Friday, June 29

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Friday

‘I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you.  You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.  Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.   ‘And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.  I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.  And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.   - Joel 2:25-32

I think Joel 2:25 may be one of the most beautiful promises in all of the Bible.  This is not just poetic language, Joel ch. 1 describes in graphic detail the total devastation caused by the locust swarm.  The people who endured this disaster would have experienced terrible loss.  Swarming locusts can completely strip the vegetation from hundreds, even thousands of acres in a single day.  In an agriculturally based community, a locust swarm could totally decimate the economic structure of an entire nation.  

The phrase “the years the locusts have eaten” was no exaggeration, it would take many years to recover from the devastation of the locusts.  The people to whom Joel originally spoke this prophecy knew the pain of great loss, and this promise would have given them great hope.  In my work as a pastor, I have met many people who have experienced the pain of great loss, people who have felt as though life has stripped them bare and eaten away their joy. 

One beautiful example of this is young a woman who began attending our church several years ago.  When I first met her, it was clear that she had been deeply wounded and was looking for a place to find some hope.  She told me about how her husband had left her and their two small children for another woman, and how she had spent the last 5 years full of fear and bitterness.  Slowly, God began to heal the deep wounds in her heart through the love of Christ and the people of His church.  Eventually this woman surrendered her heart to Jesus and discovered the incredible joy of His grace!  She has since been remarried to a wonderful Christian man and is actively involved worshipping and serving God in many ways.  I spoke with her on the day of her wedding and she referred to this passage from Joel saying that she had experienced the power of this promise in her own life.

Many of us know the pain and regret of wasted years before we repented and surrendered it all to Jesus.  At times, we might look back and be sad to realize that there were many years in the past that were eaten up by the locusts of sin and rebellion in our lives.  Joel describes perfectly what life was like before we surrendered to Jesus, there was pain and suffering.

The good news is that God has promised to restore us from all the troubles of our past, the heartaches from broken relationships, the struggles from defeat, and the frustrations of our lives.  All the times that we have felt broken beyond repair, God has promised to heal and restore.  We cannot change the past.  We cannot go back and do things over again.  But from this moment forward we can give over to God our anxieties about the past and trust Him to restore what has been lost.  We can learn from sin in our past and resolve to live fully for Christ from this day forward.

The reality is that our enemy (Satan) will always be ready to intimidate and harass us but we need to do what the Apostle Paul says, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. ” (Philippians 3:13-14).  In other words, we should forget our past and press on in Jesus!  We need to take those old wounds, the worries and naggings about our wasted years, and let God restore to us the very years that were lost.  

The fact is, the closer we get to Jesus, the more we fall in love with Him and when we turn our lives to Him, Christ blots out our transgressions, for His own sake, and remembers our sins no more – (Isaiah 43:25). He tells us to: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?” – Isaiah 43:18-19.

Jeff Frazier

Wednesday, June 27

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Wednesday

When you read the book of Joel, there are large portions that deal with the coming judgment of God, and some of the images Joel uses are really frightening. 

Joel 1:15-16 - Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.  Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes — joy and gladness from the house of our God? 

Joel 2:2-3 - A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.  Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste — nothing escapes them. 

All of these images of destruction and doom at the end of the world can be quite depressing and they can even give us a false impression of who God is and what He is doing if we are careful.  I have talked with people who have grown up in churches that focus on God’s judgment and wrath to the point where it almost becomes spiritually abusive.  This does not mean that we should avoid or ignore the very clear messages in Scripture about the seriousness of sin and the reality of the justice of God.  However, we must also see that the God who “thunders at the head of his army” in Joel 2:11, is the also the same God who pleads with His people to experience His grace and mercy in Joel 2:12...

Even now,‘ declares the LORD,  ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.‘  Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.  Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing — grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.    - Joel 2:12-14

After all, God does not delight in judgment. That isn't what he is after. He never enjoys judging anyone. What he seeks is a heart that will listen to him, heed him, and open the door for the blessings that God wants to pour in. In order to get that person or nation to listen and turn, God will permit all kinds of harsh things to obstruct their wayward path. But all he is after is that genuinely broken  and repentant heart. "Rend your hearts and not your garments."

