|
|
Meditation of the Day“Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sin has been your
downfall. Take words with you and
return to the LORD.
Say to Him, “Completely forgive our iniquity; accept us graciously,
that we may offer the calves of our lips”
(Hosea 14:1-2).
Once again we see the great compassion of our great God, as
He is found pleading with His rebellious people to turn away from their wicked
ways that they might be restored to the great covenantal blessings that awaited
their rent hearts. In a passage very reminiscent of Psalm 51, the Lord is once
again reminding His people of the only ‘repentance’ He is willing to accept. In Hosea 6:1-3, Israel, after receiving the due punishment
for their great sin of forsaking their faithful Husband, appears to have a
repentant heart. However, God, who searches the inward heart,
found that their repentance was merely
superficial, and the only ‘god’ they were seeking was their idol of comfort. In Hosea’s time, Israel imagined that they could appease
their God by merely offering up their animal sacrifices, irrespective of their
heart’s condition. How they
treated God is very similar to how the Catholics do today:
they pay their vows, do their Hail Mary’s, recite their penance, and
then somehow – mysteriously – God is no longer angry with their
unregenerate, sin-loving, and disobedient heart. But what the Catholics don’t understand – like Israel
of old – is that “the [only] sacrifices that God receives is a broken
spirit.” It is only “a broken and contrite heart, O God, [that] You will not despise” (Psalm
51:17). Even the prophet Joel warned the people to
rend their hearts and not just their garments (2:13). How low a view fallen man has of the true and living God!
We treat Him as if He were some pathetic fool that can be deceitfully
bought off, or like the crooked judge or self-serving politician seeking the
votes of people. Israel treated Him so, and they were punished accordingly.
Israel had turned the Sovereign Lord of the universe into a manageable
idol that could be manipulated and molded to suit their desires and satisfy
their fancies. How prone we are to
do the same. In our text, we thus see that Yahweh is reiterating what He said earlier in 6:6,
“I delight in faithfulness and not sacrifice, and I delight in the
acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea's message is the same message we must preach to this
fallen, sin-cursed world that
thinks that the Most High God can be hoodwinked with their insincere sacrifices
to ‘keep Him off their back.’ He
wants us, not just our sacrifices. He
doesn’t need our bullocks or rams or sheep, for the cattle on a thousand hills
are His (Psalm 50:10, note how similar the context is). Only a prostitute of a wife would be more contented with diamond earrings and fancy clothes than the sincere affection and devotion of her loving husband, who cherishes her above all things. No wonder God was – and is – furious with those who treat Him so! Is this not what the people were inadvertently communicating to Him by there actions? Despite their great multitude ‘sacrifices,’ Hosea says that the
people are still in a state of stumbling. God has not forgiven
their sins; He has not received their vain offerings.
They have been brought low by their iniquities, and because of their love
for this sinful world, their guilt still remains. And so Hosea calls upon the people to return.
The Hebrew word (bwv)
can also be translated “to repent”, as can the Greek word (evpistre,fw)
used in the Septuagint, and thus warns us that it is our heart that must return
to the Lord, not just our feet; that we offer to God our blemished hearts, not
our ‘unblemished’ sacrifices.[1] Let us quit living the double life. How prone we are to condemn the Israelites for their hypocrisy, all the while overlooking the cesspool of hypocrisy still residing in our proud hearts. How often we love the world, and live like it for six days, then get religious for Sunday! How often we consume the world all week, and then put in our vain and insincere and unsubstantial ‘sacrifice’ into the offering plate! How often we go through the motions, almost unwittingly, once a week, only to leave unchanged! If Hosea were to return, I wonder if he would repeat the
same message he had for his fellow people. Oh for grace to truly confess our sins!
Oh for grace to sincerely offer up to God the calves of our lips!
These are the only true sacrifices that He is longing to graciously
receive from His people. Then, and
only then, can we say with David in Psalm 51:19, “Then
there will be righteous sacrifices, whole
burnt offerings to delight You; then
bulls will be offered on Your altar.” Give us grace to heed this message, our compassionate Father, not because we are worthy, because You are full of mercy. Take away our hypocrisy. Take away our low view of Your holiness and justice. Take away our complacency. In Jesus’ name. Amen. [1] It seems that James is also dealing with this problem in his epistle, where the oppressive rich, who were friends with the world, apparently thought that their sacrifices were somehow being accepted by God. James retorts, “Come near to God, and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and [then] He will lift you up” (4:8-10). James tells them that their lavish ‘sacrifices’ are unacceptable to God because their hands [really their insincere hearts] have defiled them and rendered them useless.
|
Send mail to webmaster@LethbridgeBaptist.com with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: September 13, 2008 |
