COME AND SEE February 1987 Volume 13 Issue 4
THE MINOR PROPHETS - Hosea (21)
R. Been Sr.
Hosea 13 (Cont'd)
Death and hades are the two most terrible powers on earth. But the Lord Jesus has the keys of both death and hades. These powers are subject to Him. They are as it were defied by Him who has the keys to let go of their prey by His saying: "Where, O death, are thy plagues? where, O Sheol, is thy destruction?" When God arises to save, to deliver, of death and hades (Heb. Sheol), then He will bring about a complete deliverance, not just a half one. He will not regret doing this.
In this verse we see once more an allusion to Christ's work of redemption, just as we did in chapter 6:2. In time Jehovah will deliver the remnants of the two and ten tribes on the basis of the death and resurrection of Christ. This, however, is a deliverance in connection with the earthly position of restored Israel.
But later yet, at the end of Christ's Millennium, that which was announced by the prophet Isaiah will take place: "He will swallow up death in victory. And the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of His people will He take away from off all the earth" (Isa. 25:8).
The believers of the Millennium will only receive their immortal and incorruptible bodies at the end of that period to enable them to live eternally on the new earth. In the Millennium death and sin will still be present, although it will be greatly curtailed since the devil will be bound during that time.
The apostle Paul quotes partly both Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14, though both are modified in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55. Isaiah says: that He will swallow up death; Paul says: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
At the coming of the Lord Jesus for His Assembly it will become apparent that death has been swallowed up in victory, i.e. has been robbed of all its power. For then the saints which slept will be raised from among the dead and those who are still alive will be changed, and both groups will receive glorified, immortal, incorruptible bodies, suited to live eternally.
vv. 15-16
These two verses speak again of the low-sunken condition of the people. God withdraws Himself from them so that they sink into corruption and become a prey of the Assyrian. They are given up to the results of their sins for many ages. Though the ten tribes might still flourish for a while, enjoying social prosperity, it would be to no avail. For "an east wind" would arise, let loose by Jehovah, that would dry up everything, causing all treasures to lose their value. This illustration has the invasion of the Assyrian in view. By it Samaria, the capital of the country, would be destroyed, while terrible cruelty would accompany it, as described in verse 16.
From other portions of Scripture we know that the Assyrian will be judged by God after he has been used as a rod of discipline. Those exiled of the two tribes (who are not really in view here) raise a song in Babylon before the face of the Lord and call for the Lord's revenge over Babylon (Ps. 13 7:8-9). A similar recompense will be meted out to the Assyrian.
How full of misery is the way that leads away from God. And then to realize that all these horrors wouldn't have come over the ten tribes if the people had turned away from the folly of sin, and if they had humbly turned to God. God is long-suffering. But when all threats and warnings are cast to the wind, then there remains finally nothing but judgment over everyone and everything.
Grace triumphs - Chapter 14
vv. 1-2
This chapter is as a day of golden light after the darkness of a black night. It transfers us to the future when the remnant of the ten tribes, though sunken ever so low, will return to God with genuine humbleness and repentance. It is not that the entire nation of the ten tribes will return to God in a future day, just as little as this will be the case with the entire nation of the two tribes. The great, unbelieving mass of the ten and the two tribes will be given up to the judgment of God. Of the two tribes we know that two-thirds of the people will be destroyed. If Scripture mentions a restoration of Israel, it contemplates a remnant out of the ten and two tribes which will form this one new Israel.
This chapter deals with the future remnant of the ten tribes. Through the friendly persuasive words of the prophet, or rather: through the power of the Word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit to the hearts and the consciences, this remnant is urged to return to God. It is not a national return, that is always more or less superficial, but everyone of the remnant will personally humble him or herself and repent. Everyone belonging to the new Israel will know the Lord, and possess life from God. Through the Word of God, through the words of verse 1 this remnant is encouraged to turn to Jehovah, and in doing so the prophet does not fail to point to the reason for Israel's fall.
