THE LORD WHO RULES (DANIEL 1)

The foundation of courageous faith is the sovereign faithfulness of the Lord God.

Trouble in this world? Here's a promise of Jesus to everyone who follows him "In this world you will have trouble." (Jn. 16.33)

Here's a promise of the apostle Paul to everyone who follows Jesus “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Timothy 3:12)

Brothers and sisters, these are not encouraging promises at all are they? But they are very important promises. And I feel quite foolish bringing them to you, my brothers and sisters here in India for you know the reality of these things far more than we do in Australia. The Lord keeps you in our hearts and our prayers. The reality of the trouble we have in this world as followers of Jesus, The reality of the persecution that everyone must face who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus is certain regardless of anywhere in the world you live in.

That reality is what makes the book of Daniel so precious and powerful to us. Because Daniel is a book that explores powerfully & creatively how the people of God live under opposition. It’s a very realistic book it doesn't cover over the difficulties of living in the midst of hostility but it’s a book of hope, real & genuine hope because it reminds us of the reality of the Lord's rule in this present age, indeed in every age and his ultimate victory in the age to come. In the book of Daniel we learn that to survive as Christians we need courageous faith. We meet models of such courageous faith that we can imitate. We meet fantastic examples of godly faith and godly conduct in the face of ungodly opposition and evil.

More importantly what is revealed is the foundation of such courageous faith which is the Lord himself. In the book of Daniel, It's not the human characters that are the stars or it’s not the human characters who are the ultimate heroes but it’s the Lord himself. It's good to remember that in reading the Bible we must focus our attention on the Lord God, his words, his actions and his character. To focus too much on the human character can lead to error and bad biblical interpretation and almost inevitably to moralism and salvation through good deeds. To avoid such terrible error we must focus on the Lord God and ask ourselves what do we learn of him and so respond to him in worship and thanksgiving. And so as we look at Daniel chapter 1, we are going to be reminded that the Lord we serve is the Lord who is sovereign, he is the Lord who rules.

1. THE LORD RULES IN JUDGEMENT (VV1-2)

The Lord's people

1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. Whenever we turn to a passage in the Bible, in particular the Old Testament, It's always important to remind ourselves where this passage fits in the overall timeline of the Bible.

Where does this passage fit in the story of God redeeming the world to Himself? In Daniel we find in a dark time in the history of God's people. Its 605 BC, It’s some 400 years since the nation of Israel was at its most glorious under King David & Solomon and since then it’s been largely a story of disappointment and decline. Under King Rehoboam, the kingdom divided, Israel in the north, Judah in the south. There's been a succession of kings in both the north & the south but all of them except a couple evil in the eyes of the Lord. And then in 722BC, little over a 100 years before our passage, before the time of Daniel the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered & dispersed under the Assyrian empire. Leaving Judah small & isolated at the mercy of whoever the current superpower. Firstly Assyria to the north but then Egypt to the south until then the mighty Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar emerged. Here's a map of the Babylonian Empire at around the time we find ourselves in. [MAP] in 605BC on his way back from a huge victory over the Egyptians.

1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Nebuchadnezzar and his fierce, successful and powerful armies surrounded the small city of Jerusalem cutting off supplies, Cutting off all chance of help and sealing its doom. As a result of this siege, King Jehoiakim gave his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. Judah became a possession of Babylon and to make sure everyone knew who the boss was. Nebuchadnezzar took hostages from among the Jewish noble families including [v.6] Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. And not only did he take people [v.2] he took “... some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.”

These are disastrous times for the Lord's people Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael & Azariah, and eventually thousands of other Jews find themselves in a foreign country under a hostile authority where their beliefs are misunderstood & mocked. The reason Nebuchadnezzar took the articles from the temple of God was not so much because he liked the look of them. It wasn't because they were financially valuable, rather he was demonstrating that the Babylonians gods whom he served were more powerful than the God of the Jews and that's why he put this temple articles in the treasure house of his god. In Nebuchadnezzar's eyes the beliefs & practices of the Jews were misguided and foolish, the gods of Babylon were far wiser far more powerful than the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.

Terrible times for the Lord's people and the challenge for them was how to live now in this new situation. How do you live as the people of the Lord when the authorities, the government, the people in charge do not believe in the Lord God? Mock the Lord God! Hate the Lord God? That of course has been the question that the people of God asked for hundreds and hundreds of years.

·         That is the question of every Jesus’ follower in India?

·         That is the question of every Jesus follower in Australia?

