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November 3, 2024; Day 1 of Week 32
- 2024/11/03
- 再生時間： 12 分
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あらすじ・解説
Daily Dose of Hope November 3, 2024 Day 1 of Week 32 Scripture: Hosea 1-3; Matthew 16 Welcome back, everyone, to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Bible reading plan. Today, we begin the book of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom, probably active from about 750-721BC, when Jeroboam II was king of Israel until the time that the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom. Like Amos, Hosea is considered a minor prophet – not because his message was less important, but simply because his book is shorter than the major prophets (such as Isaiah and Jeremiah). There are twelve minor prophets, including Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Similar to Amos, things were going well for the people of Israel during Hosea’s time and they didn’t want to hear any kind of message of warning. Yet, this was a time in which the people were incredibly rebellious against God. They broke the 10 commandments, they oppressed the poor, and they worshiped other gods. They still worshiped Yahweh, they still went through the motions of worshiping in the temple, making sacrifices, and looking outwardly religious (theme in most of these minor prophet books) but they were hypocrites. They pretended to be faithful to Yahweh but their hearts were far from God. Hosea is the longest minor prophet book in the Old Testament and this book is a collection of his sermons and prophecies over the course of 25 years serving God obediently. Fair warning: It’s mainly in the form of poetry and it’s filled with metaphors. I’ll be honest, it’s kind of a weird book. In the first few chapters (what we read for today), God tells Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer who is a prostitute. Hosea’s life becomes what we might call a living parable. They have three kids together and Gomer cheats on Hosea repeatedly. When she does, God tells Hosea to go find her and seek reconciliation. This whole dysfunctional marriage is intended to be a metaphor for how Israel is behaving. God is the faithful husband and Israel is behaving like Gomer, the wife who continues to betray her spouse. The people of Israel continue to betray God over and over again but he will continue to seek them, continue to try to draw them back to him. Our New Testament passage for today is Matthew 16. Jesus has taken his disciples on a retreat of sorts, and they have traveled away from Judea, further north into Gentile territory. It could be to get away from the crowds or so they can speak more freely. But Caesarea Philippi is pretty far north in Israel. It was a quiet place at the headwaters of the Jordan River but also a place filled with idol worship and signs of Roman occupation everywhere. And it’s here that Jesus decides he is going to settle his identity with these men. He asks each of them, “Who do people say I am?” Over the two years that the disciples had been with Jesus, people had all kinds of thoughts about who Jesus was. Some thought he was the precursor to the Messiah, others (like King Herod) thought he was John the Baptist reincarnated, and others thought he might be one of the prophets returned. But Jesus presses them, “Who do you say I am?” Now, it doesn’t matter what the others say – who is it you say I am? That’s really the question for all of us, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter who others say Jesus is. If I were to do a man on the street interview right now, I’m sure I’d get all kinds of answers to who is Jesus? A teacher, a healer, a crazy person, Son of God, the Savior. But it doesn’t matter what others say, what matters is what you believe and what you say about Jesus. And that’s what Jesus is asking his disciples. What do you say about me? What are you willing to confess about me? This was really a rubber meets the road question for them, as it is for us. What are you willing to confess about me, to others, publicly? Jesus asked all of them but it was Peter who spoke up. And he says, “You are the Messiah, Son of the Living God.” The word Messiah means anointed one or God’s anointed. And the term “Messiah” was the Hebrew word for God’s anointed, the term “Christ” was the Greek word for it. Messiah and Christ mean the same thing, just in different languages. I know this might come as a surprise to some of us but Christ is not Jesus’ last name. It is a title. And Peter is giving Jesus this title, you are the Messiah, the anointed one. In ancient Israel, when someone was given a position of authority, oil was poured on his head to signify his being set apart for God’s service. I Samuel 10:1 is an example, Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance? Kings, priests, and prophets were...