Post Tenebras, Lux! (Hosea 2:14-23)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:06.559 Our reading, and the message is coming from Josiah, Chapter Two, verses 2 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:16.589 fourteen to twenty three. Josiah to fourteen to twenty three. Here now the 3 00:00:16.710 --> 00:00:23.460 inspired, authoritative word of the Lord. Therefore behold. I will allure her 4 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:29.820 and bring her into the Wilderness and speak tenderly to her there. I will 5 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:34.179 give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Acre a door of hope, 6 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:38.929 and there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at 7 00:00:39.009 --> 00:00:42.770 the time when she came out of the land of Egypt, and in that 8 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:47.009 day declares a Lord. You will call me my husband and no longer will 9 00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:51.640 you call me my Bale, for I will remove the names of the bales 10 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:56.719 from her mouth and they shall be remembered by name no more. And I 11 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:00.439 will make for them a covenant on that day with the beast of the field 12 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.320 and the birds of the heavens and the creeping things of the ground, and 13 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.909 I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, and 14 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:12.030 I will make you lie down in safety and I will betroth you to me 15 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:17.909 forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and injustice, in steadfast 16 00:01:18.030 --> 00:01:22.180 love and in mercy. I Will Betroth you to me in faithfulness and you 17 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:26.579 shall know the Lord, and in that day I will answer, declares the 18 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:30.540 Lord. I Will Answer the heavens and they shall answer the Earth, and 19 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:34.129 the Earth shall answer the grain, the wine and the oil, and they 20 00:01:34.170 --> 00:01:38.569 shall answer Jezreel. And I will sew her for myself and the land and 21 00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:42.849 I will have mercy on no mercy, and I will say to not my 22 00:01:44.010 --> 00:01:49.040 people, you are my people, and he shall say you are my God. 23 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:53.959 Thus ends the reading of God's word. May he add his blessing to 24 00:01:53.079 --> 00:02:09.590 it. You may be seated. Go find your self a wife of whoredom 25 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:23.500 and have children of whoreedom. That's how Josea basically begins. Be Similar today 26 00:02:23.659 --> 00:02:30.530 to one of you men of marriageable age, single. Let's say you're with 27 00:02:30.610 --> 00:02:36.689 your buddies and you're playing some basketball in the gym and you have the ball 28 00:02:36.849 --> 00:02:39.810 the top of the key and you before you pass it, you just kind 29 00:02:39.849 --> 00:02:47.319 of stand there mournfully. When your buddy says what's wrong? I just just 30 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.159 wish. I wish I had a wife, wish there was somebody I could 31 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:55.680 spend my life with, someone I could be con have companion, someone I 32 00:02:55.719 --> 00:03:04.030 could lead to cry least and and walk with Christ, with someone I could 33 00:03:04.069 --> 00:03:07.830 really depend on, someone I could love in a way that I can't love 34 00:03:07.870 --> 00:03:14.060 anyone else. And when your buddy says, is that all papa in the 35 00:03:14.060 --> 00:03:19.699 chocolate's go, and he takes you to I don't know where it is here 36 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:23.379 in Tucson, but where the lady is of the night roam, and he 37 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:30.289 says here, take your pick. They're all perfect candidates to be a wife. 38 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:36.770 It's strange, isn't it? It's startling. You would think your friend 39 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:39.449 quite unwise, wouldn't you? What are you talking about? This isn't the 40 00:03:39.530 --> 00:03:46.199 place to find a wife. Why would you direct me to this? It's 41 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:52.240 jolting, it's jarring. The Lord is using this word of whore dumb and 42 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:58.110 he calls Gomer a whore because he wants to wake us up and he wants 43 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:02.550 us to see how serious a situation Israel has found herself to be in. 44 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:08.949 It's very startling, and intentionally startling. God does not use this language lightly, 45 00:04:09.469 --> 00:04:15.539 because the basic message of Hoseiah is Israel, you've broken the covenant that 46 00:04:15.659 --> 00:04:19.459 I have made with you through Moses. You've broken the Covenant in every way 47 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:29.449 imaginable in thought and word. Indeed, you need to repent, in to 48 00:04:29.529 --> 00:04:34.129 turn away from your wickedness, turn away from all of those acts of idolatry. 