Israel's problem and ours

The place of Israel in God’s plans, indeed Israel full stop, is a contentious issue amongst Christians, and in the world as a whole. The two extremes amongst Christians are, on the one hand, and approach that more or less says Israel can do no wrong, or whatever she does God will intervene on her behalf. The other extreme is that Israel essentially no longer has any special place in God’s plans and is just a nation like any other nation. Ideas that go along these lines are sometimes called “replacement theology”.  Both these extremes are deeply flawed and fundamentally unbiblical.

A far better approach is to look at the Bible and learn. I am currently working through the book of Hosea, and like many of the prophets much of it is a catalogue of unremitting judgement upon Israel. Let’s just look at one verse, see what we can learn, and then apply it to our own lives. Hosea 13:9 says:

He (God) destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper.

What was Israel’s thinking? They knew that they were different, that they were a nation created by God. There were many times when she was in deep trouble, her need was real. Moreover, other nations often treater her unjustly (not much change there then). All this was true, but she then reasoned that God would therefore protect and help her. But she had forgotten one thing, her own sinfulness., and her own sinfulness was her biggest problem. As it says in Hosea 13:9, she was against God. When Jesus came to earth we see the same pattern. The root of Israel’s problem was that she did not realise her own need to repent (this was especially true among the religious leaders, many of the “common” people did recognise this.). Israel will one day be saved, but only when she realises her own sin, repents, and puts her trust in the only one who can save her, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now let’s apply this same lesson to ourselves. We all go through times of trouble, times when we are stretched beyond our ability to endure. Sometimes these situations involve others treating us unfairly. In these times our natural reaction can often be very similar to that of Israel. We think “God loves us” (which of course He does), we are in deep trouble, we are being unfairly treated, therefore He will help us. But very often we forget about the sin in our own life, about the work of change that the Holy Spirit is seeking to do within us. So we remain frustrated, God seems to be far off and there is no sign of an answer. Often times, the answer will come, God will suddenly be close at hand, when we recognise the need for change within ourselves, rather than everyone else’s need for change!

Acts 7:4,5 - No inheritance, but a promise

7:4

Stephen recounts the early stages of Abraham’s journey. Terah, Abraham’s father, had set out with his family to go to the land of Canaan, but had decided to settle in Harran (Gen 11:27-32(. After Terah’s death God spoke to Abraham and told Him to “go to the land I will show you”, and in doing so had to leave his “country, people and father’s household”. There are maybe some parallels with the state of Israel. The Law was only a staging post in the journey the nation was supposed to take, but, like Terah, they had settled in the Law. If they were to receive the salvation of God they needed to leave their old ways and follow Jesus.

7:5

Here Stephen stresses the fact that aspects of the journey were only staging posts along the way to the destination. Abraham was given promises, yet he did not receive an inheritance in Canaan. The land was promised to his descendants, and this even though Abraham had no children, God was looking ahead. We have a habit of becoming so fixated on the present. See how difficult it is to change things in a church! Most of us like to be settled, we get used to things, and then convince ourselves that how things are is the only way things can be, and is the way things should be. Moreover, the next stage often seem impossible. How could Abraham have many descendants? But the plan is God’s plan, and where He needs to make a way, He will make a way. We need to be God-centered, not man-centered.

Hosea 4:4-7 - Destroyed for lack of knowledge

4:4,5

Verse 4 is essentially saying that there was no point them seeking to instruct each other, for no one would pay any attention. Legal matters were brought before a priest, and the priest’s judgement was to be respected. So one who contends with a priest is one who does not accept a right decision.

Because of this the people would stumble by day. One should be able to walk fine during the day for one can see. But when a people become utterly contentious, accepting no one else’s wisdom, nothing can happen. We see something of this today in the West where there is no longer respect for institutions, no one listens to anyone else’s arguments. “And I will destroy your mother” means the nation of Israel would be destroyed.

4:6

The people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Ie they had rejected God’s knowledge, His wisdom. In Romans 1 Paul says that the basic things of God are plain to all, but man had deliberately chosen to close his eyes to them. So God would give them over to their ignorance. This happened to Israel, it happens to mankind in general, and we see it happening to the West today.

