Our Faithful God.

She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.  But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. – Hosea 1:6-11 ESV

After eventually giving birth to Jezreel, Hosea’s first son, Gomer would go on to conceive and bear two additional children to Hosea – a daughter who Hosea was instructed to name, “No Mercy” and a second son who was to be called “Not My People.” The girl’s name would literally be, “She Is Not Loved.” Now to get the full impact of what is going on here, you have to imagine Hosea calling out the names of his children on a daily basis, just as you and I do within our own families. Every time Hosea wanted to get the attention of one of his children or to introduce them to someone, he would be reminded of the tenuous status between the people of Israel and their God. Neighbors, family members and friends would also receive a not-so-subtle or appreciated nudge as to the spiritual state of the nation. The real sufferers in this context would have been the children themselves, whose very name would be like badges of dishonor their entire lives. What parent in their right mind would want to invite a kid named “No Mercy” or “Not My People” to their child’s birthday party?

But as usual, God’s purposes went far deeper than the personal sufferings of either Hosea or his children. God would making a divine statement about His dissatisfaction with His people. Their actions against Him were unacceptable and His judgment on them was going to be unavoidable. Things had gotten so bad in the northern kingdom of Israel that God was forced to conclude, “I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all” (Hosea 1:6 ESV). And even scarier than that was His sobering pronouncement, “for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (Hosea 1:9 ESV). God was going to give them over to their own rebellious desires. He was going to bring judgment for their unrepentant actions against Him.

God was in no way breaking His covenant promises with Israel. He was simply telling them that the relationship they had enjoyed with Him up until that time was about to radically change. His provision, protection and power would be removed. They had come to believe that their relative success as a nation was due to their status as the children of God, but now God was warning them that that was all about to change – radically. God, who is holy and righteous, cannot turn a blind eye to sin. He cannot simply tolerate or overlook the rebellion of those whom He has called His own. He was going to give the Israelites over to the natural inclinations of their hearts. They didn’t want to serve and obey Him, so He would make it possible for them to come out from under His rule and reign, and experience the “freedom” they so desperately craved.

And yet, God tells Hosea that at the same time, “I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God” (Hosea 1:7 ESV). When the history of the two divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah are examined closely, it is evident that both were guilty of unfaithfulness, but the southern kingdom of Judah has within its less-than-ideal historical chronology a few bright moments when a king would come to the surface who would serve God and lead the people in a renewed obedience to Him. These kings were few and far between, but they provide a marked contrast to the long line of rulers over the northern kingdom of who each, “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 16:25 ESV). It is important to remember that God had promised King David that He would establish his kingdom forever. “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever” (2 Samuel 7:16 NLT). God also told Solomon, David’s son, “I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel’” (1 Kings 9:5 NLT). So a major part of God’s promise to show mercy on the southern kingdom of Judah was in order to keep His promise to David. It was not that Judah was more faithful than Israel, but that God was faithful to fulfill all that He had promised. The southern kingdom of Judah was named after one of the two tribes from which it was comprised. And it was to be through the tribe of Judah, David’s tribe, that the Messiah would come. The prophet, Micah, had predicted, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past” (Micah 5:2 NLT).

In the midst of all the gloom and doom of this passage is found a small, but highly significant word: “Yet.” God tells Hosea, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God’” (Hosea 1:11 ESV). In spite of all that God had said regarding His removal of His mercy and His rejection of the nation of Israel as His children, He was not done. His anger would not be long-lasting and His rejection would not be permanent. They may have proved unfaithful, but He would not be. The day was coming when His judgment would be unleashed on them in the form of the Assyrian army. But there was also a day coming when God would restore the entire nation of Israel – all twelve tribes – to their rightful place as His children. “And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:11 ESV).

Too often we read passages like this one and focus solely on the judgment of God. But in doing so we miss out on the real message of His faithfulness. We fail to remember the rest of the story. God is not done yet. The redemptive story He is writing is far from finished. His faithfulness is beyond question and His steadfast, unfailing commitment to His promises is unshakeable. Israel would fail God, but He would not fail Israel. Even the southern tribe of Judah would end up falling under God’s wrath for their rebellion, but He would not abandon them forever. Why? Because He is the faithful, covenant-keeping God.