49 00:04:34.490 --> 00:04:40.040 Turn away, turn away, turn away and turn to me. Yahwa, 50 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:46.720 your God, your husband, come back to me. If you don't, 51 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:57.670 judgment awaits you. I will discipline you. Nevertheless, there is still 52 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:05.230 hope for a future restoration and an eventual reversal of judgment. And, in 53 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:10.779 an effort to show the Israelite people just how seriously they have fallen, just 54 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:15.980 how seriously they have broken the Covenant, God Commands Joseiah to marry a wife 55 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:23.810 of whoredom, Gomer, and to have children with her. He's then supposed 56 00:05:23.850 --> 00:05:28.769 to give this these children special symbolic names, and so the first one, 57 00:05:28.889 --> 00:05:33.329 he he, he has his Jesreel, a son, and this is a 58 00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:39.879 name that can mean either God sews or God scatters, and in chapter one 59 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.120 of the text it's it's that second meaning the God is is using here. 60 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:49.000 God is going to scatter Israel, and so he does in seven hundred and 61 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:54.550 twenty two, by means of the Assyrians, the the Rod of his anger, 62 00:05:56.230 --> 00:06:00.430 God also points to the Jezreel valley into Jay, who the Jezreel valley 63 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:06.620 was where Jay who overthrow the dynasty of King Omriy Ahab's father, and where 64 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:12.180 he in effect established the current dynasty ruled by Jerobam the second, who is 65 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:17.569 not a good man by any stretch of the imagination. He reintroduced baioe worship. 66 00:06:18.610 --> 00:06:25.810 So the message is clear from God to the people through naming Jezreel as 67 00:06:25.850 --> 00:06:31.089 Jay who's actions at Jezreel and nihilated Omri's dynasty. So now Yahue is going 68 00:06:31.209 --> 00:06:38.879 to wipe out the Jay who dynasty. The second child that is born to 69 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:44.600 him is Lodo Kama, or no mercy, a daughter. Although God is 70 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.709 going to extend mercy to the House of Judah, there will be no more 71 00:06:48.829 --> 00:06:56.189 mercy coming from him to the House of Israel anymore. There will be as 72 00:06:56.269 --> 00:07:00.860 they continue in their faithlessness. There will be a temporary suspension of forgiveness. 73 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:08.339 God doesn't have to forgive him, and so he's going to withhold that forgiveness. 74 00:07:10.579 --> 00:07:15.810 The Third Child Loam, or not my people as a son, and 75 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:20.970 by this name he is reversing. The Lord is reversing how things got establish 76 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:29.129 an exodus six, verse seven, where the Lord says I would take you 77 00:07:29.170 --> 00:07:31.680 to be my people and I will be your God, and you shall know 78 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:34.839 that I'm the Lord, your God, who has brought you out from the 79 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:42.759 from under the burdens of the Egyptians. So where it began for the nation 80 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:48.550 of Israel to be removed from Egyptian slavery, and now, because Israel has 81 00:07:48.589 --> 00:07:57.790 found herself wandering away from the Lord for centuries, they will, at least 82 00:07:57.790 --> 00:08:03.860 temporarily, not be considered his people, as an act of judgment upon them. 83 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:11.259 That's how the book begins. Not a pleasant start, quite the worst 84 00:08:11.699 --> 00:08:16.689 start that Israel could find herself in. Yet even in chapter eleven and verses, 85 00:08:16.970 --> 00:08:20.610 or in Chapter One versus eleven and twelve, there is hope for a 86 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:24.209 future. The children of Israel will be like the sand on the seashore. 