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

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Hosea 12

Much of our life under than sun can rightly be called a grasping after the wind. The wind blows where it will, and we cannot hold it in our hands. The idea behind this imagery is the temporary and passing nature of everything around us. The northern kingdom was chasing after all the passing things of this world. They wanted them so much that they were willing to lie and to use violent force in order to have their way. They looked for assistance from both the Assyrian and Egyptian empires. Yet both of these great powers were themselves part of this fleeting world. Israel had forgotten about the power of the One who is from eternity past and will be forever and ever. He is. Yet He seemed less real to them than powerful armies they could see. In Hosea 12, the Lord continues to press His case against His people. He will punish them according to their deeds.

The chosen grandson of Abraham who is also the chosen son of Isaac is known in the Bible by two names. These two names, Jacob and Israel, are used not only to talk about one man, but also to refer to the nation of the 12 tribes descended from him. Here God makes His indictment against that nation by drawing our attention to certain facts from the life of the man who was their ancestor. The Lord, the God of hosts, made Jacob to be who He was. His original name has in it the notion of grasping. His later name given by God conveys the idea of struggling. As a baby being born, he grabbed the heel of his brother, when he became a man he wrestled with God. God gave Him many blessings, but not without great struggle. Behind every good gift given to the man Jacob and to the nation Israel, is the God who is a commander over men and angels, and who has given much to His people.

The way of life for Israel has always been clear. By God’s help they need to truly seek Him, His love, and His justice. When Jacob wrestled with God or His angel in Genesis, all in all it seemed to be a good thing. Now this image when applied to the nation is a part of the indictment against them. In the days of the man Jacob, the wrestling was an earnest seeking of the Lord’s blessing. Now God sees the contest between Him and them as an example of the determination of the nation to do evil. They are dedicated to the vanity of wealth, and it will soon slip out of their hands. Still, they imagine themselves as lacking iniquity or sin.

The Lord is the one who brought them through the sea and delivered them from the hand of Egypt. He brought them into the wilderness and carried them there for forty years. They had no permanent structures for homes. And they needed their food to come from heaven every night in order that they might live. He eventually brought them into the land, and gave them His Word from heaven through the ministry of the prophets. Now they would again be thrust out of the Promised Land. The Lord who gave them the land, the Lord they had forgotten, would do this thing.

They have filled the land with the iniquity of idolatry and greed. They have added altars for Baal, and have loved their spiritual inventions. All of these things would be cleared away. God would sweep away the remains of their evil ways when He cleared them from the land.

Where could they go now, and who would lead them on their way? Centuries earlier the God of Abraham had led Jacob to Paddan-Aram in order to serve for one bride and then another. They would go to the east again, but now as those who were having everything taken away from them. God led His people out of Egypt by the hand of Moses and by the Word of God they were protected. But they rejected His Word and provoked Him to His face. They were guilty of great bloodshed, and their punishment would soon fall on their heads.

The story of our sin and the punishment we deserve is one that we need to hear. If we will not understand what we deserve through our rebellion against the Lord and His commandments, we will never be able to appreciate either the obedience of Christ or the cross on which He died for our sins. We receive this message of our guilt from the words of the prophets. We should not distance ourselves from Israel when we read these words, as if our sin were not a serious and deadly matter. It is the sick who need a doctor, and we must acknowledge the seriousness of our sin sickness if we are to receive the touch of His healing hand.

Nonetheless, if the failure of Israel was the end of God’s story in His dealings with His people, what possible point would there have been to His great calling of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Why would He have bothered to rescue His children from Egypt if we are supposed to consider ourselves and our children as hell-bound? There surely is a good answer for us in the obedience of Christ. He was forced to grasp on to the ugliness of our guilt, and to face the struggle of the ages in His death on the cross. He would face the defeat of death, and yet this would be at the same time the death of our death. This cross became a victory that was seen by His disciples in His resurrection. Why should your eyes not see the greatness of His victory when He returns with a resurrection kingdom? This is the story of eternity. It does not end with the disgrace of Jacob or our grasping after the wind. It ends with the wonder of solid joys and lasting treasures that come to us through the decree of the great “I Am” and through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 6:00 AM

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