Listen to what the LORD says:
"Stand up, plead your case before the mountains;
let the hills hear what you have to say.
Hear, O mountains, the LORD'S accusation;
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against his people;
he is lodging a charge against Israel.
"My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me.
I brought you up out of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
also Aaron and Miriam.
My people, remember
what Balak king of Moab counseled
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember [your journey] from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD."
"With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
Notice that God makes reference to the Exodus and the crossing of the Jordan River.
What is the primary complaint that God has against his people?
What does God want from his people?
How can remembering the Exodus (and the crossing of the Jordan) help the people understand what God desires?
What does it mean to "act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"?
How does this passage apply to us?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Rejecting Cords of Human Kindness
Hosea 11
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.
"Will they not return to Egypt
and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?
Swords will flash in their cities,
will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans.
My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them.
"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath.
They will follow the LORD?
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
They will come trembling
like birds from Egypt,
like doves from Assyria.
I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD.
Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.
Questions:
1. What is the primary complaint that God has against his people?
2. How does God characterize his relationship with his people?
3. How have the people rejected God’s "cords of human kindness," his "ties of love"?
4. What internal struggle does God reveal in this passage?
5. How does this passage apply to us?
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.
"Will they not return to Egypt
and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?
Swords will flash in their cities,
will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans.
My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them.
"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath.
They will follow the LORD?
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
They will come trembling
like birds from Egypt,
like doves from Assyria.
I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD.
Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.
Questions:
1. What is the primary complaint that God has against his people?
2. How does God characterize his relationship with his people?
3. How have the people rejected God’s "cords of human kindness," his "ties of love"?
4. What internal struggle does God reveal in this passage?
5. How does this passage apply to us?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Another Exodus - Another Call to Remember
Joshua 4:4-7 & 21-24
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.
In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
Take the time to read all of Joshua 4, along with chapter 3. This will help you better understand the context of the words we will examine. The book of Joshua describes the conquest and settlement of the Promised Land; this is after 40 years of wilderness wandering.
What is the nature of the memorial that Joshua asks the men to make?
What are they to do? Why?
Why is God concerned with telling the Story from one generation to another?
How does the Exodus story get tied to the crossing of the Jordan?
In what ways do we tell the Story to our children?
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.
In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
Take the time to read all of Joshua 4, along with chapter 3. This will help you better understand the context of the words we will examine. The book of Joshua describes the conquest and settlement of the Promised Land; this is after 40 years of wilderness wandering.
What is the nature of the memorial that Joshua asks the men to make?
What are they to do? Why?
Why is God concerned with telling the Story from one generation to another?
How does the Exodus story get tied to the crossing of the Jordan?
In what ways do we tell the Story to our children?
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Remembering the Basics
Deuteronomy 26:5-11
Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.
He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me."
Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
Please take the time to read all of Deuteronomy 26. This will help you better understand the context of the words we will examine. Note that these words are spoken in the context of how to give back to the Lord.
What story is remembered/recited as the offering is made?
Why?
What kind of response does the story require? See verse 10.
How does the Exodus story affect our worship today?
Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.
He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me."
Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
Please take the time to read all of Deuteronomy 26. This will help you better understand the context of the words we will examine. Note that these words are spoken in the context of how to give back to the Lord.
What story is remembered/recited as the offering is made?
Why?
What kind of response does the story require? See verse 10.
How does the Exodus story affect our worship today?
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