:1. Mary’s husband Joseph was directed by an angel to bring his family to Egypt for their safety until the death of Herod. Then out of Egypt God would call His Son. This text in Hosea would be quoted by Matthew in his gospel, showing Christ as the fulfillment of this hidden prophecy.

This connection between Israel and Christ would have to also be a contrast if the Lord was to serve as Messiah. Where Israel grew in disobedience, Christ grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. His life was the perfection of righteousness that Israel could never provide. What Hosea said about Israel was that the nation was increasingly idolatrous, but Christ never turned to any false god for help.

Throughout the history of Israel the Lord had been a tender and faithful provider, yet they did not seem to notice. He treated them as a beloved child. When they wandered He lovingly showed them the right way to go.

Now, after centuries of patience, the Lord must put them under the yoke of Assyria. This will not be easy for them. There will be much death and destruction. The Lord will not prevent trouble from coming upon them. They have become so foolish in counsel that they are utterly committed to turning away from God. The time has come from this to actually happen, this sad outcome which is in accord with the Lord’s many previous warnings.

Has the Lord given up on His electing love of His people? Has His love, which is always first, finally ended? That will never happen. The Lord has not utterly rejected His people whom He has chosen. Therefore there remains a plan of salvation for the descendants of Jacob. A Son must be born who will rescue God’s chosen nation. There is something here that reveals the character of God. He will never give up on his eternal love. In order to satisfy the demands of His justice, His only-begotten Son will have to bear the Father’s righteous burning anger so that the Lord will not come in wrath against us.

Before the final solution of Messiah comes, there is much that must first take place. In the days of Hosea the fullness of the time of Christ has not yet arrived. First the Lord will soon call back many of His people from their places of exile. Many will be brought back to the land that the Lord gave to their forefathers. He will roar like a lion, and they will come home. This will not be the final solution, but it will be a part of the way that God will hold together His people until the coming of Jesus Christ.

This plan of calling people home will even include many from the northern tribes. Yet they will no longer have their own autonomy. Those days will soon be over forever. When the descendants of the northern tribes return, they will have to find their place with the descendants of Judah. Eventually even Judah will be gone as a nation, and all the tribes will be under the authority of other powers, first from the east, and later from the west.

Soon the roar of the divine lion will be heard far beyond the borders of Assyria and Egypt. A ransomed people will come from all over the earth. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will be the central figure in the eternal drama of the great love of God for His people. All Israel will have to be found in Him.

This provision for us of the Son of God comes to us because of who God is. Baal could never have done anything to save anyone. Nor could the Israelites have provided their own redemption. God planned and accomplished what only He could do. The river of grace runs through the exile of Israel, and then Judah. It continues through an amazing restoration of Judah, and then through centuries of Messianic expectation. Finally that river flows through Bethlehem, out again to Egypt, and then out of Egypt to Galilee. It seems to end on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem, but from there it moves to an empty grave and then up onto clouds of glory into heavenly realms, then down again through the gift of the spirit and the preaching of the gospel to the ends of the earth. This is the river of God’s glorious grace, and it is powered by the eternal love of God for us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 6:00 AM

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