The prophet puts, so to say, the words with which the remnant returns to Jehovah in their mouth. They must say to God: "Forgive all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips." In a similar way the prophet had urged them on before. Once Jehovah had judged the nation of twelve tribes, He would go to His place, i.e. break the connection with the nation. How long? Till they acknowledge their trespass, and would start to seek God's face. When they would be in affliction in a day to come, when they would become afraid, then they would seek Jehovah early (5:15). Then the prophet urged them to return to the Lord (6:1-3). The great mass of the people, both of the ten and of the two tribes, never come so far as to acknowledge that they are guilty before God and to seek His face. But the remnant does so.
Although the prophet puts the words, as it were, in the mouths of the remnant, their repenting is nevertheless genuine and proceeds from a broken and contrite spirit. God therefore accepts them. It will be as in the days of John the Baptist. They who came to him with confession of guilt he accepted, and he appointed them as a remnant to which the Messiah would come. They who did not confess, and that was in that case the great mass, was rejected.
The return of the future remnant to God will be accompanied by an upright recognition of guilt and with true humility. Taught by grace, the remnant will finally possess the consciousness of God's forgiving love. They will pray: "Forgive all iniquity." There will also be a trust in God's goodness. They pray: "Receive us graciously," or, "Be gracious."[1] This latter prayer only fits the lips of those who, acknowledging their guilt, justify God's judgment over them, while trusting that they will receive forgiveness and cleansing. The words used by the remnant at their return agree with those we often find in the Psalms. Complete forgiveness is the need of the heart that is convicted of sin and attracted by grace (Ps. 130:3; 51:1-15; 103:3; etc.).
"Be Gracious."
What a trust is displayed in this prayer. And this short prayer becomes even more beautiful when we see in the following verses how it has been answered. A series of the most beautiful types serves to show how God answers the prayer: "Forgive all iniquity," and afterwards that of, "Be gracious." Both are prayers out of a broken and contrite spirit.
Before the remnant has received God's response, yes even without waiting to see if the Lord will be gracious, it feels the need to thank God. "So will we render the calves of our lips." How many calves had the people offered up on the idol altars in earlier days! But now they would use another means to give vent to their thankfulness. They now understand that the blood of calves and goats cannot take away sins. But the calves of the lips, the fruit of the lips of those who confess the name of the Lord, the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving for what God has done, is now the only sacrifice that can be offered to Him, for the peace-offering, Christ, has once been offered up and has satisfied the righteous demands of God's holiness (Ps. 116:12, 17). It isn't that if God is gracious, they will give thanks. God's giving is here not a prerequisite for their giving of thanks. The remnant will understand that God has already forgiven, for the unspeakable gift of the Son, through whose death and resurrection all their iniquity has been taken away.
v. 4
From this verse it is evident what precious fruit the chastening by God has produced in the remnant. They take their eyes from all that is human, to expect all from God alone. That is the purpose of the Lord's chastening. They would no longer expect salvation from Assyria. Nor would they trust in natural abilities to resist evil or to escape it (no longer would they ride on horses). They would no longer kneel down for the work of their own hands, addressing it as their God. They feel themselves weak, helpless as an orphan. But God would have mercy on such as these.
Looking away from all human assistance and support, the remnant of the nation that stood no longer in any connection with God, that was Lo-ammi, would meet God. To this remnant that was robbed of all things, Jehovah would give all it needed. He will not be their Judge but their Saviour. Mercy instead of judgment would be their part. It is the experience of every sinner who comes with repentance to God, be it in the past, today, or in the future.
vv. 4-7
Here we find a series of ten undeserved blessings:
1. I will heal their backsliding. This blessing is the basis of all that follows. He forgives, cleanses, heals. He gives mercy, opening His arms to the repentant.
2. I will love them freely. Independent and overflowing love. This love is always found with God, it is part of His Being. Because of Israel's unfaithfulness, however, He had not been able to show this love.
3. Mine anger is turned away from him (the new Israel). This blessing is the result of the two previous ones. The wrath has been turned away for eternity (Ps. 103:9).