Unwavering Faith From An Unlikely Source.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. – Hebrews 11:31 ESV Now things get really interesting. Up to this point in the chapter, the author of Hebrews has been dealing with some fairly significant and well-known individuals in the family tree of Israel – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, and by extension, Joshua. But it should catch us a bit by surprise to read the name of a prostitute in this great “Hall of Faith.” To understand her presence in the list of the faithful provided in Hebrews 11, we have to go back to the original story found in the book of Joshua. When it came time for the people of Israel to begin their God-ordained occupation of the land of Canaan, Joshua sent out spies to determine the situation in Jericho. “And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there” (Joshua 2:1 ESV). There is a lot we don’t know in this story. We don’t know why they chose Rahab’s house. Had they been given her name by someone else? Where they aware that she was a follower of Yahweh? Did they choose a prostitute's house because they believed no one would think to look for them there? The passage doesn’t provide us with answers to these questions. But we do know that someone ratted on the two spies, and the king of Jericho sent soldiers to Rahab’s house to find them. “Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land’” (Joshua 2:3 ESV). But rather than turn the two spies over to the king's soldiers, she hid them, and she covered for them. “But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, ‘True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them’” (Joshua 2:4-5 ESV).

Rahab protected the two Israelite spies. Why? Because she was a God-fearer. She had somehow heard about the God of Israel and believed in Him. Word of God’s powerful and miraculous deliverance of Israel from captivity in Egypt had gotten out, and Rahab  determined that He was the one true God. She knew that Jericho was no match for God, so she protected the spies and asked them to return the favor when the time came.

Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” – Joshua 2:9-13 ESV

I tend to believe that the two men inadvertently ended up at Rahab’s house and that they had no idea she was a believer in Yahweh. That would have been the last thing they expected from a woman who made her living as a prostitute in a pagan city. But God, in His divine plan, arranged for them to go to the very house where they would find a woman who had become a believer in the God of Israel. She was so convinced of God’s power that she knew Jericho was going to fall. She only asked that she and her family be spared. She believed with all her heart that the God of Israel was the “God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” The spies made an agreement with Rahab, instructing her to tie a scarlet thread in her window. That would act as a sign, much like the blood on the door post and lintels during the Passover. That threat would tell the Israelite troops to spare all the individuals found in that house. And when the walls of Jericho fell, we are told,  “But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Joshua 6:25 ESV).

You might be tempted to say that Rahab’s faith was in the two spies. She believed they would keep their word and spare her life. But while there is some truth to that, the thing that drove her actions from the outset was her belief that God was the one true God and that He would give their city into the hands of the Israelite troops. Their God was greater. And in her action of providing protection for the two spies, she was acknowledging that she believed in God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us “without faith it is impossible to please him [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Rahab definitely believed God existed. And she was seeking His protection and the reward of her life being spared. Rahab had no track record with God. She had simply heard the stories of His deliverance of the people of Israel from their captivity in Egypt. She had heard about His redemptive power illustrated in the parting of the Red Sea. She had heard the stories about His defeat of the Amorites. For her, the rumors and hearsay became cause for belief. And her faith that God was real and that He had the power to save as well as destroy would lead to life, rather than death. Everyone in the city was doomed to destruction, but her faith in God resulted in her salvation.

Rahab would go on to spend the rest of her life living among the God’s people. She would marry and have children. In fact, you read her name in the gospel of Matthew. She is listed in the lineage of David.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. – Matthew 1:2-6 ESV

And from David would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Not only did Rahab’s faith result in the sparing of her own life, it paved the way for the coming of Jesus, the Savior of the world. Her faith had long-lasting repercussions. Out of faith in God, she gave a friendly welcome to the spies, and that faith would result in her redemption and allow for the coming of the Redeemer of the world.

Despised and Rejected.

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” – Romans 10:19-21 ESV

So did the Jews never hear to good news regarding Jesus Christ? Was their failure to accept Him as Messiah because they had not heard? Paul would answer those questions with a resounding and confident, “No!” The Jews were without excuse. Quoting from Psalm 19, he holds them accountable to the same standard he established in the opening chapter of his letter. The psalmist wrote,“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4 ESV). Nature itself declares God’s glory. “For what can be known about God is plain to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world...so they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20 ESV). Israel was doubly guilty, because they had God’s general revelation of Himself in nature AND they had the privilege of His special revelation, spoken through His prophets and declaring the coming of the Messiah. But when Jesus came, they rejected Him.

