 |
|
| Vol. 12 No. 8 August 2010 | Page 14 |
|
|
| Vol. 12 No. 8 August 2010 | Page 14 |
Hosea, Son of Beeri
Mark McWhorter
The Book of Hosea is about a prophet of God speaking judgment from God toward Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel had become very wicked. The rich could think of almost nothing except of how to get richer. Rulers killed one another. People did not like to worship God.
God’s patience was about to run out. However, before bringing justice upon the people, He was warning them through Hosea. God wanted to give the people a chance to repent.
God used Hosea’s life to make some points with the people. One of the points comes from Hosea’s name and his father’s name. Many times names do not have any more significance than simply being a person’s name. Yet, this is not the case with Hosea. His name means “salvation,” and his father’s name means “fountain” or “well.” So, Hosea, son of Beeri, means “salvation from the fountain or well” or “salvation out of a fountain or well.”
In Revelation 21:6, we read that Christ gives spiritual water from His spiritual well to anyone who is spiritually thirsty. All a person has to do is obey Him. A person must come to Christ to have access to the well water.
Even though Hosea presents God as a God of judgment, he also shows that God is a God of salvation. Even though He was going to punish Israel, He wanted them to understand that He wanted above all things for all Israel to be saved. We learn from the rest of the Old Testament that the majority of those in the northern kingdom did not repent. They did not choose to access God’s salvation.
Study your Bible. Learn what is necessary to drink of the salvation from the fountain of God, and if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
David A. Sargent
Highway deaths were up in 2005 for the first time in 19 years. One reason for that, according to a study by the government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is probably no surprise: distracted drivers. Distractions have always been an issue, but the new technologies that have burst on the scene have multiplied the problem. “Drivers talk on their cell phones, check their email or send text messages. They get directions from their GPS system, pop a CD into their stereo, change stations on satellite radio or help their kids with the backseat DVD player.” The study – which tracked hundreds of drivers in the Washington, D.C. area for over a year, and used sensor monitors to gather video and data about their behavior in the vehicles – “found that 8 of 10 collisions or near-crashes involved a lack of attention from drivers” just before impact. The study found that “a driver’s reaching for a moving object increased the risk” of a wreck nine times. Dialing a cellphone increased the risk of a wreck almost 3 times. Drowsy driving increased the likelihood of a wreck or near-wreck 4 to 6 times.
Distractions cause crashes! Distractions also cause an even greater destruction. Jesus taught with many parables, one of which was the Parable of the Sower (see Mark 4:1-9). In the parable, He described how a farmer sowed seed (representing the Word of God), and it came in contact with four different types of soils (representing the hearts of people). Observe Jesus’ explanation of the “thorny soil” (heart): “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19). What causes the Word of God to become unfruitful in this type of heart? In a word, distractions! The result: destruction! See John 15:1-8. However, Jesus taught that the heart – the good soil – that receives the Word of God with faith and obedience becomes fruitful unto eternal life! A “good heart” accepts the Good News (the Gospel) that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we might have eternal life.
A “good heart” RESPONDS to the Gospel by placing his faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turns from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confesses Christ before men (Romans 10:9-10), and is baptized (immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
A “good heart” will also retain the seed of God’s Word, and through faithful perseverance, bear fruit that leads to eternal life (Luke 8:15; Romans 6:22). Don’t be distracted. Focus on the Word of God through your trusting obedience. Won’t you?