How do you live as the people of the Lord God when the people in charge hate him? That's the question the book of Daniel helps answer. For the people of Daniel's day they were wondering whether they should continue to serve the Lord. They were wondering if Babylonian gods were more powerful than him. They were wondering if the Lord was as powerless as their circumstances made it appear.

The Lord:  That's why it’s worth reading once more the opening 2 verses of the book of Daniel. Particularly the first few words of v2, Can you see them?

1:2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.

Very important words those are easy to miss out. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand. Right from the very beginning, we are to understand that something bigger is happening than merely a military victory & defeat. Nebuchadnezzar was certainly a mighty warrior with a powerful army and successful empire. But the only reason he defeated Jehoiakim, the only reason he carried off articles from the temple, the only reason he was able to take hostages was because the Lord delivered them into his hands. That's a remarkable truth. It’s one that is going to be reinforced in this chapter and throughout this book.

The Lord rules in the big & the small. Nothing takes God by surprise. Nothing happens that is outside his will and purpose. The Lord rules! It wasn't an accident that Nebuchadnezzar stumbled into Jerusalem. He came as the servant of the Lord, He just didn't know it! Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian gods hadn't defeated the Lord. He was an instrument of the Lord's judgement on his people for their unfaithfulness to him. The Lord is utterly sovereign. Even in the midst of invasion, destruction and exile. The Lord rules! He rules even in judgement. To know that to know the Lord in all of his sovereignty is the foundation of courageous faith. And we can see such courageous faith in what we read next as we are taken into the royal court in Babylon.

2. THE LORD RULES IN EXILE (VV3-20)

The Lord's people

1:3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility ⁴ young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace.

It must have been a scary time for these young men. Babylon would have been an impressive city, Massive and prosperous it really was the centre of the known world. And these men were to serve the King who seemingly ruled that world. [v. 5] we discover that they were to undergo 3 years training! And the training was a sort of indoctrination, assimilation into the Babylonian culture. Firstly [v. 4] they were to learn the language and the literature of the Babylonians. This would have included philosophy and astrology, Babylonia was renowned for its magic, omens and incantations along with mathematics and medicine. Lots to learn there, that's why they had to be quick to understand! The second part of their assimilation was to tempt them with luxury.

1:5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table.

The best food and drink available in the whole world would be theirs. They were to be privileged and pampered. The third part of their assimilation was especially shrewd.

1:6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Names matter especially in the ancient world. My name is Paul, which means small and insignificant! I think my mum and dad got it pretty right?? For the men from Judah their names reminded them of their identity as the Lord's people.

·         Daniel means “God is my judge.”

·         Hananiah means “The LORD is gracious.”

·         Mishael means "Who is what God is?"

·         Azariah means "The LORD is a helper".

But the new names they were given Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego[i] all those new names include the names of Babylonian gods. See the point! This was just another part of Nebuchadnezzar's plan to impress on these men and to declare to everyone that the Babylonian gods were superior to the Lord God. And so their names were changed. We're only 7 verses in and we've got vessels from the temple in the house of the Babylonian god and we've got the key men of Judah bearing names of the Babylonian gods. Nebuchadnezzar's goal of assimilation is advancing nicely. But here is where things get interesting.

1:8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Daniel draws a line in the sand. He learns the language & the literature of the Babylonians, he gets the new name but he won't eat the King's food. It was a courageous and risky decision. He was standing up to the King of the world! In v.10 the official is anxious that Daniel's decision might lead to his own execution. He might have suggested, “You don't go against Nebuchadnezzar lightly!” It’s a significant decision that Daniel is making. [v.8] Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. It’s a strong word describing a weighty decision (The word “Resolved” often used for committee / General Body meetings to say a strong decision by a group of people that has huge weight in it). But you may be wondering why he has to draw the line at food & wine?

• Some people suggest that it may have been offered to idols but that's not stated anywhere and usually wine wasn't offered like that in any culture, and he ends up eating vegetables which may be offered to idols as well.
• Others suggest the food was unclean according to the OT food laws. But again wine wasn't unclean in the Law.
• It seem most likely to me that eating the King's food & drinking the King's wine was seen as committing yourself to being dependent on Nebuchadnezzar. To eat the King’s food and to drink the King’s wine was to bind yourself to the King.

