“The LORD said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.’ So, I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, ‘You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.’ For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.”
His name was Jim. What is important is that he was a gifted preacher of the Word, a missionary to Mexico who had performed admirably in that capacity. His wife, however, bored with her marriage vows, began sleeping with another man. Finally, despite repeated efforts to turn her again toward a godly walk with the Lord, despite seeking marriage counselling to repair the breach in his marriage, she left him, turning to the world for what she felt she had must have. Now, this gifted man of God was removed from ministry because he could not “manage his own family.”
If this was the only instance of such a desertion I had witnessed during the years of my service, it would have been horrible enough. However, my mind goes to a man in northern California who went to a rural congregation where he was powerfully used by God. His wife left him for another man and Wally’s ministry was destroyed. After all, what assembly wants to chance a man who cannot “manage his own family.”
I participated in the ordination of a young missionary to a South American country. After only a few short years, his wife announced that she no longer loved Ken. She wanted more out of life than being a pastor’s wife, more than being a perfect woman living in a fishbowl. She left him and their child for a series of sexual escapades. Reduced to working at menial jobs to provide for his expenses, his ministry was finished. What church will seek leadership from a man who is unable to “manage his own family.”
I am aware that the common perception is that pastors are the ones who fail in their marriages. The stories of pastors who are unfaithful seem to be the stuff of legend, but the truth is that a pastor’s wife is every bit as likely to desert the marriage as is any pastor. Is it possible that modern churches really don’t have a clue what is meant when Paul writes that a man must “manage his own family?”
What I find amazing about the ministry of Hosea is that this lonely prophet was compelled to perform his ministry in the sight of all Israel, despite the open failure of his marriage! His wife, Gomer, was a trollop—there is no polite way to put the matter. Whether or not Hosea fathered the children Gomer bore is open to question. Gomer had slept with multiple men, despite being married to Hosea. According to contemporary church doctrine, Hosea was unable to manage his own family well.
What ridicule the man of God must have endured! How the cruel laughter of the religious leaders must have pierced his soul even as he declared the message God had given him to deliver! To the people about him, Hosea appeared no better then themselves and they no doubt used his home life as justification for their own wicked practises.
Were this account written concerning the life of a leader in any church of this day, I have little doubt that pious and self righteous guardians of the sacred flame would demand that the leader must cease prophesying. The old saw states that the bird with a broken wing shall never soar as high again. The mere threat of ridicule, the mere suspicion that some individuals may look askance at the wounded servant, is sufficient for many religious people to demand that he resign all service in the Name of the Master. However, we are not speaking about birds, whether with broken wings of otherwise! Nevertheless, a number of questions are raised,. Are contemporary religious views correct? Why did God not remove Hosea from serving Him? Does God have two rules for His servants? What does the Bible say about the servant’s brokenness in the home?
GOD HOLDS HIS SERVANT RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN ACTIONS — The servant of God is not responsible for what others do. Not even the actions of the members of his own family are the full responsibility of the elder. There are many who hold the pastor’s family to an unrealistic, even an unbiblical standard. Those who do so appeal to Paul’s words in the Pastoral Epistles. I’ve already alluded to the passages in letters to Timothy and to Titus. To Timothy, Paul wrote, “[The overseer] must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church” [1 TIMOTHY 3:4-5]?
In the same vein, we read in the Apostle’s Letter to Titus, “[The elder must be] above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination” [TITUS 1:6].
These two passages merit more careful consideration than they are usually given, if for no other reason than to lay to rest unbiblical perceptions. Assuredly, improper understanding of these passages cannot be expected to result in pleasing God. Let’s look at these passages briefly before we continue with our study in the prophecy of Hosea.
I don’t mean to imply that an elder has no responsibility to train his children in the Faith or to provide a sound example as a servant of the Living God. However, isn’t it interesting that Paul does not say that the children of an overseer must never have difficulties, must never get into trouble? The issue is whether they respect their father, and not whether the children of an overseer are plastic.
The issue is whether the overseer has provided sound teaching and whether the overseer has managed his family well—especially during periods of crisis. We read the passage and we interpret it to mean that the elder never experiences times of difficulty! We don’t like it when the church passes through rough water. In the same way, we want the family of our elders to be perfect, to never embarrass us by experiencing times of difficulty. We want the children to be dressed impeccably, to be well-mannered and polite, never giving a moment’s difficulty.
