DECEMBER 6
So, today you begin and end 2 John, the 24th book of the New
Testament and you continue in Hosea, the 28th book of the Old Testament. That
is a major achievement on your part.
Regarding Hosea, remember where he comes in the history of
Israel. Solomon had introduced idolatry, spiritual adultery, into the veins of
Israel at the end of his reign. God broke the kingdom into two parts, Israel in
the north and Judah in the south. The north went completely bad, right from the
beginning. There were no godly kings; and in order to keep the people from
going to the temple in Jerusalem to worship, they set up two golden calves,
allowed anyone to be a priest, encouraged the worship of all gods and mixed
these other worship cultures with what was left of the worship of Yahweh. God
tried to win the people back through the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, but
these men only confirmed that Israel was completely lost. Time wise, Elisha has
just died and now Hosea comes with thirty years of sermons on spiritual
adultery and an object lesson regarding that adultery, his own marriage to a
vilely unfaithful woman. Hosea's marriage became a cultural phenomenon and his
sermons were a final warning for people to return to God. Those who heard the
Lord went to Judah during the ministries of Micah and Isaiah and the reign of
King Hezekiah. Those who remained rebellious to God became totally corrupt.
They went into exile with the Assyrians and were lost.
Again, you might want to look at the chart “Kings
of Judah and Israel and the Preexilic Prophets,” to see this in perspective.
Hosea
4-5
Hosea is organized into sermons of
punishment and salvation. Today in Hosea we only get the punishment and one
verse of hope and salvation. The hope that God gives that will offset the
punishment declared today is in 5:15-6:3 tomorrow.
Hosea 4
Vs. 1-3 Notice that this description of
guilt is on all of the people, all of the children of Israel. Notice what God
says is missing, and notice what is there. Without knowing the Lord in truth, there is no faithfulness or steadfast love.
They had mixed pagan worship into the fabric of everything. There was no more
knowledge of what was really true. More than that, there was not a pure view or
understanding of God. These people had become as corrupt as the people whom
Israel had to drive out of Canaan. What was actually worse is that they had had
the knowledge of God, but had given it up to pursue gods that were more to
their liking.
V. 2 These are all violations of the
Ten Commandments. Swearing is invoking a curse against others using the Lord's
name, a violation of the third commandment. In Milwaukee, growing up, that's
how we greeted people. You would have thought it was a commandment to use His
name to curse people.
V. 3 This sounds like the curse on
nature and the groaning of creation from Romans 8.
Vs. 4-14 It seems to me that this block
of verses is aimed at the priests and prophets. Their corruption in vs. 1-11
led to the resultant corruption of the people in 12-14. We have seen in both
Jeremiah and Ezekiel how God holds the leaders responsible for the downfall of
the people and the culture. It is hard for us to grasp this, but the worship of
Yahweh was mixed with paganism. Not only did Jeroboam bring in the golden
calves, but Baal worship was mixed with pseudo-worship according to the law.
Remember that Baal and other forms of fertility worship had a very strong
sexual component to them, in the "worship experience" itself. How
could you compete with that? The worship itself was for them to gain blessing
and prosperity for themselves, and then the actual "worship
experience" kept them coming back for more. There were priests who were
broadminded and knew of Yahweh and though they brought in elements of Judaism,
they met the people at the calves, not the tabernacle or temple. They were
priests, but they were utterly lost, like so many representatives of
"Christian" religions today who conduct services, but do not know
God, are teaching error and are bound for an eternity without God.
Notice in some of the wording how God
will say, you have forgotten…I also will forget.
V. 6 This sounds like Jesus'
"woe" on the scribes/lawyers, Woe
to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter
yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering. (Luke 11:52)
It is hard to imagine a culture this
thoroughly corrupt (except for a small remnant of people), but some of our
cultures in the west are getting there.
Vs. 15-19 Judah is warned here, but the
point is that the rebellion in the north is so deep that the cure will require
something even deeper. King Hezekiah paid attention to warnings like this.
V. 16 This is interesting. A lamb that
follows its shepherd is easy to care for and obedient. Israel is no longer like
that. In the German Bible, instead of a
stubborn heifer, it is a mad or crazy cow.
Hosea 5
Vs. 1-14 This is the declaration of
judgment, beginning again with the leaders, religious first, and then
political.
V. 4-7 This is a very sad diagnosis of
why the problem with those people was incurable. It seems that because they had
so redefined truth and what it meant to know and worship God, that even when
they tried, they did not seek Him, but rather their own lusts. Verse 5 shows
that Judah became part of this. Notice in v. 7 how pagan ritual and bearing
children through Baal worship is linked to the new moon festivals. Keep this in
mind when we read 2 John.
V. 8 Apparently the people of Benjamin
led the way in some of this.
V. 10 Removing a landmark was like
rewriting the truth. You didn't know where the right or wrong was any more.
Notice the images of the moth/dry-rot
and lion and that both of them will strike Ephraim and Judah. What are the
differences in the destruction these two very different destroyers bring?
V. 15 This verse is the first verse of
the section promising hope and restoration. Though this restoration wouldn't
come to that generation that would be destroyed, eventually the people of
Israel, in their distress, would earnestly seek the Lord. Until then, God would
remain distant from them, waiting.
