A true story with a little paraphrasing

The Old Testament prophets were remarkable men with a difficult task. They spoke for God to men and women. This was not easy because very often people did not want to know what God said. So by and large these men had a hard time, and this had an effect upon some of them. For instance, we see Elijah sitting under a juniper tree feeling very sorry for himself. Jonah did not agree with God saving the men of Nineveh so he runs away from the Lord. Perhaps no prophet felt things more than Hosea who was commanded by God to marry a prostitute. Even when he knew the reason for this command it is difficult to imagine the confusion that must have been in his mind. But the commandments of the Lord are not grievous and Hosea fell in love with this woman . We could even imagine it being love at first sight. Any way, Hosea married Gomer and they seemed to have lived happily together for a few years.

They had three children but the naming of each child served to remind the prophet of God’s purpose in the marriage……..

‘ So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.” Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.” After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God’

This must be one of the most amazing stories in the Bible. But it is not a parable. This happened and is a wondrous testimony of the love and grace of God. Sinners are not saved by threats of judgement, crucial though this is; what saves sinners is the love and grace of God. Hosea and Gomer clearly reveal this love to us. Boice writes, ‘God said, “Hosea, I want you to marry a woman who is going to prove unfaithful to you but to whom you are nevertheless going to be faithful. You will love her, but she will disgrace your love.

I am asking you to do this because we are to present a pageant to Israel by your marriage. It is going to be symbolic, an object lesson. You are going to play the part of God. The woman is going to play the part of My people. The reason she is going to run away and be unfaithful is that this is the way my people act in the spiritual marriage that I have established with them. You are going to be faithful, because I am faithful to Israel even though she dishonours My name.”

God’s ways are not our ways and very often they baffle our sense of logic. God compares Israel to a wife who has broken her marriage vows and become filthy and polluted. In such a case there are many reasons why a husband may say that is the end, it is all over, and I will never have her home again. But God is not a man and he finds reasons why he should forgive and restore the sinner.

James Montgomery Boice regarded Hosea 3 as the second greatest chapter in the Bible. Before we disregard this as an exaggerated claim, listen to his reason, ‘The third chapter of Hosea is, in my judgment, the greatest chapter in the Bible, because it portrays the greatest story in the Bible – the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for His people – in the most concise and poignant form to be found anywhere. Our study of Hosea’s story has already shown that it is a pageant of the love of God for Israel, indeed for His people in every place and age. But when we ask, “Where in the whole of human history is that love most clearly seen?” the answer is obviously, “At the cross of Christ.” It is that cross and the work accomplished on that cross that is portrayed in this chapter. Hosea 3 shows us God’s work of redemption-the work by which the Lord Jesus Christ delivered us from sin’s bondage at the cost of His own life-portrayed in Hosea’s purchase of his fallen wife from slavery.

Gomer’s life style had taken its course on her health and beauty and she was no longer the attraction to men that she had been. She was sold into slavery and God tells Hosea to buy her back. What a marvellous picture this is of redemption and ransom.

Redemption means to set free from the slavery of sin by the payment of a ransom price.

Jesus told us that the reason he came into the world was ‘to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:45). The word ransom is familiar to us when we read of someone who has been kidnapped and a ransom price is demanded to set him free. Jesus teaches us that his death is the means by which we are set free. He gave his life as the price of freedom for the slaves of sin. Redemption is a costly business: Peter has reminded us of that, and so too does Paul: ‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace’ (Ephesians 1:7).

The ransom price is the blood of Jesus, or, in other words, his sacrificial death on the cross. We are not redeemed by the teaching of Jesus or by the fact that he could do miracles. It is what he did on the cross that purchased our salvation.

If you consider big words, there are very few bigger than the name of that town in North Wales, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch. The name translates as “St Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio of the red cave”.

A local committee was formed to try and encourage trains, travellers and 19th Century tourists to stop at the village in order to help develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre. It is believed the name was conceived by a cobbler, or a tailor, depending upon what story you hear, from Menai Bridge. Little did they know at the time that they had invented one of the most successful tourist promotional plans of all time. Today the village is signposted as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and is known by locals as Llanfairpwll or Llanfair. It is also known as Llanfair PG to differentiate it from other Welsh
“Llanfair” villages. So many names for just the one place! Such a large name for such a tiny place!

