Return to the bosom of God’s love-1

²² 여호와의 자비와 긍휼이 무궁하시므로 우리가 진멸되지 아니함이니이다 ²³ 이것이 아침마다 새로우니 주의 성실이 크도소이다 ²⁴ 내 심령에 이르기를 여호와는 나의 기업이시니 그러므로 내가 저를 바라리라 하도다 ²⁵ 무릇 기다리는 자에게나 구하는 영혼에게 여호와께서 선을 베푸시는도다. ²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; ²³ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴ "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. (Lam. 3:22-25)

¹³ 저가 귀고리와 패물로 장식하고 그 연애하는 자를 따라가서 나를 잊어버리고 향을 살라 바알 들을 섬긴 시일을 따라 내가 저에게 벌을 주리라 나 여호와의 말이니라 ¹⁴ 그러므로 내가 저를 개유하여 거친 들로 데리고 가서 말로 위로하고

 ¹⁵ 거기서 비로소 저의 포도원을 저에게 주고 아골 골짜기로 소망의 문을 삼아 주리니 저가 거기서 응대하기를 어렸을 때와 애굽 땅에서 올라 오던 날과 같이 하리라 ¹⁶ 여호와께서 이르시되 그 날에 네가 나를 내 남편이라 일컫고 다시는 내 바알 이라 일컫지 아니하리라 ¹⁷ 내가 바알들의 이름을 저의 입에서 제하여 다시는 그 이름을 기억하여 일컬음이 없게 하리라 ¹⁸ 그 날에는 내가 저희를 위하여 들짐승과 공중의 새와 땅의 곤충으로 더불어 언약을 세우며 또 이 땅에서 활과 칼을 꺾어 전쟁을 없이 하고 저희로 평안히 눕게 하리라 ¹⁹ 내가 네게 장가들어 영원히 살되 의와 공변됨과 은총과 긍휼히 여김으로 네게 장가들며 ²⁰ 진실함으로 네게 장가들리니 네가 여호와를 알리라 ²¹ 여호와께서 가라사대 그 날에 내가 응하리라 나는 하늘에 응하고 하늘은 땅에 응하고 ²² 땅은 곡식과 포도주와 기름에 응하고 또 이것들은 이스르엘에 응하리라 ²³ 내가 나를 위하여 저를 이 땅에 심고 긍휼히 여김을 받지 못하였던 자를 긍휼히 여기며 내 백성 아니었던 자에게 향하여 이르기를 너는 내 백성이라 하리니 저희는 이르기를 주는 내 하나님이시라 하리라. And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. ¹⁴ "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. ¹⁵ And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ "And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' ¹⁷ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. ¹⁸ And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. ¹⁹ And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. ²⁰ I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. ²¹ "And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, ²² and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, ²³ and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'" (Hos. 2:13-23)

FCF: We may betray God by idolatry and commit spiritual adultery.

주제: 하나님의 사랑은 변치 않기에 그분 사랑의 품으로 돌아와야 합니다.

Theme: Since God’s love is unchanging, we must return to the bosom of His love.

Introduction: Wedding vows are so solemn and sacred that both the couples and their guests are deeply touched when the couples pronounce their vows in the presence of God and saints. I personally feel something divine each time I hear a couple making wedding vows. Feel it a little bit as I read it to you: 당신은, 이 사람을, 하나님께서 짝지어 주신 남편(아내)로 맞아, 기쁠 때나 슬플 때나, 부할 때나 가난할 때나, 건강할 때나 병들 때나,  당신을 사랑하고 아끼며, 당신의 남편(아내)이 될 것을, 하나님과 성도들 앞에서, 서약합니다. “Will you have this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the Holy Estate of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all other, keep you only unto her so long as you both shall live?” Surely, mutual love is a key factor for happy marriage. Unfortunately, however, the couples break their vows, commit adultery, and many end up in divorce. Marriages are wrecked. Pain lingers. Kids suffer. I have heard about a couple who suffered much pain. When she found out that her husband was meeting with a woman from the same church, she was crushed. She trusted him absolutely. While raising tow kids, she worked hard to make ends meet. Their initial romance was gone years ago. Their daily routines were getting up in the morning, eating breakfast, taking kids to school, working, washing dishes or clothes after dinner, doing home chores, and going to bed. On Sunday, they would go to church and come home to take rest. There was nothing special or exciting. The monotony of their married life finally took a toll. He turned his heart toward another woman to excite himself out of boredom in life. But she was heart-broken, not knowing what to do to fix the problem. No one knew the enormity of her pain in her wounded heart. She was extremely angered at her husband. But she couldn’t let go of him because she still deeply loved him. In fact, he was still her sole lover whom she thought God gave her.