It was throwing your lot in with Nebuchadnezzar. There's no such thing as a free lunch. In fact later in Ch 11 (v.26) people who eat the King's food are seen as loyal to the King. But Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael & Azariah their loyalty is to the Lord. They may be in another country far from home surrounded by pagan customs, but their loyalty is to the Lord. It may appear that the Lord has been defeated and it may be far easier to just to completely blend in. But they resolve to set themselves apart from everyone else.  While everyone else is happily munching on rich foods, fancy deserts and expensive wine, they ask for vegetables & water for 10 days. Its courageous faith! Daniel is humble about it [v.8] he asks permission and suggests the 10 days as a test.

In America and Australia some people suggest that everyone should follow Daniel's example and eat just vegetables and water. It's called the Daniel diet! People suggest that big course we see it here in Daniel chapter 1 great blessing will come to you (including a smaller waistline) If you follow Daniel's example. I am not against eating vegetables and drinking water. Although I must tell you that I love eating meat! But that is a terrible way to read the Bible. You can eat vegetables & drink water if you want but that's not the point of these verses at all! This is not about resisting rich food; it’s about resisting a foreign king. This is not about physical health, but spiritual health! It’s about making sure that your loyalty above all to the Lord God. And these 4 young men are a great example to us in that! They are teenage refugees and they're making a stand of faithfulness to the Lord God that has echoed down through the ages.

There are many ways in which we'll be offered the royal food and fine wine of our age. And the question is, will we have the courageous faith to draw the line & say "My loyalty is with the Lord, in spite of anything go wrong in my life"? In Australia one of the important areas that we need to draw the line in at the moment is in the areas of sexuality and gender and marriage. In Australia traditional marriage between a man and a woman is no longer very honoured. Same sex marriage has been legalised and homosexuality is not just accepted as normal but as right & honourable. Influential people are even undermining the truth that there are just two genders Male and female. The school teachers are being forced to teach about sexuality & gender in a way that is contrary to the Bible. Health care workers are given what is called diversity training to educate them out of old fashioned ideas that there are only 2 genders. As time goes on Christians are being more pressured to give up being faithful to the Lord's teaching on such things. It’s becoming harder and costly to draw the line and resolve to serve the Lord faithfully.

Here in India of course you have even greater and more dangerous struggles and challenges. Like Daniel and three friends, we find ourselves in exile facing tough and costly decisions. Decisions with consequences, the question is, will we have the courageous faith to draw the line and say "My loyalty is with the Lord, come what may"? That sounds hard which is why we need to keep remembering the main lesson of this chapter.

The Lord: The 4 young men are definitely great examples but again the focus of our passage is not so much on their faith but on the rule of the Lord. And we can see the firstly in v9, “Now God had caused the official to show favour and compassion to Daniel”

The men may be alone in Babylon exiled, in the royal court, at the mercy of Nebuchadnezzar but the Lord rules in exile. And his rule is both big & small, Not only does he bring invading armies, but also he works in the heart of Babylonian officials. Isn't that encouraging? The Lord exercises his complete rule in both the big and the small in the hearts of government officials, and neighbours. Whenever we feel alone and outnumbered, whenever we feel powerless and afraid. We do well to remember that the Lord who ruled in Babylon and worked in the heart of a Babylonian official, he rules now here and everywhere you go.

And you know that he can work in the hearts of everyone you talk with? So stand firm. Don't compromise. Don't be afraid to be loyal to the Lord. For he rules; he rules India; he rules the school your children go to; he rules over your neighbourhood; he rules over your churches; he rules over your families and his rule is powerful! The Lord's sovereignty is the foundation of courageous faith. Of course it may well take some wisdom for you to know where to draw the line in each circumstance. We'll need to pray about and keep learning the word of God in the Bible; we'll need to help each other figure it out. Sometimes it won't be straight forward; we’ll need to decide whether we can go along with what's happening like Daniel & the others seemingly accepting the name change, but at some point we'll need to take a stand like they did with the food. And it will be risky we'll need wisdom and courage. And the fuel for such courage is to be convinced that the Lord rules in our situation. That's the encouragement of what happens next in this chapter.

1:15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

Isn't that terrific! I figure it must have been the Lord because there's no way that vegetables alone could have that effect? I can't believe that! But the Lord rules in exile! And the Lord didn't just look after their health.

1:17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

That's going to be really important in the rest of the book, but notice again “God gave”. If you'd been there in the royal court you would have assumed that the boys were just really good learners but unseen, it’s the Lord at work. The Lord who makes everything works out according to his plan. And then after 3 years, the moment arrives; the boys come before the King.

