1. The passage 5:15-6:6 is a dialogue between God and the people, in which God has expressed his purpose to withdraw his presence (5:15), the people light-heartedly profess repentance, and their confidence in God's restored favour (6:1-3); but the true situation is far from what the people think (6:4-6). What does God desire to find in his people?
2. The remainder of today's portion consists of descriptions of the state of the nation: the sinfulness of priests, kings, and people (6:7-7:7); their instability and folly (7:8-8:3); God's anger against both their rulers and their idols- all alike man-made (8:4-13). What do you find here: (a) about the sins that abounded; (b) about false alliances that blinded their eyes; (c) about the real cause of their perilous position?
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1. God has such a great desire to find a lot of different fruit in His people but I think it's interesting to note the things He mentions...
ReplyDelete6:6 Mercy, Knowledge of God
7:13 Truthfulness
7:14 Dependence on God
7:16 repentance or a returning (means to restore something that was already there)
8:12 obedience to God's law (Word)
More fascinating to me are the things it DOESN'T list like...
penance
guilt
justice
success
2a. Again, the sins are many, but the list follows: 5:5 pride, 5:7 whoredom, 7:4 adulterers, 7:8 "cake not turned" meaning to hide the burnt side or bad side of something/sin (very interesting), 7:10 pride, 7:13-16 rebellion, lies, mischief, 8:14 forgetting our Maker, etc. The last one really breaks my heart as I think that has been the key to much of the rebellion then and now. WE DON'T REMEMBER WHAT HAS BEEN DONE FOR US!!! The smallest nudges toward sin have happened under most of our noses and we, as Christians, often "pshaw" over it. For example, evolution being taught in our schools. What's the goal there? Trying to keep us from remembering our Maker! Taking key Scriptures from monuments. Purpose? Causing us to forget where we came from! Oh, wait, more close to home... reading "Christian living" books and considering it Scripture. Result? Causing us to forget where we have come from. How about going to a church where the Bible is never really read or really preached? Ouch, too close to home at times.
(sarah steps off ranting box)
b. Didn't really get this but it appeared that Ephraim and Samaria participated in "re"culturizing them and invited idol worship.
c. see rant at end of answer a and comments on lesson #3 ;-)
On a side note, one of my absolute favorite passages is in Hosea 6:1-3, 6 We were at a conference in December and James MacDonald preached on this passage and I don't know if I have ever really realized the severity under which Israel was being called back to God. In a beautiful way He was pleading for them. It's a beautiful passage that explains the power of God ("He has torn us into pieces but in due time He will heal us") and yet His superceding grace and love for us despite the horrid things we do perpetually. It talks about His faithfulness ("as surely as the coming of the dawn, He will respond")... and yet all He wants from us is to KNOW Him. Wow. If you're a fan of Shane & Shane you may have heard their song "Hosea" and it is basically this passage put to music. You Tube doesn't have a good video/clip of it otherwise I'd link it up but if you have access to their songs, find it and listen to it.
-sarah
1.)
ReplyDeletea. God told the people that He will go away or withdraw His presence from them until they acknowledge thier sin and seek Him again.
b. Interesting that the people placed thier confidence in God's goodness. They knew that God was a loving God, that God would come when they called and they placed bets on it.
Like vs. 3,
"So let us press to know the Lord, His going forth is as certains as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."
They knew God was merciful, but it's interesting to note in verses 1-3 that they say, "God has torn up to pieces, God has injured us." They clearly did not have any true understanding that it was their own sin that caused them to be torn and injured. They had no understand of the magnitude of thier sin.
Interesting that in verse 4 God describes the people's loyalty to Him as the morning dew which goes away early, or quickly.
c. What God desires to find in His people more than anything else is loyalty, not sacrafices, or penance like you mentioned Sarah, but whole hearted and complete loyalty to Him. So much so that nothing would get in the way of that loyalty, not possessions, not success, not opportunity, not relationships, God wants nothing to come between your loyalty to Him.