Scars of Escape

“Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.” (Am 5:18 AV)

Prior to the invasion of the north by Assyria, no doubt there may have been a few who were not carried away with the sins of their nation.  Prior to Babylon coming for Judah, we know there were a few who did not bow to Baal.  These small remnants, no doubt, desired the judgment of God upon their land that it might be cleansed from all unrighteousness.  No doubt they wanted the kingdom restored to its holy condition that God might be glorified.  No doubt, they wanted the day of the LORD.  However, when the day of the LORD came, they were not immune to some of the circumstances.  Some fell.  Some were carried away.  Some remained in the land, but life was very difficult.  The day of the LORD had consequences for them as well.  We should be careful what we wish for.

There isn’t a day that goes by wherein the saint is confronted with wickedness at every turn.  There isn’t a day that goes by wherein we are reminded how wicked of a nation we have become.  Our preaching is consumed by it.  We plead.  Be implore.  We are distraught that even the people of God are caught up with compromised positions on the clear abominations if the LORD.  We warn of judgment to come.  We teach from God’s word that He must judge our evil.  We tell of the signs of the times that are quickly appearing and warn that God’s wrath will not abate forever.  Part of us wants this judgment to come.  Part of us wants the LORD to return and set it all right.  And, He will.  There is also a part of us that desires God set it right prior to His return.  We look for the hand of God to se things right.  We wish the LORD would judge the horrendous sins of our nation that we might turn back to Him.  We want this because it will bring revival.

But let un not think for one moment that if the LORD does move against our nation that God’s people will escape completely unscathed.  This is not true.  God does separate the righteous from the wicked.  Noah’s flood, Lot’s escape, and the small remnant of Judah are examples.  But these escapes did not happen comfortably.  There were consequences associated with it.  Noah started all over again without any other human help or companionship.  Lot lost us wife and fathered children by his daughters.  The remnant of Judah struggled to maintain the land until the seventy years captivity was ended.  We may want God’s intervention. And we should.  But let us not fool ourselves. When it comes, it will mean hard times for the believer as well.  What we should be motivated to do is to work even harder to evangelize our nation that the LORD might repent of His intentions of judgment.  We need to be careful what we wish for.

Making Preparations

“Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” (Am 4:12 AV)

The context here is a bit bleak.  Unresponsiveness to the correction of God is the context.  Therefore, the warning.  We will not consider this admonition quite this way this morning.  Israel had repeated opportunities to respond to the correcting hand of God, yet ignored it.  This admonition was a statement of the inevitability to face a God whom they had failed.  This meeting would be in the form of a final judgment.  This judgment would be the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of God’s people.  This is indeed bleak.  We will consider this admonition in a less bleak, yet equally challenging way.

As believers, we have the privilege of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  We may not be that much different from Old Testament Israel, but, we do have the ability to be a bit more successful in living for the LORD.  Maybe not all that much.  But at least a little bit.  We also live under grace as opposed to the law.  This does not mean the LORD has done away with the principles of the Old Testament law.  Separation, in principle, is still the law.  Holiness, in principle, is still the law.  It is just that under grace, the motive and consequences are different.  Nonetheless, we will still face the LORD face to face and give account for how we used this life, both physical and spiritual, for the benefit of God’s glory.  Even more than that, we know that we shall see Him face to face.  There should be some preparatory work for such a meeting.  Don’t you think?

Year ago, one of our presidents came to our home town for a meeting with local businesses.  I forget the exact reason for this meeting and it really doesn’t matter.  The important thing to mention was the preparation beforehand for our head of state to visit and travel in our home town.  This really impressed me.  There were only a couple of spots where someone could see the motorcade pass by.  Secret Service had done their homework and scouted out a route that left the president well-guarded.  He was hardly exposed to any type of threat.  At a designated time, all traffic; vehicular, pedestrian, and air traffic was halted along that route.  The closest anyone could get to that motorcade was a mile off.  I remember because at the moment our president had left the site of his meeting, I was at an intersection on my way to work and looked down that road a mile off and saw that motorcade enter the expressway.  The entire state, county, and local authorities made preparation for his visit.  Life was turned upside down as this visit was the most important event to happen in a long time.

