Hosea's Word Today - A Final (for now) Reflection from Hosea (#24)

According to one website, the most important quotes about history are these --

We are not makers of history.  We are made by history. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in raising every time we fall. (Confucius)

Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.  (Edmund Burke)

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (George Santayana)

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.  (Mahatma Gandhi)

I came, I saw, I conquered.  (Julius Caesar)

The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice. (Mark Twain)

This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. (Neil Armstrong)

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.  (Thomas Jefferson)

Many of these quotes have “cousins” in the lips of others.  For example, Aldous Huxley said “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.”    Mark Twain (again) – “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”  And Confucius (again) – “Study the past if you would define the future.”

SHALL WE LEARN FROM HOSEA’S WORD TO EPHRAIM?

"The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri...in the days of kings of Judah and Joash, the kin of Israel.  What shall we learn from this Biblical history so as to define (better) our future?

Here are my take-aways from Hosea's lie-stretching experience and heart-challenging prophesy.

1st - God loves us more than we understand.  C.S. Lewis once remarked to the effect that God loves us fiercely, surprisingly so.  "I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.  I will betroth you to me in faithfulness" (Hosea 2:19-20).  No one wants our good more than God, and He is jealous that we might experience the life of his love.

2nd - We can too easily play the harlot.  "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.  Prone to leave the God I love," so echoes the hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.  God is ready to "tune my heart to sing Thy grace," but my heart leans toward unfaithfulness on every given day, and in any given moment.  We can easily worship ourselves, the success (or gods) of our own hands, or something our worldly culture offers us that appears fantastic (but is much more like a single firework splashing momentarily in the night sky).

3rd - God patiently loves and waits...for a time.  Perhaps this is the critical lesson for us today that might penetrate a dulled ear.  We are in a time of grace.  God is not slow about what He will do, but (Peter's words) "is patient toward you."  Toward us.  "The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness...to live upright in the present age...waiting for...the appearing of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2).  "For, the day of the Lord will come" -- both Paul and Peter sing this duet.  Unfortunately, for most, it will dawn as a complete surprise.

4th - It's always the right time to turn around toward God - "Take with you words, and return.  Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity...we will say no more OUR GOD to the work of our hands'." (Hosea 14). Whoever is wise (14:9) let him understand these things.

C'mon...let's be honest with ourselves.  And, should your moment of honesty call for a one-eighty, "draw near to God.  He will draw near to you" (James 5).  I promise you.  You'll never regret it.