Hosea 2:19-23

When we come to the end of ourself…we find God! 

When we finally realize that it is not about me but it is all about Him... and Him crucified for my sins...we have found everlasting truth. He gave His life for me and all who would accept Him as an eternal gift. What a glorious God we serve.

The betrothal was the legal moment before cohabitation when the dowry was paid to the father of the bride. In this remarriage the Lord gives the bride price to Israel herself “forever.” Justice and judgment refer to equity and fairness of conduct. The next two terms, “loyalty” (hesed), the steadfast love between the covenant partners, and “compassion,” maternal love are characteristic of Hosea.

Earlier, the name “Jezreel” telegraphed disaster and destruction. Now, the image is positive! God will plant and rebuild Israel. Faithlife Bible.

Betrothal was a binding commitment, the last step before the wedding and consummation. The Lord emphasized that the new marriage between Himself and Israel would be permanent. Lovingkindness means “devotion, commitment.” Israel would respond positively to the Lord’s love and acknowledge that He is her husband and benefactor. NKJ Bible.

Hosea 2:19-23 (Catholic Bible)

19

I will remove from her mouth the names of the Baals;

they shall no longer be mentioned by their name.

20

I will make a covenant for them on that day,

with the wild animals,

With the birds of the air,

and with the things that crawl on the ground.

Bow and sword and warfare

I will destroy from the land,

and I will give them rest in safety.

21

I will betroth you to me forever:

I will betroth you to me with^* justice and with judgment,

with loyalty and with compassion;

22

I will betroth you to me with fidelity,

and you shall know the LORD.

23

On that day I will respond—oracle of the LORD—

I will respond to the heavens,

and they will respond to the earth;

Hosea 2:19–23 (NKJV)

¹⁹ “I will betroth you to Me forever;

Yes, I will betroth you to Me

In righteousness and justice,

In lovingkindness and mercy;

²⁰ I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,

And you shall know the Lord.

²¹ “It shall come to pass in that day

That I will answer,” says the Lord;

“I will answer the heavens,

And they shall answer the earth.

²² The earth shall answer

With grain,

With new wine,

And with oil;

They shall answer Jezreel.

²³ Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth,

And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;

Then I will say to those who were not My people,

‘You are My people!’

And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

Jeremiah 31:33 (NKJV)

³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

1 Chronicles 13:3-14

Christ within is the love of God that resides within believers and without that we are without hope. Reverence needs to be shown for the Holy One and all His teachings. There is a fine line between the relationship the Trinity seeks with us and the holy respect owed. With fear and trembling we need to work out our salvation.

The Holy Spirit is the love that passes between the Father and the Son. He will take the teachings of Jesus and explain the meaning.

Beware of presumption, rashness and irreverence in dealing with holy things and think not that a good intention will always justify a rash action. We must not trifle in our approaches to God.

 There are preachers who lay hands on the doctrines of God’s Word, thinking to save Christianity from overthrow. It is dangerous to put unsanctified hands on the person of Christ, His virgin birth, atonement, resurrection, etc.

The Chronicler emphasizes that all of Israel was unified in the decision to bring back the ark. Faithlife Bible.

1 Chronicles 13:2–4 

This ark was the ark of the covenant that contained a copy of the Ten Commandments. In the days of Eli, the ark had been captured by the Philistines, in whose hands it remained for several months. Next it remained at Beth Shemesh for a short time and finally it resided at Kirjath Jearim.

During Saul’s reign, the people of Kirjath Jearim kept the ark in their city for safekeeping. Besides holding the Ten Commandments and serving as a throne for God, the ark represented the presence of the living God among the Israelites. David wanted to unify the Israelites around their God, so he brought the ark to the nation’s new political center, Jerusalem. The city was already the seat of David’s government (11:4–9); now it would become the dwelling place of God.

13:4 Again the chronicler highlighted the unity of the whole nation by saying that all the people agreed with David’s decision to bring the ark to Jerusalem. NKJ Bible

1 Chronicles 13:3–14 

3 And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul. 4 And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. 5 So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim. 6 And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the LORD, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it. 7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart. 8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. 

9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God. 11 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perezuzza to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me? 13 So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite. 14 And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had. 

Acts 7:9-16

God is able to accomplish everything that He said to you. Even when circumstances seem without hope. He can do what no man can…for you, for your family for the Body of Christ.