20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

The Lord rules! In fact notice that it’s the defeated Israelites who were ten times (10x) better than all the Babylonian magicians & enchanters. The Lord rules and He rules in power. It’s a simple lesson that is repeated throughout this chapter (in fact throughout this whole book). But it’s the fundamental lesson that we need to learn in order to live wisely in this hostile world. But of course our chapter doesn't end in v20. There's one more verse left. And we can easily skip it or think that it doesn't matter very much, but actually this last remaining verse has one final very important lesson for us concerning the Lord's rule.

3. THE LORD RULES IN FAITHFULNESS (V21)

21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

It seems like quite an incidental thing at first. Just another historical detail in the chapter, but in fact that short seemingly ordinary sentence proclaims the Lord's sovereign faithfulness! For King Cyrus was the Persian King who defeated the Babylonian Empire in 539BC. Babylon which seemed so strong and invincible ended just like every other human empire. And wonderfully in the same way Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was the Lord's instrument of judgement on his disobedient people.

King Cyrus of Persia was the Lord's chosen instrument of rescue. Under Cyrus, the exiles returned to Judah and the temple was rebuilt. Long before it happened, the Lord had promised it all. Hear the Lord's promise through the prophet Isaiah preaching some 100 years before the exile “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 45:13)

Friends, the Lord is not just sovereign, he is faithful to his promises. The Lord is not just all-powerful, he is good, he is trustworthy. And so after the 70 years of exile promised through Jeremiah, the Lord brought down the Babylon Empire through his instrument Cyrus. The Persian Empire and Daniel lived through it all, He begins a teenager and he is an elderly man now as he watches Babylon fall. Daniel is the symbol of the truth that the Lord rules in faithfulness. And the Lord's sovereign grace is the foundation of the courageous faith that is required to live for the Lord in the midst of hostile authority. That was the courageous faith of Daniel. It must be courageous faith too, which perhaps sounds quite daunting. Perhaps you have difficulty imagining yourself courageously taking a stand like Daniel did before Nebuchadnezzar.

Well let me give you one final breath taking encouragement. The very same sovereign faithfulness of the Lord that used Cyrus to achieve his purposes for his people led Jesus, the Son of God, to leave heaven and to come to earth and experience the very hostility of this world towards the Lord and His people. Jesus was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. If you want to be convinced that the Lord is powerful and good; Sovereign & gracious look ultimately to the cross & resurrection of Jesus. And Jesus is our ultimate model of courageous faith.

Hear these words from 1Peter 2:23 “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Friends, the same courageous faith we see in Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael & Azariah we see perfectly in Jesus. And Jesus in his death & resurrection defeated the evil one who stands behind every expression of opposition to the Lord and his kingdom on his people. The Lord Jesus is risen and reigns, He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords! That promise of Jesus that I began with from John 16 I left off the end of the promise “... In this world you will have trouble." (Jn 16.33)

Do you know what Jesus says next? “...But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) And through faith in Jesus we are connected to that courageous faith, his Spirit dwells in us growing within us such courageous faith so that like him we too might entrust ourselves to the sovereign Lord who judges justly. The Lord is sovereign, the Lord is good, trust him, give him your loyalty, and take your stand. May God Bless You!

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[i] Daniel's absence from the tale of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego suggests that it may originally have been an independent story. The Hebrew names of Daniel's friends were Hananiah (חֲנַנְיָה Ḥănanyāh), "Yah is gracious", Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל Mîšā’êl), "Who is what El is?" and Azariah (עֲזַרְיָה Ǎzaryāh), "Yah has helped", but by the king’s decree they were assigned Chaldean names, so that Daniel became Beltheshazzar (בֵּ֣לְטְשַׁאצַּ֗ר Belteshazzar), Hananiah became Shadrach (שַׁדְרַך Šaḏraḵ), Mishael became Meshach (מֵישַׁ֖ךְ Mêšaḵ) and Azariah became Abednego (עֲבֵ֣דנְג֑וֹ ‘Ǎḇêḏ-Nəḡō). Shadrach's name is possibly derived from Shudur Aku "Command of Aku (the moon god)", Meshach is probably a variation of Mi-sha-aku, meaning "Who is as Aku is?", and Abednego is either "Slave of the god Nebo/Nabu" or a variation of Abednergal, "Slave of the god Nergal." The Chaldean names are related to the Hebrew names, but the name of a heathen god has replaced that of Yahweh. The word "Dura" (where the statue is erected) means simply "plain" or "fortress" and is not any specific place; the Greek historian Herodotus mentions a golden image of the god Bel in Babylon, but the gigantic size of this statue might suggest that its origins lie in folklore. The statue's dimensions (6×60 cubits) are linked intertextually with those of Ezra–Nehemiah's Second Temple (60×60 cubits), suggesting that the king's image is contrasted with the post-exilic place of worship for faithful Jews like Daniel.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadrach,_Meshach,_and_Abednego

 

Credit: The Devotion was delivered by Rev. Paul Sheely @ PTC Trainers’ Training in Carmel Conference Centre, Salem on June 21, 2019.