Can you imagine how painful she would have felt and spent a countless number of nights wallowing in a pit of agony and self-pity after his departure? She felt lonely, angry, and empty. She mulled over how to pay back to him. Since she still loved him, however, she wished him to come back and say, “I am sorry, Honey. Please, forgive me and accept me again as your husband.” But such a thing didn’t happen. Her agony didn’t disappear until he returned. The prophet Hosea opens our hearts to feel the wounded heart of God who suffered pain, anger, and love toward the Israelites His covenantal partner who went after other gods. God commanded the prophet to bring back Gomer his adulterous wife. Hosea well knew how painful it would be to betrayed by one’s spouse. So, he understood the wounded heart of God. Also, he understood the unchanging, loyal love of God. Even though He had to punish Israel His covenantal spouse for idolatry, that is, her spiritual adultery, God still loved Israel by keeping His covenantal faithfulness to her. Like the unfaithful Israelites, we may love things or people more than God and pursue them for our personal gains. Or we may call upon the names of strange gods to grant us what we desire to have. In short, all this is idolatry, that is, spiritual adultery, which breaks the trust and heart of God. So, we may suffer dissatisfaction, emptiness, disasters, or diseases. Today, Hosea calls on us to return to the bosom of God’s love because His love is unchanging. Abandoning our secret, adulterous love of the world, we must return to the bosom of God’s unchanging love so that we will experience fullness of God’s life in our hearts. Let’s turn our attention to what kind of divine love we are to come back. First, let’s…

I.               징계하시는 하나님 사랑의 품으로 돌아오라.

Return to the bosom of God’s love that disciplines us.

The people of Ephraim the northern Kingdom forsake the LORD and sought Baal. Baal was a false god whom the Canaanites worshiped. The name “Baal” literally means “lord” or “husband.” It was one of the local deities in the ancient Palestine. This title was given to various local deities in many places in Palestine. The reason that the Israelites went after this false god was to secure the blessings of rich crops. They wished fertility in farming. Even though they knew Baal was not their God, they bowed down in Baal shrines built under the big green trees, which represented vitality and fertility to them. The Israelites decorated themselves and whored after this false god while wooing the heart of Baal to secure material blessings. During the reign of Jeroboam II, the prophet Hosea delivered a word of God to them, calling them back to their covenantal God Yahweh. However, the people believed they were enjoying economic prosperity and military security due to the blessings of Baal. Even though God gave such blessings to them, they ascribed them to Baal and kept worshiping their false lovers.

As a result of their Baal worship, they didn’t become holy and righteous. Rather, they were as corrupt as possible because they went after their wicked desires in Baal worship. The prophet Hosea indicts them of their sins as follows, 이스라엘 자손들아 여호와의 말씀을 들으라 여호와께서 이 땅 거민과 쟁변하시나니 이 땅에는 진실도 없고 인애도 없고 하나님을 아는 지식도 없고 ² 오직 저주와 사위와 살인과 투절과 간음 뿐이요 강포하여 피가 피를 뒤대임이라. Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; ² there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed (Hos. 4:1-2). Hosea’ indictment reads like today’s newspaper in which we read about swearing, lying, drunkenness, murder, treachery, adultery, or idolatry. The Israelites turned away from the law of God, losing the knowledge of God. Consequently, all religious, moral, and social evils followed.

So, Yahweh had to strike them to awaken them out of their mistaken faith. He wielded a rod of love to inflict pain upon them. Listen to verse 13: ¹³ 저가 귀고리와 패물로 장식하고 그 연애하는 자를 따라가서 나를 잊어버리고 향을 살라 바알 들을 섬긴 시일을 따라 내가 저에게 벌을 주리라 나 여호와의 말이니라. And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. The people of Israel went after the gods and rulers of Assyria and Egypt to establish security from foreign invasions. They decorated themselves like prostitutes to get what they wanted from the false gods and foreign kings. But God couldn’t but to intervene to stop them from prostituting themselves with idolatrous practices. God’s heart was broken and wounded. But He still cared for them and loved them. So He had to visit them and take action to bring them back to His true love. God’s visitation here was not to comfort them, but to correct them. This is God’s disciplinary love, that is, evidence of God’s unchanging love.

