Monday: Gut-Wrenching Love
Daily Lesson for Monday 20th of January 2025
The incalculable depths of God’s compassionate love for humanity are manifested in Hosea. God had commanded the prophet Hosea, “ ‘Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord’ ” (Hosea 1:2, NKJV). Hosea 11:1-12 later depicts God’s relationship with His people, but with the metaphor of a loving father for his child.
Read Hosea 11:1-9. How does the imagery in these verses bring to life the way God loves and cares for His people?
Image © Educational Concepts Collection at Goodsalt.com
God’s love for His people is likened to the tender affection of a parent for a child. Scripture uses the imagery of teaching a young child to walk; taking one’s beloved child in one’s arms; healing and providing sustenance; and otherwise tenderly caring for His people. Scripture also states that God “carried” His people just “ ‘as a man carries his son’ ” (Deuteronomy 1:31, NKJV). In “His love and in His mercy He redeemed them” and “lifted them and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63:9, NASB).
In contrast to God’s unwavering faithfulness, His people were repeatedly unfaithful, ultimately pushing God away and bringing judgment upon themselves and deeply grieving Him. God is compassionate, but never to the exclusion of justice. (As we will see in a later lesson, love and justice go together.)
Have you ever been so upset about something that your stomach churns? That is the kind of imagery used for the depth of God’s emotions over His people. The imagery of one’s heart turning over and compassions being kindled is idiomatic language of deep emotions, used of both God and humans.
This imagery, of compassions being kindled (kamar), is used in the case of the two women who came before Solomon, each one claiming the same baby as her own. When Solomon ordered the infant cut in two (with no intention to harm the child), this imagery described the emotional reaction of the real mother (1 Kings 3:26; compare with Genesis 43:30).
|
Anyone who has ever been a parent knows what the lesson is talking about. No other earthly love begins to compare. How does this help us understand the reality of God’s love for us, and what comfort can, and should, we draw from this understanding? |
(18)
On the farm, if we had a sick cow, we called the vet. If the cow did not get well after that, we shot and buried it. If we had a sick chook (chicken), we killed it. It was not valuable enough to get a trip to the vet. I am not saying that such events were emotionless, but they were part of farming, and you accepted them as a part of life.
In our extended family, one of the children developed one of the Leukemia diseases when he was about 4 years old. For ten years, all the family were involved in the roller-coaster ride of hospitals, treatments, remission, relapse, anointments, prayers, transfusions and finally palliative care and death. The cost was enormous, both financially and emotionally.
Nobody suggested that this child should have one visit to the doctor and if that didn't cure him, he should be euthanised. The family fought to the bitter end to save the child and give him a chance to live a normal life. We have a tremendous attachment to life and even though it is gut-wrenching, we show our love for one another by doing everything possible to keep life going.
God could have pulled a restart on creation. In fact, the Bible mentions:
But He also provided a way of salvation, free to all who chose it, through the work of Noah.
The story of the Bible is one of repeated offers of love and the rejection of that love.
God is not a farmer. He keeps persisting, even with the sick chooks!
There are many Bible passages or texts which highlight God’s great compassion for mankind. The text which resonates with my heart and spirit is found in the Book of Lamentations in the Old Testament. The Book of Lamentations is an account of sadness. It captures the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of its people after the Babylonian conquest in 586 BCE. Amidst this Book which chronicles the suffering, sorrow, and God’s justice, I find a text that comforts my troubled soul.
>“It is because of the LORD’S lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness”> – (Lamentations 3: 22 -23, Amplified Bible).
The Bible verses above remind us of important aspects of God’s compassion as we strive to emulate Jesus Christ.
1. God’s compassion is steadfast and constant – God’s compassion never fails, it is dependable, and enduring all circumstances
2. God’s compassion is protective – We are not consumed or destroyed by the demonic and wicked forces of this world, but God’s compassion protects us. His love restores us from the destructive nature of sin.
3. God’s compassion is renewed every morning – God is never tired of helping us from the pain and suffering that we go through.
4. God’s compassion is based on His faithfulness – God’s compassion is based upon his unchanging character.
Through the ages, God has miraculously stepped in to console his people during troubled times. As Jerusalem was in ruins, and the people faced imminent exile, ravaged by famine and despair, God stepped in to console his people. As we face our troubled times, God’s lovingkindness will show up to give us hope. Yes, we need hope in this troubled time. Yes, we need hope beyond this life. The words of prophet Jeremiah are profoundly meaningful today, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed", “His compassions never fail”, "They are new every morning", and "Great is Your faithfulness". In dark times, Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that though suffering and pain are real, they are not the finality of the story. We can anchor our hope in the eternal promises of God.
"The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:25).
Incredibly (and divinely, I believe), so often, the Lesson's subject applies strikingly to my present saga. Teenage's parents may know precisely what I am talking about. God is such a wonderful Father that He describes Himself in ways our limited minds can at least have a grasp.
An attempt to answer the lesson’s question:
“How does this help us understand the reality of God’s love for us, and what comfort can, and should, we draw from this understanding?”
Through His love, God is reconciling the world to Himself, as expressed in 2 Cor.5:18-20. Often, we become fixated on our own sense of ‘self,’ struggling to see ourselves as ‘worthy’ of redemption and reconciliation. Yet, the truth lies not in our worthiness but in God’s act of uniting Himself with His Spirit in humanity. This reconciliation is a profound expression of His Love, independent of our merit.
Worldly examples serve merely as metaphors — simplified explanations meant to resonate with human understanding. Jesus frequently employed metaphors and parables to illuminate spiritual truths. Similarly, we must strive to look beyond our limited perspective and recognize that God’s Love is rooted in the fact that we are His creation, not the creation of His adversary, the deceiver of mankind.
As Jesus said, “There is no greater love than this: that a man should lay down his life for his friends” - John 15:13. Love is not merely an abstract concept; it is truly a matter of 'life' or 'death'. When present, His Love elevates and nurtures life. When absent, it contributes to spiritual and emotional decay of life.