4:7

Religious activity increased with more priests being appointed, but this was not godly religious activity. Instead they just sinned all the more. They exchanged the glory of God for something disgraceful. Rom 1:23 is closely parallel to this. Indeed, it seems that Paul’s writing in Romans 1 is partly influenced by Hosea.

Acts 7:1-3 - And Stephen said

7:1

The high priest asked Stephen if the charges were true, and then we get the longest sermon/speech to be found in Acts. So why does Luke give it so much space? Stephen in effect does a run through of Israel’s history, showing how both the Jewish leaders’ reaction is entirely consistent with Israel’s response to God through the ages, and how there is nothing about the gospel that is inconsistent.

7:2,3

Stephen addresses them as “brothers and fathers”, he is showing respect to them. There is an important aspect to note here that applies to all Christian interaction with the world. We are often accused of being exclusive in saying that Jesus is the only way of salvation, we are accused of being bigots when we say homosexual acts are sinful, and that trans ideology is wrong. But we are not exclusive or bigots, but are utterly inclusive. We speak to the world about Christ and about God’s ways because we believe that every single human being is made in the image of God, that every single human being can receive eternal life through Jesus Christ. As it says in Romans 3:23,24, we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all can be saved through faith in Christ. Stephen said the things he did not because he wanted to attack the Jews, but because he wanted them to receive the riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Stephen then goes right back to Abraham, as indeed Paul does in much of his theological arguments, especially in Galatians and Romans. Abraham lived in Mesopotamia when God appeared to him, and He called him to go to a better country, “the land I will show you”. We all have our preconceived ideas of what life is like, and what “the good life” is about, but all our ideas are strictly limited. God has a far greater plan, and we are much wiser if we choose to go to the land that God will show us. Note also that God told Abraham to leave before showing him where he was going. The key is not so much where we are going, but who we are following.

Hosea 4:1-3 - the land mourns

4:1

The first three chapters have largely involved God revealing His heart to Hosea, and in a most direct manner. Now Hosea is ready to prophesy to the nation. Hosea needed to understand both the seriousness of Israel’s sin, and the depths of God’s love for Israel.

The specific charge in this verse is closely parallel to Micah 6:8 where God says he requires justice, mercy and to walk humbly with God. The people had abandoned all three. There was no truth (so no justice), no mercy, and no knowledge of God (so no walking humbly with the Lord).

4:2,3

These were no mere abstract sins, but ones which led to concrete actions, and concrete wrong actions. It involved killing and stealing, and committing adultery. Bloodshed always follows abandoning God’s ways. We might ask, well how is this true in our society? Part of the answer would be abortion. One day we will look back in horror at what we have allowed to happen.

So the land will mourn. The moral, or immoral, behaviour of a people has a direct effect on the environment.  It is not just a matter of reducing greenhouse gas emissions!

Acts 6:10-15 - The face of an angel

6:10

Jesus had told His disciples that when they were called up by various authorities that the Spirit would give them wisdom (Luke 12:12, 21:15), and we see here an example of that being fulfilled. Many times when the Pharisees or scribes disputed with Jesus we see that He gave amazing answers. Sometimes the answers refuted the arguments, at other times they got right to the heart of the matter, ie the duplicity within the souls of men. The ministry we see in Acts is a Spirit-filled ministry, and we need to live Spirit led lives. When we do that we are not living in our own strength alone, but are working together with God.

6:11

Having failed to win an argument against Stephen, the Jews instigated men to speak against him, making false accusations. Again we see an almost exact mirror of what happened in the life of Jesus. Indeed, one of the themes in Acts is that it is a continuation of the ministry of Jesus (Acts 1:1,2). They accused Stephen of blasphemy against God and Moses. Jesus too was accused of blasphemy. We also see the high regard Moses was held in. Now Moses is a key figure, and appeared with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, but the Jews gave a wrong prominence to him, not seeing that Moses himself was pointing the way forward to Jesus (Acts 3:22).