The tearing or rending of clothes in Jewish tradition was intended to be an external symbol of an internal reality in the heart.  It was done to express grief over some disaster or calamity.  It was also a sign of deep sorrow and mourning over someone who has died.  Sometimes it indicated a holy indignation (righteous anger) against sin and what is contrary to God’s Word.  But it was primarily a symbol of repentance and brokenness before God.  The problem with this outward symbol was that (like all external religious acts) it could easily become a substitute for the real thing (true repentance).

It is so easy to fool ourselves into thinking, "well, at least I can do the right thing outwardly, that has got to count for something."  Most of us are like that, aren't we?  We are so like the little boy whose mother told him, "Now sit down!" But he wouldn't sit down. She said again, "Sit down!"  And he said, "I won't."  So she grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him down in the chair.  Then he looked up at her defiantly and said, "I may be sitting down outside, but I'm standing up on the inside!"

God is saying to us (in effect) “I don’t care about your jacket, I care about your heart! Don't bother with hypocritical attitudes and actions.  They don't impress me in the least. I want to see your heart."  That is the thing.  God is utterly unimpressed by our hypocrisy.  We may fool others, we can even fool ourselves, but we don't fool Him. Unless our heart is truly broken before him, torn garments mean nothing.

Psalm 51:17 - The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 

Jeff Frazier

Tuesday, June 26

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Tuesday

Ever since human beings started thinking and recording their thoughts, we have been looking for the principle upon which all the events of history turn, and there have been many guesses about what that controlling principle is.  

Long ago, the ancient Greek philosophers came up with the idea that history moves in cycles;  Aristotle also said that first a tyrant rises, who seizes control of a nation or a group of people and rules until his dynasty ends.  Then control gradually passes to a ruling family of aristocracy.  And gradually their power deteriorates until control passes down to the people, and this is what he calls a democracy.  But a democracy also deteriorates and gradually yields to the breakdown of all power, and anarchy ensues. Out of anarchy a tyrant again seizes control, and on goes the cycle of history.  We have to admit that there seems to be a good deal of truth in this theory, but is this all there is to history, just and endless turning of the cycle?

Through the centuries other men have contributed guesses about the controlling principle of life.  Thomas Jefferson thought it was political, and when he wrote the Declaration of Independence he incorporated that idea in the prologue - that human governments recognize that certain inalienable rights are granted to men, and that to preserve these rights, governments are instituted among men.  He felt that the forces that shape human history and form the nations of earth are political in nature.

Karl Marx had his own ideas of what drove history, and he wrote his “Communist Manifesto”, which has dramatically influenced our world.  His idea was that the controlling force of history was economics, that it is the need to meet the material demands of life that shapes the course of history.  This idea has so captured the minds of men today that all over the earth are millions who feel that economics is the controlling interest of life.

Others have said that the primary principle of history is sociological.  Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution which claims that the process of “natural selection” shapes the course of human destiny.  

The Bible tells us that none of these principles is what really drives the world. The Bible says that behind the whole course of human history is God!  The hinge on which history turns is not economic, political, sociological or evolutionary in nature - it is spiritual.  God's Spirit is at work in the world and among people, and you cannot understand human events if you do not first recognize that fact.

The prophet Joel understood this principle better than most and he had clear vision of God moving His people and all of history toward the great and final “Day of the LORD”.

Joel 1:15 - Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. 

Joel 2:1 - Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand 

Joel 2:12 - ‘Even now,‘ declares the LORD,  ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.‘

Joel 2:27 - Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. 

Joel 2:32 - And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls. 

Joel 3:1-2 - ‘In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. 

Joel 3:16 - The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. 

Jeff Frazier

Monday, June 25

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Monday

The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.  Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your forefathers?  Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.  What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.  Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips.  A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.  It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.  Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth.  Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.  The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails.  Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed.  The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree — all the trees of the field — are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.   - Joel 1:1-12

Well one thing we can say is that Joel is not exactly an upbeat guy!  This prophetic book begins with a very ominous tone and it seems to only get gloomier as it goes.  However, if we stay with Joel and reflect deeply on his message, we will discover that it is actually one of the most hopeful of all the prophetic books!

