The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Hosea 2:13,
"'I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,' declares the Lord."
Astonishing that a people who had seen so much of God, who had been blessed by him in so many ways could stray from him in this way. These are the people who were the descendants of Abraham, to whom he made wonderful promises... and fulfilled them all. This is the nation that witnessed God's miraculous powers displayed in stunning fashion in the land of Egypt where the Lord set them free from slavery. This is the people who saw the mighty hand of the Lord conquer her enemies. This is the nation who shook from fright at the foot of Mt. Sinai as the mountain quaked from the Lord's presence and glory. This was the people who were chosen by the creator of the universe as his own, provided them with his revelation and raised up the law-giver Moses. This is the nation that was delivered countless times from hunger, thirst, poisonous vipers, ruthless enemies. And, yet, here they are, abandoning the covenant they had made with the one true God, abandoning the One who had done so much for them, to run after... nothing. Idols that are simply figments of imagination, idols that lead astray, idols that lead into sin and rebellion.
I am reminded of the observation made about the human heart in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" It was and is not just the Jews. It is all of us that have hearts that turn from the one true God. As Paul observed in Romans 3:9-18, "We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.' 'Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.' 'The poison of vipers is on their lips.' 'Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.' 'Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.' 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.'
Given this state of things, it is a wonder that God is even mindful of us at all, that he hasn't just wiped us all out as he did in Noah's day. And yet, given the circumstances of the depraved condition of all of us, we are the very ones that God looked down on, the ones God sent his Son for, who died a horrible death for. We are the ones that God has sought for himself.
It is no wonder he makes a new creation of us, given the sinful proclivities we have cultivated in our hearts. Given the backdrop of our sinful condition, all that God has done for us stands out in the stark contrast of his merciful kindness toward us. We all deserved to be cast into that fiery lake of burning sulfur. How astonishing he has made a way for us to become his very own children! And, all he asks of us is to trust in him...
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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