6:12

Finding that they could not answer Stephen with arguments they resorted to violence, stirring up the people, elders and scribes. They would raise their anger by saying Stephen was attacking Moses. Playing on people’s fears and hatreds is a tactic used by groups throughout history. We should not expect opponents of the gospel to use “proper” tactics. Our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. So Stephen was hauled before the council.

6:13-15

As they had done with Jesus, they got a series of false witnesses. “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place”. Again in parallel to Jesus, Stephen was accubsed of being against the temple. Indeed, they brought up the charge that Jesus had said He would destroy the temple (when in face He has said “destroy this temple”, referring to His own body). One might have expected Stephen to react with anger, but instead his face “was like the face of an angel”.

Hosea 3:3-5 - They shall return

3:3

This welcoming back of the wayward wife had obligations for her. She was to be faithful to her husband, and he would be faithful to her. In the same way, we are to trust only in God. Being “intimate” is equivalent to putting our faith in something. Trusting God is the most intimate thing that we can do. On the negative side, whenever we put our trust in something else it is a serious offence to God. However, let’s focus on the positive side. There is nothing that bring us closer to God, that brings us closer to His heart than our trusting in Him. There are times in life when trusting God is all we can do. We tend not to like those times, for it usually means that we are in deep trouble. But those are also the times when we can get to know God in a deeper way than ever before.

3:4,5

Hosea was going through this situation so as to imprint upon him the heart of God. God now reveals something of how this would work out for the nation as a whole. She would be stripped of everything, so she would not be able to rely on these idols. In practical terms this meant the Assyrian invasion for the northern kingdom, and the Babylonian conquest for Judah. So there would be a time of devastation. But afterwards she would return and seek the Lord. It says this will happen in the last days, and Romans 9-11, especially chapter 11, shed light on this. We should expect to see Israel put their faith in Christ in the last days.

Acts 6:8,9 - A man full of God's grace and power

6:8

Stephen was one of the seven, one those chosen to “serve at tables”. Nothing spiritual there then? We could not be more wrong, for he was “full of grace and power” and “was doing great wonders and signs among the people”. We need to question our presuppositions about serving in the church, both about ourselves and about others. So often we think that if we are really “going to make it” then we need to be a preacher, prophet or evangelist. And, of course, our concepts of what “going to make it” means are often pretty flawed as well. “Full of grace”. A point I have made a number of times, and will continue to make, is that we often have a way too passive view of what grace means. Grace is active, as we see here in the life of Stephen. It had effect, and people noticed. We should also note, as we will soon find out, that being “full of grace and power”, and full of the “spirit and wisdom”, led to Stephen’s death. When we are truly full of the Spirit we will walk along Christ’s path, and that may well lead to a cross.

6:9

The gospel challenges the structures of society. It challenges individuals, and it challenges groups in society. At this time it was largely religious power that was challenged, later it would be the political power in Rome (though it is important to note that it was not challenged in a political way). The prophets challenged to rich and powerful. So when we are “full of the Spirit” we should not be surprised if we encounter serious opposition. When the church pretty well goes along with society’s thinking it is fairly certain that the church is not walking in step with the Spirit. The “Freedmen” were people who had been taken prisoner by the Romans, but had later gained their freedom.

Hosea 3:1,2 - Raisin cakes

3:1

This verse shows how far the Lord is prepared to go in revealing His heart to Hosea, and the extent of His love for Israel and the nature and cost involved. Hosea had to go and get Gomer and love her, despite the fact that she was “loved by another man and is an adulteress”. Ie she was actively in an adulterous relationship, it wasn’t even as though she had repented at the point that Hosea was to go and find her. Can you imagine the pain in Hosea’s heart? Yet this is representative of God’s love for us. He came to seek us while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8).  The mention of raisin cakes is a reference to things that were commonly offered in the worship of idols. We need to realise that our trusting in something other than God is like committing adultery. It is our duty, and should be our delight, to trust only in the Lord.

3:2

So Hosea went and bought Gomer for “fifteen shekels of silver and one and a half homers of barley”. He had to pay the price to get her back, his own wife. Likewise, God had to pay the price of His only Son in order to get us back. The amount paid is reckoned to be the amount required for compensation for the loss of a slave.  Through her adultery Gomer had got herself enslaved or under some sort of legal obligation. In turning from God mankind has got himself enslaved, But God has paid the price to set us free.