We know almost nothing about this prophet Joel other than his name, which means “Yahweh is God”.  The author identified himself only as “Joel the son of Pethuel” (1:1), the prophecy provides little else about the man. Even the name of his father is not mentioned elsewhere in the OT.  We don’t even know precisely when Joel lived or had his prophetic ministry.  However, the lack of historical detail really doesn’t hinder our understanding of Joel, because in many ways, the prophetic message is timeless and relevant to any age.

The primary theme of the book of Joel is what the prophet himself calls “The Day of the LORD”.  The Day of the Lord does not always refer to the end of the world or to “Judgment Day”.  The Hebrew word for day is ‘yom’ and it can be used in a variety of ways.  You have probably heard of the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, or the “day of atonement”.  The phrase ‘yom elohim’ or “the day of the Lord” does not necessarily have a reference to a specific chronological time period, but to a general period of judgment uniquely belonging to the Lord. It is exclusively the day which unveils His character - mighty, powerful, and holy, thus terrifying for His enemies. 

In the beginning of the first chapter of Joel, we are told about a terrible locust plague that devastated the nation of Israel and the surrounding region.  There is a good deal of scholarly debate about what this locust plague actually means.  Some scholars think it is simply an actual swarm of locusts that swept through the region.  Others think it is a foreshadowing of the Babylonian and/or Assyrian armies that would come and lay waste to Israel and Judah.  Still others feel that it is primarily a metaphor used to describe the final “Day of the LORD” in which God will bring His final judgment on all people - I think a very strong case can be made that Joel is talking about all three.  Certainly he is referring to a very real and recent plague of locusts when he says, “Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your forefathers?”  And as we read on in the prophecy, we see that Joel is also looking through the locust swarm to the future day of the Lord, when he says in 1:15, “Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.” 

Now, I have to admit that I am always nervous about Christians who claim that a certain natural disaster is the judgment of God on the people who have suffered through it.  I recall being angry when I heard about pastors and leaders pronouncing that the devastation of Hurricane Katrina was God’s judgment on an immoral society.  As Christians, we should be very careful about determining what is and what is not an act of God.  But this is not primarily the point that Joel is making here.  The question is not who sent the locusts?  The question is will we see in this natural disaster a call to wake up to the reality of God?  Will we allow this event (whatever it may be) to wake us up to the reality of God justice and judgment in the coming “day of the LORD”?  This is what Joel is really concerned about.

I do not think God is sending all kinds of disasters here and there to punish or judge people, He will handle all of the judgment through His perfect justice on the great and final day of the LORD.  

I do, however, think that God can use the tragic and painful events of our lives to draw us back to Him if we will only listen.  As C.S. Lewis put it in his book The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”.

Jeff Frazier

Friday, June 22

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Hosea 2:14-15; 19-20

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

Then she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

(19) I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.

On several occasions I have been asked by married couples to lead them through a ceremony to “restate” their wedding vows. Sometimes this request is made in honor of a significant milestone – like a 25^th wedding anniversary. Other times a couple is seeking to affirm their commitment to each other following a significant threat to their marriage – an experience of intense conflict or perhaps even a time of infidelity.

Three times in Hosea chapter two we see the word “betroth.”

(19) I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.

We don’t use the word “betroth” much in our culture, but it’s a great word. To “betroth” is to make a holy promise; to bind oneself to another in a promise of absolute faithfulness and love. In a sense this is what a man does when he says to a woman, “Will you marry me?” For when he asks that question he is stating that he has already invested his love fully in her; he is already committed lock, stock and barrel – all that remains is her response.

The Bible is saying that God has offered himself to us in “betrothal”; that is, he has utterly committed himself in love to us – and this is most clearly seen through Jesus Christ. All that remains is our response!

Notice there are two promises that come with this betrothal.

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

Then she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

The first promise is redemption and blessing. Throughout the Old Testament vineyards are a symbol of God’s blessing. Furthermore, the literal translation of “Valley of Achor” is “valley of trouble.” So God is promising to redeem the rebellion and sin of his people into blessing and prosperity.

