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?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
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So, how are you?
Thawed out yet?
Only in winter can 30 degrees feel warm!
Be careful, lots of ice on the roads this morning. I was unable to stop coming out of the parking garage at work onto 2nd street in bloomington. Thank goodness no traffic was coming. Also hard to stop and start at stop lights.
Annette
I had a great weekend clearing trees on a frozen lake! Chainsaws on ice are dangerous though (no limbs lost!) The exercise was grueling but very euphoric, working on God's creation in a serene setting.
1. It seems God's main complaint was that as Israel (the nation) grew, the more they tried to control their own destiny (when it served their needs). They didn't recognize God's love in the establishment and nurturing of Ephraim. They instead worshipped man-made gods, gods and religions they were supposed to have utterly destroyed upon conquering the land of Canann.
Another 2 hour delay.
PP, I have to know more. Why were you cutting trees on a frozen lake? Is this one of those new extreme sports? See how many trees you can cut before you cut yourself?
[Let's cut into the broadcast.]
Ladies and gentlemen we have quite a contest today. Woody Williams vs. Chip Charleston. Woody was off to a great start. He had a 2 tree lead, and then... Well, one slip, one slice and now Woody is having to work with one leg and tourniquet. He's really slowed down, and the judges are going to penalize him for blood on the ice.
OK, I don't know where that came from.
Good observation on the passage.
There are a couple of things that strike me early on:
The tenderness of God's care.
The internal struggle that God exhibits - he is angry but just cannot let them go.
I think I made people a little self-conscious in taking communion yesterday. I talked about connectingthe pile of rocks in Joshua 4 to communion. On my way to the connection I said this:
I remember as a kid being fascinated by people taking communion. There were different techniques. Some went for the gentle pinch (of bread) and the gentle placement on the tongue; for others it was the quick grab and poke (in the mouth). Same for the juice. Some would throw it back like a shot of whiskey, and for others it was a gentle tipping of the head.
So what about you? What technique?
I am a true gentle man when it comes to communion.
I would watch that program! That's better than American Gladiators! haha.
My boss at work owns/rents cabins on a man-made lake near Glendale FWR. There were still a lot of trees along the water's edge, out in the middle, and in coves that needed to be cleared for some better fishing. So he lowered the lake this fall by 3', then once it froze enough (4") we got to work, cutting everything off at present water level (3' down from normal). I've got some bruised thighs, a puncture wound in my calf, but no chainsaw injuries!
Another cold morning. If it's going to be this cold, then I want some snow! Patience. Maybe next Monday?
Today is a big day. We get a new president. I am excited about it. It's time for a change, and even though I did not vote for Mr. Obama, I hope that he will lead a change in the country's collective mood.
There is so much hype and coverage, I think I will probably wait and just watch the news this evening to get a condensed version of what happened.
I want to keep up with one of the themes of the week: chainsaws.
There is a guy that I help from time to time. He is hard working but has a large family, and due to circumstances beyond his control he just gets behind at times and does not have enough money to take care of his expenses. He doesn't ask for much very often. Lately, however, he has been a more frequent visitor.
One of the things he does to try supplement his income is cut wood. He does pretty well with this, but his old chainsaw tore up and is beyond repair. I am trying to figure out how to get him another saw. He needs a fairly big and heavy duty one.
I see this project as a good kind of enabling. We can enable him to help himself, which is what he really wants to do.
This guy has been coming to church some, and I have had some really interesting coversations with him. He's pretty sharp. He grew up Catholic but his wife is Baptist. Interesting combo.
The conversations will continue...
I wonder if Matthew 25 could read:
When you saw me sawless you gave me a saw.
A friend sent me this today.
Worms and a lesson to be learned
A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon. Four worms were placed into four separate jars.
The first worm was put into a container of alcohol. The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke. The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup. The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.
At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:
The first worm in alcohol - Dead.
The second worm in cigarette smoke - Dead
Third worm in chocolate syrup - Dead
Fourth worm in good clean soil - Alive.
So the Minister asked the congregation - What did you learn from this demonstration?
Maxine was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said, 'As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!'
That pretty much ended the service.
Yesterday was one of the more productive days I have had in a while. I worked on several things in several different areas.
