He has wounded, but He will bind up our wounds

Wound Bind

Wednesday 02/23/22 

Series: Thru the Bible

Message – He has wounded, but He will bind up our wounds

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He has wounded, but He will bind up our wounds

The Book of Hosea

Hosea 6-7:16,

“(1) Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, and He will heal us; He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds.  (2)  He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence.”  

This is a clear reference to the salvation Messiah would bring in the New Covenant, even to the point of suggesting in poetic form that we will die and rise with Him.

“(3)  Let us strive to know the LORD. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.”  

The word know, is yāḏa‛ and richly can mean several things – ironically all of which would fit here.

The word yāḏa‛ itself is a verb meaning to know, to learn, to perceive, to discern, to experience, to confess, to consider, to know people relationally, to know how, to be skillful, to be made known, to make oneself known, to make to know.

However, it could mean to seek or request due to the following verb. This is why I believe this translation is very good because “strive to know” indicates seeking and an advancement in knowing within the context of relationship.

“(4)  What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes.  (5)  This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words of My mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning.  

(6)  For I desire loyalty and NOT sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.  

(7)  But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed Me.”  

This statement is a grand affirmation of all we know of relationship with God and His intentions regarding us from the beginning. God wanted to know and be known and our violating His commands manifested as both treason and as the betrayer’s kiss.

“(8)  Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with bloody footprints.  (9)  Like robbers who wait in ambush for someone, a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem. They commit atrocities.”  

Shechem was an important biblical city located on the border of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joshua 17:2,7). It was situated in the valley of decision between Mount Ebal on the northwest and Mount Gerazim on the southeast. It also served in Israel as a Levitical city as well as a city of refuge, so it’s use here is VERY symbolic.

“(10)  I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel: Ephraim’s promiscuity is there; Israel is defiled.  (11)  A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah. When I return My people from captivity, (1) when I heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim and the crimes of Samaria will be exposed. 

For they practice fraud; a thief breaks in; a gang pillages outside.  (2)  But they never consider that I remember all their evil

Now their sins are all around them; they are right in front of My face.  (3)  They please the king with their evil, the princes with their lies.  

(4)  All of them commit adultery; they are like an oven heated by a baker who stops stirring the fire from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.  

(5)  On the day of our king, the princes are sick with the heat of wine–there is a conspiracy with traitors.  (6)  For they–their hearts like an oven–draw him into their oven. Their anger smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.  

(7)  All of them are as hot as an oven, and they consume their rulers. All their kings fall; not one of them calls on Me.  

(8)  Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations. Ephraim is unturned bread, baked on a griddle.  (9)  Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not notice.  

(10)  Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the LORD their God, and for all this, they do not seek Him.”  

As odd as it may sound this is actually a set of verses which should offer encouragement. By saying that these people are finding themselves in a precarious position due to their sins and yet they do not seek Him – He is implying that their seeking Him would be both welcomed and responded to even at such times.

“(11)  So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove; they call to Egypt, and they go to Assyria.  (12)  As they are going, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like birds of the sky. I will discipline them in accordance with the news that reaches their assembly.  

(13)  Woe to them, for they fled from Me; destruction to them, for they rebelled against Me! Though I want to redeem them, they speak lies against Me.  

(14)  They do not cry to Me from their hearts; rather, they wail on their beds. They slash themselves for grain and wine; they turn away from Me.”  

This is an insane proof of man’s desire to justify themselves and earn their acceptance and their rewards rather than simply humble themselves and accept such provisions from Him. What is happening here is a pagan ritual though which one specifically is not known for sure. It may have been the pagan Canaanite cultic practice of priests cutting themselves and draining their blood on the ground to elicit agricultural fertility by resurrecting the slain fertility god Baal from the underworld. Since Baal seemed to be among their favorite false deities, this is very likely.

“(15)  I trained and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against Me.  (16)  They turn, but not to what is above; they are like a faulty bow.”

A faulty bow is another analogy which is often lost on us. There is much imagery surrounding the notion of right and wrong, righteousness and sin. Sin is sometimes called missing the mark. Therefore a faulty bow would be one which was originally crafted to shoot arrows straight to their target, but which instead sends the arrows flying off in errant directions.

