Hosea 10: The one who doesn't trust in the Lord does it All on his Own

11-15
Ephraim was a trained heifer
    that loved to thresh.
Passing by and seeing her strong, sleek neck,
    I wanted to harness Ephraim,
Put Ephraim to work in the fields—
    Judah plowing, Jacob harrowing:
Sow righteousness,
    reap love.
It’s time to till the ready earth,
    it’s time to dig in with God,
Until he arrives
    with righteousness ripe for harvest.
But instead you plowed wicked ways,
    reaped a crop of evil and ate a salad of lies.
You thought you could do it all on your own,
    flush with weapons and manpower.
But the volcano of war will erupt among your people.
    All your defense posts will be leveled
As viciously as king Shalman
    leveled the town of Beth-arba,
When mothers and their babies
    were smashed on the rocks.
That’s what’s ahead for you, you so-called people of God,
    because of your off-the-charts evil.
Some morning you’re going to wake up
    and find Israel, king and kingdom, a blank—nothing.


Ephraim were created to serve the Lord. He wanted Ephraim to sow righteousness and reap love, but instead, she plowed wicked ways and reaped a crop of evil because she thought she chould do it all on her own, flush with weapons and manpower. May I be different from Ephraim. May I sow righteousness and reap love.

Hosea 9: Efraim will be starved for God.

The Lord will take the land of Israel from the Israelites because they were not faithful to the Lord. The Isralites will flee to Egypt and Assyria. What will they think there?

1-6 Don’t waste your life in wild orgies, Israel.
    Don’t party away your life with the heathen.
You walk away from your God at the drop of a hat
    and like a whore sell yourself promiscuously
    at every sex-and-religion party on the street.
All that party food won’t fill you up.
    You’ll end up hungrier than ever.
At this rate you’ll not last long in God’s land:
    Some of you are going to end up bankrupt in Egypt.
    Some of you will be disillusioned in Assyria.
As refugees in Egypt and Assyria,
    you won’t have much chance to worship God—
Sentenced to rations of bread and water,
    and your souls polluted by the spirit-dirty air.
You’ll be starved for God,
    exiled from God’s own country.
Will you be homesick for the old Holy Days?
    Will you miss festival worship of God?
Be warned! When you escape from the frying pan of disaster,
    you’ll fall into the fire of Egypt.
    Egypt will give you a fine funeral!
What use will all your god-inspired silver be then
    as you eke out a living in a field of weeds?

The prophet says that they will be starved for the Lord. He questions: "Will you be homesick for the old Holy Days? Will you miss festival worship of God?"

Hosea 8: religion that displeases the Lord

The Israelites were religious. They worshiped the Lord in a so wrong way, that in fact, they were sinning more even when they thought that they were pleasing the Lord. They didn't consult the Lord. They made a gold calf-god and named it "the Lord"  - a great sin. Instead of seeking refuge in the Lord, they sought refuge in Assyria - another lover for the prostitute Israel.


4-10
“They crown kings, but without asking me.
    They set up princes but don’t let me in on it.
Instead, they make idols, using silver and gold,
    idols that will be their ruin.
Throw that gold calf-god on the trash heap, Samaria!
    I’m seething with anger against that rubbish!
How long before they shape up?
    And they’re Israelites!
A sculptor made that thing—
    it’s not God.
That Samaritan calf
    will be broken to bits.
Look at them! Planting wind-seeds,
    they’ll harvest tornadoes.
Wheat with no head
    produces no flour.
And even if it did,
    strangers would gulp it down.
Israel is swallowed up and spit out.
    Among the pagans they’re a piece of junk.
They trotted off to Assyria:
    Why, even wild donkeys stick to their own kind,
    but donkey-Ephraim goes out and pays to get lovers.
Now, because of their whoring life among the pagans,
    I’m going to gather them together and confront them.
They’re going to reap the consequences soon,
    feel what it’s like to be oppressed by the big king.

The Lord, in his mercy, sent Hosea to Israel in order to make them understand how far they were from the Lord because they were unable to understand it.
May the Lord guide me and set me free from a religious activity that in fact, kindles the wrath of the Lord.

Hosea 7: Israel ignores the love of the Lord.

In chapter 7, the Lord is against Israel because although He has loved and He hasn't been loved.

