anitasanecdotes

Joel 1 and 2 open with a scene of devastation. An army has come and destroyed Israel. The day of God’s judgment is at hand. Still God calls to His people to return to Him.

As the people repent God responds. The devastation is past. All is restored. God pours out His spirit upon the people and they tell of the Lord’s work. He will save them from the final judgment.

Psalm 139 is a beautiful psalm which tells of God’s presence I our lives from the very beginning. God is with us in our mother’s womb. God is with us every step in our life’s journey. He knows everything about us, even our thoughts. There is nowhere we can go that God is not there as well. We may stray into the darkness but God is still with us. We may not know what God is planning for His thoughts are far greater than we can understand. But we can be assured that God is with us even to the end of our lives.

Hosea 13 and 14 conclude the prophecy with a plea from God to His people. God reminds them that He is the only true God they have known. The others will not, cannot save them from what is going to happen to them. God makes a final plea that they turn back to God, admit their failures and receive His healing.

Revelation 4 begins with an open door. The writer is invited into the throne room of God.  We see the four living creatures we have encountered in Ezekiel and Daniel there singing continuously to the Lord.

There are 24 elders who bow down and worship God because he is the Creator of all things. The elders represent the faithful from the Old Testament (12 tribes of Israel) and the New Testament (12 apostles). All the faithful are there from every time and place worshiping God.

In Hosea 11 and 12 God laments the failed relationship with His people. He recalls His history with them and the love He showed them. But they have turned away. Even though He is angry, God cannot totally destroy them because of His love for His people. He is ready to return them to their land and faith whenever they come home.

Revelation 3 continues the letters to the churches.

The church in Sardis appears to be alive but it is spiritually dead. They need to strengthen what faith remains and stop just going through the motions of being church. Just as faith without works is dead, so too, works without faith is dead.

The church in Philadelphia is not very powerful but has endured in faith even when outsiders have tried to destroy it. Jesus will see to it that it survives.

The church in Laodicea thinks it is successful. Jesus is angry with this church because it is lukewarm in its faith and works. It is doing nothing, because it thinks it is okay the way it is.

Jesus does not want us to be satisfied with where we are. We always need His power and love. We always need to be starting something new and getting excited about sharing faith with others. We always need to be reaching out and helping others. Jesus is always here ready to come in and stir things up making us alive again.

In Hosea 9 and 10 God speaks of the fact that the people continue to bring Him sacrifices. But He rejects them because they are not following His commandment to worship Him alone. God continues to exhort the people to seek the Lord and turn back to living righteous lives.

Revelation 2 contains a series of letters from Jesus to churches. Each of these churches represents situations found in churches throughout history and even in churches today. We can learn from these letters and remember what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ.

The church in Ephesus does good works. They are not led astray by false teachings. They remain steadfast. But they have lost their zeal for doing the Lord’s work. They are going through the motions without the enthusiasm they felt in earlier days. A church, or an individual for that matter, cannot thrive if it focuses solely on the work and not on the relationship with Christ. Eventually things become stale and the church will fade. We must constantly be working on retaining our love for Jesus, remembering what it was like in the beginning and being a church that is excited for the Lord.

The church in Smyrna is struggling in a dangerous place. They are remaining faithful and bold even though it could cause them harm. Jesus praises this church and encourages them to remain faithful.

The church in Pergamum was faithful in times of persecution but has let false teaching come into the church. They are listening to outsiders and those whose faith is not as strong and are not practicing a pure faith. This will only lead to conflict.

The church in Thyatira is doing great work for the Lord. They show love and faithful service but, like Pergamum, they have let a false teacher have authority in the church. They are being told that they as long as they do the Lord’s work they can continue to do things that are against God’s teachings. We cannot serve two masters. The teacher has been given a chance to repent and refused. She and any who follow her will be punished.

In Hosea 7 and 8 God is angry with the people of Israel, Samaria and Ephraim. They have turned to other gods. They would rather worship idols created by a human artisan than the God who created everything. They take counsel with other countries and make decisions without ever consulting with God. They have gone their own way.

God would redeem them but they do not seem to want redemption. He is giving them what they want. He is leaving them to their own care. They will not have His protection and will fall.

We might think of these situations as being from long ago and not pertaining to us. After all we don’t make idols out of gold to worship. And yet we have many similarities with the people of Israel. How much more frequently do we consult with others rather than taking our concerns to God? How often do we choose to go and do things that we want instead of coming to worship?  How often do we open our Bibles? We are not that different in wanting something other than a relationship with God. Perhaps, God will also give us what we want and let us go our way.  It would be a terrible thing if God were no longer protecting us. We would certainly fall.

We need to remember that God would do this to try and show us that we need to rely on Him. We need to worship Him. We need to turn to Him. God is always ready to redeem and receive us again and again. Are we ready to put Him first?

Psalms 137 is a psalm written during the exile to Babylon. The writer laments that his situation. He cannot sing in a foreign land. He remembers Jerusalem and asks the Lord to help get it back.

Psalms 138 is a song of praise. The writer chooses God over other gods. God has answered his prayers and protects him against his enemies.

In Hosea 3, 4, 5 and 6 Hosea does as God commands. He then calls the priest and king of Israel to task for leading the people astray. While the entire country will pay for their sins God holds the leadership particularly accountable. Ephraim and Judah are also going astray and worshiping other gods. God turns His face away from them as well and allows them to get into trouble. This leads them to pray for His favor. God wants commitment from His people, not just a fleeting faith. Until they truly and sincerely repent, God will continue to look away.