However, it should be evident that it is the overseer and his response to crises that is in view when considering qualifications for eldership. One evidence of the abilities of an elder is whether his children reflect his values, whether his children are seeking to obey the Lord, whether his children honour God while living in the home.
However, there comes a day when children leave the home. Is the pastor responsible for what an adult child does, a child who is no longer living under the pastor’s roof? Being raised in a Christian home does not make one a Christian, and the children of a pastor can and do stray, turning away from following the Lord. It isn’t necessarily the norm, but neither is it unheard of. As is true for any follower of the Master, a pastor is responsible to instruct the children God has entrusted to his home, ensuring that they are taught the truths of the Faith. However, a pastor cannot compel faith in his children any more than any follower of Christ can compel a child to believe.
The elder is responsible to model faith, living out the Faith that he has embraced. He is responsible to instruct his children in the Faith, just as all followers of the Saviour are responsible to instruct their own children in the Faith. All who know the pastor are able to witness his life, and they recognise either the reality of his faith or the duplicity that characterises who he professes to be. People will either recognise the purity of his heart, or he will reveal the dross that has defined his life.
This has never stopped unthinking power mongers from attempting to wrest the Word to their satisfaction to permit greater control over the House of God. Churches want a leader to appear perfect, without any visible flaws. They want the community to speak well of the leader, and not be able to find fault with the leader’s children. Some have described this expectation as a “walk-on-water” syndrome. The preacher can have no problems and his life must meet every expectation—realistic or not! However, the members of the congregation are not expected to live up to the same standard. That was Israel in the days when God sent Hosea to them. Consequently, when the congregation learns that the pastor does not walk on water, the assembly can become vicious. Of this you may be assured—no pastor walks on water! All are sinners saved by grace.
Hosea was directed by God to defy expected norms. We cannot begin to imagine the sorrow to which this prophet of God must have been subjected. Whether we agree with the sentiment or not, ministers are expected to be models of decorum, and their wives are expected to be supportive of their ministry. What is true in this day was equally true in that distant day in which Hosea served the LORD God. However, Hosea was commanded by God to marry a whore.
The command Hosea received is stunning in the blunt language employed. “When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, ‘Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.’ So, he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim” [HOSEA 1:2-3a]. In this modern age, we imagine that we marry for love. How we “feel” is vital when choosing a spouse. The biblical concept is more concerned with shared value, and it is clear that Gomer did not share the values that Hosea held dear. Her values were revealed soon after marriage through her unfaithfulness.
Preachers are appointed by God to be received by the congregations, but churches have expectations that may or may not be valid. Many times, the expectations of the churches are unchristian, unholy, ungodly; these expectations are borne out of the philosophies of the world rather than growing out of the revealed will of God. The ideals of the modern boardroom are more likely to be applied in church life rather than the revealed mind of God. Churches are more likely to look for administrators than they are to look for shepherds—men who are imbued with divine wisdom and the dew of heaven gracing their brow.
There are unspoken norms that dictate how churches view those in fulltime Christian work. I’m not disputing the fact that moral failure should never be tolerated. A man who is unfaithful to his wife is disqualified from pastoral oversight. A thief, a murderer or a liar must not be tolerated in the position of an elder. An individual who dishonours his parents or who deliberately abuses others for whom he bears pastoral responsibility is clearly disqualified from occupying the position of the pastor.
However, there are expectations that really are unrelated to issues of morality that are often elevated in the mind of church members. As an example, let me tell you of an incident that occurred early in my service before the Lord. A prominent pastor, one of the best-known preachers within a major denomination, had recommended to the Director of Missions that I should be serving within the association. In turn, that Director of Mission recommended me to a pastoral search committee within that Association. On this recommendation, the committee phoned me, and the first question they asked was, “Does you wife play the piano?”
Being young, I was not well-versed in “church-speak,” so I replied somewhat flippantly, “I dunno,’ what does the position pay?” The committee members were somewhat taken aback, and after a moment or two of stammering, they finally responded that providing instrumentation was a volunteer position, to which I replied that they needed to determine whether they were seeking a pastor or a piano player.