1-2 “Every time I gave Israel a fresh start,
    wiped the slate clean and got them going again,
Ephraim soon filled the slate with new sins,
    the treachery of Samaria written out in bold print. (...)

Israel would show love for the Lord if they asked Him direction and protection but instead they seek refuge in Egypt and Assyria:

11-16
“Ephraim is bird-brained,
    mindless, clueless,
First chirping after Egypt,
    then fluttering after Assyria.
I’ll throw my net over them. I’ll clip their wings.
    I’ll teach them to mind me! (...)

It is very similar to a son who searches approval of his silly colleagues, instead of his own father.

Hosea 6: relationship instead of religion

The gods demmand sacrifice to get something that we want. The Lord wants me because He (in his kindness) loves me. The people of Israel were treating the Lord like other gods, but it is not what the Lord wants.

4-7
“What am I to do with you, Ephraim?
    What do I make of you, Judah?
Your declarations of love last no longer
    than morning mist and predawn dew.
That’s why I use prophets to shake you to attention,
    why my words cut you to the quick:
To wake you up to my judgment
    blazing like light.
I’m after love that lasts, not more religion.
    I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings.
You broke the covenant—just like Adam!
    You broke faith with me—ungrateful wretches!

Hosea 5: They couldn’t turn to God if they wanted to

We are slaves of sin and we can´t turn to God even if we want to.
That was the case of Israel.


3-4 “I know you, Ephraim, inside and out.
    Yes, Israel, I see right through you!
Ephraim, you’ve played your sex-and-religion games long enough.
    All Israel is thoroughly polluted.
They couldn’t turn to God if they wanted to.
    Their evil life is a bad habit.
Every breath they take is a whore’s breath.
    They wouldn’t recognize God if they saw me.

Ephaim was enslaved in sex-and-religon games for a long time. So, is there any hope to Ephraim?
Yes, there is hope: the Lord will attack Ephaim as a grizzly - a ferrous animal. The Lord is good, good enough to attack Ephaim when needed.

14-15
“I’m a grizzly charging Ephraim,
    a grizzly with cubs charging Judah.
I’ll rip them to pieces—yes, I will!
    No one can stop me now.
I’ll drag them off.
    No one can help them.
Then I’ll go back to where I came from
    until they come to their senses.
When they finally hit rock bottom,
    maybe they’ll come looking for me.”

Hosea 4 - the Lord calls Israel to leave idolatry and prostitution

Israel in Hosea days doesn't worship the Lord in Jerusalem (because Jerusalem belongs to Judah) and therefore doesn't celebrate the Passover accordingly. Israel mix the worship to the Lord with the worship to false idols with a lot of sex included that are against the will of the Lord.

1-3 Attention all Israelites! God’s Message!
    God indicts the whole population:
“No one is faithful. No one loves.
    No one knows the first thing about God.
All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex,
    sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
And because of all this, the very land itself weeps
    and everything in it is grief-stricken—
animals in the fields and birds on the wing,
    even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.

There is consequence of the sin, not only to humans but also to the Lord's creation (animals, birds, fish).
Israel has priests that shoudl praise the Lord but:

4-10
...
You, priest, are the one in the dock.
    You stumble around in broad daylight,
And then the prophets take over and stumble all night.
    Your mother is as bad as you.
My people are ruined
    because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge,
    I’ve turned my back on you priests.
Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God,
    I’m no longer recognizing your children.
The more priests, the more sin.
    They traded in their glory for shame.
They pig out on my people’s sins.
    They can’t wait for the latest in evil.
The result: You can’t tell the people from the priests,
    the priests from the people.
I’m on my way to make them both pay
    and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
They’ll eat and be as hungry as ever,
    have sex and get no satisfaction.
They walked out on me, their God,
    for a life of rutting with whores.

There is no difference between the priests and the people. They have sex and get no satisfaction. It reminds Romans 1: they are left to their sins, but they can´t be satisfied sinning. Not so much different from today. However the Lord is gracious: He is calling the Israelites to leave prostitution and idolatry.

Hosea 3: a whore to be redeemed

Hosea has a wife that is a whore living outside home, loved by someone else. He receives a message from the Lord:

1 Then God ordered me, “Start all over: Love your wife again,
    your wife who’s in bed with her latest boyfriend, your cheating wife.
Love her the way I, God, love the Israelite people,
    even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy.”

