Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Jul 15 2019 - Hosea 3 – Bought with a price

Today's chapter is very short but deeply moving. Hosea's adulterous wife has abandoned him for another man who has now, it would seem, abandoned her. Hosea is told to go and buy her back as a man might purchase the services of a prostitute. Because he loves her, he pays for her – he redeems her and makes her his own. He brings her back to his house to live with him, but without any marital relations until he has won her affection and they can live as husband and wife.

Imagine what this must have demanded of Hosea – to have to buy back the wife whom he had loved and married – the mother of his children. Imagine what it must have been like for Gomer; the humiliation of being brought back to Hosea's home followed, we trust, by a growing love for him who had shown such love for her. And all of this would have been witnessed by their neighbours and friends and would have become the main subject of gossip throughout the area.

God demanded this of Hosea because he wanted Hosea's marriage to be a living visual aid and parable which might bring Israel to its senses. God had loved his people Israel but they had turned aside to give their devotion to other gods which were no gods at all. God is going to abandon them to judgment so that they "will live for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods" (v. 4). They are about to be taken off into exile by the Assyrians. But, as we have seen, God intends this judgment to bring them to their senses so that "the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days" (v. 5).

Hosea's love for his rebellious wife was a picture of God's great love for his people – a love that would not let them go.

We also are a people who have rebelled against God. He created us for fellowship with himself but we have turned our back on him: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way…" (Isaiah 53:6). But God has not been content to let us go; he has bought us back through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." The apostle Paul, writing to Christians at Corinth reminds them, and thereby reminds us, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

It is because of his great love for us that God paid a great price for our redemption. He gave his beloved Son over to a cruel death upon the cross when we cared nothing for him: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). His extravagant love for us was intended to soften our hearts and draw us back in love for him – a love that is now to be shown in exclusive devotion to him.

The old Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 (with minor modernisations), begins as follows:

My only comfort in life and death is that I am not my own, but belong body and soul to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has paid the full penalty for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head, but that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

Lord God, we make this old confession our own confession of faith, love and devoted obedience. I love you Lord because you have first loved me. Help me by your Spirit to remain faithful in my love and obedience and to be bold in telling others of your great love that they also may be drawn into your family.

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Jul 15 2020 - 2 Timothy 2:20-3:17 – The word of God

Paul's second letter to Timothy is the last of his letters. Paul knows that he probably does not have many days left before he is put to death for preaching the good news about Jesus. Timothy also is facing opposition. What advice can Paul give this young man as some around him are abandoning the faith?

Firstly, Paul tells Timothy that he must, “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2:22). He is to be careful not to be led astray by the desires that could so easily preoccupy a young man. He is to make it his goal to live a life pleasing to God and profitable to others and to do this in fellowship with God’s people. He is to avoid foolish arguments and to be gentle and kind even with those who need putting right – seeking to win them by grace rather than crushing them with clever arguments. And he is to do all this even when he is faced with abusive, treacherous and slanderous people (3:1-5).

How is Timothy going to manage all this without Paul to be his strength and guide?

Paul has one great treasure and legacy to hand on to his son, Timothy; "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Stick with the Scriptures, says Paul. The Bible is God's Word, given not only to bring you salvation, but also to shape your life so that it may be pleasing to God. The Scriptures are able to equip you for the work that God has called you to do. They are not just historical documents revealing God’s purposes, they are a living word, accompanied by the power of the risen Christ, powerful to accomplish God’s purposes for Timothy and for those among whom he ministers.

We also need to stick with the Scriptures. They speak to us of God’s great plan of salvation centring in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we learn of God – we are taught by him and our eyes are opened to his grace and goodness and the wonder of his saving plans for a world that has turned its back on him. Here we are directed and trained up in the way we should go and are rebuked and redirected when we turn aside to go our own way. Through his word and by his Spirit, God purposes to make us like his Son. More than that, he intends to pursue his saving purpose for the world through us, to equip us to continue the mission of Christ.

The Bible is not simply Paul’s legacy which he leaves with Timothy, it is God’s love-gift to us and to a needy and quarrelsome world (3:1-4).

Father, we thank you for your word, the revelation of your heart and saving purposes. Breathe on us afresh through your word that we may hear you calling to us and may understand what you have to say to us. May we grow in our knowledge of you, be trained in godliness and be fully equipped to serve you. We pray also that the Bible's life-changing message may reach people everywhere. Help us to continue the work begun long ago by Paul the apostle and by his young friend Timothy.

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Peter Misselbrook