87 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:31.399 They will be called children of the Living God, and Israel and Judah, 88 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:37.240 these these divided kingdoms will once again be gathered together under one head, and 89 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.070 so we see references back to the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abraham will be a 90 00:08:41.149 --> 00:08:46.110 father of many nations. His offspring will be as numerous as the stars in 91 00:08:46.190 --> 00:08:52.590 the heavens and the sea and the sand on the seashore. We also see 92 00:08:52.710 --> 00:08:56.259 allusions to the divided covenant. There will be one king who will rule over 93 00:08:56.460 --> 00:09:03.019 this united people. But once again, so that we do see a glimmer 94 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:11.929 of hope, there post tenebras looks. It's a Latin saying that the reformation 95 00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:20.169 used to refer to the fact that now we have a renewal or a reformation 96 00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:31.919 of the word after darkness light. There is darkness given Israel situation. There 97 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.639 is darkness, but it won't always remain dark. There will be light. 98 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:43.070 That's what we see in in our text this morning. As quickly as that 99 00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:50.909 hope in chapter one came at left, because in chapter two Joseiah holds back 100 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:56.299 no punches when he describes the faithlessness of Israel and what the Lord is going 101 00:09:56.340 --> 00:10:01.500 to do because of her faithlessness, because Israel has acted so shamefully, the 102 00:10:01.019 --> 00:10:05.820 Lord is going to beset her with afflictions. He's going to cause her to 103 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:11.289 be a wasteland, a wilderness, a land that has been plagued with the 104 00:10:11.409 --> 00:10:16.570 famine of food and water. Israel has played the war with other lovers, 105 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:22.919 other bales, and so this spiritual idolatry, this spiritual infidelity is compared to 106 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:35.200 adultery Israel was the one who initiated these relationships with other gods, with other 107 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:41.590 pagan nations. She's the one who sought them out. It wasn't as if 108 00:10:41.710 --> 00:10:48.110 these other nations sought her. How she sought them. She started things going, 109 00:10:48.870 --> 00:10:54.139 she got the ball rolling. She was full of Mirth when she should 110 00:10:54.139 --> 00:11:00.019 have been full of sorrow for her sin. She was having a grand old 111 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:05.210 time when she should have been on her knees crying out to the Lord and 112 00:11:05.289 --> 00:11:11.730 repentance. Not only was she mirthless, but she was stubborn. She was 113 00:11:11.850 --> 00:11:16.610 set in her ways. No one is going to tell her otherwise. And 114 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:20.559 so she feasted with her God. She commune with other lovers. She even 115 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:26.240 tried to be intimate with Yahweight and bail at the same time, thinking that 116 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:35.309 the Lord had no problem sharing Israel. Most intimately. More than that, 117 00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:39.509 she she used as her bride price the vines and the fig trees that the 118 00:11:39.590 --> 00:11:46.669 Lord himself had lavished upon her. And so, ironically, she commits adultery 119 00:11:46.789 --> 00:11:52.500 through the help of the gifts that she has been given by God. She 120 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:58.620 even eventually forgets about y'all way all together. So how can she rightly be 121 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:05.090 called his wife if she is forgotten that she's even married to him. So 122 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:15.289 the Lord it's going to justly discipline Israel. How can he not? He 123 00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:20.519 is holy, he is righteous, his eyes are too pure to look upon 124 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:26.120 evil without consequence. So he's going to take away those good gifts of wool, 125 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:31.870 flax, oil, water, drink, vines, figs and land. 126 00:12:31.909 --> 00:12:35.669 He's going to take all those away from her for a time. He's going 127 00:12:35.710 --> 00:12:37.789 to uncover her nakedness, her lewdness, and she will be ashamed in the 128 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:43.990 side of her lovers. And should Israel try to go back to those lovers, 129 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:50.379 the Lord is going to prevent her from returning. He will hedge her 130 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:54.779 way with thorns. He will graciously build a huge wall around so that grope 131 00:12:54.820 --> 00:13:07.049 all she wants, she will not find them. Certainly we are no different 132 00:13:07.769 --> 