God’s unchanging love is rooted in His divine nature of immutability. It is characteristic of His covenant with Israel. The covenant was a binding pact between God and Israel. It was like marriage covenant. A husband and wife make their marital vows before God and establish their covenant with God. The marriage covenant declares that they have become one flesh. They are most intimate companions in life. Since God binds them together as one flesh, they shouldn’t be put asunder. This is God’s original intention revealed in marriage, that is, God’s creation ordinance. This is rooted in God’s unchanging nature. It is the basis of His covenant with His covenant partner. Yahweh reveals that Israel is His spiritual wife and He is her spiritual Husband. His covenant with Israel is compared to marriage covenant. So, the breach of the covenant is spiritual adultery. Yahweh calls Israel’s idolatry with Baal or other gods as spiritual adultery. Israel has broken the covenant with Yahweh by whoring after the gods of the surrounding nations. Throughout Israel’s history, Israel has repeatedly gone after other gods by breaking the first and second commandments. They have wounded the heart of Yahweh by forgetting His covenantal love.

So, God’s righteous anger would be kindled against their spiritual adultery. He would have to punish them to correct their wrongdoings. Instead of annihilating them, God was patient with them, still loving them by correcting their idolatrous hearts and deeds. He chastised His wayward people as a father chastises his beloved son. Moses has said in the law as follows: 너를 낮추시며 너로 주리게 하시며 또 너도 알지 못하며 네 열조도 알지 못하던 만나 를 네게 먹이신 것은 사람이 떡으로만 사는 것이 아니요 여호와의 입에서 나오는 모든 말씀으로 사는 줄을 너로 알게 하려 하심이니라. 이 사십년 동안에 네 의복이 해어지지 아니하였고 네 발이 부릍지 아니하였느니라. 너는 사람이 그 아들을 징계함 같이 네 하나님 여호와께서 너를 징계하시는줄 마음에 생각하고 네 하나님 여호와의 명령을 지켜 그 도를 행하며 그를 경외할찌니라. ³ And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ⁴ Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. ⁶ So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him (Deut. 8:3-6).

During the wilderness wanderings, the Israelites have repeated complaining about food and water, tempting God, and distrusting God. God had to humble them. God had to show them they were not gods, as He did unto Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve attempted to be like God. Instead of submitting to the Lord and relying on Him, they attempted to rule over their lives independently of God. They were trying to use God as their errand boy rather than serving Him in love. The Israelites inherited such a sinful disposition from Adam and Eve. So, they complained about food. They were requiring God to feed them because He brought them out of Egypt. Instead of trusting God their Redeemer after having witnessed all the supernatural power of God, they tested God to see whether God was with them or not. Condescending Himself, God fed them with manna, so that they would realize their entire existence was entirely dependent on God. As they had to eat for life, so they had to eat God’s word for life. In other words, they couldn’t survive without God. The purpose of God’s discipline is to teach His people to realize they are to depend on God for life, and to fear and obey God. They are to rely on God’s care as they gladly take God’s discipline, which is a sure sign of divine love and their status of His sonship. God disciplines His children out of love for their benefits. He forms godly character through His chastising love. So, God’s children should embrace God’s discipline by faith.

The author of Hebrews sets it forth this way: ⁵ 또 아들들에게 권하는 것 같이 너희에게 권면하신 말씀을 잊었도다 일렀으되 내 아들아 주의 징계하심을 경히 여기지 말며 그에게 꾸지람을 받을 때에 낙심하지 말라 ⁶ 주께서 그 사랑하시는 자를 징계하시고 그의 받으시는 아들마다 채찍질하심이니라 하였으니 ⁷ 너희가 참음은 징계를 받기 위함이라 하나님이 아들과 같이 너희를 대우하시나니 어찌 아비가 징계하지 않는 아들이 있으리요 ⁸ 징계는 다 받는 것이거늘 너희에게 없으면 사생자요 참 아들이 아니니라 ⁹ 또 우리 육체의 아버지가 우리를 징계하여도 공경하였거든 하물며 모든 영의 아버지께 더욱 복종하여 살려 하지 않겠느냐 ¹⁰ 저희는 잠시 자기의 뜻대로 우리를 징계하였거니와 오직 하나님은 우리의 유익을 위하여 그의 거룩하심에 참예케 하시느니라 ¹¹ 무릇 징계가 당시에는 즐거워 보이지 않고 슬퍼 보이나 후에 그로 말미암아 연달한 자에게는 의의 평강한 열매를 맺나니. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. ⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." ⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Heb. 12:5-11).   