Needless to say, such brashness from a young preacher didn’t go over very well with those old salts. I believed then, and I believe now, that a pastor must defy expected norms when those norms threaten the biblical standard. The pastor’s responsibility is not to make everyone feel good about themselves, allowing himself to become a marionette to a covey of self-important grandees in the church.
As an aside, I am quick to affirm that my wife is an exceptionally gifted woman of God. However, I am compelled to make it clear that she serves the Lord God who saved her; she is not responsible to fulfil every expectation that a congregation may attempt to impose on her. Candidly, she has a big job being my wife, but she is nevertheless a gifted teacher and capable counsellor in her own right. I’m proud to be married to such a gracious, gifted woman who follows hard after the Lord Christ.
I’ve been speaking of the need for a follower of the Christ to obey God rather than men, but I need to emphasise that obedience to God means that the man of God, or the woman of God, must accept responsibility for his or her own actions. You may be certain of this—God will not lead you to fulfil every expectation of mere mortals. In fact, on many occasions during your faith pilgrimage, you will be condemned because you haven’t met the expectations of some fellow believer. Some fellow believer will hold you to a standard that God never set. If you will stand for Christ and for His cause, it is unlikely that you will be hailed as a conquering hero by those about you; however, you will please the Lord who appoints you to serve Him.
Let me get back on track. While an elder must be able to manage his family, it does not change the fact that families can be dysfunctional. Children can be rebellious, they are born sinners. Some, despite training in righteousness, will disregard the pleas of the father and the mother to whom God has entrusted them, and they will go astray. God is watching His elder to see how that man responds to a wayward child. Does the elder respond with choler and rage, or does the elder respond with gentleness and a firm hand? The principle that must be recognised is that the elder is responsible for himself!
GOD EXPECTS OBEDIENCE TO HIS COMMANDS; WE EXPECT ADHERENCE TO THE RULES OF MEN. “The LORD said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.’ So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, ‘You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore or belong to another man; so will I also be to you’” [HOSEA 3:1-3].
It is a tragic observation arising out of years invested as a pastor among the churches of our Lord, that most congregations live by rules rather than living by grace. Undoubtedly, church boards would vigorously dissent from such an assessment of the condition of the churches they run, (I use the verb deliberately); but the evidence is pretty convincing that we tend to move toward finding the easiest way to perform a task; and the easiest way is seldom the godly way to fulfil the will of God. Bear in mind that rules are relatively easy to implement, and we can somewhat more easily gauge adherence to the rules, especially if we crafted the rules. It is far more challenging for us to assess whether an individual is pursuing the Lord with passion and devotion. To accurately assess the reality of someone’s walk, we must take time to know the person, and we will need to be in tune with Heaven itself. That can be rather challenging.
God commanded Hosea to do a hard thing, perhaps even an impossible thing. The prophet of God was commanded to marry a prostitute, a wanton woman, a whore—and Hosea was obedient to this difficult command. This was perhaps the greatest demonstration of commitment to the Living God in his life—He obeyed even when the charge was difficult! Hosea married Gomer knowing that she would be unfaithful to her vows. That had to have been a hard thing for Hosea. Gomer would gain a measure of stability, a positive boost to her reputation in the community, respectability among the people of God. Hosea, however, would be paying a high cost for his obedience.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to see what Hosea would gain through marrying Gomer. Through fulfilling this difficult charge, the LORD was showing Hosea how God Himself was grieving over the people He had created. In the process of obeying the LORD, Hosea would sacrifice his reputation and open himself to deep sorrow as he would be repeatedly betrayed. He would learn what it means to grieve deeply. In the process, he would gain insight into God’s holy character. He would discover something of God’s pain inflicted because of His love for Israel.
How stinging were Jesus’ words accusing the pious religious leaders of Judea. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read the account of one of the many confrontations Jesus endured with these religious leaders. “Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.’ He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, “Honour your father and your mother,” and, “Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.” But you say, “If anyone tells his father or his mother, ‘What you would have gained from me is given to God,’ he need not honour his father.” So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
“‘This people honours me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”’”
[MATTHEW 15:1-9]
At a later date, Jesus had been repeatedly challenged by the Pharisees and their scribes. They were making every effort to trip Him up, hoping to make Him look bad in front of His disciples. However, they were unable to force a misstep on His part. Finally, after repeated attempts to compel the Master either to misspeak or to respond in choler, Jesus spoke past them to the crowds that gathered about Him and to His disciples.