Acts 6:5-7 - The magnificent seven

6:5,6

The proposal was well received by the disciples. We have a habit of either going for democracy in all things, or a more autocratic type of rule, whether by an individual or a group of people. In the New Testament we find generally decisions are made by the leader or by a group of people (typically apostles or elders), but we also find here that the “will of the people” is also considered. In the Old Testament the “will of the people” is also important, sometimes for good, sometimes for evil. We must not make an idol out of any system or mechanism. The seven chosen all had Greek names. This is not absolute proof that they were all Greek Jews as Palestinians sometimes adopted Greek names as well, but it is most likely that many of the seven were Greek Jews. So consideration was given to the nature of the problem being addressed.

6:7

“And the word of God continued to increase”. Growth happens both because of dramatic spiritual events, and because practical problems are dealt with in a godly manner. It is not one or the other, but both. So many disciples were added. Note that in Matt 28:19,20 Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations. It is not just about adding numbers, but active and committed followers of the Lord. A great many priests were also added. So the gospel was reaching into the heart of Judaism itself. This also explains how Luke might have known some of the inner discussions of the Sanhedrin.

Hosea 2:19-23 - I will answer

2:19,20

The marriage analogy is used again in terms of betrothal. So we see again the relationship aspect of God and His people. Note also “I will betroth you”. God is the instigator of all this. This does not mean we are mere puppets, but God is the instigator, He is sovereign. Then see that He does this in “righteousness and justice” and in “love and compassion”. So often we think of these things as somehow opposed to each other. They are not and they go together. We see this supremely in the cross, indeed one might say that this is where the betrothal took place. The cross is both a matter of “righteousness and justice” and “love and compassion”. If we take just one of these two sides, as people often do, then we have missed it completely, we have no idea what the cross is about. On the cross Jesus paid for our sins, through His sacrifice we are justified, the righteous demands of the Law (God’s Law) are met in full. It is also an act of “love and compassion”. God sent His Son because He loves us, He took pity on our situation, and but He also did this because of the joy set before Him. he wants us to live in eternal relationship with Him.

2:21-23

We all go through times when God seems far off, or the answer seems to be an awful long time coming. But a day will come when He will respond. Indeed, answered prayers is often used as one of the signs or fruits of God’s blessing. And nature will respond. The earth will yield its grain, wine and oil.

“I will plant her”, again the sovereign act of God. There will be relationship again between God and His people.

So in these first two chapters we have the picture of an unfaithful wife, representing the sinfulness of Israel, living in total and willful rebellion against God. Then we have God chasing after this wayward wife and bringing her back into faithful relationship with Himself.

Acts 6:1-4 - Dealing with complaints

6:1

In the first five chapters we have seen the beginnings of the church and its impact on Jerusalem, we have also seen the beginnings of persecution of the church. Now the church begins to have a greater impact. As well as the charismatic gifts, there were down to earth problems and practical solutions. This verse also shows that the church was quite well developed in having some sort of social care programme. Greek was the common language of the region. The Hebrews mentioned here were those whose roots were firmly in Jerusalem, and whose main language was Aramaic, though they would know some Greek (just as many Europeans speak English). The Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews, ie Greek was their main language. Through the course of history the Jews had been dispersed throughout many parts of the world, again as is true today. The gospel is for all peoples and reaches all peoples, but this does not mean that there are practical problems and issues that arise, as see here. The Hellenists felt that their widows were not being treated properly in daily distribution of food.

6:2-4

The twelve apostles called the disciples together. The disciples is probably those who were committed to serving the church. The primary task of the apostles was to preach the word of God, and to pray. Church leaders should not become managers or administrators, it is through the word of God that the kingdom grows, that is God’s chosen method. Preaching and teaching should be the primary task of church leaders. We also see that it was impossible for them to do both the preaching and to organise the practical aspects of the church. Nobody, not even apostles, can do everything! At the same time, serving at tables was not seen as unimportant. The apostles delegated the task of choosing seven deacons to the disciples. So the apostles did not see themselves as having to make every decision, they were not control freaks. They specified the qualities the seven were to have, and this makes clear that task of serving at tables was seen as important, for the men were to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.