To make them realize they need God alone for life, God took away what they trusted for happiness. The Israelites were serving other gods for their prosperity. In essence, idolatry is self-worship, that is, securing one’s happiness and prosperity by all means, including a devotion to God. The center of idolatry is self, not God. So, God exposes how feeble and sinful we are by taking away things or people we love and trust more than God. Many testifies to God’s chastising love. They were prosperous in all things they were doing. They forgot God and went after fun. They became arrogant. They only offered lip service to God. Their faith became nominal and superficial. Their worship was empty and ritualistic. Their relationship with God was shallow. Their charities were hypocritical, given to show off their greatness. Their spirituality was dead. Their hearts were far away from God, loving things of the world. So, God brought them low, depriving them of what they boasted about. Their businesses went bankrupt. They lost everything. They had no hope but to return to God. Through God’s providential, disciplinary actions against them, they finally came to realize they were nothing apart from God. They came to see everything they had was given by God. With such a realization, they sought God and returned to Him with weeping and sorrowing for their sins. They finally came to appreciate how good and loving God was to them.  

Some of you may feel like undergoing God’s discipline now. Things are going badly. You may feel as if the gate of heaven were shut down against you. No matter what you do, you may observe things turned against you. You may not see things being fulfilled to your satisfaction. Check out whether you may have committed spiritual adultery, that is, serving other gods for security, significance, and happiness. See whether you are under God’s discipline. If you take your hardships as God’s discipline, then you should take them as a sign of God’s love and your belongingness to God. You are not spiritual bastard. You are His beloved child. Return to the bosom of God’s unchanging. Despite your spiritual unfaithfulness toward Him, God is still faithful to you, keeping His covenant promises, that is, blessing you for your faithfulness to God and chastising you for your unfaithfulness to God. As soon as you realize through God’s disciplinary hand that you can’t live apart from God, and return to the bosom of God’s loyal love, then you are truly welcomed by God. You are granted faith whereby you rely on God alone as the Source of life, which Adam and Eve had before the fall.

But if you keep resisting God and following other gods, a god of money, a god of pleasure, a god of entertainment, a god of prosperity, a god of happiness, etc., then you will be under God’s covenantal punishment. Thus, it is always right for you to come back to God from your idolatry, which never makes you happy. You should think of how dearly God loves you despite all your sins, shortcomings, or mistakes. He loves you because you are His covenant children. That’s why He chastises you when you do wrong. He can’t let you perish in sin. So, He delivers you from your sins by waiting for you to change your course and return to Him or by breaking your sinful will with chastisement. When He does chastise you, God breaks His heart because He loves you as His precious children. Remember a dad disciplining his rebellious son. His heart is broken when he inflicts a rod of love upon his son. He cries while chastising his son. He feels being plagued with the thought that he has failed his son. He blames himself for the wrongdoings of his son. He wishes his son to realize he has done wrong, he needs to fix his problem, and comes back to the bosom of his love. In a similar way, God feels more painful than His children when He chastises them for their sins. He disciplines them so that they depart from their evils and come to Him. Like the father of the prodigal son, God is waiting for His covenant people to come back to His love.  

I read the following story written by Dennis Miller: “Out of parental concern and a desire to teach our young son responsibility, we require him to phone home when he arrives at his friend's house a few blocks away. He began to forget, however, as he grew more confident in his ability to get there without disaster befalling him. The first time he forgot, I called to be sure he had arrived. We told him the next time it happened, he would have to come home. A few days later, however, the telephone again lay silent, and I knew if he was going to learn, he would have to be punished. But I did not want to punish him!! I went to the telephone, regretting that his great time would be spoiled by his lack of contact with his father. As I dialed, I prayed for wisdom. "Treat him like I treat you," the Lord seemed to say. With that, as the telephone rang one time, I hung up. A few seconds later the phone rang, and it was my son. "I'm here, Dad!" "What took you so long to call?" I asked. "We started playing and I forgot. But Dad, I heard the phone ring once and I remembered." How often do we think of God as One who waits to punish us when we step out of line? I wonder how often he rings just once, hoping we will phone home.” Even when He raises His chastising hand, God cares for you more than we do. He truly loves us by all means.

