Did God Fail at His Own Advice?

The Minor Prophets Speak to Today 

Hosea 11:1-2 NLT

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. 

Proverbs 22:6NLT

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and I called my son out of Egypt,
the more I called to him,

    the farther he moved from me.

Hosea 11:1-2NLT

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Did God Fail at His Own Advice?

"Train up a child in the way he should go."  When God's people were maturing, from the moment of their birth/adoption onward, he loved them like a dewy-eyed father loves his son.

He called them out of the sins and foolishness of childhood - of their fallen human condition.

But the son pulled away from maturing to pursue fallen follies. The more the father loved, called, and trained, the further the child playfully rebelled in a dance of defiance filled with smiles not anger.

As the child chronologically aged, the more the father had to distance himself from the son's rebellious ways and their consequences. To rescue the son from his refusal to mature would only perpetuate the follies of the child's life. To bail him out of jail every time he suffered the consequences of his folly would only add to his immaturity.

(This principle is reflected in the difference between the Hebrew and Greek presentations of this passage: Hebrew - the more they called to him, the farther he moved from them ; the Greek - the more I called to him,  the farther he moved from me.)

Who Failed Here - the Father or the Son? 

Be careful in your answer lest you sit yourself down as the judge of God and accuse him of evil.

As Christians, God Called Us Out of the Egypt of Our Sins

He adopted us as his children. He graphed us into the vine from which Israel the nation remains cut off.

The New Testament regularly labels new converts babies in Christ. We, like God's former spiritual children, are called to accept God's training as the means by which we can reach spiritual maturity. 

God still calls to us, "This is the way, walk ye in it!"

We do God and his new spiritual children a disservice when we accept as normal that multitude of persons in our churches today who remain babies in Christ when they should have already become the mature. We excuse them and claim God does to. We teach them that there will be no consequences - or at least eternal consequences - removing any motivation to change their way. This leaves them feeling like they are walking in the narrow way when indeed they are not walking at all. They are merely captives of Satan. Rebels trying to justify their immaturity, folly, and evil paths.

But God, through Hosea, warns us that as we pull away from him, he is also pulling away from us. As we call out for him to help, rescue, and bless us, he is instead distancing himself from our rebellion and follies with which he cannot, in his purity, risk being identified or, with the rejection of his discipline, appear to have empathy for. 

Even under grace, God is a holy God. With him there can be no admixture of evil no matter how often or hard we cry.

When We Fail to Mature, is God Failing at His Own Advice?

Be careful that your answer does not give you the position of lordship!

And Don't Forget the Church!

The church is the new Israel! She was birthed out of the death and resurrection of Christ by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Even today there remains a corporate side to the warning in this prophecy. She is the Children of God, Christ Bride, called out of the Egypt which is the fallen Israelites and Gentiles.

Instead of being Christians, we used to be know as the followers of the Way. God called, "This is the way, walk ye in it," and the churches did.

These centuries later, we have failed to head the warnings written down for us in the prophets.

As the Churches have Chronologically Aged, in What Ways have We Followed the Example of Israel?

It is no wonder that we stand under judgment again!

Photo Credits:

Untitled by Feans some rights reserved @ flickr.com