The Reporter     Volume 47 # 49,  --  December 7, 2007

 

The Love Of The Father

-- Hosea 11 --

 

   It is always beneficial to us when we turn our attention to the Old Testament. Paul said, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Rom 15:4) Through our studies of what happened before us, we can learn so much about the nature of God. And we can gain knowledge that will build our hope of things to come. Again in I Corinthians 10:11, after Paul had mentioned some of the actions of the children of Israel, he said, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” So, we can look to the Old Testament for examples of behavior that was acceptable and unacceptable to God. We can look to it for examples of those who pleased God and we can look to it for warnings about ways that displease Him.

 

   The prophets are filled with lessons that are so applicable for humanity today. One prophet, which I particularly love, is Hosea. By using the examples of very familiar, very dear relationships, Hosea illustrates the undying love of God for His people. Look with me in Hosea 11 and listen to God’s description of His love for His children.

  

   “When Israel  was  a  child,  I loved  him…” (Hosea 11:1a) The people of Israel are pictured as the young son of God the Father. This chapter describes the love of God the father for His children, and what a beautiful picture it is. His love is demonstrated in several different ways:

 

   “…And out of Egypt I called My son.” (Hosea 11:1b) God rescued His child from captivity. The story of God’s liberating the Israelites from Egyptian bondage is a familiar one. He set them free from Pharaoh’s grasp by sending Moses to plead with him, and eventually sending the ten plagues upon Egypt.  Once they were free, God continued to love, protect, and provide for the children of Israel. What a great display of love. Here is pictured a child who is in trouble; the child is oppressed and held against its will. But the father will not allow that to continue. Because He loved the child, He intervened and rescued His child. But how did Israel thank Him for His love?

 

   “As they called them, So they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals, And burned incense to carved images” (v. 2). In the book of  II Kings, more insight is given into this behavior: “So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.” (17:16) They praised and adored idols instead of the one who redeemed them. All the Father wanted was love, obedience, and worship from his children, but instead, that was all given to false gods.

 

   This same father who chose the children of Israel and led them out of captivity has offered to do the same for all of mankind today. He is willing to take you by the hand today and lead you out of bondage. 12 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” 16 “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Rom 6:12, 16). If you have not obeyed the gospel as of today, you are a slave to sin. Yes, sin may give you the illusion that it is there to serve you…that sin is your slave. But do not be fooled. Paul explained, “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” (Rom 6:17) Through obedience to God, our Father, He will lead you out of the bonds of sin.

 

   “I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms;” (Hosea 11:3a). He taught His child to walk. I picture a father holding his two index fingers down for his son to hold on to and helping him to walk. Moses wrote: “and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.” (Deut 1:31) “He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings, So the Lord alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him.” (Deut 32:10-12) In everything that Israel did everywhere they went God had carried them. He protected them from Pharaoh in Egypt and at the Red Sea when Pharaoh came to destroy them after they were free. He supplied their every need while they were in the wilderness. He spared nothing by way of care for His beloved child, but would this be enough to win the adoration of the child?

 

   “…But they did not know that I healed them.” (Hosea 11:3b). Although God supplied all of the Israelites’ needs, they acted as if they were unaware that He had done so. Everything that God did for the Israelites demonstrated His phenomenal love for them, but in every instance, they turned their backs on Him. Much like a son who forgets how his father cared for him and nurtured him in his youth, Israel acts as if they are unaware of the great deeds that God had done. I can only try to imagine the pain that a father must feel when this happens. The child that you have loved and nurtured…for whom you have sacrificed so much…and for whom you would give anything. You would never forsake him. Yet he treats you as the enemy. He has forgotten all that you have done for him.

 

   It is just the same with us today. The same father who loved and adored his child, Israel, has attempted to teach us to walk in His ways. He has given us His perfect and complete word, which contains everything that He saw fit for us to know. “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (Jas 1:25) God’s word is His “perfect law,” and when we obey it we will be blessed. Obedience to His word will make us “complete” and will “thoroughly equip” us for all good works. (II Tim 3:16-17) But how will you react to the fathers attempt to lead your steps by His divine Word? Will you grasp his hand and always remember that it was He who has directed you? Or will you let go of His hand and forget? But no matter how much that child seems to disdain his father’s love, the Father simply cannot give up on him.

 

   God Would Not Give Up On His Child. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? …My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred.” (Hosea 11:8) Though Israel had spurned the love of the Father and counted it as nothing, He was not willing to let His child go. What amount of rejection would make a father turn his back on his son?

 

   We must never forget that He is the same father that we have today. God, our Father, will never be ready to let His children go. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should  perish  but  that  all should come to repentance.” (II Pet 3:9) He is never ready to allow us to perish, although He will, if we refuse to accept His grace. He is the same Father as the one we read about in Luke 15. He is the Father who saw his wayward son form a great way off and ran to him and embraced him as His son. Our God is always ready for His children to come home again. But just as that son would have been if he’d never gone home…we too will be lost if we fail to return to our heavenly father.