Conclusion: God’s chastening hand is a hand of love. It is the Father correcting a son, not a judge punishing a criminal. How thankful we should be for God’s disciplinary love. The psalmist says, 고난 당한 것이 내게 유익이라 이로 인하여 내가 주의 율례를 배우게 되었나이다. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes (Ps. 119:71). We need God’s chastising love. Without it, we will always go astray and wander in the wasteland of wicked idolatry. William Bennet has traced one of the fundamental reasons for current mass shootings in the conspicuous absence of a father figure at home, who can say, “Stop doing it. It is wrong.” A father figure is needed to teach our children what is right and what is wrong. He sets an example for them to emulate. He corrects their wrongdoings and chastises them to honor God and neighbor. He equips them with basic moral education at home, so that his kids grow up to be responsible adults. The fact that we have our heavenly Father who gives all things in Christ brings us great comfort. Our heavenly Father corrects our wrongdoings and chastise us to learn humility, wisdom, and righteousness, so that we love God and neighbor. He is not like a policeman who tries to arrest you for your wrongdoings. God is the caring Father whose care and concern are shown His chastising love. Some of you may be under God’s discipline for your specific sins. Others of you may go through inexplicable trials in life. It is always right to be conscious of God’s loving hand under all circumstances. Even when we are chastised by God for our wrongdoings, in particular, the sin of idolatry, we should rejoice in the fact that we are His children in Christ. Through all hardships, we experience God’s fatherly care, training, and protection. We should live by faith in such a truth. We should return to the bosom of God’s unchanging love.

Indeed, we find God’s unchanging love in the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died for us to deliver us from the curse of sin. He was stricken on our behalf for our sins, not for His sins. He was a sinless sacrifice for remission of our sins. Isa. 53:4-6 says, ⁴ 그는 실로 우리의 질고를 지고 우리의 슬픔을 당하였거늘 우리는 생각하기를 그는 징벌을 받아서 하나님에게 맞으며 고난을 당한다 하였노라 ⁵ 그가 찔림은 우리의 허물을 인함이요 그가 상함은 우리의 죄악을 인함이라 그가 징계를 받음으로 우리가 평화를 누리고 그가 채찍에 맞음으로 우리가 나음을 입었도다 ⁶ 우리는 다 양 같아서 그릇 행하여 각기 제 길로 갔거늘 여호와께서는 우리 무리의 죄악을 그에게 담당시키셨도다. ⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-- every one-- to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Surely, God has demonstrated His love through the redemptive death of His Son Jesus Christ. We must drink of God’s unchanging love out of the foundation of Jesus’ cross. Forsaking our love for things of this world, we must return to the vast bosom of God’s love. This love makes us more than conquerors. This love disciplines us when we live for covetousness. This tender love never gives upon us because we are kept forever in Christ. So, let’s return to the welcoming and embracing bosom of God’s love. Let’s take rest in His love. No matter what we suffer, let’s be convinced of God’s unfailing love whereby we live daily with contentment with God: 그러나 이 모든 일에 우리를 사랑하시는 이로 말미암아 우리가 넉넉히 이기느니라 ³⁸ 내가 확신하노니 사망이나 생명이나 천사들이나 권세자들이나 현재 일이나 장래 일이나 능력이나 ³⁹ 높음이나 깊음이나 다른 아무 피조물이라도 우리를 우리 주 그리스도 예수 안에 있는 하나님의 사랑에서 끊을 수 없으리라. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:37-39).

Benediction: ²⁴ 여호와는 네게 복을 주시고 너를 지키시기를 원하며 ²⁵ 여호와는 그 얼굴로 네게 비취사 은혜 베푸시기를 원하며 ²⁶ 여호와는 그 얼굴을 네게로 향하여 드사 평강 주시기를 원하노라. ²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Num. 6:24-26).