Hosea as a man of the Lord deserved a better wife, but now he has to go after his cheating wife.

2-3 I did it. I paid good money to get her back.
    It cost me the price of a slave.
Then I told her, “From now on you’re living with me.
    No more whoring, no more sleeping around.
    You’re living with me and I’m living with you.”

Is it fair to Hosea? It is not fair, however, Hosea had to pay a price to get his wife back. The Lord had to pay a price for me. Did I deserve it? Did Hosea's wife deseve to be redeemed? Of course not, but the Lord is good. The purpose to be redeemed is to come back home:

4-5 The people of Israel are going to live a long time
    stripped of security and protection,
without religion and comfort,
    godless and prayerless.
But in time they’ll come back, these Israelites,
    come back looking for their God and their David-King.
They’ll come back chastened to reverence
    before God and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love.

Hosea 2: The Lord's love changes us

It is very difficult for Hosea to be married to a whore.
The first reaction is wrath. The husband (Hosea, the Lord) is saying to their children:


2-13 “Haul your mother into court. Accuse her!
    She’s no longer my wife.
    I’m no longer her husband.
Tell her to quit dressing like a whore,
    displaying her breasts for sale.
If she refuses, I’ll rip off her clothes
    and expose her, naked as a newborn.
I’ll turn her skin into dried-out leather,
    her body into a badlands landscape,
    a rack of bones in the desert.
I’ll have nothing to do with her children,
    born one and all in a whorehouse.
Face it: Your mother’s been a whore,
    bringing bastard children into the world.
She said, ‘I’m off to see my lovers!
    They’ll wine and dine me,
Dress and caress me,
    perfume and adorn me!’

The Lord decides to fix Israel, despite her will:

But I’ll fix her: I’ll dump her in a field of thistles,
    then lose her in a dead-end alley.
She’ll go on the hunt for her lovers
    but not bring down a single one.
She’ll look high and low
    but won’t find a one.
Then she’ll say,
‘I’m going back to my husband, the one I started out with.
    That was a better life by far than this one.’
She didn’t know that it was I all along
    who wined and dined and adorned her,
That I was the one who dressed her up
    in the big-city fashions and jewelry
    that she wasted on wild Baal-orgies.
I’m about to bring her up short: No more wining and dining!
    Silk lingerie and gowns are a thing of the past.
I’ll expose her genitals to the public.
    All her fly-by-night lovers will be helpless to help her.
Party time is over. I’m calling a halt to the whole business,
    her wild weekends and unholy holidays.
I’ll wreck her sumptuous gardens and ornamental fountains,
    of which she bragged, ‘Whoring paid for all this!’
They will soon be dumping grounds for garbage,
    feeding grounds for stray dogs and cats.
I’ll make her pay for her indulgence in promiscuous religion—
    all that sensuous Baal worship
And all the promiscuous sex that went with it,
    stalking her lovers, dressed to kill,
And not a thought for me.”
    God’s Message!

Can she leave prostitution? Cah she be changed? The Lord decides to take Israel to the wilderness as a man that goes back to the places where the romance began.

14-15 “And now, here’s what I’m going to do:
    I’m going to start all over again.
I’m taking her back out into the wilderness
    where we had our first date, and I’ll court her.
I’ll give her bouquets of roses.
    I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope.
She’ll respond like she did as a young girl,
    those days when she was fresh out of Egypt.

The Lord wants that Israel sees the Lord not as a rude master, but as a good lover:

16-20  “At that time”—this is God’s Message still—
    “you’ll address me, ‘Dear husband!’
Never again will you address me,
    ‘My slave-master!’
I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,
    get rid of all the dirty false-god names,
    not so much as a whisper of those names again.
At the same time I’ll make a peace treaty between you
    and wild animals and birds and reptiles,
And get rid of all weapons of war.
    Think of it! Safe from beasts and bullies!
And then I’ll marry you for good—forever!
    I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
    You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.

The Lord will make the creation treats well Israel, in harmony:

21-23
“On the very same day, I’ll answer”—this is God’s Message—
    “I’ll answer the sky, sky will answer earth,
Earth will answer grain and wine and olive oil,
    and they’ll all answer Jezreel.
I’ll plant her in the good earth.
    I’ll have mercy on No-Mercy.
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
    and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’”

Hosea 1: a marriage with a whore

 Hosea is from Israel and lives around 786–746 BC, before Daniel and Ezekias.


