Hello My Friend,
God’s blessings are made known to all His believers first through their acknowledgment of Christ and receiving Him as their Savior, then in their surrendering to His will as they develop a relationship with Him. Only those who are saved can know the mystery of His will and come to an understanding of perhaps some of the strangest things we read of in God’s Word, after all, even the strange things that we go through in our own lives are meant for some purpose to give glory to God and remind us of His promise.
“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” – Ephesians 1:9-12.
The book of Hosea is the twenty-eighth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains fourteen chapters. The author of the book is Hosea and it was written to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The timeline for these events took place approximately between 790BC to 725BC. The purpose of the book was to alert Israel to her sinful condition and bring her back to God. What we are to learn from the book is that, it is only from experience that we can learn of God’s love, compassion, and grace for all who repent and turn to God or return to Him. “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.” – Hosea 14:4.
The Jews were the people God chose to set as an example for the rest of the world to follow, His purpose was to show all nations how blessed they can be by acknowledging and following their Creator, God. However, from the time of the Exodus they did not always acknowledge God themselves, and even worse, their example was not so good to follow. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had no godly influence at all, out of the nineteen kings to reign not one of them attempted to lead the people to worship in Jerusalem as God had instructed. In the Book of Hosea we are taken back to the time just before the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, about 722BC. To illustrate and warn the people of God’s judgment, He gave Hosea an unusual command, take a wife that is a prostitute.
“The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.” – Hosea 1:2-4.
Why God would command Hosea to marry a prostitute who had no intentions of remaining faithful to him is beyond human thinking, but He had a purpose for it and for allowing them to have 3 children together as well. The first child, Jezreel, which means dispersion or to scatter, God’s purpose, to show Israel that they were living an adulterous life and God was going to remove Himself from their presence and they were going to be judged and scattered all over the world. Still today, Jews are scattered all over the world because of this. All of God’s people, whether Jew or Gentile are scattered because of their sin and will one day will meet and live together in harmony when Christ returns and reigns in His Kingdom. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” – Romans 2:9-11.
God does not want to see His people living in sin, it’s one thing to sin and not know it, but it’s another to knowingly commit sin and try to justify their actions through their salvation. While God does not forsake anyone that receives His Son, He will let them fend for themselves until they realize their sin and return to Him. God promises that even though He let His people walk away, that He will always be there for them when they return to Him, He confirms this through Hosea.
“And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” – Hosea 2:19-23.
One thing we should all realize, those of us who are saved, is that we all have this flesh and until we get to heaven this flesh can fall into sin, especially if we take our eyes off God for a second. God knows this and even though we can fall away from God and His presence, He’s not really gone, God may turn His back to the sin, but He never turns His back to His child, when we are ready to face Him, all we have to do to find Him is turn around. Although Hosea’s wife was faithful for a time she left him for all the pleasures she thought other men could give her. Hosea was heartbroken, he had a legal right to have her stoned and put to death, but he still loved her and chose to redeem her. To show his love he actually purchased the debt his wife owed to set her free and brought her back home.
“Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” – Hosea 3:1-5.
Does any of this sound familiar? A husband loved his wife so much that he was willing to pay the debt she owed for her freedom? This is an exact mirror of Jesus Christ, because we are sinners we owe a payment for our sin debt, and that payment is hell. However, Jesus made the payment for that debt with His blood, He who knew no sin became sin for us so we would not have to end up in hell. Now, He died for all, but He will not save all unless they believe in and accept Him. Right now we cannot see our king, but one day, sooner than we think, Jesus will return and every person who accepted Him will fear the Lord, and enjoy His physical presence and goodness. “But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:” – Acts 3:18-20.
God really does not want us to suffer, He willingly and patiently waits for His people to return to Him. He even promises to return His blessings, but first we must come to Him. God’s gift of free will says that we choose the life we live, it we are going to live in our own will we will suffer, and while we do suffer from time to time even in God’s will, it’s better to suffer in His will than our own because we receive the blessings of our faithfulness to Him. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” – 1 Peter 3:15-18.
Today’s Prayer: God, Sometimes it can be so confusing following Your will because it just seems like something that does not come from You. While we may not always understand Your will, there will come a day when we will see the purpose of it. No matter what we go through, whether it’s joyous or grievous, we will be blessed and find meaning in it as we remain faithful to You. Lord, give us Your power, wisdom, and guidance, help us to understand and know if the things we are doing is in Your will or something we just drummed up ourselves. Give us Your strength, mercy, grace, and patience as we grow closer to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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