The second promise is joy.

“Then she will sing as in the days of her youth,” Hosea says.

Despite her unfaithfulness; despite her sin; despite her failure to return his faithfulness and love, God loves his people and promises to restore them – not only to relationship with himself – but to the joy for which he created them.

Do you know you were created for joy? Do you know that sin, no matter how enticing and attractive, always diminishes and kills your joy? Do you know that God pursues you, confronts your sin, and forgives you – so that your joy might be restored in him?

In this way the prophet Hosea also points us toward Christ; for Jesus said:

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11

Thank God for his redeeming love and ask him to make his joy complete in you!

Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, June 21

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Hosea 2:14
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

Do you have a favorite place?

As you look back over your life, is there a particular place – or places – that are filled with memories of warmth, joy or intimacy?

If you are married, one of those places might be the hole-in-the-wall restaurant where you first felt the fire of romance kindled in your heart.

It might be the place where you first said the words, “I love you.”

Or the place where you managed to utter the phrase, “Will you marry me?”

Or the place – perhaps a first home or apartment - where, through the fog of “early parental exhaustion” said to your partner, “Your turn to get up with the baby.”

Most of us have such special places anchored in our memories. Such a place for me was the restaurant where my wife and I had our first date. I don’t remember what I ordered from the menu, or much about the conversation over dinner that night, but I do remember the feeling that came over me when our elbows touched while standing next to each other at the salad bar!

Notice the special place to which Hosea leads his unfaithful wife:

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

The desert! What kind of special place is that?

We think of the desert as a place of extreme heat and barrenness; a place of loneliness and isolation; we think of the desert as a place to avoid. But the desert was actually a good place in the history of Israel. When God led his people out of captivity in Egypt and toward the promised land, he took them through the desert first. The desert was where he gave them his law. The desert was where he gave them his presence through the cloud of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night. The desert was where he gave them manna each day and taught them to depend completely on his provision.

The desert was the place where the covenant was sealed and where Israel experienced communion and intimacy with God.

Is there such a “desert place” in your life? Maybe your “desert” is a literal place; a favorite chair in your house where you meet with him in prayer every morning; or perhaps a walking path by the Fox River where you find he walks with you. Or maybe your “desert place” is a time in your life when circumstances of loneliness or pain led you into a deeper experience of God’s love and strength.

Whatever it is, we all need such a “desert place” in our lives for that is the place of intimacy and communion with God. Ask him to lead you to that place frequently and to meet you there.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, June 20

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Hosea 2:14
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

My wife and I met at Taylor University in Indiana when I was a graduate student and she an undergrad at Taylor. In the early days of our courtship I was definitely the pursuer and she was the pursuee! In fact, I would say that I pursued her well before she actually knew she was being pursued.

As my interest and feelings grew I had a problem. While I wanted to get to know her better and therefore to be around her as much as I could, I sensed that her level of interest did not exactly match mine – which on a scale of 1 – 10 was about a 35.

So how could I pursue this possible relationship without coming on too strong, or seeming desperate – which I most definitely was! I needed something a little more subtle, I needed a plan.

So I gathered enough “intelligence” to figure out her daily schedule and I planned my days around that schedule so I could “accidentally” bump into her several times each day. I think this is now called “stalking.” If it was time for chapel, I would sprint across campus just so I could manage to walk up the stairs at the same time she did. If it was lunch time, I would hustle to get in line first so I could offer her and her friends a spot in front of me. It never occurred to me that she might wonder why I kept turning up – or why I was always out of breath!

I pursued her because I was convinced that if I could just spend enough time with her I could win her heart. And I did!

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

The New Living Translation says, “I will win her back again!” Yet another translation of the Bible reads, “I will go and romance her.”

Do you see what’s going on here?

This is not just Hosea going after his wayward and unfaithful wife Gomer to win her back. This is a striking, almost embarrassing picture! This is God himself, his heart breaking with unrequited love, pursuing the object of his passion – his people – wanting desperately to woo them back to himself. This is the God who pursues us; who wants to allure us, romance us; to win our hearts and draw us back to himself!