One wonders how much we prepare to meet our God every day.  We read His word.  We pray our prayers.  But do we prepare our hearts?  How much meditation and humiliation is exercised before we begin this meeting?  How much reflection over our current condition occurs as we consider just who it is that we are about to meet.  Often, but not nearly enough, I try to get into my mind a picture of entering an overwhelming throne room with a potentate so glorious I am forced to my knees.  Like Moses falling prostrate at the visit of God in the burning bush, our hearts should do the same.  Maybe we are not facing the judgment of God as our context expounds.  But we do claim to meet our God every day.  So, how much preparation do we take?

Cleansed Forever

“For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.” (Joe 3:21 AV)

The word ‘cleanse’ here does not refer to a physical cleansing from dirt or a ceremonial cleansing from sin.  The context is judgment upon Egypt and Edom, Israel’s closest neighbors.  The previous verse tells us that when Egypt and Edom are dealt with, then Israel can dwell in the land from generation to generation without any interruption.  Only when these two adversaries of Israel are dealt with can Israel finally enjoy the covenant promises.  As is often taught, Egypt is a type of the world.  Edom, which is also Esau and Mount Seir, is often representative of the flesh.  If these types are true, then a picture develops here of a promise to the saints of God.  When the flesh and world are finally dealt a blow, the saint can live in peace with the God who saved his or her soul.  Not until the death of these two enemies can the saint truly have peace.  What we have in different from the physical covenants to Israel.  What we have is the promise of heaven.  All those who have placed their trust in Jesus for salvation from sin and hell know that eventually, these enemies will be defeated.  Cleansing the blood is vindication from enemies.  The blood is the blood of persecution and torment.  The last remaining hindrance from perfect fellowship with our Savior.

Years ago, I had the privilege of ministry with an individual whose kidneys were failing.  This person had to have dialysis three times a week.  She didn’t care for it because it wore her out and it took almost the better part of an entire day.  What helped her through it was looking forward to how she would feel after recovering from the procedure or how she would feel if she neglected the procedure.  For those who do not know, the kidneys act as a filter for the blood.  They filter out impurities from the blood.  This has to be done on a very regular basis or the patient will die.  I remember there were a few times this individual was not feeling up to going for dialysis.  She either had a flue or cold, or simply was too wore out to go.  The problem was, if she put it off, even for a day, the feelings of illness only got worse.  And, since her kidneys were not healthy to begin with, she really never felt what it was like to have totally clean blood.  She never knew what being well was like.  Always in a constant state of illness, fighting off infection, having several transplants, she eventually passed away because her blood could never be truly cleansed.  Today, she is in glory with a perfect body with no poison coursing through her system.  What an experience she must be having.  And, what a picture of our glorification!

What a day that will be when all temptation to sin is removed!  There is a promise.  The physical promises to Israel concerning a kingdom are similar to the promises made to the believer!  There is coming a day when the last of our trials will be over.  Dialysis will no longer be needed.  The blood will be clean and stay clean.  No more impurities from the world or the flesh can invade our souls.  They are all cleansed.  They are all removed.  Forever gone!  Glory Alleluia!  Our Savior, the great Victor, has overcome sin, the grave, and death!  We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is!  No more filth.  No more scum.  No more dirt.  No more grime.  No more of that which clings to us and in use that makes us unclean.  Forever vanquished by death and glorification because God dwells in Zion!  He dwells in the Zion of our hearts and souls!  He will clean it all up!

The Beauty of Surrender

“Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.” (Ho 14:8 AV)

God knows what it takes to get us to the point where we are ready to abandon all that displeases Him.  What we want to consider is not necessarily those means, but rather, the result.  In the previous chapters, the prophet is pronouncing judgment upon the ten northern tribes also known as Ephraim.  In particular, the thought is the inescapability of those judgments.  The truth that no matter what Ephraim attempts to do, she cannot avoid the LORD’s hand.  He will correct her.  The result is found above and is actually a beautiful statement of surrender.