4. God will be as the dew to Israel. A refreshing of which Christ is the source.
5. Israel shall blossom as the lily. Symbol of grace and beauty.
6. Israel will cast forth his roots as Lebanon. Symbol of the firmness of the rule of Israel's King, Christ.
7. Israel's shoots shall spread. The blessing of Israel stretches far and wide.
8. Israel's beauty shall be like that of the olive-tree. Grafted again on its own trunk, the new Israel will blossom in fresh and youthful beauty of both kingship and priesthood.
9. Israel's smell shall be as Lebanon. The new Israel will be the bride of the King (Song 4:10-11).
10. Literally it says in verse 7: To them who live his (Israel's) shadow will return; they shall revive as corn, and blossom as the vine; the renown thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Israel is here once more compared to a tree, but now in connection with the blessing of the nations, who will seek Israel's "shadow," its protection, and who, because of it, will revive as corn, and blossom like a vine. We have here then the true destination of Israel: offering rest and refreshing to the nations. Then Japheth will dwell in the tents of Shem. And according to the word of the Lord to Abraham, Israel, the blessed nation, will be a blessing to other nations. How perfectly beautiful is the restoration of Israel!
v. 8
In this verse we overhear a beautiful conversation between Jehovah and restored Ephraim, which at that time will no longer be the head of the ten tribes, since there will only be a new Israel of twelve tribes, under one Head, Christ.
Ephraim will say: "What have I to do any more with idols?" Israel has found the Christ, its Redeemer and its King. The idols play no longer a role in their hearts and lives. So it is now also for the soul who has found the Lord Jesus. The things of the world have no longer any value to such a person.
Jehovah says: "I answer him, and I will observe him." Israel will have a relationship with the true God. He will answer all its prayers. He will lighten Israel with the light of His countenance.
Ephraim shouts: "I am like a green fir-tree." Certainty, continuing testimony, holiness, ornament of the sanctuary, all of these are found with the new Israel.
Jehovah concludes: "From Me is thy fruit found." The Lord rejoices when good fruit, worked by Him, is found with His own.
And so we hear in these verses a humble and thankful remnant that has been restored, that, while not forgetting its origin and past, and deeply sorrowing about it, enjoys nevertheless the undeserved blessings. And we hear Jehovah who observes the glorious fruit of His grace; from now on He wants to be their source of life and strength.
And isn't it the same for today's believers? Cannot they sing, "No words are suited to expound what I in Jesus Christ have found."? They are redeemed from the power of the devil, accepted by God and blessed by Him beyond measure. Besides this, they are made to be a blessing to others, not in their own strength, but in that of Him who is the Source of all strength.
v. 9
The prophet, having come to the end of his book, glances back. Summarizing the inscrutable ways of God, he calls out: "The ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein."
Who is wise, let him understand these things. Who is intelligent, let him know them. The purpose of the whole prophecy is apparent from this: it is a presentation of the ways of the Lord with sinful and guilty people.
The grace of God may be ever so great, His ways are and remain righteous. The righteous can walk in them by the power of God. But the transgressors will fall in those ways, and be struck down by them. No other prophet presents the ways of God in their entirety as perfectly as does the Prophet Hosea.
To be cont'd
A SEED OF GOD (2)
A. E. Bouter
The Seed and Christ's Suffering and Resurrection.
A look through a concordance will impress us with the immensity of the subject before us. According to the Hebrew concordance of Evan-Shosham, the word sera (to sow, seed) occurs in the Old Testament 56 times as a verb and 229 times as a noun. And then we don't even mention the Greek New Testament, where we find a further explanation of the spiritual significance (resp. 52 and 43 times). Obviously, in our study we cannot refer separately to each verse containing these words. We will therefore restrict ourselves to some of the "great lines" when we look at the seed of Abraham, David, and others.
So far we were occupied with God's desire to have a "seed of God" here on earth, and we have seen a little how He realizes His thoughts in us in a practical way. But what is the basis on which He does this? There is a partial answer to this in Isaiah 53. Without Christ's atoning suffering, His death, and resurrection, and as far as the Assembly is concerned His glorification, there would not be a "seed of God" in this world.