Acts 5: 35-42 - Preaching and teaching that the Christ is Jesus

5:35-37

Gamaliel warns them to be careful what they do. He cites two recent “messiahs” and what happened to them. There is some argument about the authenticity of the two examples, largely because Josephus, a Jewish historian, who refers to a Theudas from around 44 AD, ie several years later than this incident occurred. There really is no reason to assume that Luke is mistaken. It is possible that Josephus got his facts wrong, or, perhaps more likely, that this is a different Theudas. Attempted uprisings and aspiring “messiahs” were not uncommon. Anyway, the point that Gamaliel is drawing attention to is that after these two “messiahs” died, their followers quickly dispersed. In this case things really got going after Jesus died!

5:38,39

Gamaliel’s advice was not based on belief in Christ, but in logic. Nevertheless, underlying it was some godly wisdom. If what the apostles were doing was of God, then they would be foolish to oppose it. If it was not of God, then the two examples he had quoted, and doubtless many others, it would fizzle out. There is a degree of illogicality in much opposition to Christianity.  For instance, sometimes there are cases of people being disciplined at work, or even sacked, for praying. But if there is no God, then what does it matter if someone prays? All they are doing is speaking to the air. But if there is a God, moreover, if there is a good God, then you would be foolish to oppose that person, and if there is a good God the prayers can only benefit you!

5:40-42

The Sanhedrin took the advice of Gamaliel, though they did give the apostles a beating first! Things were rather different in those days. They again told them not to speak in the name of Jesus. They were just doing this as some sort of face saving device, it hadn’t worked before, and was unlikely to work now!

The apostles left and rejoiced that they had been considered worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ, this is an example of Matt 5:11,12 being fulfilled. Note that they did not try and bring a lawsuit against the Sanhedrin! Obviously that really wouldn’t have been a possibility in those days, but there whole attitude is different from what we often find today.

Most importantly, far from following the Sanhedrin’s instructions, they continued to teach and preach, both in the temple and going from house to house. And it seems that the Sanhedrin did not seek to arrest them again at that time.

Acts 5:33,34 - They were enraged

5:33

This enraged the Sanhedrin. The truth of God cuts to the heart, it convicts us of sin. Some will accept this and repent, and so receive forgiveness. Others will react against the conviction of the Holy Spirit, seeking to deflect it by reacting with anger, as here. This is something we see again and again today, so we should not be surprised at this response. As it says in 2 Cor 2:16, to some we are the stench of death, to another the fragrance of life. We will get both reactions.

5:34

In the gospels the Pharisees are in almost constant opposition to Jesus, and indeed are prime movers in persecuting Him. In Acts they are far less prominent, and when they do act, as here, they tend to be favourable, if anything. So why the transformation? Part of the reason, and one which Paul made play of later on, is that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection. The Sadducees, on the other hand, believed in very little. So perhaps the fact that the apostles were proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus made it difficult for the Pharisees to oppose them, and they may even have started to have doubts. Gamaliel was a highly respected Pharisee. Indeed, this is another difference between Acts and the Gospels. While the Pharisees were hostile to Jesus, the gospels are almost uniformly hostile towards the Pharisees. Gamaliel wanted to have a private word with the Sanhedrin.

Hosea 2:16-18 - Lie down in safety

2:16

In appreciating the significance of this verse it is important that we remember that the basic meaning of “Baal” is “Master”. A sign that we are going astray is that we start to look on God as our master. Now this is not to be confused with seeing Him as Lord, and it also gives us some understanding of what it means to say that He is Lord. The Israelites were viewing God as if He was just another “Baal”. God must be obeyed, but He is much more than that, He is our Father, He is the One who cares for us, who created us, who has good plans for us. There is an intimacy in the relationship, as shown here by God saying you will call me “my husband”. We are meant to have close relationship with God.

2:17,18

God would take away the name of the Baals from her mouth. No longer would she call upon these idols. All of us are prone to trust in things other than God, to have ways of coping other than faith in Christ. When the Spirit is at work in our lives He weans us off these things, so that we remember them no more, so that we no more think of turning to these things for help.