SHOCKING LOVE OF GOD (HOSEA 1-3)

In response to gross unfaithfulness, the LORD remains a faithful husband to his people (even through judgement/discipline).

Our God is too small: When I was a young Christian, fairly new to the faith, someone lent me a book to read. The title of the book was "Your God is too small". To be honest I can't remember anything about the book! I can't remember if it was good or terrible! I was so new to Christianity that I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference I'm pretty sure. But I remember the title because it's such a great title! I suspect that when it comes to the true and living God of the Bible, No matter how clearly we understand him, No matter how firmly we believe in him I suspect that it's always true that what we know of God and believe about God is always too small..3

And I say that simply because the true and living God of the Bible is so magnificent, So holy, So completely other than us, So powerful, So full of love. That it's impossible for us to grasp him completely. That's not to say that we can't know him truly, because we can. The wonder of the Bible is that God reveals himself to us so that even with the smallest grasp of biblical truth it is possible for a person to know God truly, but because we are creatures we can never know God fully. Our God is always too small compared to the glorious reality in our understanding. That's part of what is so exciting about reading and teaching the Bible. Because we are constantly having our whole view of God expanded. That is certainly the case for me when it comes to the book of Hosea.

Hosea is a truly remarkable book of the Bible. And I want to share with you the first three chapters of this remarkable book. And my prayer and hope is that in spending time in this part of God's word, Our picture of God, Our understanding of God, Our appreciation of God might be expanded and deepened and even challenged. Because, I believe that such a challenge will be exciting and wonderful. So let's begin.

1. SHOCKING MARRIAGE (1.1-9)

Hosea: The first thing that we need to do of course is to orient ourselves as to where Hosea fits into the Bible timeline. The Bible is a continuous unified story of God graciously redeeming a rebellious world. But where does Hosea fit into the timeline? The very first verse helps us with that.

1:1 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 Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:

Without getting too bogged down in the names of those kings, all of that detail puts Hosea after the kingdom was divided as the north and the south. So after Saul, David & Solomon and after the kingdom divides into Israel in the north & Judah in the south. Long after that division in fact Hosea is ministering in the Northern kingdom of Israel. His ministry lasted some 35 years and although it began in a time of peace and prosperity for Israel it ended on the eve of the invasion by Assyria and Israel's complete desolation. We quickly discover the reason for that desolation as we keep reading.

Hosea's marriage

1:2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her”

That is a startling and shocking sentence the first time you read it I think. In fact, I'm not sure it loses much of its shock no matter how many times that you read it. Hosea, in serving the Lord, is commanded by the Lord to marry a promiscuous (adulterous) woman, a prostitute and have children with her. Think twice friends, before putting up your hand to be a prophet of the Lord.

It's not an easy task. Now can I quickly point out that Hosea 1.2 is not offering general marriage counselling! This is one of those important moments in the Bible reading & Bible interpretation where context really matters! This is a specific command from the Lord specifically to Hosea with a specific reason. And that reason is revealed in the second half of v2. "... For like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD."

Here's the thing to grasp, which is really important because if we don't grasp this, these chapters won't make any sense. The Lord God is the husband of his people and his people are his bride. That's a really incredible idea. It’s a challenging idea to how we understand the character of the Lord God and how we understand his relationship with his people. And we'll see this truth portrayed in lots of different ways throughout this book but right from the very beginning its set up for us in Hosea being called to marry an unfaithful woman.

Hosea's marriage is like a living illustration of the marriage between the Lord God and the Israelites. The prophets of God often called to demonstrate what God wants to speak to the people through their lifestyle, in Hosea’s case it is difficult to think in Indian context. Hosea as the groom represents the Lord God, Gomer represents Israel. And Gomer's infidelity, Gomer's promiscuity represents Israel's unfaithfulness. For as the Lord Himself says in v2 "... for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord." Now I'm assuming that Hosea's marriage, that Hosea's choice of a bride was so shocking that it must've caused everyone to comment and question and shake their heads as follows …

·         "What a fool you are Hosea!"