The moral beauty of Christ we find marvelously presented in Isaiah 53, just as it is elsewhere, in the Psalms, and in various types (the tabernacle and the offerings), and in the antitype (the reality) in the New Testament (see e.g. Jn. 1:14). Isaiah 53 also contains various aspects of His suffering and of His work for God (burnt-, meal-, sin-/trespass-, and drink-offering).
But our present purpose is to see that on the basis of this all there is a seed of God. In first instance this is Christ Himself. But in the second place it is the believers, the fruit of His sufferings, a new generation that is joined to Him in His resurrection (doctrinally Rom. 6:4f and Eph. 2:5f, etc.). These thoughts we find in Acts 8:33, where Isaiah 53:7-8 is quoted from the Septuagint (generation or origin, spiritual descendants, contemporaries). A new generation has now been placed in this morally dry world, where it displays the same characteristics as Christ did during His life. I don't say that this new generation does it in the same perfect manner, but in all the members of the body of Christ collectively we can see a reflection of Him. This way God finds that which answers to "the seed of God." In connection with Isaiah 53 I think that we may say that this also points to the future faithful remnant. These believing Jews will, as the disciples of Christ, display His moral characteristics in a world where the King of the Jews is rejected (Mt. 5:1-12, etc.).
For Christ too it is important to have this "new generation" (as we can see in Acts in the eunuch, Saul, Cornelius) to whom He can join Himself, with whom He can share the results of His work (He will divide the spoil with the strong Isa. 53:12). What a triumph for Him!
"Another seed" - Genesis 4:25
In Abel we see a (weak) image of Christ as Man here on earth, rejected, and put to death by His own (in Gen. 4 depicted by Cain, Abel's brother). The type speaks also of His suffering and is in a certain way in contrast to Christ (cf. Heb. 12:24). Abel's death led to the introduction of another, Seth, who was appointed by God Himself in Abel's place. "Another seed": I think that we may think here of the Man of a new order, appointed by God in the resurrection. The seed that we see in Abel, but that has been put aside, is, as it were, continued in Seth. Seth speaks therefore of Christ in His resurrection, as the Head of a new generation (Rom. 5:19; 1 Cor. 15:20, 42-49). This new generation is weak in itself, mortal (Enosh), but it is the moral continuation of Abel on earth: they call upon the name of the Lord. In this we see a similar dependence upon and trust in God.
Psalm 22
Psalm 22 speaks of the Lord's suffering as sin-offering and of God's answer in His resurrection (v. 22). In His suffering He is unique and alone. In His resurrection He joins Himself immediately with "His brethren," "the congregation," "the seed of Jacob and Israel," "a great congregation," "the seed," and "a people that shall be born."
On the one hand we see here His suffering (especially in the three hours of darkness) and on the other the glorious results of His work. Based on these and on His death and resurrection, that new generation exists, a seed of God which is joined to Him in various ways.
a. The Assembly (then a mystery, now revealed Eph. 3);
b. The future faithful remnant;
c. The future people of Israel;
d. the future nations of the earth.
All these are seen as the result of His work, because "He has done it." These groups are also seen as a result of God's work, rather than of human responsibility.
It is remarkable that in Psalm 22 some of the moral characteristics are mentioned that elsewhere are connected with the "seed of God," this new generation. "Ye that fear Jehovah" (v.23); "the meek," "those that seek Him" (v.26). Even the title of Psalm 22 contains a reference to this new generation (quite frequently the title of a Psalm, or its first verse contains the result of what is described therein): "Upon the hind of the morning (Aijeleth-Shahar). The hind has a devotion similar to Christ's and speaks of the response to His love, all in connection with the dawn, the new beginning, the new morning of His resurrection.
John 12:14-26
John's Gospel presents the Lord specially as the perfect burnt-offering, but the verses we will look at speak more of a seed and a new generation.