Then life changes. Here God says that He will make a covenant for them with the beast of the field and the birds of the air. Nature will react differently when we are in relationship with the Lord. We shall lie down in safety. Our relationship to God affects our relationship to everything.

Acts 5:31,32 - To give you repentance

5:31

“God exalted Him ...” When the New Testament speaks about salvation it is God centered, not man-centered. God took the initiative, and we are to respond to it. He didn’t need any man to advise Him. And God has exalted Jesus as Leader and Saviour. So when called on to me multicultural we have to say no, for God has exalted Jesus. We are in no position to say that other religions lead to God, or that there is any other way of salvation, for God has said otherwise. God exalted Jesus to give repentance to Israel. Repentance is seen as a gift. When the Spirit works in a person’s life, He will lead that person to repent so that they can receive forgiveness. This is another reason why it is so important that we do not pussyfoot around the fact that people are sinners. If we do mess about, then we are denying people the gift of God. Conversely, if we speak the truth then the saving power of the gospel can be released, for then we are preaching in step with the Holy Spirit.

5:32

“We are witnesses ...” The primary task of the apostles was to witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, calling people to repentance, to receiving forgiveness, and that Jesus Christ has been exalted to the highest place.

“And so is the Holy Spirit”. We work in partnership with God Himself. We are completely dependent upon the Lord, but we are not passive partners. He involves us in all that He does. John 15:26,27 says the Holy Spirit will bear witness to Jesus, and we also must bear witness. Some people say that John is somehow in contradiction to the synoptic gospels, but this is just one instance illustrating the consistency between John and the synoptic writers.

And God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. In the New Testament there is an important emphasis on obedience (1 John 5:3), which we must never forget. And the prime aspect of obedience is to repent and believe in Jesus (1 John 3:23).

Hosea 2:14,15 - I will allure her

2:14

So the people forgot the Lord, but God did not forget them. He used severe treatment, but the goal, the purpose was to bring her back to Him. He would take her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her. Yet again we see how the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man work together. God would allure her into the desert and there He would speak to her, she would be ready at last to listen. But why would she follow these allurings? She would do so because of the sinfulness of her heart. Following the desires if her heart, the sinfulness and willfulness, would result in her ending up in the wilderness, just where God wanted her to be.

2:15

In the wilderness God would give her her vineyards. You see it is the Lord’s sovereign choice to bless us that counts, He may lead us into very dry places, but if there we turn to Him, we start to listen to Him, then great blessing can come. Achor means trouble. The valley where Achan and his entire family were stoned to death became known as the valley of Achor. This place of trouble would be transformed into a place of blessing. We must never lose hope in the Lord, and we must never lose hope in His mercy towards others as well. God can transform all situations.

Acts 5:29,30 - We must obey God rather than man

5:29

Peter replies quite simply that they must obey God rather than man. Now we need to be careful, for claiming to obey God is a claim that many a rogue has made, it can be an excuse for a multitude of sins. However, the gospel comes into conflict with the world. It always has done, and always will do, and we need to choose to obey God. We are here as God’s servants in the world. Now this does not mean an attitude of rebelliousness. Both Paul and Peter make obeying the civil authorities an important issue, but when the state commands something that is directly against the will of God we must choose God. If we have an attitude of rebelliousness then what we will find is that we act out of the flesh not the Spirit, and that never produces anything good. So, how do we do that? Well there is no simple set of rules, it is an attitude of heart. The best example is Daniel and his friends. In that book we see godly men who are submitted to the Babylonian authority, but are supremely submitted to God. There are key incidents where this brought them into conflict with the state, but this was not done out of a rebellious spirit, but a heart devoted to God.

5:30

Peter is very direct about what the religious leaders had done. “The God of our fathers” This shows that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament. The gospel does not represent a departure from the Old Testament, the God of the New Testament is exactly the same God as the God of the Old Testament. They had killed God’s Messiah, but God had raised Him from the dead. We find in all of the New Testament a much more direct approach than our society is happy with today, but we would be far better adopting the New Testament approach. Jesus is fully aware of the condition of our hearts, and the gospel is fully capable of dealing with the reality of what and who we are, so there is nothing to be gained by beating about the bush!