00:13:13.679 from Israel in Joseiah chapter two in this respect. We are faithless at times 133 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:20.639 as well. We do not have a perfect track record of fidelity by any 134 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:26.159 stretch of the imagination. Consider the sins you've committed in thought or word. 135 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:33.309 Indeed, and as you got up in came here. We are stubborn, 136 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:37.669 we are set in our ways, we are dead set in our sinful ways. 137 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:41.539 Of Times, ever sinking, ever drowning, and it takes the Lord's 138 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:46.820 gracious hand to Pry us out, to set us some solid footing and our 139 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:54.620 righteous paths. How easy it is for us to pursue other lovers, even 140 00:13:54.730 --> 00:13:58.610 former ones, even ones that we know to be ruinous to our very lives. 141 00:14:03.250 --> 00:14:07.490 How easy and tempting it is for us to want to have God and 142 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:13.279 the world have y'all, wait end bail. How we are prone to wander, 143 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:20.720 how we are prone to leave the God we love, how quick we 144 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:26.350 are to seek satisfaction in the creation and not in the creator. Very easy 145 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:31.509 to become sons of daughter, or sons of Adam and daughters of eve. 146 00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:39.299 But how can we, who are dead to sins, still living it? 147 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:43.980 How can we, like the dog that returns to its vomit, return to 148 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:52.539 our sin from a volt tenebras? There's the darkness, there's the storm, 149 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:56.409 there's the affliction, there is the suffering that's due to our own sin. 150 00:14:58.889 --> 00:15:07.480 Do you hurt? Of course you hurt. You're a human living in a 151 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:11.240 fallen world and you hurt because of your own sin, or you hurt because 152 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:18.240 at the sin of others. Why do you hurt? Do you feel the 153 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:22.870 weight of a harsh but solitary providence upon you like a psalm, like the 154 00:15:22.950 --> 00:15:28.590 psalmist? Do you feel the hand of God's fatherly discipline pressing upon you? 155 00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:35.110 Or perhaps you're facing those trials of various kinds that have no connection to your 156 00:15:35.149 --> 00:15:39.620 own sinfulness, but the Lord has graciously sent your way, and they hurt. 157 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:46.659 Does your fate as your heart faint within you? Do your bones rot? 158 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:52.490 Have your tears been your food day and night? Is your soul troubled? 159 00:15:54.210 --> 00:15:58.649 Does your heart ache from within the deepest of deaths? You might, 160 00:15:58.690 --> 00:16:06.159 at this very moment, be in a time of tenebras darkness looms over you, 161 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.840 waves of affliction envelop you. You might be in the belly of school 162 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:18.990 and there is no light in sight. You may have brought this upon yourself 163 00:16:18.110 --> 00:16:26.149 because of sin, but know that the Lord uses even your own sin to 164 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:33.299 bring about his gracious will for your life. The Lord himself, maybe, 165 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:37.100 may have brought these trials in your life to humble you, as he did 166 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:41.620 Paul the Thorn in his flesh. Even though Paul asked that it would be 167 00:16:41.620 --> 00:16:52.210 removed three times, the Lord said no, No, no, my grace 168 00:16:52.450 --> 00:16:57.970 is sufficient. For you. Paul says he had that thorn so that he 169 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:07.400 wouldn't become conceited about the surpassing revelation he had received. Your Good God may 170 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.079 have sent you affliction to teach you, to remind you of his presence, 171 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:15.950 to remind you that you are in immense need of him, that you are 172 00:17:17.069 --> 00:17:26.269 not self sufficient and you were not meant to live this life alone. But, 173 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:30.779 whatever the case may be, wherever these however these afflictions are coming upon 174 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:37.420 you, is their hope after the darkness or, even better, is their 175 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:45.490 hope or light in the midst of the darkness? Yes, there is hope. 176 00:17:45.970 --> 00:17:52.049 Yes, there is light. And where does this hope come from? 177 00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:55.809 Where does this light come from? Well, for Israel, it didn't come 178 00:17:55.930 --> 00:18:04.279 from bail. What can a God that doesn't exist do for Israel? What 179 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:18.029 can an idol do for you, Squat Nolch, nothing, Nichol Nida for 180 00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:22.789 Israel didn't come from their vines, didn't come from their figs, their land. 181 00:18:22.309 --> 00:18:30.740 They're here today, gone tomorrow. Can Creation truly satisfy your heart's longings? 