In my June 17 sermon on Hosea 1:1-2 I set forth the
background to the book, which includes an overview of Israel’s privileged place
in God’s history of redemption. If the reader of the book does not grasp this
to some degree, the message of the book will not be fully grasped and God’s
love displayed in this Old Testament book will not be fully understood or
appreciated.
As I set forth this overview I did not supply biblical
proofs. So, in this post I want to do that. It is important that it can be seen this was not merely Tom’s
“story,” but truly a synopsis of what the Scriptures teach. In what follows I
supply a simple outline of the points I made with Scriptural texts behind each
point.
1. From
creation until about 2100 B.C. God used more of a “shot-gun” approach in
revealing himself to the world that included showing himself in creation,
communicating his will more specifically to individuals apart from the written
word, and not working through a specific nation. Through this period of
history, though some followed him, nevertheless, the general direction of
mankind was downward and continually away from God. Genesis 1-11; Exodus 18:16;
Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-32
2. Beginning
with Abram (later Abraham) God began to focus upon him, his descendants, and
the emerging nation of Israel, a nation that God intended to be a light to the
nations such hat they could “come and see” what it is like to know and worship
the true God, as well as to be blessed by him. Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 6; 12:10;
Isaiah 42:6; 49:6
3. Part of
the way God privileged the people of Israel was by giving to them his Law, his
Word, by which he revealed himself, his will, his way of salvation, and way of
blessing. To have it in written form, rather than passed on orally, gave a
greater and more permanent testimony for man to follow. Psalm 33:12; 103:7; 147:19-20;
Proverbs 3:5-7; Habakkuk 2:2; Romans 3:2
4. God
privileged Israel by delivering them from Egypt and thereby giving to them a
picture of what it is to be saved from bondage, a blueprint for how he would
save mankind in the future through the Savior. Exodus 12-14; Micah 7:15-19;
Luke 9:31
5. God also
gave Israel a privileged status in that his relationship with them as Father to
beloved son gave an example of how he would relate to his Son, the Savior in
the future. By this he shows those connected into the son or Son are connected
into the Father. Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:13-15
6. God gave
Israel kings and treated them in such a way that how it goes with the king, so
goes the people. This was a preparation for the coming king and Savior. 2
Samuel 7:12-14; Psalms 20-21; Hosea 3:5; Mark 1:14-15
7. God gave
sacrifices, feasts, festivals, Sabbaths, and dietary laws to Israel so they
could learn the need for sacrifice, ultimate rest, and the need to be different
from the world—and that all this would ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
In this way Israel was a blessing to the rest of the world by teaching how God
would save and relate to people through the Savior. Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 4
8. God has
blessed Israel materially in the days of Amos and Hosea. Amos 6:1-14
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