In John we have "the grain of wheat," Christ, the Word incarnate (Jn. 1:1,14), the Son of the Father (2 Jn. :3), who is in the bosom of the Father (Jn. 1:18), but at the same time now also the Son of man, the Man, who is now in heaven. God the Son, who has become Man, though remaining God, to be able to die as Man. We see Him in this Gospel as the absolutely unique One, as the Only-begotten Son of the Father, but also as the Burnt-offering, foreknown before the foundation of the world. God's Spirit gives a tremendous dimension to such a simple expression as "the grain of wheat." Now let us look at three points:
1. Christ could have remained "alone": He could have returned immediately to the Father (13:1). This we can compare with the type in Exodus 21:4.
2. This wonderful Person died glorifying God and was laid in a tomb (Jn. 19:30-42). What suffering did He undergo, and how has His glory been expressed in these sufferings
3. Just as the seed falls into the earth and dies, to bring forth fruit afterwards, so it was with the Son of man who did not seek Himself, but who gave Himself, with the blessed result of "much fruit."
a. The grain of wheat bears much fruit: the fruit is inseparably connected with Him, the grain of wheat;
b. There is a wealth, a multiplicity, of fruit;
c. The Lord establishes here a link with eternal life (12:25), which adds an extra dimension to the whole;
d. There is a new generation joined to Him on the basis of His death and resurrection.
This new fruit (12:24) has only one desire: to be here on earth to the honour of the Father (12:25f). The tremendous moral characteristics of the Master are seen anew in His disciples, "a seed of God," to the glory of His name.
Two Illustrations
On the third day (Gen. 1:11f), type of the day of resurrection, there is fruit on the earth. We find there:
a. The freshness of new life (grass), but also:
b. The seed-bearing plant, and
c. The tree bearing fruit "after its kind."
It is a three-fold manifestation in ascending order of this new (resurrection) life in its strength, freshness, vitality, and abundance. (This implies the thought of growth and ripening, reaching maturity). And again and again it is "after its kind." That is how it is with the new generation that we encounter in this chapter. It is the reproduction and manifestation, in a tremendous multiplicity and abundance, of what is found in Christ, be it as He was as Man here on earth, or as He is now in the glory. With this last remark I think specially of the Assembly, which is not only His fulness (as it were completing Him as Man), but which also represents Him here on earth. Every member of the "body of Christ" here on earth shows a little of what is found in Him, the Head in glory. And thus the Assembly as a whole will "reflect" Him in the universe, thereby answering to God's counsel. A true "seed of God"!
In 1 John 3:9 we read: "Whoever has been begotten of God does not practise sin, because His seed abides in Him, and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God" (see also 1 Jn. 5:18). Here again occurs that same thought of a seed of God in those who are born of God, or, as Peter says it (2 Pet. 1:4), who have "become partakers of [the] divine nature." God is light and God is love: His Being and His nature find expression in the children of God (1 Jn. 3:10ff) in practical righteousness and holiness on the one hand and in divine love on the other. And all this is found in a world that is controlled by the devil, full of darkness and hatred. What a challenge to us to respond to this plan of God. But also, what a victory in us for Him who once obtained the victory for us!
To be cont'd
OUTLINE FOR BIBLE STUDY (33)
69. ABSALOM'S END. DAVID RETURNS TO JERUSALEM. 2 Samuel 17-1
Outline
| 1. | Counsels of Ahithophel and Hushai | 2 Sam. 17:1-1 |
| 2. | The message of Jonathan and Ahimaaz | 2 Sam. 17:15-2 |
| 3. | Absalom Defeated and Killed | 2 Sam. 18:1-1 |
| 4. | The Cushite and Ahimaaz | 2 Sam. 18:19-3 |
| 5. | David's Grief | 2 Sam. 18:33-19:1 |
| 6. | David Returns to Jerusalem | 2 Sam. 19:9-4 |
| 1. | The Numbering of the People | 2 Sam. 24:1-10 |
| 2. | The Pestilence | 2 Sam. 24:11-17 |
| 3. | The Threshing Floor of Araunah | 2 Sam. 24:18-25 |