182 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:37.819 Amass all the cars you want, homes, get gather all the food 183 00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:48.089 you could ask for? Does the creation satisfy you. Truly doesn't come from 184 00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:56.599 drugs. Substance Abuse. Francis Shaeffer, speaking of the drug indulged S S, 185 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:00.880 says this. The Utopian dream of the turn dawn world was that if 186 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:04.160 enough people were on drugs, the problems of modern civilizations would be solved. 187 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:10.430 With this in mind, there was talk of introducing Ls d into the drinking 188 00:19:10.470 --> 00:19:15.190 water of the cities. This was not vicious, for the people suggesting it 189 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:23.150 really believe the drugs were the door to paradise. Is that where we find 190 00:19:23.269 --> 00:19:29.980 freedom? Is that we find hope? Coming out of our body is, 191 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:41.650 in a sense, these experiences? Is that where realities nor from romantic intimacy 192 00:19:41.809 --> 00:19:48.210 with with another who here has experienced such heightened pleasures and said this is the 193 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:53.359 only thing I need in my life? Of course, some have bought that 194 00:19:53.559 --> 00:20:00.000 lie, haven't they? And their lives are ruined because of it. Nor 195 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:06.400 from alcohol. Drink all you want, drown your trials and suds and your 196 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:14.230 troubles will meet you in the morning as you sober up. Doesn't come from 197 00:20:14.230 --> 00:20:21.150 food. Of all the twinkies you want. They might satisfy you for a 198 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:27.460 moment, you regret it. Nor from entertainment binge, watch all the episodes 199 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:33.859 the latest show of stranger things, the Queen, whatever it is you kids 200 00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:40.970 are watching these days. Does that satisfy? No, because you want to 201 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:44.130 have that. You want to watch the next season and the next one and 202 00:20:44.170 --> 00:20:49.839 the next one. Nor from yourself. Does God leave it to yourself to 203 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:55.319 get yourself out of your own trials? Did God tell Paul, just pull 204 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:59.319 that thorn out in your flesh? Philippians thirteen, you way through that, 205 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:06.549 bad boy, Paul, you can do this. Doesn't say that, though, 206 00:21:06.589 --> 00:21:11.150 if Philippians four thirteen was used correctly, yes, he could. Philippians 207 00:21:11.230 --> 00:21:14.150 four thirteen his way through that. He can do all things through Christ to 208 00:21:14.230 --> 00:21:18.940 give them strength. But it doesn't come from Paul. The hope, the 209 00:21:19.259 --> 00:21:22.700 that the the light, doesn't come from him or many of those things. 210 00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:30.500 And where does his hope come from? It comes from God, through Christ. 211 00:21:30.539 --> 00:21:34.890 Verse Fourteen therefore aught. Behold. I will allure her and bring her 212 00:21:34.890 --> 00:21:41.490 into the Wilderness and speak tenderly to her. The Lord is going to draw 213 00:21:41.289 --> 00:21:47.240 Israel back to himself. He is going to romance her, he is going 214 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:52.480 to entice her by his goodness, by his love. He is going to 215 00:21:52.039 --> 00:22:00.589 court her as a virgin, as a young maiden, even though in reality 216 00:22:00.710 --> 00:22:07.230 she does not deserve to bear that title. He's going to bring her into 217 00:22:07.230 --> 00:22:12.950 the Wilderness, restore Israel to that state of the wilderness when, in a 218 00:22:14.029 --> 00:22:18.220 sense, when times were good and when when they were newly weds for a 219 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:26.900 brief time. So Christ our beloved then speaks tenderly to us in our hearts. 