Hosea 11:1-11, Psalm 107:1-9, Psalm 107:43,
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, Ecclesiastes 2:18-23,
Psalm 49:1-12, Colossians 3:1-11, Luke 12:13-21.
A). A STIRRING IN THE HEART OF GOD.
Hosea 11:1-11.
Through His speaking in the first person, and in what He says, this chapter offers us a unique view of the tenderness of the LORD toward His people (Hosea 11:1a). Moses reminded the people that the LORD ‘did not set His love upon’ them for any other reason than ‘because the LORD loves’ them (Deuteronomy 7:7-8a). He does not love us because we deserve His love, but He loves us because of what He has accomplished on our behalf through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The LORD named Israel ‘My firstborn son’ (Exodus 4:22); the voice from heaven declared of Jesus, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17). Israel is the type of our Lord, and our Lord is the ultimate manifestation of all that Israel typologically represented. Israel was called out of Egypt under Moses (Hosea 11:1b); Jesus was called out of Egypt under the guardianship of Joseph (Matthew 2:15).
Yet hardly had the children of Israel left Egypt than they began to complain. Just as God called them, so they went from His face (as Hosea 11:2a might be read). They sacrificed to the Baals (cf. Numbers 25:3) and burnt incense to carved images (Hosea 11:2b; cf. Exodus 32:4; 1 Kings 12:28-29).
“I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms,” complains the LORD. “But they did not know that (it was) I (Who) healed them” (Hosea 11:3). How quickly we forget the LORD who saved us, and who led us even through the wilderness of our backslidings (cf. Acts 13:18)!
“I drew them with cords of a man” - gentle cords -, and “bands of love: and I was to them as those who take the yoke off (literally) their jaws” (Hosea 11:4) - such is salvation, for all who are saved from their sins. Furthermore, the LORD sent bread from heaven (cf. Psalm 78:25). The incarnation is implicit here: we see the LORD reaching down in order to draw up (cf. John 6:33).
A superficial reading of Hosea 8:13 and Hosea 9:3 might suggest that Ephraim is about to return to Egypt: but the fact that now we have the rendering “he shall NOT return into the land of Egypt” (Hosea 11:5) seems to suggest that this has been a metaphor all along, in which “the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent.” In other words, a second captivity, just as the return from exile would be viewed as a second exodus (cf. Jeremiah 23:7-8).
In fact, Israel had been wooing both Egypt and Assyria in these troublesome times, flitting from one to the other like a silly dove (cf. Hosea 7:11). This is the nature of their “counsels” (Hosea 11:6), which can only result in the consequent devastation of their cities. If we are “bent upon backsliding from” the LORD (Hosea 11:7), then even our ‘prayers’ become a mockery. When we would give up on God, we should not be surprised when God exposes us to the consequences of our own sin (cf. Romans 1:28).
Listen to the expression of pain from the mouth of the LORD (Hosea 11:8; cf. Jeremiah 31:20). How can He give us up, hand us over, treat us like the cities of the plain? His heart churns, His sympathy is aroused!
Such is God’s mercy that He will not execute the fulness of His anger against His Ephraim, His Israel. The reason is not far to seek - it is because He is God, not man. He is “the Holy One in our midst” (Hosea 11:9), who would rather we come to repentance (cf. 2 Peter 3:9) than He come with terror.
The Father sent the Son to ‘seek and to save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10). The Father and the Son together sent the Spirit to bring light to a lost world. Having sent His Word and Spirit, the Father, like the father of the Prodigal, awaits our return (cf. Luke 15:20).
God had it in mind all along not to cast off Israel for ever (cf. Romans 11:1). They shall yet “walk after the LORD. He will roar - and His sons shall come trembling from the west” (Hosea 11:10). Is there a hint here that ‘they’ without ‘us’ shall not be complete (Hebrews 11:40)?
They shall come “trembling” like a bird from “Egypt” (i.e. captivity), and as a dove from Assyria (Hosea 11:11; cf. Isaiah 11:11; Zechariah 10:10). Ephraim is still God’s dear son (Jeremiah 31:9-10; Jeremiah 31:20). Is there a hint here of the ‘fulness’ of the end times (cf. Romans 11:12; Romans 11:15; Romans 11:25-26)?
It is a mystery, but our unchangeable God wants us to understand that He is not without compassion (Hosea 11:8). Perhaps it is an incarnational mystery? Listen to Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 13:34).
