It's About Time
Posted: August 21st, 2010, 1:52 am
simpletruth #138aj Revisited 21AUG10 salicart@msn.com
HOSEA 10:12—Part Thirty Six: It’s About Time
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
Job 33:14 For God does speak--now one way, now another--though man may not perceive it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, 16 he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, 17 to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, 18 to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. 19 Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones, 20 so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal. 21 His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out. 22 His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death. 23 "Yet if there is an angel [literally, “a messenger”] on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, 24 to be gracious to him and say, `Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him'--25 then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth. 26 He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. 27 Then he comes to men and says, `I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. 28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.' 29 "God does all these things to a man--twice, even three times--30 to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him (NIV).
Many Bible scholars believe that the Book of Job was either written around the time of Father Abraham (c2000 BC), or that it records an oral tradition from about that time. At 4,000 years old, that makes it one of the oldest stories of the Bible. As part of Elihu’s speech from Chapter 33, the verses quoted above reflect a keen understanding of the desperate need for someone of Divine appointment to intervene in the feckless affairs of humanity. Whether early in our lives, or as teenagers, or at some point during adulthood, I pray that each of us reaches a point where we personally realize the helplessness of our existence in the face of ignorance, frustration, and pain—temptations, sin, and death. While this fallen world is the result of the fall of Adam and Eve as described in Chapter 3 of Genesis, I join my voice with those who confess that even if mankind had survived all these generations in faultless communion with God, I would have blown it for everybody—and by the age of eight, if not sooner.
Genesis 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (NIV). Given the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, Adam and Eve began to anticipate the coming of an offspring through the woman who would crush the serpent’s head in real time and space and so restore Paradise lost. The first couple’s hope was invested in the birth of Cain whom Chapter Four tells us murdered his righteous younger brother, Abel, and so all hope then passed to Seth, their third son. Throughout the centuries and millennia, this pattern of the disobedient seeking to destroy all those who choose Godliness reflects life for every society and for every individual as evil struggles from within and from without to restrain...to silence...to stab through the heart all that is Good, all that is Righteous, and all that is Holy. Every generation of the Children of God has looked forward to—longed for—that promised “child of the woman” who would set them free.
Some 1250 years after Father Abraham and Job, Isaiah wrote: 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this (NIV). Over the years I have become accustomed to hearing these prophetic verses (especially during the Christmas season), but Verse Six has recently come to impart greater meaning. Quite honestly, I’m not sure if my distracted ear picked this up from a radio ministry, or if the Holy Spirit lit it up (or both), but in this verse we are given insight as to the essential nature of Jesus the Christ. “To us a child is born.” In the same literal way that each of us was born, Jesus was fully a human being—from the moment of His conception in the power of the Holy Spirit, and on through His birth into this world of life and death. “To us a son is given.” Yes, Jesus is the human son of the virgin Mary, but eternally more important is the fact that Jesus was, is, and ever shall be fully the Son of God the Father. It was not Mary who gave us a Son, it was God, Himself.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16; NIV). At just the right time, the Sovereign of all history sent His Son to be our Mediator, to be our Advocate, to be our Good Shepherd, and to be the Perfect Lamb sacrificed for our sins (yours and mine right here and right now). You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Ro 5:6-8; NIV). “I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.' " God does all these things to a man--twice, even three times--to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.” Amen, and thank You, Jesus.
HOSEA 10:12—Part Thirty Six: It’s About Time
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
Job 33:14 For God does speak--now one way, now another--though man may not perceive it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, 16 he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, 17 to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, 18 to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. 19 Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones, 20 so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal. 21 His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out. 22 His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death. 23 "Yet if there is an angel [literally, “a messenger”] on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, 24 to be gracious to him and say, `Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him'--25 then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth. 26 He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. 27 Then he comes to men and says, `I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. 28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.' 29 "God does all these things to a man--twice, even three times--30 to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him (NIV).
Many Bible scholars believe that the Book of Job was either written around the time of Father Abraham (c2000 BC), or that it records an oral tradition from about that time. At 4,000 years old, that makes it one of the oldest stories of the Bible. As part of Elihu’s speech from Chapter 33, the verses quoted above reflect a keen understanding of the desperate need for someone of Divine appointment to intervene in the feckless affairs of humanity. Whether early in our lives, or as teenagers, or at some point during adulthood, I pray that each of us reaches a point where we personally realize the helplessness of our existence in the face of ignorance, frustration, and pain—temptations, sin, and death. While this fallen world is the result of the fall of Adam and Eve as described in Chapter 3 of Genesis, I join my voice with those who confess that even if mankind had survived all these generations in faultless communion with God, I would have blown it for everybody—and by the age of eight, if not sooner.
Genesis 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (NIV). Given the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, Adam and Eve began to anticipate the coming of an offspring through the woman who would crush the serpent’s head in real time and space and so restore Paradise lost. The first couple’s hope was invested in the birth of Cain whom Chapter Four tells us murdered his righteous younger brother, Abel, and so all hope then passed to Seth, their third son. Throughout the centuries and millennia, this pattern of the disobedient seeking to destroy all those who choose Godliness reflects life for every society and for every individual as evil struggles from within and from without to restrain...to silence...to stab through the heart all that is Good, all that is Righteous, and all that is Holy. Every generation of the Children of God has looked forward to—longed for—that promised “child of the woman” who would set them free.
Some 1250 years after Father Abraham and Job, Isaiah wrote: 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this (NIV). Over the years I have become accustomed to hearing these prophetic verses (especially during the Christmas season), but Verse Six has recently come to impart greater meaning. Quite honestly, I’m not sure if my distracted ear picked this up from a radio ministry, or if the Holy Spirit lit it up (or both), but in this verse we are given insight as to the essential nature of Jesus the Christ. “To us a child is born.” In the same literal way that each of us was born, Jesus was fully a human being—from the moment of His conception in the power of the Holy Spirit, and on through His birth into this world of life and death. “To us a son is given.” Yes, Jesus is the human son of the virgin Mary, but eternally more important is the fact that Jesus was, is, and ever shall be fully the Son of God the Father. It was not Mary who gave us a Son, it was God, Himself.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16; NIV). At just the right time, the Sovereign of all history sent His Son to be our Mediator, to be our Advocate, to be our Good Shepherd, and to be the Perfect Lamb sacrificed for our sins (yours and mine right here and right now). You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Ro 5:6-8; NIV). “I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.' " God does all these things to a man--twice, even three times--to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.” Amen, and thank You, Jesus.