·         "Does he have any idea of who he is committing himself to?!"

·         "Hosea has made himself a laughing stock marrying that whore!"

And every time the Israelites condemned Gomer they condemned themselves. And every time they questioned Hosea's wisdom, they were inviting destruction upon themselves. Because as shocking as Hosea's marriage to Gomer was what is infinitely more shocking is that the Holy, Sovereign, Majestic Lord God should commit himself in love to a faithless adulterous people like Israel? The other thing of course that is incredible in these verses is the humble obedience of Hosea. Who knows what must have been going through his mind as he heard the Lord's command to him? Although I think we can make some pretty accurate guesses can't we? I'm sure it was something like, "Are you serious Lord?" But whatever were his initial reactions and responses ‘he was obedient’.

1:3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And just when you thought it couldn't get more shocking, We turn to Hosea's family and in particular the names of the children.

Hosea's 'family': His firstborn was a son

1:4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”

Names can be important can't they? People in the state of Kerala keep fancy names like Jijo, Bijo, Jajo... etc which have no meanings whatsoever. But in other cultures names play a major role, especially in Israelite cultures, I'm sure you've heard me say it before my name is Paul, and Paul means small & insignificant! That is why I'm glad that names don't carry too much weight in our (Australian) culture. But names are really significant in the Bible. And the names of the 3 children mentioned here are really significant. Hosea's firstborn son is named Jezreel; Jezreel was the name of a town in Israel which is the scene of a lot of bloodshed & sin in Israel's history. The sin & the bloodshed is also bound up a fair bit with the worship of the false god Baal which we see was a big problem in Hosea's day. But the word Jezreel can mean either God scatters Or God sows. It has a negative meaning or a positive meaning depending on the context (Just like the word Kal – in Hindi refers both yesterday and tomorrow based on the context). But we can see in v4 that for Hosea's son it was definitely weighted towards "God scatters" or "God punishes" and so Jezreel was a like a walking symbol that God, the cheated-on husband had had enough with the people.

But the names get even stronger with the next 2 children. 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Now, notice that in v3 we're specifically told that Gomer bore Hosea a son. But here in v6 there's no mention of Hosea. No mention of Hosea either with the 3rd child in v8. And its possible probable that we can guess Hosea is not the father, that Gomer has continued to be unfaithful and that she's bearing children into Hosea's household that aren't his. That's certainly how it was with Israel & the Lord God and it seems that's how it was with Gomer & Hosea. And so the daughter in v6 is named "not loved" or a better translation, ‘no mercy or no pity’.

1:6 “... for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all." (ESV) What a shocking name! But it’s perhaps even worse in v9 where the son is named "not my people" v.9 “... for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

Margie & I have a grandson named Tobias. Tobias means God is good! Our prayer is that as he grows up, his name will remind him that no matter what happens in his life God is good & can be trusted.

But Israel as a nation was not honouring God. Although the Lord had showed them mercy, brought them to himself as his bride, Israel was like an adulterous wife & the children of Israel were the children of unfaithfulness and so “not loved and not my people” says the Lord God. These were utterly shocking names.

And friends I want to say that if those names don't shock you, if they don't alarm you, if they don't cause you to shudder then you haven't appreciated them to their full extent. I think the normal response to hearing those names is to ask something like "How could God do it?" "How could God be so harsh?" "How could God be so strict? so black & white? so angry?" And if they're the sort of questions you are asking, I want to say well done! So long as you are asking them in humility, to learn and not to accuse. Because we need to be drawn into a deeper clearer understanding of the character of God If we have a problem with God, then it’s always us who have the problem and not God. If we cannot understand why God would choose such names, then we do not properly understand the true & living God. That's where Chapter 2 is so helpful (Don't panic! We'll come back to the end of Chapter 1 at the end!)

2. SHOCKING UNFAITHFULNESS (2.2-13)

What we discover in Ch 2 is the LORD God speaking personally, about his bride Israel. We'll return to the story of Hosea & Gomer in Ch 3. But their marriage is the back drop for the relationship between the LORD God & his chosen people. And what we discover in Ch 2 is the shocking unfaithfulness of Israel. In Ch 2 we are hearing the words of a loving husband describing the unfettered, ongoing, adultery even prostitution of his wife. And his heart is exposed, raw, betrayed and in righteous anger. Hear the words of the true & living God....

Hos. 2:2-5 “Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts ⁴ I will not show my love to her children, because they are the children of adultery. ⁵ Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace...”