Hosea 2:9-13 - I will lay waste

2:9,10

Again God would frustrate them. The grain and wine came from God, not from any Baal, so He would take it away. She would be exposed. Our dignity comes from being made in the image of God, creation is vital to who we are. But in our rebellion against God we seek to deny this. Today this is most obvious in sexuality and gender. Creation itself tells us that sex is designed to be between men and women. It also tells us that there are two genders, male and female. This is obvious, one does not need to have any belief in God to realise this, just an ounce of common sense. Yet societies in the West are rushing headlong into madness, denying the obvious reality of life. There are others who deny that we are any different from other animals, again something that a little observation of the world quickly shows to be nonsense. In all this rebellion we lose our dignity, our lewdness is exposed.

2:11,12

There will be an end to all joy. In her apostasy the nation was mixing Levitical (ie God’s law) festivales with pagan worship. And Israel claimed that the vines and fig trees were wages that her lovers had given her. Ie they came from the Baals, the false gods. Vines and fig trees don’t mean a lot to us, but in the culture of the time such things were important and could even be gifts of endearment. Tales from surrounding civilisations featured ravinging wild beasts as a typical punishment that a local deity would inflict. It was not the balls that Israel needed to fear, but the Lord.

2:13

We get here the heart of the problem. Israel was devoting herself to the Baals and the worship of them. She went out of her way to be pleasing to them. But she forgot the Lord, so punishment would be her lot. We need to watch ourselves, what are we devoting ourselves? What are we making an effort to please? More positively, are we making an effort to please the Lord?

Acts 5:25-28 - We strictly charged you

5:25,26

Then a report came that the apostles were in the temple court, teaching the people. The guards went to retrieve the apostles. They were now very wary of them, afraid to harm them in case something should happen. Interestingly the apostles go willingly with the guards. The apostles are there to bear witness to Jesus, both to the people at large, and to the powers-that-be. Remember Jesus had spoken to them about their being called before councils. We need to appreciate that we are part of God’s plan, and will only find the power of the Spirit at work in our lives when we walk in step with the Spirit, seeing His work in progress.

5:27,28

The Sanhedrin hauled the apostles in and demanded to know why they had not obeyed their orders not to preach. Interestingly they seem to have overlooked the fact of their miraculous escape from prison. There are two aspects to their charges against the apostles: they have filled the place with their teaching of the gospel, and they have made it clear that the religious leaders were responsible for Jesus’ death. The teaching of the gospel is dangerous. When we think of the gospel as “nice” then it is a fairly safe bet that we are not really teaching the gospel. The gospel is definitely not just about being nice to each other. The truly taught gospel will challenge society. Exactly where that challenge comes will vary from age to age, but it will almost always be about our sinfulness, our need to repent, and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. We see this today in various ways. On the uniqueness of Christ, the gospel quite clearly declares that Islam is not the way of salvation, Muslim’s need to believe in Jesus Christ as the One who died and rose again for their sins. On sin and repentance LGBT issues are the most clear crunch point, though it is by far the only one.

Hosea 2:6-8 - She did not know

2:6,7

Israel’s way would be frustrated. God would deliberately intervene in order to stop her succeeding in finding her paths. Israel’s heart was set on finding her “lovers”, but she would not succeed. Then she would realise that she was better off with her “first husband”, ie God. This is the same plan that Paul speaks about in Romans 9-11, especially Romans 11. And it is noticeable there that it is the disobedient who receive mercy (Rom 11:28-32).

2:8

“She did not know ...” Israel did not realise that it was God who provided all things for her. Given the way things worked out in the journey through the wilderness this is somewhat amazing, but it is also very human. All humans by nature do not realise that it is God who provides us with our daily needs. Yet at the same time we seem to need to have some source to attribute things to. So Israel attributed this provision and their safety to Baal. Remember that in the wilderness when Moses went up the mountain they made the golden calf and attributed that with having got them out of Egypt (Ex 32:4). This was a demonstrably stupid thing to do, but it is what we humans are like.