The Christian faith also has its share of big words. Perhaps the least understood is PROPITIATION. We find this in the Authorised Version translation of Romans 3:25 , ‘Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through

faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;’ Many modern translations do not use the word. They prefer easier understandable words, and that is ok as far as it goes so long as they not also change the meaning as well as the word. Changing the long Welsh name for LlanfairPG is no problem because they can always pull out the full name at the railway station for the tourists and no harm is done. But to change the meaning of propitiation is fatal because it is the heart of the Christian faith.

The propitiation means that on the cross, bearing our sin and guilt, Jesus faced the wrath of God instead of us, and fully paid on our behalf the debt we owed to the broken law of God. At Calvary Jesus made it possible for a holy God to be propitious – or favourably inclined – towards us, even though we are guilty sinners. God dealt with the problem of sin in the only way that could satisfy his holy justice and enable him to save a people who deserved only judgement.
Another long word that is often used in conjunction with propitiation is the word SUBSTITUTION or SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH OF JESUS. This again is a word that we cannot play around with if we are to keep to New Testament teaching.

Consider carefully the following statements:
The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Each of them tells us that Jesus died in our place. We deserve to die, but he died instead of us. He became our substitute. To use an Old Testament illustration, he became the ‘scapegoat’ (Leviticus 16)-the innocent victim bearing the guilt of others and suffering their just punishment. This was God’s plan to make salvation possible for guilty sinners.

The big words of Christianity are not big because of the words in them, but because of the gospel truths in them. Their content is huge and their significance is gigantic. This is what makes them big.

AND  I WILL FILL IT.

Psalm 81:10

Psalm 81 brings before us two quite distinct conditions of the people of God. In verses 1-7 they are enjoying God and in verses 11-16 ignoring God. Verses 8-10 are a warning and encouragement for them to move from the second condition to the first.

The picture on the front of this tract is a good example of how the relationship between the Christian and his saviour ought to be. In v10 we see a responsibility and a promise. The responsibility is that we open wide our mouths and the promise from God is that he will fill it.

The picture here is of fledglings in a nest with their mouths wide open to receive all the good things the parent birds have for them. It is a picture of total dependency and intense hunger. The word wide suggests urgency, need and priority. There is nothing half hearted about this. The mouth is wide open to grab as much as possible and to miss nothing.

This is what we are to do before the promise will be fulfilled. Almost all the great promises of scripture are conditional (1 Chron 7:14, Malachi 3:10, Psalm 81; 10). God is sovereign and he can work without our aid, but he chooses to work through his people, and his word requires them to be in a healthy spiritual state. He lays upon us responsibilities and demands obedience.

Come back to the fledgling in the nest. When the food goes into the mouth it provides nourishment, strength and health. God is promising this to us. He wants to fill us with all the things that will encourage and maintain spiritual growth. Is that what you want? Are you fed up with your own base desires? Are you weary with how sin and the world so appeal to you?  When our life is saturated with God then assurance, enjoyment and satisfaction abound. It does not mean there will be no more problems, but v14 will then become a reality. ‘If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, 14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!’

There is so much for us in Christ so why do we live on bread and water when there is a banqueting table available. How do we open our mouths wide? By using the means of grace, prayer, the Bible and fellowship. We need to stop waiting for something to happen and instead take the initiative in response to God’s promise.

God, in verses 11 – 16 of Psalm 81  speaks  of ‘my people’. They belong to God but they do not listen to him. There are inevitable consequences of this……
V 12    God gave them over to follow their own sinful ways.
V 14    They were subdued by their enemies.
V 16    They were missing out on so many blessings.

I don’t want to pursue these, other than to ask, are they true of us? In other words which condition are we in? Are we enjoying God or ignoring him?

Perhaps our answer would be that neither is true of us. We are in between. So we are like the church in Laodicia, not hot or cold only lukewarm. If that is true surely we cannot be satisfied with this. The question we have to ask is, how do we get to the condition of enjoying God? The answer is given in verse 10, ‘Open wide your mouth and I will fill it”