220 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:30.289 He says, I am the way, he says, Beloved, I 221 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:37.970 am the truth, I am the life. He says, come to me, 222 00:22:38.650 --> 00:22:42.130 I will give you rest, I will never leave you, I will 223 00:22:42.130 --> 00:22:48.279 never forsake you. Christ our beloved, washes us with the water of his 224 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:56.279 word. He says, behold, I am making all things new. He 225 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:03.269 says, it's finished, there's nothing left for you to do. Christ will 226 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:08.589 allure us back to himself, births of teen, and there I will give 227 00:23:08.630 --> 00:23:12.259 her her vineyards and make the Valley of Acre a door of hope, and 228 00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:15.980 there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the 229 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:21.539 time when she came out of land of Egypt. God will make her her 230 00:23:21.579 --> 00:23:30.329 vineyards. He is going to reverse what he had great had taken away through 231 00:23:30.369 --> 00:23:41.519 judgment. It's going to reverse that this valley of Acre refers us back to 232 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:47.400 Joshua, Chapter Seven. Joshua seven verses twenty four to twenty six. This 233 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:56.829 passage deals with guy named Aiken and his sin of taking treasure when he was 234 00:23:56.910 --> 00:24:03.869 not supposed to. After they had conquered AI, says so Joshua sent or 235 00:24:03.910 --> 00:24:07.589 verse twenty four it and Joshua and all Israel with him took a can the 236 00:24:07.630 --> 00:24:12.099 son of Zerah and the silver and the the cloak and the bar of gold 237 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:17.099 and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent 238 00:24:17.259 --> 00:24:19.900 and all that he had, and they brought them up to the Valley of 239 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:26.529 Acre. And Joshua said, why did you bring trouble on us? The 240 00:24:26.690 --> 00:24:32.609 Lord brings trouble on you today, and all Israel stoned him with stones. 241 00:24:33.089 --> 00:24:37.640 They burned them with fire and stone them with stones, and they raised over 242 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:41.640 him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord 243 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:47.640 turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that 244 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:55.109 place is called the Valley of Acre. Acorn means trouble. It sounds similar 245 00:24:55.190 --> 00:25:02.589 to our own English word Ache. We ache there's trouble in us or upon 246 00:25:02.710 --> 00:25:07.380 us, and this value of Acre gave the Israelites a bad taste in their 247 00:25:07.380 --> 00:25:11.220 mouth. This was not something that they wanted to remember. This is not 248 00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:21.650 a good time in their history. This is a time of disappointment, time 249 00:25:21.769 --> 00:25:27.250 where there was death, where there there's disobedience of vacan and all of his 250 00:25:27.369 --> 00:25:33.250 all of his belongings or stone be killed because of it. But here in 251 00:25:33.250 --> 00:25:37.480 Joseah, God is saying that he is going to make that valley a door. 252 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:45.480 Is a door of hope, door of promise, a door of restoration, 253 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:52.430 a door of life, a door of light. Of course we we 254 00:25:52.509 --> 00:25:56.269 all pass our own valleys of Acre of sorts. We all pass our own 255 00:25:56.309 --> 00:26:02.190 valleys of the shadow of death, and the Lord takes our trouble, our 256 00:26:02.589 --> 00:26:08.980 ach or our ache and he makes it a gateway of hope, of restoration, 257 00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:18.009 of peace, of reconciliation. God works all things together for good those 258 00:26:18.049 --> 00:26:23.609 who love God, who are called according to his purpose. The Lord does 259 00:26:23.730 --> 00:26:29.490 is because Christ himself passed through the Valley of Acre. Christ himself passed through 260 00:26:29.529 --> 00:26:33.440 the Valley of the shadow of death as he walked on earth with his glory 261 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:40.640 veiled, as he was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, as 262 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:48.549 he was utterly humiliated, crucified, died, was buried and descended into hell. 263 00:26:51.829 --> 00:26:55.630 And, having passed through that Valley of trouble, he has now be 264 00:26:56.109 --> 00:27:02.380 come that door of hope, that door of light, that door for the 265 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:11.500 sheep to come through to enjoy perfect fellowship with try you and God. Verse 266 00:27:11.539 --> 00:27:14.299 Sixteen, he