• Land

  June 13, 2023

  Land; its situated beneath our vision, our mission, our dreams, our birthrights, our business, our ministry. What Value do we know it to have in…

• Time upon assignment Take 1

  April 13, 2023

  Jesus came to redeem all things to God the Father,…so where do we draw lines for our own safety? Is there anything that can’t be…

Land

Land; its situated beneath our vision, our mission, our dreams, our birthrights, our business, our ministry. What Value do we know it to have in comparison to the drafted blue-print building plans, and architectural design of the building, to the research we’ve gathered from community on the history, and lifestyles of the people whom have…

by Jillian Robb June 13, 2023

Time upon assignment Take 1

Jesus came to redeem all things to God the Father,…so where do we draw lines for our own safety? Is there anything that can’t be redeemed? Having the assignment to Cleanse land, may also come with a specific time to take action. Consider the phases of the moon, and God’s creation of Time. ‘Time is…

by Jillian Robb April 13, 2023

Same God, Similar Outcomes, Different Criteria

We gain more understanding as we read the Bible stories and characters over time. We discover more parallels that point us to our God’s nature.

Today, I’m excited to compare the story of Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus with the story of Hosea and Gomer.

Paul teaches that faithfulness to Jesus means recognizing the equality of all his followers. They are equal partners who share together in the gift of God’s love and grace.

Roman law grants Philemon the legal right to punish Onesimus. It also gives him the right to keep Onesimus subordinated as a slave. This places Philemon at a conflict between rights and responsibility. Paul approaches the situation carefully, and strategically, greeting Philemon in letter, with praise and a prayer. God uses Paul’s Exhorter gift of influence. He uses Paul’s way with words to deposit undeniable truth in Philemon’s heart. He speaks of Jesus’ model of reconciliation, which prepares the way for all of us. These words of truth influence the change of heart for Philemon. In the end, truth is truth. How can we deny a brother in Christ? We were accepted into the family of God as sinners saved by grace.

How does this compare to the story of the Prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer?

In this story, Gomer symbolizes the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They are people who chose to forget their covenant with God. Instead, they chose pagan deities to worship. This is betrayal to the threshold mutual covenant with God. Even in their wrong behaviors, wrong beliefs, wrong actions, God demonstrates patience, and mercy. God’s love still burns passionately for his people of whom were in covenant with him, first. In this story, Hosea is chosen by God. He experiences the pain in God’s heart over the betrayal. Hosea feels the passionate love God has for his people. He also experiences the agony God feels when he is forgotten, displaced, and disregarded. Hosea didn’t deserve the mistreatment from his wife, and God doesn’t deserve the mistreatment of his beloved people. Hosea was chosen by God to express God’s patient, and merciful love. He needed to remind them of the covenant terms. Like in a mistreated marriage, the threat of divorce awaits over time. God called Hosea to prophecy on his behalf. Hosea needed to remind the people of their responsibility in the covenant. God also told Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer. As part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, this woman had also forgotten God. She displaced God with pagan worship. Many of her behaviors and attitudes disadvantaged Hosea as a faithful and loving husband to her. In this context, God had Hosea stay faithful and committed in marriage. He was instructed to do this even when his wife dishonored and betrayed him.

There’s so much more to these stories. I want to conclude with the patterns through scripture. As they consistently reveal God’s heart towards us.

In both stories, God’s heart is to reconcile us. Like it says in Romans 8:39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There is no limit to the length, breadth, or depth of God’s love. His willingness to show mercy upon us is evident. In the story of Philemon, both Philemon and Onesimus accepted Christ through their relationship with Paul. They were born again through their acceptance of Jesus. Philemon had legal right bound by Roman law to keep Onesimus enslaved, and to punish him for his betrayal. In the end Philemon chose to acknowledge his blood covenant with Jesus as superior to all other covenants. In the story of Hosea, Gomer was still rejecting the covenant of God. Even still, God was patient and merciful to her through the example of her faithful and loving husband Hosea. Hosea had legal right to divorce her. Yet, he symbolically held their marriage covenant superior over all other covenants. In the same way, God is faithful in the mutual agreement with us. He remains faithful even when we fail to meet our contractual obligations. That is God’s love, that is God’s mercy, and that is God’s patience with us.