“Their leaders will fall by the sword because of the cursing of their tongue. They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.”

If you remember, James tells us much about the tongue and Jesus connects the fruit of the lips to the abundance of the heart. As such, cursing, lies and hurtful speech are hostile to true worship as is said in James 1:27.

Hosea 8:1-14, 

“(1) Put the horn to your mouth! One like an eagle comes against the house of the LORD, because they transgress My covenant and rebel against My law.”  

We’ve seen this many times. Anyone who has relation with the Lord stand in some form of peril regularly. If in an unrighteous nation one departs from evil, they make themselves a prey (Isa. 59:15) but, for those who are in covenant with God, if they run after evil, God will hand them over to their enemies who will come against them because of their transgressions.

Psalm 107 directly addresses this and it fits into all that is happening here with Israel…

Psalm 107:8-21, “(8) Let them give thanks to the LORD for his loyal love, and for the amazing things he has done for people!  (9) For he has satisfied those who thirst, and those who hunger he has filled with food. (10) They sat in utter darkness, bound in painful iron chains, (11) because they had rebelled against God’s commands, and rejected the instructions of the Most High. (12) So he used suffering to humble them; they stumbled and no one helped them up. (13) They cried out to the LORD in their distress; he delivered them from their troubles. (14) He brought them out of the utter darkness, and tore off their shackles. (15) Let them give thanks to the LORD for his loyal love, and for the amazing things he has done for people!  (16)  For he shattered the bronze gates, and hacked through the iron bars. (17) They acted like fools in their rebellious ways, and suffered because of their sins. (18) They lost their appetite for all food, and they drew near the gates of death. (19) They cried out to the LORD in their distress; he delivered them from their troubles. (20) He sent them an assuring word and healed them; he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped. (21) Let them give thanks to the LORD for his loyal love, and for the amazing things he has done for people!”

Hosea 8…

“(2) Israel cries out to Me: My God, we know You!  

(3) Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him. (4) They have installed kings, but not through Me. They have appointed leaders, but without My approval. They make their silver and gold into idols for themselves for their own destruction.”  

This indeed is a curious passage. We know that there have been many who have ruled over nations who were ungodly, but always there has been a hint that it was God Who either appointed them or allowed it, for their judgment and that may be the sense of it here, but the wording is suggestive.

This is where wisdom would direct us to embrace a rule of interpretation which has held up well throughout history. We draw the implicit and the implied from the explicit.

That which is explicit is stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.

What is implicit is implied indirectly, without being directly expressed.

What is implied is suggested without being stated directly.

So this rule of interpretation encourages us to interpret statements in scripture which  implicicate or imply something which seems contrary to scripture with what is explicitly stated in scripture.

To apply that rule to this case, we consult the scriptures as to what they teach regarding leaders. 

  • Exodus 9:16-17,  “(16) But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.  (17)  As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go.”

The meaning of this verse cannot be sidestepped. The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (harʾotekha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place.

  • 2Chron. 20:6,and said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
  • John 19:11, Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” 
  • Rom. 13:1-2  “(1) Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.  (2)  So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment”

The word “authorities” in this place does NOT mean the “position of power”, but rather and specifically those who have been invested with power as the powers of rulers or magistrates.

These are very clear statements in scripture, so how are we to take these explicit statements and use them to interpret statements which imply something else?

Like with Athalia, who being a woman and an ungodly murderous one at that, she came into power through murder and schemes, but obtained the position through the neglect of Israel’s priests, prophets and men in general. Once the prophets began to speak, and the priests found their moral strength, they overthrew her and established the rule of a young man who began serious religious reform. So…did she seize power? Did God GIVE her power, or did God simply allow her to take power in order to provoke the men of Israel to take a proactive stance for righteousness. I would argue that the latter best fits the facts and possibilities which scripture seems to allow.

So in this case, Israel appointed for themselves leaders which God would not have chosen for them, but who God allowed since their failed leadership would eventuate in Israel’s discipline for good as verse 10 will imply..