 

   God Has Shown His love For Us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16). What a powerful illustration of God’s love. After showing us in Hosea 11 the beauty of a father’s love for his child, God gave His only son So that we might have life. You won’t find anything more loving than that.

 

   We are the children of God when we show our faith in Christ. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal 3:26-27) That faith can come only from the word of God and is shown only by obedience to Him. (Rom10:17) But first, He wants all people to become His children. We already said that baptism puts one inside of the body of Christ. Listen to what happens to a person once they are IN Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Cor 5:17) And then, once we enter into Christ, the Father will not give up on us. But, His love cannot cause Him to abandon justice. He will judge us according to the lives we live on earth.  (Mt 25) We will be rewarded or punished according to our deeds. Our father loves us just as He did the children of Israel. He wants us to be faithful to Him (Rev 2:10).

 

   How will you respond to the great love that the Father has shown to you? Will you treat the loving gift of salvation as a worthless gesture? Will you do as was said of the Israelites and, “know not the hand that would heal you?” Or will you respond by giving the Father the love and obedience that He so desires?

 

- - - - Darrell Powell

 

News & Notes

 

1. Prayer List: Health South Rehab Hospital: Linda Holley, and Birdie Lee Godwin, UAB Hospital Birmingham: Jimmy Allen (brother of Patsy Nall) and, Children’s Hospital: Austin Shows (nephew of Terri Bagents). In Need Of Prayers: Mae Beverly, Brenda Burkett, Owen Burt, Brian Davis, Paul Deason, Mary Dewrell, Mac Diamond, Roy Goodwin, Montine Hardin, Carrie Harding, Evan Hartsell, L.J. Herring, Wanda Kyser (mother of Ann Cauthen), Marjorie McKelroy, Larry McNeil, Jo Ann Moorer, Wallace Murry, Mary Powell, Steve Smith, Brenda Stallings, Mary Lou Terrell, Harold Thompson, Alma Ward (mother of Bill Ward), Richard Watts, Johnnie Wesley, and Mary Williams. Crowne Health Care: Mary Alexander, Gladys Childs, Kathy Johnson, Myrtle Perdue, and Iva Lou Wright. Pine Needle: Mary Lou Phelps. Homewood Greenville: Marie Walton. Georgiana Nursing Facility: Helen Autrey, and Doris Pierce. Shut-Ins: Emma Lee Gafford, Jean Hayes, and Doris Taylor.

 

2. Please Pray For: The following people are serving in Iraq: Michael Howell, Taylor Bodie, Richard Shows, Todd Till and Paul Fullington (brother of Randy Fullington). Pray for them often!

 

3. Young Adult Progressive Dinner: There will be a progressive dinner for all of our young adults on December 14^th at 6:30. The dinner will start at the home of Ken & Kelli Smith with Soup & Salad, will progress to the home of Brett & Paige Barr for the main course, and will end at the home of Jim and Tiffany Till with the dessert.

 

4. Birthdays: December 11^th Anne Kathryn Smith, December 12^th Jim Till, and December 15^h Evelyn Duke and Jimmy Hobbie.

 

5. Sign-Up List For 2008: The lists for communion, greeters, van drivers, and securing the building for 2008 are on the bulletin board. Please sign-up now!

 

6. Wedding Announcements: (a) Mr. and Mrs. Jay Rice request the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Lindsey Nicole to Mr. Timothy Glenn Croley, Jr. on Saturday, the twenty-second of December two thousand and seven at five o’clock in the evening Fort Deposit Church of Christ 204 East Rogers Street, Fort Deposit, Alabama. There will be a Reception following at Cambrian Ridge. The favour of a reply requested on or before December 8, 2007. (b) Mr. and Mrs. Johann Wells request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their daughter, Aimee LeAnne Wells to H. Bryant Croley, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Allen Croley on Saturday, the nineteenth of January two thousand eight at two-thirty in the afternoon (eastern standard time) Broad Street Church of Christ, 1213 Broad Street, Phenix City, Alabama.

 

7. The Reporter: “The Reporter” can be viewed on our web-site or received by e-mail. Send your e-mail request to:  wschurchofchrist@camelliacom.com. If you receive the Reporter by mail and would be willing to receive the e-mail version we would be grateful as postage is so expensive.   The website address is: http:\\www.walnutstreetchurchofchrist.org.

 

8. Crowne Health Care: There will not be a class at Crowne Health Care on the Saturday after Christmas (December 29^th). Our holiday party at Crowne Health Care will be at 10:00 a.m. on December 20^th. Please see Deborah Stallings to find out what you can do to help.

 

9. Put God First: With holiday season approaching, remember to keep God first in your giving. “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom…” (Luke 6:38) Our weekly budget is $6,427.38.

 

10. Radio Programs: Remember to hear our programs and tell others to listen. Sunday: 95.9 at 8:00 a.m., 94.3 at 8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday: at 12:30 on 94.3.

 

 

Don’t just own a Bible; read it!

 

Walnut Street Church of Christ

P.O. Box 551

Greenville, Alabama 36037-0551

(334-382-3001)