majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Hosea 1:6b-7,
"Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of
Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the
house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or
by horses and horsemen, but by the Lord their God."
The Lord tells Hosea to name his daughter "Lo-Ruhamah" which means
"not loved". Hosea is to name her that because the Lord will no longer
show love to the northern ten tribes of Israel, he will not forgive
them. However, he will show love to the southern kingdom, Judah, and
save them.
I am reminded that the Lord makes his own choices. He decides what it
is he is going to do, who he is going to bless and who he is going to
judge and he doesn't check in with me first to see if what he has
decided agrees with my theology or what I think is best. He makes his
own choices without reference to opinion polls, denominational
distinctives, political correctness or the sensitivities of others. He
doesn't seem to have a concern for social justice, affirmative action
programs, reparations or politics. He simply makes his choice and all
of creation must bow to it. He is, after all, our sovereign Creator
God.
Paul makes a point in expressing the fact that God makes his choices
without regard to what we may think of it. He says, "One of you will
say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his
will?' But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is
formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"'"
Romans 9:19-20. Paul answers his would-be questioner, "Does not the
potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some
pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" Romans 9:21. In
the same passage Paul points to the Lord's choice of Jacob as one he
loved, but Esau as one he hated. Paul points out that the Lord's
choice was not influenced by anything either of the brothers had done,
but was a result of an exercise of his choice, "Yet, before the twins
were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose
in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was
told, 'The older will serve the younger.'" Romans 9:11-12.
Paul points these things out in Romans 9 to explain that although the
Jews of his day thought they could earn their way into the kingdom of
God by keeping the law, it was God's choice that entrance into his
kingdom will be by faith and faith alone. He quotes the Lord as saying
to Moses (through whom the law came) "I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." Romans
9:15. God decides salvation is by faith, not by works and he doesn't
care what others may think. If we will embrace him in faith, he will
welcome us as his children. If we reject him, he will cast us into a
fiery lake of burning sulfur, Revelation 21:8.
It is God's choice, God's decision, it is what he has "elected". "To
all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God..." John 1:12.
What we find in the pages of Scripture is that the Lord is just,
righteous and fair. He is not arbitrary or capricious. Without a
single wrinkle in his personality, he is perfectly consistent in his
fairness and justice. All of his choices, all of his decisions are
entirely consistent within these basic characteristics of his
personality. He tells us in Jeremiah 9:24, "Let him who boasts boast
about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who
exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I
delight..."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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