Hear the anguish of Gethsemane (Mark 14:34-36). Observe the sufferings of the Cross (Hebrews 12:2-3). ‘We have not a high priest who cannot be touched by the feelings of our infirmities’ (Hebrews 4:15).
B). THE WANDERERS IN THE WILDERNESS.
Psalm 107:1-9, Psalm 107:43.
This Psalm is a call to thanksgiving to the LORD, “for He is good: for His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 107:1). The writer longs that those whom the LORD has redeemed, whom He has redeemed from the hand of enemy - out of the east, and from the west, north and south - should “say so” (Psalm 107:2-3). Say what? Share their testimony of what the LORD has done for them.
The psalmist then gives four examples of the type of deliverance which people may have experienced: wanderers in the wilderness (Psalm 107:4); prisoners in chains (Psalm 107:10); those languishing in sickness (Psalm 107:18); those tossed about in the storms of life (Psalm 107:27). Each called upon the name of the LORD, and the LORD heard them, and the LORD wrought deliverance (Psalm 107:6; Psalm 107:13; Psalm 107:19; Psalm 107:28). Each time the psalmist repeats his appeal, that men would ‘praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men’ (Psalm 107:8; Psalm 107:15; Psalm 107:21; Psalm 107:31).
Now each of these pictures speaks to the whole condition of mankind outside of Christ. We see it here in the first: wandering in the seemingly trackless wilderness of life, seeking but not finding a city to dwell in (Psalm 107:4). ‘Without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world’ (Ephesians 2:12).
I am glad it does not end there. Ephesians 2:13 continues: ‘But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.’
But the wanderers in the wilderness had to realise their condition before the remedy could be applied. “Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them” (Psalm 107:5). It is, after all, those who ‘hunger and thirst after righteousness’ who shall be filled (Matthew 5:6).
Filled with what? Filled with ‘the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe’ (Romans 3:22). Thus are we made ‘the righteousness of God in Him’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
So “they cried to the LORD,” as we have seen, in their hunger and thirst, “and He delivered them” (Psalm 107:6). “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalm 107:9).
And in that trackless wilderness, the LORD led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation (Psalm 107:7). Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father but by Me’ (John 14:6; cf. Acts 4:12).
'Whoever is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the LORD' (Psalm 107:43). Amen.
C). A JOURNEY BACK TO FAITH.
Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, Ecclesiastes 2:18-23.
The harder we try to understand the book of Ecclesiastes, the greater the temptation to chime in with the author’s refrain: “all is vanity!” Yet, somewhere along the way, we might realise that it is going somewhere. After all, this is not a mystery novel, where it is considered cheating to peep at the last chapter to find out who did what and why: it is in fact, a legitimate part of the wisdom writings of the written Word of God.
ECCLESIASTES 1:2. “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”
This is the refrain throughout the book. It speaks of emptiness, futility, meaninglessness, something of a nothingness.
ECCLESIASTES 1:12. “I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.”
In a more traditional understanding of the authorship of Ecclesiastes, we have here an older version of Solomon, who having strayed from the path, is now writing after having tried everything that ‘life without God’ has to offer.
ECCLESIASTES 1:13. “And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.”
Solomon was more than just an observer of the restlessness of life: he sought to “seek and search out by wisdom.” After all, he says, this is the “sore travail” that God has given to us “sons of men” since the Fall (cf. Genesis 3:19). The whole creation has been subjected to ‘vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same IN HOPE’ (Romans 8:20).
ECCLESIASTES 1:14. “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
To seek quality of life in a life without God is just this: “vanity” and a chasing after the wind.
ECCLESIASTES 2:18-19. “Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun, This also is vanity.”
If the writer here is Solomon, then one might wonder if he had some idea of what a mess his son Rehoboam would make of the kingdom? Solomon’s successor refused the counsel of the aged, and spoke roughly to the children of Israel, precipitating the division of the kingdom into two (cf. 1 Kings 12:13-17).
ECCLESIASTES 2:20-21. “Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.”
The very thought of one’s hard-earned cash being squandered by a future generation makes one regret ever having made the effort. “Evil” probably speaks of the unfairness of it all.
ECCLESIASTES 2:22. “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
“Labour” speaks of effort. “Vexation” speaks of stress. This is a question expecting the answer ‘Nothing!’
Jesus asked a similar question, ‘What?’:
‘What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and then loses his soul?’ (Luke 9:25).