2 The first time God spoke to Hosea he said:
“Find a whore and marry her.
    Make this whore the mother of your children.
And here’s why: This whole country
    has become a whorehouse, unfaithful to me, God.”

3 Hosea did it. He picked Gomer daughter of Diblaim. She got pregnant and gave him a son.

We are always told to be far away from whores, but here, the Lord says the opposite because the Lord wants to show Israel (the whore) how He feels. He has 3 children:

• Jezreel - son,  punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
• Lo-Ruhamah - daughter -  “not loved”
• Lo-Ammi - son, "not my people"

A marriage can be broken by infidelity. The covenant between the Lord and Israel faces a serius thread because Israel worship false gods.

Daniel 12: eternal life x eternal shame

 Daniel 12 ends the prophecy with:

1-2 That’s when Michael, the great angel-prince, champion of your people, will step in. It will be a time of trouble, the worst trouble the world has ever seen. But your people will be saved from the trouble, every last one found written in the Book. Many who have been long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame.

³ “‘Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.

⁴ “‘This is a confidential report, Daniel, for your eyes and ears only. Keep it secret. Put the book under lock and key until the end. In the interim there is going to be a lot of frantic running around, trying to figure out what’s going on.’

Daniel received a very enigmatic message. Indeed, there is a lot of frantic running around in order to get what this message meant. In the Old Testament there are few texts about life after death. In Daniel 12:2 we read:

2 Many who have been long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame.

There will be a resurrection of many (or all?) who have been long dead: some to eternal life and others to eternal shame. Some argue that this means a soul living forever in heaven or in hell. The opposite of "eternal life" could be "eternal death"; or the opposite of "eternal shame" could be "eternal praise" (or perhaps, "short term shame"). 

Now, I will argument against the idea of a soul being punished eternally in hell. This idea comes from the belief that we have an eternal soul, but where in the Bible can we find such idea? Daniel 12:2 and another in Matthew (that seems a copy of this one) are used to argue an eternal punishment in hell, even though it doesn't say anything about "eternal soul".

A soul that stays forever in hell in shame has "eternal life"?

Yes, I think so, that is: "eternal life" doesn't mean a life without suffering or shame. The problem is that we can´t split very well two fates based on "eternal life" and "eternal shame". Besides, "eternal shame" doesn't mean that the person is alive. It is possible to die in shame and stay in shame forever. For instance: Edgar Allan Poe was first buried in a place of shame, but after some public commotion he was moved to a more honorable grave. A dead can be in eternal shame as in a shameful grave.

Besides this verse and its reference in Matthew by Jesus, I really don't know of any other verse that are used to say that a soul suffers eternally in hell; and even this verse is not clear enough. For me, the Bible seems to say the opposite: "eternal life" in opposition to "death", so the term "second death" (a death after resurrection, found in Revelation) makes sense.

Anyway, Daniel asks when this things happen. The answer:

¹¹ “From the time that the daily worship is banished from the Temple and the obscene desecration is set up in its place, there will be 1,290 days.

¹² “Blessed are those who patiently make it through the 1,335 days.

¹³ “And you? Go about your business without fretting or worrying. Relax. When it’s all over, you will be on your feet to receive your reward.”

It is very difficult to fit this prophecy and its end (1290 days) with Antiochos or even the destruction of Jerusalem because there is no resurrection yet. For me, I 'd better relax and believe that when it is all over, I will be alive again with Jesus.

 

 

Daniel 11: 3 interpretations

It is difficult to understand Daniel 11 because there are three ideas of how it fulfills, mainly Daniel 11:31:

31MSG The bodyguards surrounding him will march in and desecrate the Sanctuary and citadel. They’ll throw out the daily worship and set up in its place the obscene sacrilege.

31NASB 31 Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.

The term "abomination of desolation",  "obscene sacrilege" may refer to:
. the idol placed by Antiochus Epiphanes
. the eagle standard, the bird of Jupiter, sacrificed to by Titus' soldiers within the sacred precincts, at the destruction of Jerusalem
. a future event.