This is what the Master said to the crowds and to His disciples. “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar” [MATTHEW 23:1-35].
The whole of Pharisaical religion was a distortion of God’s revealed will. Likewise, much of what passes as mandated religion in this day has scant relationship to what God says in His Word, having been implemented by some committee or board. I realise that I am painting with a broad brush. Not all churches are cavalier about pursuing biblical righteousness. Nevertheless, Christians that have substituted the thoughts of man for the mind of God appear to be in the majority today. The unwritten rules controlling life among the churches can be distracting to those seeking a close walk with the Saviour. Let me point to a few instances of what I mean. By no means do I believe these issues identified are exhaustive; rather, they are representative.
Among the churches are found a surprising number of assemblies that insist that adherents and members must use only one version of Scripture. However, it doesn’t matter what version of the Word you carry to the services of the church if you neither read the Word nor permit it to guide your walk through this world. God seeks those who long for Him and who are listening to hear Him speak through His Word. While it may appear exciting to listen to some siren voice proclaiming that they have a prophecy, such is worthless if those hearing are unaware of what God has presented in His Word.
I participated in an ordination of a man who was going to Peru to serve as a missionary. Imagine my astonishment when a contingent of super pious saints asked the young man if he would pledge to use only a particular translation of the Bible. The translation they insisted that he must use was a venerable English translation. When the missionary replied that he conducted his devotions, both private and family, with that particular translation, he would be serving in a nation where Spanish was commonly spoken. Thus, he would be using a Spanish translation of the Bible. His answer did not satisfy his aggressive interlocutors, who were insisting that he must use the translation they preferred, translating that version into Spanish. I was astonished!
I addressed the assembled clerics, speaking directly to these rabid attack dogs. “Gentlemen, if you insist on the use of a translation that was authorised by a suspected homosexual and a man known to be lecherous and ungodly, that is entirely your business. This candidate has already said he will preach in Spanish and not in English. Moreover, if you insist on your preferred translation, which revision do you insist must be used? Surely you are aware there are multiple revisions! Which do you insist that he use?”
Without exception, all the stern Pharisees withdrew from the council, muttering that the churches represented were deviating from the inspired translation they favoured. Their position was nothing less than Pharisaical.
Christians are commanded to be modest in dress, but nowhere are slacks for women condemned in the Word of God. There are a surprising number of churches that teach, either implicitly or explicitly, that “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man” [DEUTERONOMY 22:5 KJV]. These churches have decided that any garment with two legs “pertaineth unto a man.” Therefore, a woman may wear only a dress or a skirt. God does teach that we are to accept our sex as He has given it in birth; but spiritual descendants of the Pharisees have been transmogrified into style critics.
A friend of mine pastored in one of the western states of the United States. On one occasion during a deacons’ meeting, one of the deacons of the church charged another deacon with a grave sin. The charging deacon said that his wife and the wife of another deacon had gone to visit the wife of the deacon who was being charged. These women rang the doorbell and received no answer. They had heard a vacuum going, so suspecting that someone was home, they let themselves in through the back door. Entering the house, they found the woman whom they proposed to visit had indeed been cleaning her house. She was wearing slacks, and these ladies were scandalised!
My pastor friend responded at this point. “Gentlemen, I’ll be going home after this meeting, and my wife will be waiting for me in our bedroom. She will be wearing a nightie—and it will be very short! She will invite me up to our bedroom where we will be involved in activities that would be scandalous if someone from this congregation were to simply walk in on us or was to peer through the window. Gentlemen, it is no one’s business what my wife wears in our home; and it is none of our business what this man’s wife wears when she does her housework.” Well and truly said.
Political partisanship has no place in the congregation of the Lord. Even one’s political affiliation should be approached with caution if we will honour the Lord. We are taught to act with respect toward civil authorities, but we must recognise that God permits human government rather than promoting human government. Government was instituted by God for man’s benefit, but like all things that humans touch, government can be, and often is, perverted. Churches must be free to serve as moral critics of governmental actions, but they must avoid appearing to promote one political party over another. Government will never deliver us—God delivers us from evil.