Throughout scripture we see that God is always the pursuer and we are always the pursuee. In the book of Genesis, following their sin we see Adam and Eve hiding from God in the garden for they are ashamed. But God went looking for them, “Where are you?” he said. In the story of Jonah, which we will look at in a few weeks, God pursues his runaway prophet through a storm and by having him swallowed up by a great fish. In the New Testament, Saul of Tarsus is on his way to persecute followers of Jesus when that same Jesus confronts him in a blinding light and says, “Why are you persecuting me?”

And God pursues us; you and me. He pursues because he loves. He pursues because he wants to draw us to himself’ he wants to win us back from all the “lesser gods” who would capture our hearts and lives.

How is God pursuing you today? Is he speaking to you tenderly of his love? Is he using events in your life to turn your eyes toward him? Is his Holy Spirit convicting you to make changes in some area of your life?

Thank him for his relentless and pursing love – and ask him to help you be more and more aware of his presence in your life.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, June 19

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Hosea 4:1, 12; 8:14
Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land:

“There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land…”

(v.12) They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.”

(8:14) Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire upon their cities that will consume their fortresses.

A couple of weeks ago the air conditioning went out at our house. A friend who knows something about this kind of thing came over to try to identify the problem. In the process of looking at our air conditioner, he noticed that our hot water heater was leaking onto the basement floor (we were having a bad week as home-owners!). Upon further examination he told us that the hot water tanks were in bad shape and were nearing the point of “catastrophic failure” – meaning they could potentially rupture and spill 40 gallons of water each into our basement.

Our friend was essentially playing the role of a prophet with regard to our hot water heaters. He wasn’t so much predicting the future as he was telling us the truth about the condition of our tanks. In the same way, God’s prophets are simply called to deliver the word of God, the truth of God to his people.

Throughout the “minor prophets” these prophesies often come in the form of “if…then…” That is, “if you continue to rebel against me, then judgment will come upon you…” usually in the form of a hostile invading army.

Hosea 4:1
Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land:

“There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land…”

(4:12) They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.”

(8:14) Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire upon their cities that will consume their fortresses.

Through the prophet Hosea God is essentially saying, “Your water heaters are cracked and if you do not do something soon they will fail in a catastrophic manner.” What is sometimes difficult to see is that, while it sounds rather harsh, this is actually a message of love!

Think of it this way: if that friend who noticed that our hot water heaters were leaking – and understood what it meant – had chosen not to share that information with us, would he have acted in a loving manner? Of course not! He would have been guilty of withholding truth from us in a manner that would have exposed us to certain disaster.

God loves us too much to withhold his truth from us. So he sent Hosea to the people of Israel and he sends his word, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to us.

Does God have a word of warning for you today? Is there any way in which you are like the water heaters in our basement? Are there cracks in your heart and life that are invisible to others but known to God? Are secret sins threatening disaster? He loves you too much to withhold truth from you. He loves us too much NOT to confront our sinful attitudes or behavior – no matter how hidden or subtle.

Ask him to speak his truth to your heart today; and be willing to respond to that truth!

Pastor Brian Coffey

Monday, June 18

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Hosea 1:1-3
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah , and during the reign of Jereboam son of Jehoash king of Israel.

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Have you ever loved someone who didn’t love you back? Ever had a broken relationship? Or maybe an old flame who delivered the bad news that “It’s not you it’s me”? Are you a Cubs fan?

At one time or another most of us have had the bittersweet experience called “unrequited love” – that is, love that is not returned.

Whenever I think of the phrase “unrequited love” I think of Charlie Brown and his infatuation with the “little redheaded girl.” Throughout some 50 years of Charles Shultz’s cartoon strips the “little redheaded girl” is a classmate of Charlie’s at school. He develops a serious crush on her but never musters the courage to actually talk to her. He watches her from a distance on the playground and in the school lunch room. He daydreams of inviting her to sit with him during lunch but he never does. Finally, he says wistfully to himself,

“Nothing takes the taste out of a peanut butter sandwich like unrequited love.”

As the book of Hosea begins we see that God calls on his prophet to do a very strange thing.

