RECONCILIATION

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.”

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.”

“In that day I will respond,” declares the Lord—“I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for Myself in the land; I will show My love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My people,’ ‘You are My people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

Hosea 2:14-23

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s a serious case of compare and contrast within the second chapter of the Book of Hosea.

In the first half of the chapter, we saw a broken relationship between God and His people, a broken relationship instigated by the Israelites’ spiritual unfaithfulness. You’ll recall they willingly and willfully chose to worship false gods and idols, wickedly abandoning their life-providing, life-sustaining God for imaginary entities who were as lifeless as their faith.

In response to this sinful behavior, God tried and tried to reach His people and get them to repent of their transgressions and return to Him but all efforts were fruitless, even after He sent prophets to speak to them. The Israelites were stubbornly attached to their evil, disobedient ways and so a point was reached where God showed He had had enough and sent judgment upon them, ensuring them that they were no longer His people and He was no longer their God.

It was a picture of complete spiritual disintegration on the part of the Israelites and an example of the consequences that God will impose in response to that disintegration.

Did I mention there was a contrast in this chapter?

Look at the verses for today, the closing verses of Chapter 2, and you will see what I am talking about because what we find within these words is a shift from condemnation to reconciliation:

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.”

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.”

“In that day I will respond,” declares the Lord—“I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for Myself in the land; I will show My love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My people,’ ‘You are My people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” 

Hosea 2:14-23

Note where God is bringing His people back into favor with Him, alluring them back to His presence and speaking tenderly to them. His words are words of restoration and renewal as He promises to give the Israelites back their land and the vineyards within, reinstating His covenant with them while ensuring He would keep them safe and protected. He would eradicate the prior inclinations toward idolatry, specifically when it comes to Baal worship, and bethroth the Israelites to Him forever in righteousness, justice, faithfulness, love, and compassion. They would again be His people and He their God.

Sin gives way to mercy and forgiveness.

Judgment gives way to redemption.

Isolation gives way to relationship.

Disfavor gives way to reacceptance and love.

This is what reconciliation looks like. It’s what it looked like for the Old Testament Israelites and it’s what it looks like for us today through God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, who justifies us and makes the way for us to be with Him and God the Father forever.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com