A story was once told of a couple who had won a free trip on a cruise ship. They never appeared with the others for the magnificent meals of steak and lobster. Instead, they ate every meal in their room, rationing out cheese and crackers they had brought with them. Someone asked them why they had not gone to the sumptuous feasts that were prepared for them daily. The man and his wife were utterly shocked to learn that the meals had been included in the price of the cruise!
How many Christians are living on spiritual “cheese and crackers” when they could be enjoying “steak and ice cream”? They simply lack the knowledge of what belongs to them in Christ. God, however, delights to see His children gain knowledge of their inheritance and then walk in that light. John said, “How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father” (2 John 1:4).
The other side, unfortunately, is represented by those who reject knowledge, as described in Hosea 4:6. They have been taught the truth and have rejected it in unbelief. Their lack of knowledge of God and His ways destroys them.
Come on down to the galley. The banquet table is spread for you!
Hosea 4-5
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.
4“But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.
5You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful.
8They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.
9And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10“They will eat but not have enough;
they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,
because they have deserted the LORD
to give themselves
11to prostitution;
old wine and new wine
take away their understanding.
12My people consult a wooden idol,
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.
13They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
14“I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—
a people without understanding will come to ruin!
15“Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;
do not go up to Beth Aven.
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
16The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
17Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19A whirlwind will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.
Judgment Against Israel
5 “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
This judgment is against you:
You have been a snare at Mizpah,
a net spread out on Tabor.
2The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.
I will discipline all of them.
3I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.
4“Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge the LORD.
5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.
6When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the LORD,
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn himself from them.
7They are unfaithful to the LORD;
they give birth to illegitimate children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,
he will devour their fields.
8“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah,
the horn in Ramah.
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven;
lead on, Benjamin.
9Ephraim will be laid waste
on the day of reckoning.
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.
10Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.
I will pour out my wrath on them
like a flood of water.
11Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.
12I am like a moth to Ephraim,
like rot to the people of Judah.
13“When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,
and sent to the great king for help.
But he is not able to cure you,
not able to heal your sores.
14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15Then I will return to my lair
until they have borne their guilt
and seek my face—
in their misery
they will earnestly seek me.”
2 John
1 The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—2because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
7I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.8Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.11Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
12I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
Psalm 125
Psalm 125
125 Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
2As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people
both now and forevermore.
3The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
for then the righteous might use
their hands to do evil.
4LORD, do good to those who are good,
to those who are upright in heart.
5But those who turn to crooked ways
the LORD will banish with the evildoers.
Peace be on Israel.
Proverbs 29:9-11
9If a wise person goes to court with a fool,
the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace.
10The bloodthirsty hate a person of integrity
and seek to kill the upright.
11Fools give full vent to their rage,
but the wise bring calm in the end.