The soul that makes is right with God, first and foremost, finds no profit running from Him.  The question, “what have I to do any more with idols” is more of a statement than a question.  Ephraim will realize that life outside of the center of God’s perfect will is empty.  There is nothing life outside of God’s will can give that is of any real value.  The second step of surrender is to give God one’s fullest attention.  To open one’s ears and eyes.  To hear what the LORD is trying to tell us and then watch as He does His work.  In other words, our lives become about Him and not about us.  We are God centered and not self-centered.  Note especially the writer uses the word ‘observed’.  Not merely saw, but observed.  This surrendered Ephraim will watch and learn.  She will take in the full experience of God’s hand.  All of it.  She will take note of what He is doing, why He is doing it, and what her obligation is towards it.  She will observe and learn.  She will react in gratitude towards who and what God is. Thirdly, Ephraim states that she is like a tender plant.  One that can grow again.  One that is responsive to the care of the husbandman who will nourish her, prune her, and stake her up.  This picture is of a nation who has learned that life apart from God comes to no good end.  She has learned that God is always good and to live apart from Him and His word only leads to emptiness.

Years ago, we had been praying for a teenage girl who was going down the wrong path.  Her parents were deeply concerned for her.  We all prayed for her individually and as a church.  If something did not happen, she was poised to make major decisions that would devastate her life.  Then it happened.  One Sunday morning, when the invitation was given, her and her mother came forward.  The knelt at the altar and this young lady recommitted her life to Christ.  The church wept and rejoiced.  Hugs all around.  Outside of a decision to truth Christ as Savior, I cannot think of another that is equally beautiful.  Total surrender is a picture more precious than any words can describe.  A state at which the LORD desires all of His children to arrive.

Wanting the Solution Without The Answer

“Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?” (Ho 10:2-3 AV)

This passage is directed towards the northern ten tribes of Israel.  In Hosea, they are often referred to by their roots.  Ephraim was one of the two tribes from Joseph and was one of the original ruling tribes in the book of Judges.  When Solomon passed away, Rehoboam took the throne of all twelve, but quickly lost the ten northern tribes as judgment on Solomon’s house.  Jeroboam was given the throne of the ten northern tribes an out of spite, took Ephraim down the road of idolatry.  He did so that his kingdom would not desire the temple in Judah resulting in reunification.  Every king in the history of Israel (Ephraim, Samaria, the northern kingdom) did evil in the sight of the LORD.  The heart of the people was divided because they know they are suffering without a king, but to have a king which would do the right thing means to submit to God.  Revival would take care of the problem of an ungodly king.  What they want is the solution without the answer.

Very few people want to put in the hard work necessary for what they truly desire.  Whether it is good health, a sound family, a career that provides all their needs, etc.  It takes effort.  It takes discipline.  When we talk of spiritual things, it takes faith.  It takes faith to trust God’s way is the best way.  We want what others have.  What we do not want it the needed conformity to the principles divinely appointed to attain such results.  We want the blessings of obedience without being told what to do.  This is our nature.

One of the most profound experiences the LORD gave to me as far as my health goes was when I had a personal trainer given to me as part of a benefit for volunteering as a hospital Chaplin.  They didn’t pay us.  But, the gave us a few perks.  One of them was access to the hospital’s cardio-rehab center.  It was a gym with a whole lot of equipment and monitors.  What we also had was a personal trainer with a medical background.  He did some basic measurements like weight, height, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation.  He then developed a regimen for me to follow.  It was slow.  It was incremental.  The results were also very profound.  It took about a year and a half when I noticed a huge result that I had never had before.  Being a deer hunter, I always recoiled at the reality that I had to drag a dead deer out of the woods.  With the weight of all the equipment one takes into the woods, he is adding an additional one hundred plus pounds to the task.  Prior to my rehabilitation, I couldn’t go one hundred yards before I had to stop and get air.  After the rehab, I was able to drag a deer two miles without stopping or getting winded!  But it took faith in my trainer and discipline of the will.  No matter what we are trying to accomplish in life requires both.  In particular, it starts with faith.  This is where the children of Israel failed.  They wouldn’t have faith in God and His law.  When Christ came, they trusted Rome more than Jesus.  We need to stop envying others or complaining about what we do not have and accept the answer that leads to the solution.