With God N.O.T.H.I.N.G. is impossible!

Stephen’s speech represents Luke’s description of Christianity’s break from its Jewish matrix. Two motifs become prominent in the speech: (Acts 7:1) Israel’s reaction to God’s chosen leaders in the past reveals that the people have consistently rejected them; and (Acts 7:2) Israel has misunderstood God’s choice of the Jerusalem temple as the place where he is to be worshiped. Catholic Bible.

Stephen is likely suggesting a parallel between Joseph’s brothers’ rejection of him and the religious leaders’ rejection of Jesus and His followers. He is also implying that God is with the Church—just as He was with Joseph—rather than the religious leaders. Faithlife Bible.

The famine proved to be the providential means of bringing Joseph’s brethren to Egypt in search of grain—and more importantly, of reconciling them with Joseph.

Why did Stephen make the point that the patriarchs were buried in Shechem? At the time of Stephen’s defense, Shechem was the center of Samaritan life. Nearby was Mt. Gerizim, the site of another temple. Stephen was charged with speaking against the temple in Jerusalem as if this were tantamount to speaking against God Himself. Stephen’s point was that God had been speaking and moving in the lives of His people in and out of Jerusalem, with and without a temple. The most important address God made to His people was at Mt. Sinai, which was nowhere near Jerusalem. NKJ Bible.

Acts 7:9–16 (NKJV)

⁹ “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ¹¹ Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

Genesis 37:4 (NKJV)

⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Genesis 39:2 (NKJV)

² The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Genesis 39:21 (NKJV)

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Matthew 12:1-9

November 8th, 2018

God desires mercy and not sacrifice. Man will always make the way to the Father seemingly impossible. They do not enter in and hinder others from entering His blessed rest.

Conclusion: Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath day, giving us the true example of the acceptable use of that day, spending it with and for God.

Matthew 12:1–9 (NKJV): At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

 The Sabbath was the traditional day of rest  for the Jewish people as prescribed by the law.  According to the law, the edges of fields were to be left unharvested; this showed compassion for people in need, who were allowed to pick the grain.These Jewish teachers consider the plucking of grain to be a violation of the Sabbath prohibition against work. David was on the run from Saul and, with the permission of Ahimelech the priest, he ate the sacred bread—a violation of the law. Loaves of bread were placed in the tabernacle sanctuary. They were considered holy, and only the priests could eat them.

Something greater than the temple is here.  Ultimately, people’s needs are given preference over legal observance. Jesus asserts his authority over the Sabbath. Faithlife Bible.

The way Jesus observed the Sabbath was a primary point of contention between Himself and the religious authorities. The Pharisees and scribes recognized that the Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant. Therefore, to desecrate the Sabbath was to flaunt disobedience to the entire Law of Moses. While reaping was forbidden on the Sabbath, the disciples were picking grain to eat, not for profit. They were not breaking God’s law. The Pharisees had established 39 categories of actions to be forbidden on the Sabbath, and according to them, the disciples were “harvesting” and therefore breaking the Sabbath. The Pharisees were trying to make Jesus into a lawbreaker and accuse Him of wrongdoing. NKJ Bible.

Matthew 13:36-43

Until the return of Jesus to govern the world there will be evil and good. God wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the salvation He has given in the birth, death and resurrection of the Savior but He wants it to be their choice. 

Free will….a blessing for those who believe and a curse for those who follow the ways of the world!

The return of Jesus to the house marks a break with the crowds, who represent unbelieving Israel. From now on his attention is directed more and more to his disciples and to their instruction. The rest of the discourse is addressed to them alone. Catholic Bible.

Matthew 13:36–43

³⁶ Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

³⁷ He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰ Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

Mark 2:17

Election Day in America…vote the love of God for all not hate!

There is hope for all mankind if they recognize the salvation of Jesus give by the Father. What does God require of us? LOVE for Him above all and LOVE for all of His creation!

This maxim of Jesus with its implied irony was uttered to silence his adversaries who objected that he ate with tax collectors and sinners. Because the scribes and Pharisees were self-righteous, they were not capable of responding to Jesus’ call to repentance and faith in the gospel. Catholic Bible.