Now admittedly, I could be wrong and we need to allow for that possibility by accepting this view as our current understanding, but with an open heart to being corrected in our view as more information presents itself.

“(5)  Your calf-idol is rejected, Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?  

(6)  For this thing is from Israel–a craftsman made it, and it is not God. The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!  (7)  Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. 

There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if they did, foreigners would swallow it up.  

(8)  Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like discarded pottery.  (9)  For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey going off on its own. 

Ephraim has paid for love.  (10)  Even though they hire lovers among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to decrease in number under the burden of the king and leaders.  

(11)  When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.  (12)  Though I were to write out for him ten thousand points of My law, they would be regarded as something alien.  

(13)  Though they offer sacrificial gifts and eat the flesh, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their guilt and punish their sins; they will return to Egypt.  

(14)  Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has also multiplied fortified cities. I will send fire on their cities, and it will consume their citadels.”

Hosea 9:1-17, 

“(1) Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do, for you have acted promiscuously, leaving your God. You have loved the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor.  

(2)  Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them, and the new wine will fail them.  (3)  They will not stay in the land of the LORD. 

Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.  (4)  They will not pour out their wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him. Their food will be like the bread of mourners; all who eat it become defiled. For their bread will be for their appetites alone; it will not enter the house of the LORD.  

(5)  What will you do on a festival day, on the day of the LORD’s feast?  (6)  For even if they flee from devastation, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. 

Thistles will take possession of their precious silver; thorns will invade their tents.  (7)  The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. 

Let Israel recognize it! The prophet is a fool, and the inspired man is insane, because of the magnitude of your guilt and hostility.  

(8)  Ephraim’s watchman is with my God. The prophet encounters a fowler’s snare on all his ways. Hostility is in the house of his God!  (9)  They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.  

(10)  I discovered Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, consecrated themselves to Shame, and became detestable, like the thing they loved.”  

This may be in reference to Numbers 25:1 where the men of Isreal began having sexual relations with the women of Moab and part of their worship involved nudity on some level which God associates most often with shame. 

“(11)  Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird: no birth, no gestation, no conception.  (12)  Even if they raise children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!  (13)  I have seen Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a meadow, so Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner.  (14)  Give them, LORD–What should You give? Give them a womb that miscarries and breasts that are dry!  (15)  All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I came to hate them. I will drive them from My house because of their evil, wicked actions. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.  (16)  Ephraim is blighted; their roots are withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.  (17)  My God will reject them because they have not listened to Him; they will become wanderers among the nations.”

Hosea 10:1-15, 

“(1) Israel is a lush vine; it yields fruit for itself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better they made the sacred pillars.  

(2)  Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars.  (3)  In fact, they are now saying: “We have no king! For we do not fear the LORD. What can a king do for us?” 

(4)  They speak mere words, taking false oaths while making covenants. So lawsuits break out like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.  

(5)  The residents of Samaria will have anxiety over the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it; the people will mourn over it, over its glory. It will certainly depart from them.  

(6)  The calf itself will be taken to Assyria as an offering to the great king. 

Ephraim will experience shame; 

Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.  

(7)  Samaria’s king will disappear like foam on the surface of the water.  

(8)  The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed; thorns and thistles will grow over their altars. 

They will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”  

(9)  Israel, you have sinned since the days of Gibeah; they have taken their stand there. Will not war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?  

(10)  I will discipline them at My discretion; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bondage for their two crimes.  

(11)  Ephraim is a well-trained young cow that loves to thresh, but I will place a yoke on her fine neck. I will harness Ephraim; Judah will plow; Jacob will do the final plowing.  

(12)  Sow righteousness for yourselves and reap faithful love; break up your untilled ground. It is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain.  

(13)  You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in your large number of soldiers,  (14)  the roar of battle will rise against your people, and all your fortifications will be demolished in a day of war, like Shalman’s destruction of Betharbel

Mothers will be dashed to pieces along with their children.  (15)  So it will be done to you, Bethel, because of your extreme evil. At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.”

Blessings!

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!