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.”

Quite literally, God tells Hosea to take for himself a wife who will be unfaithful to him; a wife who will not love him in return for his own faithfulness and love.

Why would the God who created marriage to be holy require such a thing of his prophet? He does so to illustrate the unfaithfulness of his own people, Israel.

In Hosea chapter 4 we read:

Hear the word of the Lord you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: ‘There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.”
Hosea 4:1

By this time in her history, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, north (Israel) and south (Judah). The kings of the north were fearful that their subjects would be drawn to the southern kingdom so they could worship in the holy city of Jerusalem. This, together with the threat of impending attack from the Assyrians, led King Jereboam II to continue to worship the pagan Canaanite idols that his predecessor, Jereboam I, had set up rather than the God of Israel. This led to all manner of detestable worship practices, including cult prostitution.

So God calls upon the prophet Hosea to take for himself an unfaithful wife and then to demonstrate God’s own steadfast love by continuing to love a woman who does not return his love. In this way the book of Hosea, like all of the minor prophets, points us to Christ himself!

But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 

 
Even though Hosea lived nearly 2700 years ago and spoke God’s word to a much different culture than ours, that word is still very relevant to us today. For, in a way, because of our sin, we are the unfaithful wife; we have not returned his faithful love with our own; we have given ourselves to lesser gods; and we are desperately in need of his forgiveness and grace.

And thus the prophet of the Old Testament points us toward Christ and the gospel of grace that permeates the New Testament.

Take a moment to thank God for continuing to love you even when, at times, you may not always love him back!

Pastor Brian Coffey

Friday, June 15

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Friday

Then Daniel answered the king,  “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.  “O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.  But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.  He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.  “But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.   - Daniel 5:17-23

It is interesting to note that before Daniel interprets the writing on the wall for King Belshazzar, he gives this comparison between the king and his ancestor, Nebuchadnezzar.  Nebuchadnezzar was the step-grandfather of Belshazzar, and he was the greatest ruler in the Neo-Babylonian dynasty.  Nebuchadnezzar had his own struggle with pride and arrogance, but he ended up humbling himself before God and acknowledging God’s sovereignty over all people and nations.  Belshazzar (Daniel points out) knows about all of this, yet will not humble himself.  He remains defiant, proud and arrogant right up to the end.  

This is the primary message God sends through Daniel (and through all of the prophets) humble yourself before God, or be humbled by him!  There are really only two choices. 

Earlier in the story of Daniel (ch. 2), Daniel interprets a dream for king Nebuchadnezzar.    At the end of his interpretation, he gives a very interesting prophetic reference to the eventual coming of God’s kingdom in Christ.

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.  “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”  - Daniel 2:44-45

The two images in this passage that we must see in light of Jesus are; the kingdom that will never end, and the rock not cut by human hands.  Jesus is the rock not made by human hands and it is His Kingdom that will never end!  Jesus refers to this same imagery...

Jesus said to them,  “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?  “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.  He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”   - Matthew 21:42-44

We can either fall upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, and be broken of our pride so that we can be restored to life with Him -or- we can cling to our pride and need to control and we will eventually be crushed. 

In the case of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar; both men were kings, both men ruled over a large and powerful empire, both men struggled with their own pride, both men heard the message from God’s servant (Daniel).  One of them eventually humbled himself before God, was broken of his pride and was restored, while the other was crushed in judgment for his proud and arrogant heart.  

Now we don’t like to think of ourselves as being proud or arrogant, and we certainly don’t think of ourselves like King Belshazzar, toasting pagan gods and defying the Lord of heaven.  However, the truth is that at the deepest level of our hearts, our issue is the same as that of Belshazzar, it is our pride.  C.S. Lewis calls pride “the great sin”, in fact he has a whole chapter devoted to it in his classic work Mere Christianity.  Lewis does a brilliant job of showing us just what pride really is and what it does in us.

In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.  - C.S. Lewis 

Of course Lewis is right about this and he is only echoing what the Scripture says over and over again - you cannot truly know GOd until you deal with your pride.

Psalm 40:4 - Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. 

Psalm 138:6 - Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. 