In a former church, a couple began attending services. After a few weeks, the couple registered interest in becoming members. It was about that time that a federal election was called. Shortly after, the wife brought a number of political brochures to the church, insisting that they be displayed in the foyer and that I promote the particular party that she favoured. I declined her demand, reminding her that I ministered to people identified with several political parties. Moreover, I assured her that my own views were rather prominently displayed through my declarations and through my own participation in government. However, I would not permit her to place her literature in the church.
Though she could not recognise what she was doing, she was advocating government, politics, as the means to redeeming the nation. I pointed out to her that she was unwilling to cross the street to visit a lost neighbour, though she was quick to visit the same homes in order to distribute political literature. Lives are not transformed by political parties, but by the Son of God when He reigns in those lives.
Would you find it surprising to learn that the only a day or two later the couple decided that they would prefer to attend services in another church? They couldn’t be part of a church pastored by someone who would not promote a political party as the answer to national salvation. For them, Christ was captive to a particular political party; Christ would be required to work through that political party to accomplish His salvation. They were seeking an outlet for their activism rather than a community of the faithful.
I’ll relate just one additional incident from a life spent among the churches. I taught in one of America’s premier Bible colleges immediately prior to moving to Canada. When I moved, I had left behind an automobile and some personal effects which necessitated a return to the States some months after taking up my service in Canada. I arrived back in the States during a Presidential campaign. Walking up to the school where I had previously taught, I was stopped by multiple professors who asked whether I was registered to vote, pressing me to vote for a particular candidate. I attempted a bit of lite repartee with some of these men, noting that the Word of God says, “The liberal soul shall be made fat” [see PROVERBS 11:25 KJV]. Commenting that since I was carrying a fair bulk, I must be a Libertarian. My erstwhile colleagues were unamused and began to grouse that I was not taking the election seriously.
Shortly after this, I had a group of faculty and staff gathered around me, so I said, “During my tenure here, I never witnessed any of you pursuing lost souls on the streets of this city as I have witnessed you pursuing people to ensure they are registered to vote. May I say that undoubtedly the candidate you are promoting will be elected; indeed, I hope that will be the case. However, I caution you that when he is elected, you will discover that he is but a man. He puts his trousers on one leg at a time. He is not the Messiah, and he will not bring in the Millennium.” My observation was valid at that time, and it remains valid to this day. Governments can never bring in the Millennium.
These anecdotal incidents represent shibboleths that have little to do with godliness, serving solely as identifying markers for adherence to a particular sectarian view of religion. When my wife and I first came to faith, it was in a church that had more rules than are written in the Word of God—and there are six hundred thirteen positive commandments in the Law! Every dictum in Scripture had been assigned precise interpretations so that multiple rules were created to inform worshippers how they were to fulfil the Christian walk. The poor saints of that assembly were inadvertently violating one rule or another on quite a regular basis. My wife and I had been first drawn to the Faith by the emphasis on freedom, and we were instead finding bondage.
Hosea was to answer to God, and not to the community at large. The path that God had marked out for him was difficult in the extreme. However, he was to serve the LORD God Who appointed him to service; only incidentally was he responsible to the community within which he lived. It is an axiom of the Faith that you are accountable first to God who appointed you to your service. What is not often acknowledged is that the accountability will always intersect with the community of Faith! This is not to say that the assembly of the righteous will embrace the ministry assigned, but even when the community does not accept the ministry, the one appointed must be faithful!
Permit me to provide a couple of quick examples. Jeremiah was appointed to prophesy to Israel during the last days of the Judean Kingdom. Recall his account of his appointment to serve in Israel. “Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’”
[JEREMIAH 1:9-10]
However, Jeremiah’s appointment would not be what we might call positive. Before he even began his service before the LORD and to the nation, the LORD warned, “Dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you” [JEREMIAH 1:17-19]. Jeremiah would have a powerful ministry, but it would entail threats, slander, calumny, imprisonment and disavowal by family and friends. He would know lonely days, weeping an ocean of tears as the nation he loved was destroyed. The very people whom he sought to turn from destruction would reject him and his message.
Amos would be sent to Israel with a message of judgement. Those to whom he was sent would reject his message and attempt to intimidate him into silence. He would face threats from the power brokers of the nation who did not want to hear any message that did not affirm them. The priest of Bethel would send to the King seeking to have Amos silenced, perhaps even through incarceration. We witness Amaziah sneering to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom” [AMOS 7:12-13]. The implied threat to Amos is that he is facing trouble.