With this statement, Jesus is neither affirming nor denying that the Pharisees are righteous. He is simply pointing out that the call to repentance and offering of forgiveness are for those who need it—sinners. Faithlife Bible.

Christ came to call sinners to repentance. Jesus did not condone the activities of sinners, but required repentance—a change of mind that recognizes the need of a Savior and recognizes Jesus Christ as the only Savior.NKJ Bible.

Mark 2:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them,  “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Matthew 9:13 (NKJV)

¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Matthew 25:41-46

The Scriptures make it very clear.

Whatever we do, as Christians, reflects on Him. We are His hands and His feet to ALL the nations of the world…including our own. 

Love God above all AND love your neighbors as well as yourself!

Matthew 25:41–46 (NKJV)

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

John 5:29 (NKJV)

²⁹ and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Job 22:7 (NKJV)

⁷ You have not given the weary water to drink,

And you have withheld bread from the hungry.

🙏 prayers for America

Acts 11:15-18

It was too small a thing that Lord JESUS came to save the Jews alone. He came to save the world. Anyone who believes in Him will not perish. In Him, with Him and in the power of the HOLY SPIRIT we will be raised from the dead and live eternally with Him. Just believe! All praise and honor to our God…Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

This section begins a bold new step in the mission of the church. The Samaritans were part Jewish; the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius were Jewish proselytes. Finally the Jewish Christians that made up the early church understood Jesus’ commission to them: they were to bring the gospel message to the Gentile too. NKJ Bible.

The Jewish Christians of Jerusalem were scandalized to learn of Peter’s sojourn in the house of the Gentile Cornelius. Nonetheless, they had to accept the divine directions given to both Peter and Cornelius. They concluded that the setting aside of the legal barriers between Jew and Gentile was an exceptional ordinance of God to indicate that the apostolic kerygma was also to be directed to the Gentiles. Only in Acts 15 at the “Council” in Jerusalem does the evangelization of the Gentiles become the official position of the church leadership in Jerusalem. Catholic Bible.

Kerygma (from the Greek keryssein, to proclaim, and keryx, herald) refers to the initial and essential proclamation of the gospel message.

Acts 11:15–18 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Acts 15:8 (NKJV)

⁸ So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,

Acts 15:9 (NKJV)

⁹ and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Isaiah 42:1 (NKJV)

42 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,

My Elect One in whom My soul delights!

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

Mark 7:6-8

How easily man made doctrines become more important than the commandments of God. Faith in Jesus pleases the Father. In love and the truth of the Christ we honor Him and the great sacrifice made to allow us to enter into His Kingdom.

In earlier times the Hebrews held the written law of God, the Torah, in such esteem that they would not write down their reflections on it, lest they should tempt later generations to consider their words as important as God’s law. But as time went on, written commentaries on the law, collected in the Talmud, assumed greater authority than the Torah itself.

Jesus did not directly answer the question but instead addressed two more significant issues: (1) the superiority of God’s law over man-made tradition and (2) the difference between ceremonial and true moral defilement. Jesus enters into the argument by calling His adversaries hypocrites. The term originally referred to actors who wore masks on stage as they played different characters. Thus the Pharisees were not genuinely religious; they were merely playing a part for all to see. NKJ Bible.

The body of detailed, unwritten, human laws regarded by the scribes and Pharisees to have the same binding force as that of the Mosaic law.

Against the Pharisees’ narrow, legalistic, and external practices of piety in matters of purification (Mk 7:2–5), external worship (Mk 7:6–7), and observance of commandments, Jesus sets in opposition the true moral intent of the divine law (Mk 7:8–13). But he goes beyond contrasting the law and Pharisaic interpretation of it. The parable of Mk 7:14–15 in effect sets aside the law itself in respect to clean and unclean food. He thereby opens the way for unity between Jew and Gentile in the kingdom of God, intimated by Jesus’ departure for pagan territory beyond Galilee. Catholic Bible.

Mark 7:6-8 (Catholic Bible)

6 He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

7 In vain do they worship me teaching as doctrines human precepts.’

8 You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

Mark 7:6–8 (NKJV)

⁶ He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

⁷ And in vain they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

⁸ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

Isaiah 29:13 (NKJV)

¹³ Therefore the Lord said:

“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths

And honor Me with their lips,

But have removed their hearts far from Me,

And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

Matthew 23:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’