Even today as disciples in the harvest,
we know that not everyone will respond to the offer God is making. Making them
respond is not our job. Some are not ready now and some never will be ready;
but some are ready now to come to Christ and to follow as disciples, who will
make disciples. We simply present the message.
2
John
This short letter by John was probably
written in the same timeframe as 1 John, but here John was planning to visit
this church and so he kept his message brief. The things John mentions are very
similar to 1 John and seem like his way to give this church some basic
guidelines and things to think about until he arrived.
Vs. 1-3 The elect lady is a church and the children
are its members.
Notice how often John uses the word truth in this introduction. It sets the
tone of the entire letter. Just like we saw in Hosea, once the truth is
compromised and reinvented, there is no longer a basis for knowing God or
knowing what is right or wrong in a culture. Paul often told Timothy to guard
the truth and said that the church was the pillar and defender of the truth.
The more you read your Bible, the more the Spirit entrusts to you and the
better equipped you are to protect the truth and pass it on to others.
Vs. 4-6 John rejoices that there are
people following the truth. He takes
the idea of truth and transfers it into the order to follow the truth, a
commandment. He then says the commandment to follow is to love one another.
I'm not sure if there was a situation
within the church that needed to be dealt with, but I have a sense that when we
become so warfare oriented in defending the truth, we can lose our love for
those who know Christ. In fundamentalism I've seen this. I've seen a great
defender of the truth become hard of heart and make enemies of his friends by
harping about the uses and meanings of words. When we get to Revelation, we'll
read about the church of Ephesus as a church that fought hard to defend the
truth, but lost their love for Jesus. Ironic and sad.
Vs. 7-9 We recognize this teaching
about antichrists and deceivers not only from 1 John, but from what we've read
in Daniel. Your translation has the
before both deceiver and antichrist, but these are not the antichrist, just little imitations
of the one who will come later.
V. 8 Note that what will be lost is full reward, not salvation. I was
reading again this morning how Jesus told His disciples to seek the reward the
Father offers us. These rewards are all summed up in seeking Him and making Him
our treasure. I'm finding out that it is harder than I think to be wholly
satisfied in Him and seeking Him. I need to work on finding everything I need
in Him and let the rest rot. That's hard to do in the west between Thanksgiving
and Christmas, when everyone wants us to buy stuff and we equate holiday
happiness with shopping and eating.
V. 9 If we don't abide in the teaching
of Christ, we operate without God, without the leading and direction of His
Spirit. We see this all the time, as Christians we know, or who are public
figures, get themselves into trouble. For a disciple, simply and humbly abiding
in Christ is important. Following Christ in the harvest is important. To live
without abiding in Him is not how we want to live. If we leave the truth, if we
disobey, if we get drawn into sin, then we step away from God and His truth,
following our pride and passion. We don't lose our salvation, but we do
dishonor God and give Satan something to use to reproach the name of our
Savior. That's the point here.
Note that the result of mixing truth
and error is what we are reading about in Hosea.
Vs. 10-11 This is the same as being
unequally yoked with unbelievers, or what Paul talks about regarding
associating with Christians living in sin (2 Cor. 6:14). You still love them,
but your relationship to them is one of restoration, not acceptance. And beyond
that, there are people and false teaching that need to be dealt with strongly.
If you saw someone pouring poison in a well, the time for being politically
correct and winsome would be over.
V. 12 This was enough to get the people
thinking, but John was on his way and would continue in person.
V. 13 John means that the believers
where he wrote this were greeting the believers to whom he was writing.
Psalm
125
As you read these
opening verses and think of what we read in Hosea, you wonder what went wrong.
These people were certainly singing the right words. But it all comes down to
obedience to the truth. If the truth gets eaten away by false teaching or by
our redefining truth to our passions, then we remake God in our own image. In
that sense, God becomes lost to us.
This is why we are in
the Word, firsthand submitting our hearts and minds to His truth. In this way
we learn who He truly is, and He defines us. And that's a good thing, because
in Him and in His truth we are unmovable. We abide in Him regardless of what life
throws at us as we follow Him in the harvest.
Vs. 1-2 This was the
psalmist taking the eternal view of Jerusalem as God's chosen city. This is
true, but will only be realized during the Millennium.
Vs. 3-5 All of this
has an "earthly" ring to it; that is, these are earthly consequences,
not necessarily dealing with heavenly salvation. The Lord brings justice to the
righteous. He blesses the upright who follow Him. Those who turn away from the
Lord wind up like those who don't know the Lord at all, at least on earth.
Proverbs 29:9-11
So, what do you think God is warning us about with these
three proverbs? It is far easier to read these proverbs than to heed them.
Wisdom eventually teaches you that you can't reason with this type of person
and that you just need to keep silent and/or walk away with your "pearls."
(Matt. 7:6)
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these
comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in
growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see
the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples,
meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out
and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal
manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us
more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are
only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of
God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are
designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is
that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a
year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples,
disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more
descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the
Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators
are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any
particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte
Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with
us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their
own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular
tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to
criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has
written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
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