However, note Amos’ response to the threat, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now therefore hear the word of the LORD.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
“Therefore thus says the LORD:
“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
“This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A basket of summer fruit.’ Then the LORD said to me,
“The end has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”
declares the Lord GOD.
“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
“Silence!”
[AMOS 7:14-8:3]
You will no doubt recall that Jesus said of prophets, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household” [MATTHEW 13:57b]. The world may welcome a seer, a prognosticator, but prophets are a problem since they are the voice of God calling those who hear what is said to turn to the Lord.
GOD JUDGES THE IMPACT OF MINISTRY BY THE CRITERION OF LONG-TERM IMPACT, NOT ON THE BASIS OF IMMEDIATE RESULTS. Make no mistake: immediate results from our acts can be gratifying, or terrifying, depending upon what we have done. However, it is well-nigh impossible for most Christians to think of the ultimate consequences of the choices we make. Most of us tend to focus on the immediate, without consideration of what is likely to result from our choices. We feel compelled to choose in order to avoid an immediate problem.
An old saying informs us that “Good is enemy of the best.” So it is, in the press of life, we feel ourselves forced to make decisions not because the choice is good, but because the choice we make addresses the immediate challenge. We need to begin to focus on the long vision, looking at what we are doing with the eyes of the Lord.
Hosea was concerned that his actions should honour God, even when the immediate consequence of his choice were painful. So it is that you and I must train ourselves to begin to assess the choices we make by whether we are doing the will of God, or whether we are satisfying our own immediate desires. It can be difficult to distinguish between these options at times because the “self” is so intertwined with life itself. If we follow our inclination, quickly deciding on what seems correct, there is a high probability that we will make the wrong choice.
Within the assembly, when we must make a decision, I counsel us to take time to pray, allowing the Spirit of God to direct us before we make a commitment or before we make a decision. It is almost a certainty that when the congregation acts on what looks good, the decision will be wrong. Few decisions must be made immediately without waiting on the Lord. Seeking unity, seeking harmony in the assembly, is always worth the wait. The same holds true in our private lives. While it is true that sometimes we must make a decision quickly, we should never do so without first consulting the Lord.
There are a few instances in the Word when a person made a decision that seemed precipitous. Careful study reveals, however, that they were following the leadership of the LORD God. Nehemiah seemingly made a quick decision when the king asked the reason for his countenance. You do recall the incident as recorded in Nehemiah? Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king. It would be a capital offence to appear sad in the presence of the king, so when the king noted Nehemiah’s face, he asked the reason for the sadness. Nehemiah confessed that he “was very much afraid” [NEHEMIAH 2:2b].
Answering the king, Nehemiah spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem and how it grieved him to hear of the difficulties of the people. So, the king asked him precisely what he was requesting. Focus on Nehemiah’s answer as it is given in the latter part of NEHEMIAH 2:4: “So I prayed to the God of Heaven.” However, perceptive saints will recognise that while this was an instance of a spontaneous decision to pray, it was not the first time Nehemiah had been praying. This godly man had been praying for days before this crucial exchange took place. Recall what preceded the king’s query.
“Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, ‘The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.’
“As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven” [NEHEMIAH 1:1b-4]. Nehemiah fasted and prayed for days before even he was questioned by the king! How many days? We don’t know, but the implication is that he invested sufficient time for God to thoroughly prepare the heart of Artaxerxes, the king.
Allow me to make a quick application of what has been said. First, familiarise yourself with the Word so that when the man of God speaks you can test what is said against Scripture and not against your prejudice.
Again, don’t allow yourself to be stampeded into making a snap decision. Prepare yourself to follow the leading of the Spirit by maintaining a speaking relationship with the Son of God.
Then, ensure that you seek God’s honour above your own comfort. Strive to know the will of God and then courageously do what He commands.
Lastly, follow hard after the Lord, regardless of what others may think.
The message has no meaning for you if you are lost. If I had but one word for you who are listening, though you are yet lost, it is that you believe in the Lord Jesus. He alone is able to set you free from condemnation. If you are living for the accolades of this dying world, then you shall suffer eternal loss at death or when the Master returns. Those who seek Him and His glory are assured of salvation; and though the path may appear hard for the moment, it leads to eternal glory. For Christ’s sake and for your own eternal welfare, believe the message of life, even now.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