says, and in that day declares the Lord. You will 267 00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:18.289 call me my husband and no longer will you call me my bail. Israel 268 00:27:18.329 --> 00:27:26.809 had used bail for the Lord. Israel made no distinction between Yahweh and the 269 00:27:26.890 --> 00:27:38.160 false gods, the covenant keeping God and God's that don't exist. The Lord 270 00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:44.349 is saying that one day his people will be exclusively devoted to him, will 271 00:27:44.349 --> 00:27:52.630 be singularly focused upon him, committed to him. They will reject, they 272 00:27:52.670 --> 00:28:00.740 will rebuff any seductive suitor that comes their way. Say No, I don't 273 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:03.380 need, not tempted by that, I don't need to give into that kind 274 00:28:03.420 --> 00:28:11.299 of temptation. That idol does nothing for me. One day, God's faithless 275 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:18.650 bride would once again call Yahua my husband, and he's going to do this, 276 00:28:18.769 --> 00:28:22.450 he says, by removing the bails from her mouth. The bales will 277 00:28:22.490 --> 00:28:29.279 be utterly forgotten, because Israel be so in love with the Lord, her 278 00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:38.440 husband, and that day is now in Christ in part even now we are 279 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:45.670 joined to Christ. Even now he is our spotless bridegroom. Even now we 280 00:28:45.829 --> 00:28:52.910 are called his beloved bride. We now have this privilege of calling Christ our 281 00:28:52.950 --> 00:28:56.500 husband. We are no longer the bride of bail, but we are the 282 00:28:56.539 --> 00:29:03.819 bride of Christ. We are not married to the world, we are married 283 00:29:03.859 --> 00:29:10.410 to the Lord. And when God called us to Christ, he has removed 284 00:29:11.450 --> 00:29:19.450 those bails from our mouths. He has subdued and is subduing our idolatrous hearts 285 00:29:22.089 --> 00:29:30.960 and he is working to abolish those idols. Versus Nineteen and twenty, he 286 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:34.359 says, and I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you 287 00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:38.589 to me in righteousness and injustice and steadfast love and in mercy. I Will 288 00:29:38.589 --> 00:29:44.430 Betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord. Three 289 00:29:44.589 --> 00:29:48.390 times. Here he says, I will betrothe you. The Lord himself will 290 00:29:48.470 --> 00:29:56.339 betrothed Israel to him forever, and he will do this in righteousness and justice 291 00:29:56.380 --> 00:30:02.579 and steadfast love in mercy. These are the bride price of this new marriage. 292 00:30:02.579 --> 00:30:07.089 See, Yaw way is now paying himself the bride prices. Y'All, 293 00:30:07.130 --> 00:30:11.450 wigh, as Israel's husband and father, the Lord is the one who is 294 00:30:11.569 --> 00:30:22.000 making all the payment. The Lord makes all the payment. Israel does nothing. 295 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:32.039 Salvation comes from the Lord. This new marriage is now characterized by rightness, 296 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:37.910 by deliverance, by dependability, by unfailing devotion and honesty and care and 297 00:30:38.190 --> 00:30:45.109 protection for forgiveness. That's that's what Israel is going to receive and that's what 298 00:30:45.430 --> 00:30:51.500 you and I receive, moment by moment, day after day, week after 299 00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:56.180 week, month after month, year after year. That's what you and I 300 00:30:56.420 --> 00:31:03.539 receive from the Lord, his steadfast love, his faithfulness, his goodness. 301 00:31:04.250 --> 00:31:12.369 Mike a seven says that the Lord Delights in steadfast love. How often do 302 00:31:12.569 --> 00:31:17.970 you hear people saying that they just are so pleased and delighted in being faithful 303 00:31:18.049 --> 00:31:26.000 to their spouse? I love being loyal to my wife, I love being 304 00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:27.799 loyal to my husband. Well, we should be saying that more often. 305 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:34.349 The Lord is saying that I love to be faithful to my people. I 306 00:31:34.549 --> 00:31:40.869 love to be long suffering towards my people, to be patient with them, 307 00:31:41.069 --> 00:31:49.859 forgiving them always. Israel is said that she will know the Lord. This 308 00:31:51.299 --> 00:31:56.019 knowing the Lord is that kind of knowledge that takes place only between a husband 309 00:31:56.220 --> 00:32:04.490 and wife. It's used in scripture of Adam knowing his wife Eve and that 310 00:32:04.650 --> 00:32:10.769 them having children, the two will become one. This kind of knowledge is 311 00:32:10.890 --> 00:32:17.720 the knowledge that is experienced only in marriage, the only kind relationship that is 312 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:27.599 is unique. John, husband and wife. We have that intimacy, we 313 00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:37.230 have that faithfulness because we are married to our faithful groom. Pastor Ortland says 314 00:32:37.630 --> 00:32:45.099 divine mercy is not defeated by Human Sin. Be Is Divi mercy is not 315 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:52.019 defeated by human sin, because God purposes to win a people for himself by 316 00:32:52.099 --> 00:32:59.369 sovereign grace. Your sin does not win in the end. God's Mercy Does, 317 00:32:59.490 --> 00:33:06.289 God's faithfulness does, and we see great news in Verse Twenty Three. 