LIKE A ROARING LION
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst; I will not come with threats like a roaring lion. Hosea 11:9, 10, N.E.B.
Many of our concepts about God are reflections of how we have been treated by others. Some people are like the little girl who grew up feeling that God is not friendly--because she had been warned repeatedly during church service to "straighten up and sit still! You're in God's house!"
Perhaps the one most common denominator in our misconceptions regarding God is the element of our feeling threatened by Him. Certainly there seems reason to be! After all, He can inflict pain upon us or bless us; surely the best policy is to keep on His good side. And so we sing "Trust and Obey"--all the while trusting that we'd better obey!
Does God need to cash in on our trepidation? Is it possible that we have translated as threats His warnings regarding the sure outcome of our rebellion? To caution someone about the results of putting his hand into the fire is not the same as saying, "If you do, I'll burn you!" Listen as God describes His true feelings toward His wayward people:
"When Israel was a boy, I loved him; I called my son out of Egypt; but the more I called, the further they went from me....It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who had taken them in my arms; but they did not know that I...led them with bonds of love--that I had lifted them like a little child to my cheek, that I had bent down to feed them....How can I give you up, Ephraim, how surrender you, Israel?" (Hosea 11:1-8, N.E.B.).
Ephraim was about to go into captivity as a result of their wickedness. "Foreigners fed on his strength, but he was unaware" (chap. 7:9, N.E.B.). But God's love was unchanging. "I will not turn around and destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst; I will not come with threats like a roaring lion." His was not the threatening roar of an angry lion ready to attack and devour his adversary. His roar was meant to call His erring children back to Him. "No," He says, "When I roar, I who am God, my sons shall come with speed out of the west" (verse 10).
And that makes all the difference in the world!
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst; I will not come with threats like a roaring lion. Hosea 11:9, 10, N.E.B.
Many of our concepts about God are reflections of how we have been treated by others. Some people are like the little girl who grew up feeling that God is not friendly--because she had been warned repeatedly during church service to "straighten up and sit still! You're in God's house!"
Perhaps the one most common denominator in our misconceptions regarding God is the element of our feeling threatened by Him. Certainly there seems reason to be! After all, He can inflict pain upon us or bless us; surely the best policy is to keep on His good side. And so we sing "Trust and Obey"--all the while trusting that we'd better obey!
Does God need to cash in on our trepidation? Is it possible that we have translated as threats His warnings regarding the sure outcome of our rebellion? To caution someone about the results of putting his hand into the fire is not the same as saying, "If you do, I'll burn you!" Listen as God describes His true feelings toward His wayward people:
"When Israel was a boy, I loved him; I called my son out of Egypt; but the more I called, the further they went from me....It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who had taken them in my arms; but they did not know that I...led them with bonds of love--that I had lifted them like a little child to my cheek, that I had bent down to feed them....How can I give you up, Ephraim, how surrender you, Israel?" (Hosea 11:1-8, N.E.B.).
Ephraim was about to go into captivity as a result of their wickedness. "Foreigners fed on his strength, but he was unaware" (chap. 7:9, N.E.B.). But God's love was unchanging. "I will not turn around and destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst; I will not come with threats like a roaring lion." His was not the threatening roar of an angry lion ready to attack and devour his adversary. His roar was meant to call His erring children back to Him. "No," He says, "When I roar, I who am God, my sons shall come with speed out of the west" (verse 10).
And that makes all the difference in the world!
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