Proverbs 16:5 - The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. 

Proverbs 18:12 - Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. 

James 4:6 - But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 

1 Peter 5:5 - All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 

The Biblical antidote to pride is of course humility.  But humility is an often misunderstood term.  Humility is not weakness, it is not getting walked on and abused by other people (although a humble person will sometimes endure insults and injustice).  Humility is fundamentally an attitude or inclination of the heart toward God.  Here again, the insights of Mr. Lewis are helpful...”If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”  - C.S. Lewis

You do not achieve humility by trying hard to be more humble.  If it worked that way, you would eventually become proud of how humble you had become (ridiculous).  You grow in humility by recognizing the sin of your own pride and by falling on the mercy of Jesus.

Jeff Frazier

Thursday, June 14

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Thursday

As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.  Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.  His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.  The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon,  “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”  Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.  So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled. The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall.  “O king, live forever!” she said.  “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale!  There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father — your father the king, I say — appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.  This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”   So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him,  “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.  The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.  Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” Then Daniel answered the king,  “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.   - Daniel 5:4-17

If you read the earlier chapters of the book of Daniel, you find that every time something strange or unusual happens, they wheel in the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners.  This does not mean that the king wanted a magic show for his amusement, these are the experts, the wisest men in the kingdom, the ones you went to for answers.  It is kind of like CNN today, whenever something interesting happens in the economy, or politics, or internationally, they bring in the PhDs, the economists, the political scientists, etc. to tell us what it all means.

The really interesting thing is that these experts are absolutely stumped.  They cannot make any sense of the writing on the wall.  They cannot even read it, let alone tell the king what it means.  I think the same thing is true with the so-called “experts” of today.  Now some people might object by saying that you cannot compare modern scientific knowledge with ancient superstitions (I agree).  However, the point is that when it comes to questions of ultimate significance; Why are we here?  What is the purpose of this life?  What happens when we die?  When it comes to answering these kinds of questions, modern expert opinion is just as inadequate as ancient expert opinion!  

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.  - 1 Corinthians 1:25

So, when Daniel comes on the scene to interpret the writing on the wall, he is not offering the king his educated human opinion or insight, he is giving him the very Word of God!  This is what we all need to find answers to the really big questions, we need the Word of God.

One of the many things I love about Daniel is that he is not intimidated by this whole deal at all, nor is he interested in being a third ruler in the kingdom.  Who wants to be a third ruler in a kingdom that's got a few hours to last?  The higher up you go in the ranks, the more likely you are to get killed when the takeover happens.  He wasn't intimidated by any of these monarchs when he was a teenager and he wasn't about to be intimidated by them now that he is in his 80s.  He says to Belshazzar, “Keep your purple robe and gold chain, or give it to somebody else.  I don't want your crummy stuff."  Oh, the character and the courage of Daniel!

Just as a little aside here, I love the fact that Daniel is never hanging around the royal court, he always has to be called in.  He is not trying to win anybody’s favor or make them like him, he really never fooled with any of them.  He just waits for his moment and God’s timing.

What a tremendous need there is for Christians of the same kind of integrity and courage in our day!  So many people are looking for ways to get close to the rich, and powerful, and famous to find some significance.  Most people are telling you what they think you want to hear.  It is a very rare thing to find a truly honest person, someone who knows what they believe and why they believe it and it unafraid to say so, someone who absolutely cannot be bought.  Daniel was that kind of person...but where did his courage come from?  Was it because he was older now and he had seen it all before?  Was it because he had some secret knowledge about the Medes and the Persians plans to destroy Babylon?  No, his courage came solely from his trust in God.  He knew that God’s Word was absolutely certain.