Jesus mentions the "abomination of desolation" referring to the destruction of the temple:

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

And this term is also used in Daniel 9:

26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death(BR) and will have nothing.[g] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:(BS) War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.(BU) 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

Thus, we have more pointers to the Romans because in Daniel 9, the abomination happens after the death of the Messiah, and Jesus referred to Daniel as an event that would happen in the future.

Anyway, it is difficult to take Daniel 11 and have a clear understanding.
Daniel 11 tells me that there is persecution to the people of the Lord, but the Lord in control.

Daniel 10: More mysteries between earth and heaven

In our days, many people think that we, humans, make the future. Every leader thinks that he is in power, but Daniel receives a message:

1 In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was made plain to Daniel, whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar. The message was true. It dealt with a big war. He understood the message, the understanding coming by revelation:

Daniel prays and fast in order to understand the message for 3 weeks and then, he has a vision of a celestial being that says:

11 “‘Daniel,’ he said, ‘man of quality, listen carefully to my message. And get up on your feet. Stand at attention. I’ve been sent to bring you news.’“When he had said this, I stood up, but I was still shaking.
12-14 “‘Relax, Daniel,’ he continued, ‘don’t be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I’m here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what’s ahead.’
20-21 “He said, ‘Do you know why I’ve come here to you? I now have to go back to fight against the angel-prince of Persia, and when I get him out of the way, the angel-prince of Greece will arrive. But first let me tell you what’s written in The True Book. No one helps me in my fight against these beings except Michael, your angel-prince.’”

A feature of a man of God is to have aligned his will with the Lord's will and in doing so, the man of God grows in understanding to bless the people of the Lord.

Daniel 9: the 70 weeks

Daniel 9 begins with Daniel studying the book Jeremiah:

1-4 “Darius, son of Ahasuerus, born a Mede, became king over the land of Babylon. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was meditating on the Scriptures that gave, according to the Word of God to the prophet Jeremiah, the number of years that Jerusalem had to lie in ruins, namely, seventy.

Daniel became aware that Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt. He aligns with the Lord's will, confessing sins and claiming for Judah/Israel. He prays:

18 “‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope:
19  “‘Master, listen to us!
    Master, forgive us!
    Master, look at us and do something!
    Master, don’t put us off!
    Your city and your people are named after you:
    You have a stake in us!’

after that, we have the seventy seven weeks prophecy. It is really difficult to understand the precise interpretation of this prophecy. For me, it is a very clear prophecy that the Messiah would suffer:

25-26 “‘Here is what you must understand: From the time the word goes out to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Anointed Leader, there will be seven sevens. The rebuilding will take sixty-two sevens, including building streets and digging a moat. Those will be rough times. After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed Leader will be killed—the end of him. The city and Sanctuary will be laid in ruins by the army of the newly arriving leader. The end will come in a rush, like a flood. War will rage right up to the end, desolation the order of the day.

The most interesting and precise point to me is: " the Anointed Leader will be killed". However, the resurrection is not mentioned on this prophecy. There are not many links in the old testament that points to the Messiah being killed. In Jesus' times, the disciples thought that the Messiah would rule over Israel (Psalm 2, 110), but according to Daniel, He would be killed.

Daniel 8 - second vision of Daniel

In Daniel 7 we read about a succession of kingdoms that finishes with the kingdom of Heavens coming to earth. In Daniel 8, we see almost the same succession of kingdoms. We read:


20-22 “‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power.

23-26
“‘As their kingdoms cool down
    and rebellions heat up,
A king will show up,
    hard-faced, a master trickster.
His power will swell enormously.
    He’ll talk big, high-handedly,
Doing whatever he pleases,
    knocking off heroes and holy ones left and right.
He’ll plot and scheme to make crime flourish—
    and oh, how it will flourish!
He’ll think he’s invincible
    and get rid of anyone who gets in his way.
But when he takes on the Prince of all princes,
    he’ll be smashed to bits—
    but not by human hands.
This vision of the 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning,
    is accurate but confidential.
Keep it to yourself.
    It refers to the far future.’

Many commentaries point to Antiochus as the one who persecuted the people of the Lord. However, he is smashed to bits, not by human hands. We live in a world where the Evil may seem invincible, but it is not. It is smashed to bits.