Some others and I are working on a plan to expand the number of growers and acerage for the Bryantsvillle Hunger Relief Project. We believe that there are some small farmers out there somewhere who would like to help grow the corn that we use to feed people in third world countries. Trying to find them and then figure out how to do it all is the trick.
I spent a fair amount of time on Honduras yesterday. I am really excited about this trip. We have a good, diverse group of about 15 planning to go. In the future I hope we can actually ship a load of BHRP corn to Honduras and then be there to unload and distribute; that was one of the things I was working on yesterday. IF it happens it won't be this year; we are looking into the future.
The Elders have come up with some great ideas regarding our giving at church. Watch for it on Sunday. But one of the things is to try raise all of our Honduran funds on one Sunday. We are going to strive to do this on Easter Sunday. We need $25,000 to cover the cost of everyone and everything. Individuals will be raising money in the mean time from people who are not members of our church. Any/all the extra funds will be used for other mission activity. I think this is a great idea.
Talked to my chainsaw guy yesterday. He found a good rebuilt one from an experienced logger. The guy wants about $250 for it. I'm going to try help him get it some way or another (nothing illegal).
Spent some time studying our passage for the week. I'll have more to say about that later.
I have a weekly Bible study with a couple that comes to our food pantry. When I arrived yesterday there was a home health nurse there making her visit, so I just chatted for a little while then left.
Last night I did a tempo run with the mini marathon training group. A tempo run involves a couple miles of warm-up, stride outs which are brief accelerations, then 3 miles of steady faster running. I am still working on all this but was pleased with a 7.40 pace for the 3 miles. I am still carrying some extra weight; it is being very stubborn.
Yesterday I made an email appeal for help with getting my friend a chainsaw. The response was surprisingly generous; ends up I going to get him a new saw instead of a used one. Many people stepped forward with contributions.
Someone who got the email said they had a friend who had offered to get us a new saw "at cost," so we are getting a really good deal.
I think the thing about this is that the man is trying hard to make it on his own. People understand that. I had one guy call me, offering to pay for a new saw by himself. He said, "Man, I know what this guy is facing. I've been there before. Now, if he's sitting on his rear doing nothing, then I don't want to help. But since he works hard, tries hard, then count me in. I'll do whatever it takes."
I was talking to my friend Darrin about all this. We are working on a lot of poverty issues around town, trying to figure out to truly help, not negatively enable, people.
Darrin, thrilled with the response I was getting, said, "We need to write this down and use this story to motivate the people we are working with. We can use this story to show how people will generously help people who are trying hard to help themselves." It's a good point. None of us likes helping people who are not trying or don't seem to care.
Oh, my head is spinning with too many directions and questions for the passage. My faith tells me God is faithful and unchanging, and His love is all-covering. I move forward everyday with that knowledge and limited understanding, which drives me to serve and obey out of joy. It is obvious that the nation of people in this passage didn't understand that relationship and God's nature.
Here's where I diverge onto different paths in my mind: I think the tone of the writing indicates God is trying to decide in His mind what to do, as if He isn't sure of Himself or isn't sure what the outcome would be of a certain decision on His part. That isn't true at all in my mind. The decision has already been made. God isn't bound by time or some outside set of rules. He is the law, He is faithful, He knows the infinite set of future possibilities for the present state of a person or nation. So the passage is much more rhetorical but gives us some insight into God's nature.
Because we already know the future of the nation of Israel/Judah, I feel comfortable saying that God saved His people not because they deserved it, but because 1) He loved them, 2) they were the chosen people of God (chosen to be the nation through which the Messiah would come, not chosen in the sense they were better), and 3) it is a lesson to all future generations (and us today) that God's ways are not our ways, He is patient and loving, and His will for our lives is what is best for us and we should seek it (although His will is not always done).
There seems to be tension between:
holy justice
and
compassionate love.
Do these get resolved on the Cross?
So this is a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ?
The cross certainly is compassionate love of God for his children to wash away sins of everyone who believes. Holy justice... the law judged the Jews when they failed to obey it. The law was holy (and still is in my opinion), although the requirements of the law (regulation, sacrifice) are done away with at the cross. But we will all still be judged according to our deeds (Matthew 16:27). Our saving grace is, well, grace! Right?
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