The term “Baal” means master, and could refer to a whole range of “gods”, though certain regions had particular “Baals”.

Acts 5:20-24 - Speak to the people the words of life

5:20,21a

We see this focus on the gospel brought out clearly in these two verses, both the place of it in God’s view, and in the apostle’s practice. A great miracle had occurred, but they did not then go around the telling people of the miracle, nor seeking to recreate it again. Instead they were told to go and stand in the temple and speak “the words of life”, ie they were to speak in the place where they were most likely to be arrested again. God did not do this miracle in order to make life easy for the apostles, but to make their life effective. So the apostles entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. So we see the pattern that occurred many times in the gospels, and we now see here, or miracles followed by teaching, with teaching being the goal. Again, there is sometimes a tendency to denigrate teaching, to use other means of preaching the gospel. There is nothing wrong with using drama, music etc as means of communication, but at the end of it  people need to be taught the gospel.

5:21b-24

The Sanhedrin were totally oblivious to what was going on, thinking the apostles were in the jail. Guards were sent to the jail to bring the apostles, presumably with the hope that they had learnt their lesson, or to give them a further beating if need be. Of course, the guards found that the prisoners were no longer there, and they reported the matter to the chief priests and commander of the guards. The only sign that something had happened was the total absence of apostles! The chief priests and captain of the guard were at a loss about what to do, or what the consequences would be.

Hosea 2:1-5 - You are my people

2:1

Verse 1 reminds the Israelites who they actually are. They are God’s people and they are loved by God. This is their basic identity, yet they were living as though they were not God’s people. The same is true of the whole human race. We were all created by God, we should live as God’s people enjoying His love, his favour and protection. Yet, instead, we choose to go our own way, and so we do not enjoy these things, we become subject to all sorts of other things.

2:2

We then get a passage of judgement upon the nation. The words used here are similar to words used in declarations of divorce in the culture of the time. Israel had lived as an adulterous wife. The fundamental fidelity in a marriage is sexual faithfulness, the fundamental fidelity in our relationship with God is to trust Him, and not to put our trust in anything else. We need to appreciate how precious and how sacred is our faith.

2:3-5

If Israel did not repent then she would suffer judgement, she find herself completely bereft. Even her children would suffer. We need to appreciate that what we do affects our children as well.  But children here is probably also being used in an allegorical sense. The things that were produced as a result of her unfaithfulness will not receive God’s blessing. We sometimes think that just because we do something and then ask God to bless that He will indeed bless it. This is not necessarily so! Israel was attributing her “lovers”, ie the things and nations that she had put her trust in, with providing her with food and drink.

Acts 5:19 - An angel of the Lord

5:19

Once again the plans of man are thwarted. The Sanhedrin may have imprisoned the apostles, but God intervened. An angel of the Lord came and set them free from the prison. There are some interesting things to consider here. The life of Jesus was clearly supernatural, in that many miracles and healings took place. The life of the early church is also clearly supernatural, as healings and incidents such as this are part and parcel of church mission. A church that is non-supernatural is no church at all. So how does this work out? How should this work out? Should we see a miracle a day? Well there is something else we need to note about the gospels and Acts. Miracles were clearly part of the events, and an important part, but they were not the focal point. Jesus said that He came to teach and preach the kingdom. And, of course, the primary event of His life was the cross, an event where, until the resurrection, was not supernatural (in one sense). In Acts the focus is on the proclamation of the gospel. So where does this leave us? If we make miracles the focus, which the church so often does when anything unusual does happen, then we have missed it, we have lost the plot. We should make the living and preaching of the gospel the focus, and then from time to time,and maybe even frequently, miracles may follow, but they are serving the main plan. Then we must rely on the power of the word of God. By His word He created the universe. The pattern in the Bible is that God speaks and things happen. We must not rely on organisation or professionalism, we must not rely on human wisdom. This doesn’t mean we do not seek to do things well, nor to use our minds, but the foundation  of what we do, the focus of what we do is the word of God. We rely on the fact that Jesus Christ is the Saviour  of the World, and that His word is truth.