27 September 2010
Psalm 89:1-18; Hosea 2:14-23; Acts 20:17-38; Luke 5:1-11

The Lord will reverse the curse! The promise is that He will take Israel to Himself. She will call Him husband instead of speaking to Him as Baal. She will know that it is Yahweh and not Baal who is her true love and the one who provides all things. There is nothing she can get from another that the Lord cannot and will not provide. The love of God is incredible. How could He continue to love Israel after she has gone after other gods? He has no covenant obligation to love her when she has broken covenant with Him and rejected Him yet He will not give her up, His desire is always for her. This passage speaks of reversing the curse on the children of Hosea, they who represent Israel to the Lord, those who were not shown mercy or love will be and those who were not His people will be His people, His beloved, and this covenant will be an everlasting covenant of peace and plenty.

Jesus teaches the crowds about the kingdom of God and the fishermen a thing or two about their trade. Jesus tells them to put out their nets in deep water for a catch and Peter informs him that they have been fishing all night without success. They wouldn’t have normally fished during the heat of the day as the fish would have been down deep and the work of bringing them into the boat would have been difficult if a sizeable catch were made. In spite of those misgivings, they let down their nets and the haul is amazing. Peter, upon seeing it, ascribes worship to Jesus and in words very similar to Isaiah’s response to seeing the vision in the temple in Isaiah 6, asks Him to go away from him for He is a sinful man. He has somehow seen holiness in this encounter and reacts as Isaiah did upon the proclamation of the holiness of God. Peter, like Isaiah before him, is given a chance to serve the Lord rather than being rejected by Him.

What a wonderful testimony Paul makes of his work in Ephesus but what a sad moment this is for those who love him. He is able to say that he never ceased to labor on their behalf and that he is confident that he is not responsible for the blood of any of them if they have not faith. That hearkens back to Ezekiel who is told by God that if he warns a sinner and they do not repent he is innocent of their blood but if he fails to warn them, he is complicit in their sin and their blood is on him. Paul can say that he has preached the Gospel always, even when he has been opposed. This speech is similar to the book of Deuteronomy in that Paul is aware in the spirit that his future will not be a return visit just as Moses knew he was soon to die. It is also similar in that he is warning them of what the future will bring and that they should keep the faith and not allow themselves to be turned away from Jesus no matter who it is that attempts to lead them astray. The love of the people for this man who brought them the Good News of salvation and eternal life is plain, they truly appreciate his work and his life and they are pained to hear that he is going to suffer and will not see them again. That is how we should leave when we have ministered among people.

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it—you have founded them.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;
they exult in your name all day long,
and extol your righteousness.