These words are so challenging to us. They challenge our understanding of the character of the LORD God and they challenge our understanding of how he relates to his people. The true and living God of the Bible is not removed, He is not unmoved, He is not distant and cold - Not at all. The Lord God is like a husband who makes a commitment to his bride, A commitment to love her and to be faithful to her and to care for her. When his people give their love & loyalty to anything other than him its spiritual adultery.

It’s the same as the wife of a committed loving faithful husband, having sex with multiple partners for money & possessions. That should jar us, utterly jar us. Because we are so complacent about sin, We prefer to think of sin in sort of abstract ways, sin is going your own way, sin is heading down the wrong track or we think of sin in purely cold & legal terms ‘its breaking a law, its breaking the rules’ and there's truth in all of that but ultimately sin is personal, its relational, it’s against the LORD God & he takes it personally because it is personal.

And it will be impossible for us to understand the strength of the LORD's feelings & language about the disobedience of Israel unless we can grasp this. This explains the strength of those names given to the children. The LORD God long ago had promised Abraham that he would bless his descendants & give them land and care for them. And he had! He had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and brought them to himself. He had entered into a covenant with them just like a marriage at Mt Sinai that should have meant blessing to them. All that was required was faithfulness, loyalty, trust and obedience. Instead, the history of Israel was a history of spiritual adultery. In particular they had given their hearts to the false god Baal. Baal was the most important of the Canaanite gods. It’s significant that the name Baal means ‘master or even husband’. (I told you names were significant!) And so straight away we can see that there's competition for the hearts for the loyalty of the Israelites living in Canaan.

But rather than remaining faithful to the LORD God who had brought them to himself & blessed them, They gave themselves to another husband, another Master named Baal. Because Baal was thought to be the god of fertility, rain and so it was very tempting to the Israelites, as a farming nation to worship him and the other false gods hoping for better crops. That's why in v5 the LORD describes Israel as going after her lovers...

2:5 “... who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’

But of course Baal never gave them crops, never gave them food, never gave them water, Baal never gave them anything of worth but in their arrogant ignorance the Israelites offered all that the LORD gave them to Baal in religious sacrifices! See v8, “She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold which they used for Baal.”

It’s all so senseless, stupid & despicable. And so, as we saw in the naming of the children the LORD promises judgement. For he is not some weak, moaning, pathetic jilted husband he is the LORD God, the maker of heaven & earth!

2:9-13: 9 “Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready. I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her naked body. ... 12 I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. 13 I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals;

The LORD promises judgement on his unfaithful bride. The judgement is strong all that the Israelites pursued from Baal, the LORD would take it away no grain, no crops, no wool, no vines but only devastation. Remember the names of the children “... no mercy... not my people”. We'll read more of this judgement throughout the book. But what I want to focus on here is that what is driving this judgement this anger is the shocking unfaithfulness of Israel which is captured so powerfully in the second half of v.13, “she decked herself with rings and jewellery, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

Those final four words are so stark don't you think? But me she forgot It's a husband sitting at the dining table with the meal carefully prepared for his wife, The best cutlery, The best China, Candles, Beautiful food and as he sits waiting for his wife to join him, She is out with Makeup, Jewellery, Perfume, Expensive clothes at a seedy club trying to attract other men to have sex with her. I realise that's provocative and troubling and shocking. But that's exactly the point. That's exactly the picture “That's Israel...” The Lord God says... "But me she forgot."

It's a shocking marriage. It is shocking unfaithfulness. But here is what is most shocking. Here is what of everything else in these chapters that should make us jolt, and that is that the Lord remains faithful to his promises. And to make sure we grasp how shocking that is, See what the Lord asks Hosea (his representative) to do next...

3. SHOCKING LOVE (3.1-5, 1.10-2.1, 2.14-23)

3:1 The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.”

As jarring as it was back in 1.2 to hear the Lord commanded Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman, it’s even more jarring here Don't you think? To hear the Lord command Hosea to take his unfaithful prostitute wife back, But even more than taking her back “To love her.”  It's an incredible command to do something which according to the world's standards sounds utterly ridiculous. If Hosea's friends mocked him back in chapter 1? (And how they had been proven to be right), How much more would they have mocked him and talked about him behind his back when he took Gomer back in to his house with love! But again Hosea's actions were to demonstrate the character of the LORD and his shocking love for the unfaithful Israel.