The rich man who built more and bigger barns for his worldly abundance is aptly named ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of thee: then whose will these things be which thou hast provided?’ (Luke 12:20).
ECCLESIASTES 2:23. “For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This also is vanity.”
Hard work, stress, and sleepless nights. A recipe for burnout! The futility of it all!
Earlier in his life, Solomon wrote, ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge’ (Proverbs 1:7). Then, after all the excursions of this later book, ‘the conclusion of the whole matter’ will be the same. ‘Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man’ (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
If all this worldly labour is meaningless, Paul suggests: ‘Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:2-3).
D). THE CONFIDENCE OF THE FOOLISH EXPOSED.
Psalm 49:1-12.
This is a wisdom Psalm, addressed to “all people”: “both low and high, rich and poor, together” (Psalm 49:1-4). It is an encouragement to the poor not to fear (Psalm 49:5; cf. Psalm 37:7). It is an exposure of the folly (cf. Psalm 49:13) of those who put their trust in riches (Psalm 49:6; cf. 1 Timothy 6:17).
All the riches in the world cannot pay the price of the redemption of one man’s soul before God (Psalm 49:7-9; cf. Matthew 16:26). In Jesus’ well known parable of the rich man and Lazarus, ‘the beggar died’: ‘the rich man also died’ (cf. Luke 16:22). Death is the great leveller (Psalm 49:10; cf. Luke 12:20).
People may name their lands after their own names (Psalm 49:11), or after the names of their sons (cf. Genesis 4:17), but there is no continual dwelling here (cf. Hebrews 13:14). Man in his pomp, and without understanding, will be “like the beasts that perish” (Psalm 49:12; cf. Psalm 49:20).
Application.
In order to understand the full scope of the message of Psalm 49, it is best read and studied in its entirety. The key verse is Psalm 49:15, which reads, ‘But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for He shall receive me. Selah.’
You see, believers, somebody did pay the ransom for us, even our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mark 10:45).
‘If then ye be raised with Christ,’ says Paul, ‘seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth’ (Colossians 3:1-2).
‘For our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 3:20). Amen.
E). LIVING THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
Colossians 3:1-11.
The doctrinal basis for the imperatives of this section is found in the fact that the ‘saints and faithful brethren’ (Colossians 1:2) have been “raised” with Christ. This connects with the symbols of baptism and new life in the previous chapter (Colossians 2:12-13). If we have been made alive in Christ Jesus, then let us live our lives accordingly (Colossians 2:6).
1. Since we have been “risen with Christ”, then we must “SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE, where Christ is…” (Colossians 3:1). We are to focus our lives on the One at “the right hand of God.” The posture mentioned is important: He is “seated,” His work completed (see Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 10:12).
The Lord Jesus Himself teaches us to ‘seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness’ (Matthew 6:33); ‘and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Our earthly benefits are wrapped up in the heavenly realities. And ‘When ye pray, say… Thy kingdom come… as in heaven, so in earth’ (Luke 11:2).
2. Paul next calls for a little mind-renewal (Romans 12:1-2): “SET YOUR AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE” (Colossians 3:2). This is not to walk around with our eyes-to-the-sky bumping into things - but to fix our spiritual gaze upon those things which are spiritual and eternal, rather than on the passing things which are of the earth. Such things are but a shadow of the ultimate reality (Colossians 2:16-17), but we are to live our lives here according to the pattern of the substance (compare Hebrews 8:4-6; Hebrews 9:23-24; Hebrews 9:28).
This is possible because of our union with Christ (Colossians 3:3). If the hidden things of Jesus are to be manifested to our generation, it will be through His believing people. Such people are “dead” to the things of the world - Christianity allows no compromise. The world may mock at this, but do not let it be because we are not living up to our calling!
There will come a day when our lives, which are presently (by faith) bound up in Christ, will be manifested for what they are (Colossians 3:4). Jesus has already prayed that we might be with Him where He is, and behold His glory (John 17:24). This is a process which has already begun (2 Corinthians 3:18), and which awaits its ultimate manifestation (1 John 3:2).
3. “Therefore” (Colossians 3:5) is an important word. Since you are dead to the world, and yet alive in Christ (Colossians 3:2-3), “therefore MORTIFY WHAT IS ‘EARTHLY’ IN YOU” (Colossians 3:5). Put it to death! [The little phrase which is literally translated “upon the earth” (Colossians 3:2), is sometimes translated as “earthly” (Colossians 3:5).] There follows a list of sins, all of which might be associated with pagan religion.
