Skip to main content

318. Prophecy of the Resurrection

Hosea 6:1-3
Key Verse: "After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us that we may live in His presence."
Hosea 6:2

No matter how it appears to us, God is in control. Hosea was speaking to a people who had rejected the Lord. They had turned their backs on Him and had chased after other gods as a foolish woman chases after another man and rejects her own husband.

For their unfaithfulness, God would punish, but as sure as the sun rises, He would also restore. To turn their backs on the One true God was the height of foolishness. To crucify Him and reject Him and prefer a man made religion about Him was just as evil and foolish. After all He had done for them, after all the love He had shown, He had been rejected.

In love, however, He could not leave His people in that rejected place. It is His nature to extend the hand of fellowship and strive again to restore what He had intended. "Come, let us return to the Lord." (Hos. 6:1A) It is the only right thing to do. "He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds." (Hos 6:1B) There has been great suffering on this Sabbath. Jesus’ followers have felt very separated from God, without direction or hope, but restoration is coming. Then, "We will live in His presence." (Hos. 6:2B)

"Let's acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him." (Hos. 6:3A) It's like the praise of the Psalmist in Psalm 13 again. We must remember that God is good no matter how circumstances appear. We must acknowledge Him in all our ways." (Proverbs 3:5-6) "As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, (or snows), like the spring rains that water the ground." (Hos. 6:3B) God is as faithful as the sun rise no matter how it appears.

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:21-23) Just as the rainbow serves to remind us of God's faithfulness to His promise to Noah that He would never flood the earth again, let the sun rise remind you of God's faithfulness to us of His new creation and eternal presence. After all, sunrise was coming to a new and glorious day for those who had followed Jesus. There is a sun rise for us as well. It may be hidden by clouds for now, but the sun will rise, of that you can be sure. God is faithful to His own, of that, you can be even more sure.

Right now, you may be in a situation where you feel as though you are alone and that God is not with you. This is a horrible place to be. Satan loves nothing better than to convince us that we have been abandoned by God. Remember, Jesus hanging alone on the cross. He knows what you are feeling. Talk to Him and cry with Him if you must. Then, remember, the sun will rise, God is faithful and you will be restored in Him.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...

These Boots are Made for Walking

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15 These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness. That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he h...

186. Ten Healed, Or One?

Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:19 At last, Jesus has left the crowd behind and again is continuing His journey toward Jerusalem. His path takes Him and His disciples along the border of Judea and Samaria, between the pure Jews, and the hated half breeds of the day. On His way, Jesus encounters an interesting group of people. We only learn the nationality of one of them and, though we don't know the nationality of the others, because Jesus sends them to the priests in Jerusalem we can probably assume that at least some of them are Jews. Isn't it interesting that through leprosy, a disease that causes much suffering, the dividing wall of hatred has come down for the sake of companionship? We encountered one leper earlier on our Journey. Lepers were the dreaded untouchables of the day. Their disease cut them off from all they loved. It was a very lonely life. No wonder these people had ...