So, if they had heard about the coming Messiah through the prophets, was their rejection of Him as case of misunderstanding? Again, Paul is emphatic in his answer. He declares that they fully understood and he uses the Old Testament Scriptures to prove it. Quoting from the book of Deuteronomy, Paul writes, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” The context in the book of Deuteronomy is that God had become fed up with Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness. He said, “They have made me jealous with that is no god, they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation” (Deuteronomy 32:21 ESV). Paul takes this Old Testament prophetic passage and applies it the current circumstances of his day. Centuries after Moses wrote the words found in Deuteronomy, the people of Israel were still worshiping false gods. Their view of God was skewed and based on their own faulty perceptions. They put more faith in their own abilities to keep the law than they did in God’s ability to save them. They rejected Jesus as Savior because they didn’t think they needed one. They worshiped the law more than they did the law-Giver. They worshiped the temple more than the One who supposedly occupied it. So Paul says, God took the good news regarding His Son to another nation. He made it available to the Gentiles. God opened the doors to a people who at one time were not a people.

“for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. ‘Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy’” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT).

And quoting the words of God found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, Paul writes, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name” (Isaiah 65:1 NLT). God had warned Israel that this day was coming. Their stubbornness and rebellion were going to one day result in their rejection by God and His blessing of the Gentiles. In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul emphasizes how foolish all this appeared. God was taking His message of salvation to a people who had no relationship with Him. “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important” (1 Corinthians 1:26-28 NLT).

The rejection of Jesus by His own people did not surprise God. It did not catch Him off guard. This had been His plan from the very beginning. It was in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, that through him and his “offspring” all the nations of the earth would be blessed. It was through Christ, the descendant of Abraham, that God had chosen to bless the nations of the world by offering salvation from sin and death – “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14 ESV).

As a result, the Church represents a new nation and a new people, made up of individuals from all walks of life and every conceivable ethnic background. As Paul told the believers in Galatia:

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. – Galatians 3:26-29 NLT

Paul wraps up this chapter with another quote from the book of Isaiah. “All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes” (Isaiah 65:2 NLT). The rejection of Jesus by His own people was part of God’s divine plan. But as Paul will clarify in the very next chapter, God is not done with Israel. He has not abandoned them. He has not given up on them. He will faithfully fulfill His promises to them.

A Faith-Based Promise.

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. – Romans 4:13-17 ESV

God had promised Abraham that He would bless all the nations of the world through him. But God had a very specific means by which that blessing would come about. In his letter to the church in Galatia, Paul wrote, “God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say ‘to his children,’ as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says ‘to his child’ — and that, of course, means Christ” (Galatians 3:16 NLT). The means by which God was going to bless the nations was through the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. It would be through His incarnation, death and resurrection that salvation would be made available to all nations. Did Abraham fully grasp the significance of this promise? Did he understand about the Messiah and God's future offer of salvation and redemption through His Son's sacrificial death on the cross. Probably not. But he believed. He trusted God. And the Scriptures say, “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 ESV). The author of the book of Hebrews, in speaking of the faith of the Old Testament saints like Abraham, Moses, David, Abel, Enoch and Noah, writes, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13 ESV). He goes on to say, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:39 ESV).

Abraham believed the promise of God even though he did not fully understand it. He never lived long enough to see the promise fulfilled, but he believed that God would do it. And it was that faith in God's faithfulness that was counted to him as righteousness. Paul's point in verses 13-17 of Romans four is that God's promise to Abraham was based on faith not the law. The law had not yet been given when God made His promise to Abraham. And Abraham would not be around when God did give the law to Moses. The promise came long before the law. And the law did not replace or negate the promise of God. Paul makes that point quite clear. “The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise” (Galatians 3:17-18 NLT).

You can't have it both ways. There cannot be a way of gaining a right standing before God through the keeping of the law and another way that is based solely on faith. “For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void” (Romans 4:14 ESV). If God's promise to Abraham he would be blessed and a blessing to the nations was based on the keeping of the law, then there is no place for faith. It is all up to the efforts of men. And it is reserved for the nation to which the law had been given: the Israelites. But Paul breaks the news that the law can only bring wrath. It cannot provide salvation. The law was designed by God to reveal the sinfulness of men. With His law in place, it was impossible for the Jews to plead ignorance. They had no excuse when it came to knowing what God expected of them. But they did have a severe lack of ability when it came to pulling off what the law commanded. So Paul writes, “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16 ESV).

Notice that Paul says that our relationship with Abraham is based on our common faith in God, not our adherence to the law of God. God's promises have always been faith-based. But our faith is not to be in the thing promised as much as in the one who made the promise to begin with. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Abraham believed God, even though he could not see or fully understand the things promised by God. He never lived in the land that God had promised him, but he believed in the God who had made the promise. “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told” (Romans 4:18 ESV). All along the way, Abraham had more than enough occasions to doubt, fear, grow anxious and question the faithfulness of God. But Paul declares, “Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God” (Hebrews 4:20 NLT).

So, “Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:21-22 NLT). A faith-based promise requires faith in a promise-keeping God.