4-29-03

2:30p

Yes, I�m quite late. And I didn�t do Bible study yesterday. BUT, I�m here now.

John 3:22-36

In this passage, John the Baptist is questioned about Jesus and whether or not he is aware (perhaps irked because of) that Jesus is also baptizing people. John�s response is pretty humble and factually delivered, in my opinion.

John uses the analogy of a wedding, implying the Jesus is the groom while John is the best man. The glory and attention belong to the groom, the best man is just there to help him.

This makes me think, first, about today�s preachers and such, and second, about myself. How often have I taken the applause which belongs to God? How often have I, just a bride�s maid, worn a fancy, white dress in order to eclipse the bride?

John is a man who was often praised, not necessarily openly, for doing God�s work� for baptizing and being a strong and worthy representative� but he wasn�t God. And he didn�t claim to be.

Makes me think I should tone down some of my bravado, ya know?

Interesting.

Oh my�

Hosea 1 and 2:1-13

Yuck.

Because of Israel�s unwillingness to follow God, He removed her from His grace. (not eternally) Out of this entire section, the thing that strikes me hardest is this�

11 �I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days � all her appointed feasts.�

*shakes her head*

This hits me so very strongly. Right now, I�m trying really hard to find the words to say what I want without actually casting anyone/thing/group in a negative light. Kinda hard.

Give me a minute and let me pray about this.

Okay� I tend to try applying what I�ve read in the Bible to situations in my life and experiences I�ve either had or heard about. That said, I want to give a little bit of time to an idea/thought percolating in my brain.

One of my �things� is that I often want to know the �Why� of an event/action. I have long thought about the break up of the Church and I�ve wondered why it deteriorated so much. Now, I know that simply the passing of time has a large part to play in said deterioration, but I think there�s more to it than that.

As I was reading in Hosea, I got a piece of personal insight. Now, as an additional disclaimer, this is NOT a blanket statement and the following is NOT a God-revealed info-bit. I am absolutely not, in any way, renouncing the Church, nor am I renouncing my involvement in it. Atop this, I am absolutely not insulting, badmouthing or slandering the Church in any way, shape or form. This is purely my own thought/idea written of in my diary as a matter of record for myself.

So, um� there.

My thought is this: The reason the Church has deteriorated so intensely is because it became the adulterous wife� the Israel spoken of in Hosea 2:2-13.

Like Israel was rebuked by her descendants and God, the Church was cursed and renounced by its congregation and God removed His favor from it. (verse 2a)

The Church refused to turn back to God (I don�t know exactly how and I don�t remember when this stuff first started in the Church. I didn�t actually become aware of the Church�s hypocrisy until I was about 20 or so� so, I only have about 12 years to hypothesize about). Anyway, because the Church refused to �remove the adulterous look from [its] face and the unfaithfulness from [its heart]�; because the Church placed something else as more important than God (whatever the thing or things were doesn�t matter); and because the Church took other lovers/gods (money, prestige, rules, whatever) while claiming to be a church of God, God has reduced the Church to practically nothing (Hosea 2:3).

The Church has become little more than a joke, both to the people who were once a part of it, and to those who observed and talked about it throughout my lifetime. (the Church was often referred to as a cult) This is reflected in the second verse where God says that the children (congregation) should rebuke her. And, in verse 4, God said He would not show His love to her children (congregation) because they were children of adultery.

Man, this just seems like it was written about the Church specifically, though I know it was written about Israel as a whole. Anyway�

As is described in verses 5 through 7a, the Church turned away from God while still claiming to be His church. Doctrines were handed down from the higher-ups and rules were set up and knocked down as was desired by the higher-ups. Instead of having rules in place which were strongly suggested, the Church decided that no rules was better.

Social climbing became more important. The leaders of the Church seemed to think that it was better to be seen as good and right in the eyes of main-stream Christianity, rather than follow the rules set in place so long ago. It became more important (to use the analogy of a teenager) to impress friends than do what Dad said to do.

When trouble started, the first realizations of �maybe we�re not exactly doing this right�, the Church decided to try the rules again. (Again using the analogy of a teenager) When the Church discovered that it was cold at night and wanted to go home, it did so. BUT, it didn�t learn anything� it just got cold and wanted to sleep in a soft bed, so to speak.

Still, the Church didn�t admit that God was the one who had provided all the good stuff� paid the bills, provided hot showers, good food, soft beds to sleep in etc. As in verse 6, the Church refused to see God as the provider, as Dad� taking for granted that the good stuff would always be there and that the friends were the ones who made the Church feel good, accepted and respected.

I just get this picture in my mind of a kid around 17 or so, working at a part-time job after school, paying a token rent of like� 50 bucks a month� his/her folks making the payments on the car, the insurance, buying the food, paying for the heat, water, garbage service, phone, mortgage� all that. And this kid thinking that his 50 dollars in rent is too big a demand from his/her folks. This kid, still thinks that the rules of his/her parents� home are too strict and demanding when after all it isn�t the parents that make him/her feel good, accepted, loved, adored. His/her parents aren�t going to get him/her laid�

So� the Church returned to God, sort of, but didn�t respect God at all. It merely used what God had provided, thinking that it had gotten all the goodies on its own. Then, over the recent past few years, the Church is realizing (at least, I think so� maybe not)�

No, I don�t think the Church has realized this yet. Regardless, God took away the goodies. He stopped paying the mortgage, electricity, water, car, insurance� and what�s more, God took back the cushy room, TV, cable, computer� in essence, God told the Church that if the Church thought it was doing so very well on its own, that God would allow it to go on its own. (verse 9)

The Church is now out on the curb, pissed off that it was required to move out of the house, but not quite repentant yet. The Church is still pissed off that so many demands were made and so little respect was given.

But then, verse 11 kicks in� The Church doesn�t keep the Sabbath anymore. It doesn�t keep the Feasts or God�s celebrations anymore. Like the kid kicked out of the house because he/she refuses to live by the house rules, they don�t get to go on the family outings anymore� no more weekend trips to the park, dinners out� no more family vacations� no more birthday celebrations.

As in verses 12 and 13, the Church is trying to live on its own� trying to believe that the credit card in Dad�s name will not only still work, but that it isn�t Dad�s at all, but the Church�s.

*shakes her head*

This is not a final thing, though� there is hope in the future. Though the Church will have to go it alone for a while, it won�t be alone forever. In the rest of chapter 2, God talks about how He will take Israel to the desert and allure her back to Him. He will patiently work with her until she accepts Him as her God and King.

Like the teenager analogy� the Church has gone off on its own. God sends cards, calls on the phone and gently, lovingly, waits for the rebelliousness to pass. But there�s more to it than that� He isn�t just waiting for the Church to come around� He�s courting the Church again (and all Christianity if you want to look at it that way). And when the Church does finally admit that God is the one true God� when the Church is willing to put personal pride away for good, admitting that God is the provider� the Church will be pulled back into God�s arms, held so lovingly, so tenderly�

It�s the story of the Prodigal Son� It�s the way God works.

You can turn away� you can deny everything that God is� and He will let you run away from home in your defiance� but as soon as you call Him for help, He will be there in a heartbeat. And He will hold you close to Him. And He will protect you and love you and keep you safe.

Makes me think that I should really concentrate far more on God and His rules than me and what makes me comfortable.

Hmmm