Everything in this list might have ‘religious’ overtones. We well know what dens of iniquity pagan temples once were - and, in certain parts of the world, still are. In fact, it would be true to say that covetousness is the root of ALL evil, for it causes some to err from the true faith (1 Timothy 6:10) - which itself constitutes idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23).
“For such things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience” (Colossians 3:6). However, if we are the true recipients of the promise of Colossians 3:4, then what business do we have with the vices of Colossians 3:5 and Colossians 3:8? To be involved with them would mar our relationship with the One in whom we have life with God (Colossians 3:3).
4. You ONCE walked in these things, when you lived in sin (Colossians 3:7), BUT NOW it should no longer be so with you (Colossians 3:8). Since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man (Colossians 3:9-10), “PUT OFF ALL THESE” (Colossians 3:8). These lists are not necessarily comprehensive, but representative - but in this second group (Colossians 3:8-9) we find what are mainly sins of the mouth. It is what proceeds out of the mouth that shows who we really are - or where we are really at (Matthew 15:18-20).
This is not, however just about individual ethics: it is the common clothing of the community (Colossians 3:9-11). The putting off and putting on (past tense) (Colossians 3:9-10), and the “going on being renewed into the knowledge of the One who created us” (Colossians 3:10), all have an impact upon the new society of which we are a part. If Christ is all to me and I am right with Him, and Christ is all to you and you are right with Him - then Christ is “all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).
Personal piety is not just about our individual relationship with God. The little phrase “one another” is introduced in Colossians 3:9, and re-occurs in Colossians 3:13 (twice) and in Colossians 3:16. Our knowledge of God empowers us for reconciliation on the horizontal plain as well (Colossians 3:11).
F). BEWARE OF COVETOUSNESS.
Luke 12:13-21.
Sometimes people used to approach a Rabbi to settle disputes, so the petitioner in this account may not have realized he was doing anything wrong when he approached Jesus with a request concerning the inheritance left by his father (Luke 12:13). We are not aware of all the circumstances, but after their father had died the responsibility for the distribution of the land rested with the elder brother. For some reason, the younger brother felt that he was being cheated: what had the holy man to say about that?
The Lord’s curt answer warns us that we are not being told all the facts. Jesus knows our innermost thoughts (Matthew 9:4). He also knows the motives of our hearts (John 2:24-25).
A Hebrew once said to Moses, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us?’ (Exodus 2:14). Jesus uses similar terms, but in an exact opposite situation: “Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you?” (Luke 12:14). Jesus is not one to be manipulated.
In true Rabbinic style, this curt answer is followed by a wisdom saying. This consists of a warning, and an explanation (Luke 12:15). Jesus warns us against covetousness.
The man to whom Jesus was speaking evidently needed to hear, as we all do, that life consists in more than the things we possess. Paul places covetousness on a par with idolatry (Colossians 3:5). It is not money that is the root of all evil, but the inordinate love of it: i.e. covetousness (1 Timothy 6:10).
Jesus illustrates with a parable. We are introduced to a rich man who had a bumper crop one year (Luke 12:16). What should he do?
We learn something about this rich man right away: he was the only person in his world. This rich man loved singular first person pronouns (I, my), and only used the second person (you, your) when speaking to himself. The rich man was only interested in hoarding his wealth.
Now, of course, he might have cited the precedent of Joseph in Egypt, who built bigger barns in the seven years of plenty to feed the people in the seven years of want which would follow (Genesis 41:34-36). However, the man in the parable had no interest in feeding the hungry, either now, or later. To him they are “my fruits” (Luke 12:17); “my barns, my fruits, my goods” (Luke 12:18); “my soul’s much goods”; and he says to his soul, “take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19).
Not only did this rich man have no present compassion for the poor, but also, he was living as if there was no God. It is the fool who says in his heart that there is no God (Psalm 14:1), and God does not hesitate to name this rich man a fool (Luke 12:20; cf. Jeremiah 17:11). What use are his riches to him, and all this surplus, when his covetous soul is required of him that very night?
Jesus goes on to define this folly (Luke 12:21. The person who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God, is a fool! Wealth is permitted, but it is what we do with it, and whether we idolise it that is at stake (read 1 Timothy 6:17-19).