Keep It On

“Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.” (Ho 8:3 AV)

The thing that is good here is the covenant which the God of Israel made with them, and ultimately God Himself.  They cast of that which brought them so much blessing.  The immediate context does not say they cast it off for something else.  Although that is what naturally happened.  The point being made here is even if there wasn’t something else, they would have cast off that which was good anyway.  The result is without the protective covering of the covenant promises, the second half of the verse becomes true.  The enemy shall pursue Israel.  Without the promises made to them, Israel became exposed.  This is a good lesson for all of us who believe we can leave the fellowship of the church, our Bibles, and the traditions and doctrines we have been taught for a life of neutrality.  At a time when an alarming number are leaving the sanctity of the church for a life they believe is neither sacred nor secular, this truth is a must.

What has been good for so long can be taken for granted.  Or, the motive for possessing the good could have been wrong all along.  One observation that is common is when people come to the LORD for the purpose of overcoming some deep vice that is destroying their lives, once the victory is assured and they have what they need, there is less commitment to spiritual things.  The thing that was amazing has now become the thing that is good.  But good is not enough.  We get used to the preaching.  There seems to be less truth learned.  The experiences are less than they used to be.  Every preacher has experienced this.  When he starts a new ministry, people are excited.  Then what was exciting becomes normal.  Then what was normal becomes boring.  The idea here is that what we have is good.  The motive for casting it off may help us not to cast it off again.  But the greater truth here is understanding there is no such thing as treading water.  There is no such thing as putting the car in neutral and sitting there with the air on.  There is no middle ground to be had.

Time and space will not allow this writer to give example after example of those who once burned brightly for the LORD and decided to cast off that which was good.  They may not be in the depths of their once lost life.  But they are not as blessed as they could be.  Problems with family have crept in.  Problems that would not have been there had they not cast off that which was good.  Children become a challenge and even a disappointment.  Marriages lose their luster.  Retirement has not become what one imagined.  Fear, doubt, anxiety, etc. become the norm.  No, they do not fall back into a life of profanity and vice.  But they are also not as blessed as they could be.  As for me, I will never cast off that which is good.  Never!  The battle is too important.  The heights, although not as high as at the beginning, are more precious once scaled.  That which is good is still good.  Even in the times we may not be able to see how good it really is, it is still good.

Getting a Whiff

“My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.” (Ho 4:12 AV)

We are particularly interested in what this ‘…spirit of whoredoms…’ is.  But a bit of context here might help.  The stocks and staff were a source of divination for the pagan belief system.  The stocks were carved idols that could be manipulated to render a choice.  The staff was a stick that was demarked to distinguish one side from the other.  Bark was stripped from one side while the other was bare.  Or, marking like “God bids” and God Forbids” are marked in one side or the other.  Then the staff was cast and the result was intended to be the answer given by the gods or God.  This is particularly bad in the sense it replaced the voice of God as revealed in the word of God for some mystical experience which could be easily manipulated to guarantee a desired outcome.

This spirit of whoredoms is the motive behind such mysticism.  We know what whoredoms means.  We know to what the term refers in the physical sense.  In the spiritual sense, the LORD uses this term to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him as the seek other gods or influences from which they derive wisdom, their provision and protection, and even their spiritual life.  It is called a whoredom because they are God’s people.  To go after other gods would be to play the whore against the God who brought them out of Egypt.  The spirit here is illuminating.  This word means to perceive an odor or scent.  Think of a pleasant scent that catches the nose but is distant and not readily identifiable.  In the age of candles, oils, etc., this is not hard to image.  The nose is drawn to it because it makes us feel a certain way.  In a very subtle sense, it brings to mind pleasant thoughts and to the heart, pleasant feelings.  Reason and logic are not needed.  All one needs is the experience.  Simply put, the spirit of whoredoms is the desire to experience outside of the word of God and reason, what we perceive to be a spiritual reality.  We call that mysticism.

This influence has been around since the dawn of mankind.  It has never gone away.  Even in the first century church, the Apostle John wrote his first letter in defense of reason found in the word of God against the rising influence of mysticism.  This spirit of whoredoms is the desire to go after a feelings-oriented faith founded in pleasant experiences rather than spiritual growth as provided by study and submission to the word of God.  This spirit of whoredoms doesn’t want any ‘bad vibes’.  All it wants is rainbows and unicorns.  It would rather get advice from a fortune cookie than to spend much needed time in the word of God.  It would rather sway to music than to kneel stationary in prayer.  This spirit of whoredoms looks lovely.  But it will only result in drawing us away from the true God and His truth