Freedom To Fall

[dave c]

simpletruth #138ag Revisited 07AUG10 salicart@msn.com

HOSEA 10:12—Part Thirty Three: Freedom To Fall

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).

In Proverbs 13:23 we read, Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, and for lack of justice there is waste (NKJV)—or, in the NIV: ...but injustice sweeps it away. From the earliest records of our existence up to the present, we see in the history of humanistic societies the abuse of those who are poor, or weak, or otherwise disadvantaged by the those who are stronger and in control. In terms of possessions, power, and prestige, “Survival of the fittest” rapidly becomes “survival of the fattest”. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” At the spiritual top of this rational and materialistic heap, however, is one who is more powerful than ourselves—one who is much older and wickedly wiser. He is the master of all world systems. He is Lucifer, “the shining star” (Is 14:12), and he is Satan, the Adversary of God through mankind. Blessedly, those who are called by God’s name have an Advocate, a Provider, a Champion, a Good Shepard, a Redeemer, a Savior, and eternal King all in the person of Jesus Christ. We can join with David in Psalm 35:10 when he cries out, My whole being will exclaim, "Who is like you, O LORD? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them" (NIV).

Having just passed through His time of testing in the wilderness, the Gospel of Luke describes Christ’s first days of public ministry: 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (NIV).

During the last verses of each of the synoptic Gospels, Jesus gives His disciples (including you and me) what we have come to call the Great Commission—that is, we are to continue Christ’s work of preaching good news to the poor and proclaiming freedom for the prisoners. Matthew: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (28:18-20; NIV). Mark: He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (16:15&16; NIV). Luke: He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things (24:46-48; NIV).

Regarding slavers and those who are enslaved, God told the Jews some 2,700 years ago through the pen of Jeremiah as beginning with verse 34:8, The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage. 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again. 12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, 14 `Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you must let him go free.' Your fathers, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. 16 But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again. 17 "Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim `freedom' for you, declares the LORD--`freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth (NIV).

I fear that as the Church Universal we have too often first proclaimed the day of God’s favor and freedom to those who are lost and dying in their sin, and then re-enslaved them with our particular brand of religion. “Yes, Jesus has set you free, but our doctrine is more important than The Doctor—our laws are greater than The Lawyer. Now you must be baptized just so...you must only accept communion from our hand...you must worship just as we worship...you must look and speak as we look and speak...you must...you must...you must.” God, please forgive us and save us from the ‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine. Amen.