318 00:33:06.930 --> 00:33:09.650 And I will sew her for myself in the land and I will have mercy 319 00:33:09.769 --> 00:33:13.680 on no mercy, and I will say to not my people, you are 320 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:16.680 my people, and he shall say you are my God. So here, 321 00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:21.799 the end of chapter two, we see more hope. We see the reversal 322 00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:28.390 of these children's cursed names. Those temporary curses are going to be reversed. 323 00:33:29.230 --> 00:33:32.390 The Lord will sow his people, he will plant his people. No longer 324 00:33:32.470 --> 00:33:38.950 will they be scattered. He will sew them into rich soil, so us 325 00:33:39.109 --> 00:33:45.180 into rich soil, so that we will become the sturdy, faithful fruit bearing 326 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:52.500 plant as we are attached to the root, which is God. Mercy will 327 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:57.890 be ours forever. Mercy shall pursue us all the days of our lives. 328 00:34:00.650 --> 00:34:06.250 Do you think about that? That mercy is pursuing you all the days of 329 00:34:06.329 --> 00:34:16.239 your life. You are God's people, you are people belonging to God. 330 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:24.389 You don't belong to your sin anymore. You don't belong to the devil any 331 00:34:24.429 --> 00:34:29.989 more. He is no longer your father, your sin is no longer your 332 00:34:30.150 --> 00:34:36.110 master. You are now a slave to righteousness. You are now a slave 333 00:34:36.469 --> 00:34:40.139 to God. You are God's people and he doesn't just call you slaice. 334 00:34:40.179 --> 00:34:44.940 He calls you friends and he calls you his children. You are right now 335 00:34:45.179 --> 00:34:52.250 children of the Living God. What beautiful news that is. Christ tells you 336 00:34:52.329 --> 00:34:57.050 that you are his, that you are the branches, that he is the 337 00:34:57.050 --> 00:35:01.289 vine and he will have mercy on you all the days of your life, 338 00:35:02.050 --> 00:35:07.039 that you are forever his people, so he says. I will allure your 339 00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:09.920 eye, will speak tenderly to you. I will give you your vineyards. 340 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:14.639 I will make your value of Acre a door of hope. I will remove 341 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:16.639 the names of the bales from Your Lips. I will betroth you to me 342 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:20.880 forever. I will stow you, I will have mercy upon you, I 343 00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:27.909 will say you are my people. I, I, I. Salvation Belongs 344 00:35:28.269 --> 00:35:36.219 to the Lord. Salvation comes from Christ. Our prostituting hearts should be crushed 345 00:35:36.900 --> 00:35:43.219 under the weight of God's righteous wrath. When our faithlessness is confronted face to 346 00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:46.739 face with the glory of God, our souls should shrivel up and be obliterated. 347 00:35:52.449 --> 00:35:58.050 But, as Cornelius spent till says, all the billows of the wrath 348 00:35:58.130 --> 00:36:05.480 of God fall upon apostitized humanity. Were there on the cross, poured out 349 00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:13.199 upon the substitute for man. That's not what you and I receive. We 350 00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:20.110 don't receive the unrelenting wrath of God. God, in Christ, has reconciled 351 00:36:20.110 --> 00:36:23.670 us to himself, because this is through Christ perfect faithfulesness to the father, 352 00:36:25.590 --> 00:36:29.550 and now, by God's steadfast love, the groom will turn us into the 353 00:36:29.590 --> 00:36:34.940 bride we have failed to be. The Lord has taken the worst situation than 354 00:36:34.980 --> 00:36:40.380 we could ever be in, one of despair, and he has redeemed us, 355 00:36:40.539 --> 00:36:46.449 his people, out of it because his steadfast love, not ours, 356 00:36:47.329 --> 00:36:54.010 endures forever, we're told. In this world you will have trouble, but 357 00:36:54.210 --> 00:37:00.090 take heart, God, in Christ and in Christ alone, has overcome your 358 00:37:00.170 --> 00:37:08.559 trouble with Righteousness, Justice, faithfulness, steadfast love and mercy. In this 359 00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:15.429 world you will have tribulation, but take heart, Christ has overcome the world. 360 00:37:17.469 --> 00:37:22.789 Post Tenebra US looks. Let's pray