3:1 “.... Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

I'm assuming the raisin cakes some part of some religious ceremony. But the Israelites had turned away from the Lord God and given themselves to false gods for raisin cakes? Give them up Lord! They are not worth it to the Lord! But the Lord still loves them, because they are his bride. Shocking love! It's emphasised by the fact that 4 times in this one verse we read of love! And so Hosea seeks out Gomer living with some other man in adultery he has to pay a price (v2) to gain her back.

3:3 Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

Hosea brings his wife back, but it's not a simple 'all is forgotten'. 'Let's pretend nothing has happened'. Love is not stupid. Love is not blind to consequences. And so there will be a period of time without intimacy and there is an insistence on loyalty and faithfulness. But Hosea will love Gomer and his love will reflects the even greater love & faithfulness of the Lord for the Israelites.

3:4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. ⁵ Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.

It’s a beautiful picture of repentance, of return. The major theme of the book is return. The Lord sends Hosea to his people as his prophet to call them to return. And here is the thing to understand, even the Lord's anger, even the Lord's judgement that we've seen in these chapters even they are driven by his love and are designed by him so that his people might return to him. That's why back in chapter 1, after the terrible naming of the children, 'No mercy' 'You are not my people, and I'm not your God', but then in 1.10 there is this incredible 3 letter word "Yet". See it in 1:10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’

It's a beautiful picture of return, A return to the Lord and to his blessings. Or again at the end of chapter 2 After describing her gross unfaithfulness and his own righteous anger and judgement in verses 2 – 13 suddenly without seeming to even pause for breath; In v.14 we read 2:14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.”

It's remarkable throughout the message of Hosea there is this tension within God's love for his people. He will not, He cannot overlook their offences and their blatant unfaithfulness [2.14] they will be led into the wilderness, but at the same time He will not let them go [2.14] he speaks tenderly to them. In 2.17 he promises to remove even the name Baal from their lips; In 2.19 he promises to betroth them to himself in faithfulness. It’s like a recommitment ceremony for (if you remember the double meaning of the word Jezreel). The God who scatters in judgement will be the same God who sows! And so look at how chapter 2 ends in v. 23 I will plant her for myself in the land; And I will have mercy on No Mercy, I will say to those called ‘Not my people, ’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

It’s the most remarkable portrait of the true & living God of the Bible don't you think? It’s like that story "Your God is too small" I began with? These chapters so radically challenge our view of the Lord God I think they have to change it, deepen it, and expand it. For me it’s captured by the picture I have in my mind of Hosea going & knocking on the door of that other man whom Gomer was with prostituting herself. Hosea is pleading for Gomer to return and Hosea is purchasing her back for himself in love, commitment & faithfulness to his promises. That's the love, commitment and faithfulness of the Lord God.

And friends we're going to keep on having our understanding of the Lord challenged & changed as we see continue working our way through the book. In many ways, the rest of the book explains how the results of these opening chapters will be achieved. But for now let’s just pause and reflect on the truth that this shocking love of God is not just something to learn about and marvel at from afar! This shocking love is to be experienced up close; it’s to be enjoyed by even us! It’s for us to know. If it’s incredible that the Lord God might love adulterous Israel, How much more incredible is it that he might love an adulterous world? For God didn't just love adulterous Israel, God so loved the whole spiritually adulterous world, loved us so much that he gave his one and only Son Jesus that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life!

In fact Jesus was the embodiment of this shocking, beautiful love, enduring rejection, betrayal, hatred and ultimately in love even laying down his life to save his enemies. He purchased unfaithful people back to himself through his own blood. To save even us! Incredible love, Amazing love! And so listen to how Apostle Peter takes the lessons of our chapters in Hosea & applies them to anyone who has thrown their lot in with Jesus. 1 Pet. 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Friends, as stunning and as shocking as it is that Hosea might take back Gomer in love, As stunning & as shocking as it is that Lord might take back Israel in love. Who could have imagined that the Lord's love would reach outside of the physical family tree of Abraham or of Israel and reach even to us? For unlike Israel we were never his people but now in Jesus those of us who have faith in his saving death are the people of God luxuriating in his mercy, grace & love. Because of Jesus this God that we meet in Hosea is our God and we are his people, his beloved bride.

Is that not the most shockingly wonderful life changing truth? It'd be unthinkable to be unfaithful to such love as that don't you think? It'd be unthinkable for the Lord to say of us "But me they forgot"

May God Bless you all!

Credit: The Devotion was delivered by Rev. Paul Sheely @ PTC Trainers’ Training in Carmel Conference Centre, Salem on June 20, 2019.