 Revelation 1 begins with a picture of the triumphant Jesus. The writer is taken up in a vision and is told to write down what he sees. John hears a voice and sees one like the Son of Man. He appears similar to the human in Ezekiel and Daniel. Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man, a title for the Messiah. Jesus is standing in the midst of seven lampstands with seven stars. The lampstands are seven churches and the stars are the churches’ angels.

It is interesting to consider that each church had its own angel. Could it be that God has appointed an angel to be with every church? Is the angel there to be a messenger from God?  Is the angel there to protect the church? It is something to think about.

Jesus is not the meek and mild servant we knew on earth. Jesus is now the one who has dominion over all creation. He speaks with a loud voice like a trumpet or many waters. He looks at us with eyes of fire that burn into our souls. His righteousness shines like the sun. His judgments are swift like a two-edged sword. He has power over life and death.

Hosea 1 and 2 are written much earlier than Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Hosea is written during the time when the kings of Israel sinned while the kings of Judah remained faithful. Hosea, like Ezekiel, is asked to represent Israel in his life. Israel is acting like an unfaithful wife, so Hosea is to marry a prostitute. Their children represent the relationship between God and Israel.

The first child is named Jezreel after the valley in which Israel sinned. The next child is named

Lo-ruhamah, meaning “no pity,” because God will have no pity on Israel. The third child is named Lo-ammi, meaning “not my people,” because the people have rejected God and now God is rejecting them.

The children are instructed to plead with their mother and call her to account. God says the Israel will be punished for a time but that if she is willing to give up her lovers, the gods, the Baals, God will restore His relationship with her. He will take her back as His wife forever. Her children will then be name Ruhamah, “pity” for God will show pity on Israel and Ammi, “my people” because He will make them his people again and He will be their God.

 Jude, like in the letters of John, warns about non-Christians who have come into a church. They are only there for themselves and are causing divisions in the faith community. Jude encourages the faithful to build themselves up in the faith so they may preach the word against those who are sinning. The hope is that they will recognize the error of their ways and come to faith. The faithful need to be strong enough not to be pulled in by the others and led into a sinful life.

In Daniel 10, 11 and 12 one in human form (the Son of God perhaps?) speaks to Daniel assuring him that God has heard his prayer. He takes him through the events that will occur, not just in the immediate future but at the end of things. Michael, the prince of angels will conquer and Daniel’s people will be delivered, everyone who is found in the book of life. Daniel is to keep this book secret until the time of the end. The assurance is that the righteous will be made pure.

Psalms 135 and 136 both offer praise and thanks to God. They recite God’s history with His people and recognize that He deserves our praise.

Daniel 8 continues Daniel’s visions. While we had some visions in the prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel’s visions are particularly vivid. They speak about future events, both in the immediate future and the distant future. These are apocalyptic visions, visions which relate to the end of the world as we know it and the establishment of a new world by our God who is always in control. Many of the images seen in Daniel will be repeated in Revelation. Many want to make these prophecies into a kind of timeline of future events. We must guard against trying to find literal understandings of figurative events. We can be comforted by the fact that even Daniel didn’t understand the meaning of the visions.

In Daniel 9 Daniel, studying the prophecies of Jeremiah; discovers that the exile will last 70 years. Daniel prays on behalf of Jerusalem and Judah, confessing their sin and asking for forgiveness. The angel Gabriel comes to him with the interpretation of his visions. I’m afraid that even the interpretation is difficult to understand. He tells of a new prince who will come and overthrow Darius.

3 John 1 is written to a believer. It speaks well of his faith and the way he treats strangers who are believers. He is warned about another who is telling lies about the writer and other believers and is not welcoming to believers. The writer plans to come and defend his good name so that the community will not be misled.

In Daniel 6 Daniel distinguished himself over everyone else. They became jealous and tried to get him in trouble. They convinced King Darius to decree that only the king should be worshiped. If they do they will be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel, of course, prayed to God. The others told the king about Daniel. The king didn’t want to hurt Daniel but knew that his law could not be revoked. He threw Daniel into the lions’ den. The next day he went to see what had become of Daniel. Daniel was safe because God had sent angels to shut the lions’ mouths. The king gladly released Daniel and instead put those who had accused him into the lions’ den. They were all killed.

Darius acknowledged the power of God and ordered everyone to fear Him. Daniel continued to prosper.

Daniel 7 goes back to the first year of Belshazzar’s reign. Daniel had a vision about four beasts. His dream was very similar to Nebuchadnezzar’s. The beast represented four kings who were followed by other kings, all of whom eventually fell. God then established his eternal kingdom.

2 John 1 is written to a church that is called the elect lady a personification of “ekklesia” the feminine word for church in Greek. Her children are its members. The members are encouraged to follow Christ’s commandment of love.

They are also warned of some who are coming into the church who do not have faith in Christ. They are told not be deceived by these people or welcome them into their church. This will only bring trouble to the community of faith.

We must be careful. Yes, we are called to love others, but we must be mindful of those who would cause trouble in the church through wrong teachings or destructive behavior. We can continue to show them love while protecting the faithful from being misled. We do not have accept everyone into the community of faith if they are unwilling to turn to Christ.