I have had people come to me and say that they believe some of the stories are true in the Bible, and they believe that there are some very good moral and spiritual lessons in the Bible, but they simply cannot believe that the Bible is inspired Word of God.  They ask, how can I trust the Bible when it is full of historical inaccuracies and errors (though they rarely come up with any specifics).  Ironically, the story of Belshazzar in Daniel 5 is very helpful on this issue.  For years, skeptics used this story as evidence that the Bible is not historically accurate.  You see there was no historical evidence that a king named Belshazzar ever ruled in Babylon.  Even worse, historical records tell us that the last king of the Babylonian empire before the Medes and the Persians took over was a guy named Nabonidus.  So, how can we trust the Bible on the big issues of life and death if it is not even reliable in the little things like who was the last king of Babylon?  Ah, but in 1853, a group of archaeologists uncovered some small clay cylinders at Ur in Mesopotamia, inscribed with accounts of the rebuilding of Ur’s ziggurat (temple tower) by King Nabonidus. The inscriptions concluded with prayers for Nabonidus’ health — and for his eldest son and co-regent, Belshazzar! 

The point is that God’s Word is true!  God’s Word can be trusted in the smallest detail, and with the biggest questions in life!  If we are to be men and women of great faith and courage, it will only be because we know and trust the power of the Word of God!

Jeff Frazier

Wednesday, June 13

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Wednesday

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.  King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.  While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.  As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.   - Daniel 4:37-5:4

The last six chapters of the book of Daniel are prophetic and apocalyptic (that is they deal with the end of the world); but the first six provide the personal history of Daniel. They give us the background for the prophetic messages God gave through him. Roughly speaking, the first two chapters deal with Daniel's youth, chapters three and four with his middle-age, and chapters five and six near the end of his life.   

It is strange that chapter 4 ends with Nebuchadnezzar praising God and Chapter 5 begins with Belshazzar openly defying Him.  Belshazzar knew about how his step-grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had humbled himself before God.  He knew about how this God had preserved and protected His people during their captivity.  “He knew about all of this” (Daniel 5:22).  Yet, despite his knowledge about God, he chose the path of pride and arrogance.  Why?  Well there are likely many reasons, but at least one of them is that there is a huge difference between knowing about God and knowing Him personally.  Belshazzar may have known some facts about this God, but he trusted in himself and in the might of his nation - Babylon.  

When we dig a little into ancient history, we find out that Belshazzar probably had good reasons (from a human point of view) to trust in Babylonian power.  The capitol city of Babylon was one of immense wealth and power. It was the center of a vast empire, which included all of Mesopotamia and the highlands beyond, as well as Syria and Palestine. The city was built on the plains, along the banks of the Euphrates River.  Ancient writers describe it as a city surrounded by four walls, each fifteen miles in length. Twenty-four streets ran north and south, and the same number east and west. Each street terminated at one of the one hundred gates in the inner walls and at each gate there was a large beautiful garden. Hence, the city was made up of more than six hundred square blocks!  According to ancient documents, the city walls enclosed a huge, seven-stage ziggurat, which rose to the height of 650 feet.  If we could go back in time and see this ancient city, we would be awestruck at its sheer size and beauty.

 Ancient historians tell us that Babylon held 20 years of food provisions for all the inhabitants inside of its walls.  Additionally, the walls of the city had actually been built over a portion of the Euphrates river so that the city would never be without fresh water!  

The city of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar’s reign reached the absolute pinnacle of world power and no doubt Belshazzar believed his city, his empire and his life to be untouchable.

Daniel 5 deals with the downfall of the Babylonian empire at the hands of Cyrus the Great of the Medo-Persian empire. History records that this transition of power occurred in just one night (October 11th or 12th, 539 B.C.).  Mighty Babylon fell in a single night!  Do you want to know how Cyrus did it?  He knew that he could not get over or through the walls of the great city, so he went under them!  He dug canals that diverted the waters of the Euphrates river and then marched his army through the shallow stream under the walls of the city!  The events of that night are spoken of by the prophet Jeremiah...

Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,” declares the LORD. “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.  The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves [of enemies] will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound.  A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.  I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.  This is what the LORD Almighty says:  “Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”   - Jeremiah 51 (selected)

Other than being historically interesting, what does all of this teach us today?

Simply put, God is sovereign over all nations, kingdoms, cultures, countries, civilizations, and peoples, and He is certainly sovereign over your life and mine!  We all place our trust in someone or something, the only question is who?

Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.  - Psalm 20:6-8

That is why Scripture says:  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.            - James 4:7-10

Jeff Frazier