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ook at these examples of God's extravagant love—many from the Bible's Old
Testament, BEFORE Jesus was born—and be amazed at how passionate this God is about you. A
stoic, unfeeling, uninvolved God? Oh, no—the extreme
opposite! He's a passionate father, husband, friend ... the
Creator of the universe, Whose heart's desire is an intimate
relationship with us! Now that's something to get excited
about. Here are several things to remember as you read—
- When God is talking to Israel (or His people), He's talking to
all of us, too—Israel is the "case study" or example through which God
teaches and loves everyone. We are all "Israelites/Jews."
- These prophets (Isaiah, Hosea, Ezekiel) lived and wrote hundreds of years
before the birth of Jesus.
We've all heard the "wrathful God" quotes—and He does
indeed get angry. But even that
anger stems from His passionate love for us (you can ask any parent
about that side of love). So let's look at some descriptions of an
amazingly tender God here Who is head-over-heels in love with us ...
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no
compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I
will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My
hands ... " —God, talking to the prophet Isaiah about His people (Isaiah
49:15-16, Old Testament) And
close to 700 years later, God literally engraved us on the palms of His
hands with metal spikes, on the cross. I almost fell out of my
chair when that realization hit me! What a God!!!
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"I, even I am He Who blots out your transgressions, for
My own sake, and remembers your sins no more."
—God,
talking to the prophet Isaiah about His people (Isaiah 43:25, Old
Testament)
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| "Say
to those with fearful hearts, 'Be strong, do not fear; your God will
come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come
to save you.' Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the
ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in
the wilderness and streams in the desert."
—God,
talking to the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah
35:4-6, Old Testament)
 When
John (the Baptist) heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his
disciples to ask Him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should
we expect someone else?" Jesus replied, "Go back and
report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the
lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."
(Matthew 11:2-5,
referring to Isaiah 35:4-6 and 61:1 in the Old Testament)
He
tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have
young. (Isaiah 40:11, Old Testament)
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"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings."
—God,
talking to the prophet Hosea (Hosea 6:6, Old Testament
)
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 "The
Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has
anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the
prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of
vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve
in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."
—God, giving the "job description" for
the Messiah (the Christ; Jesus) to the prophet Isaiah,
almost 700 years before Jesus' birth (Isaiah 61:1-3, Old
Testament).
Jesus read this passage from the scroll of Isaiah in his
hometown synagogue (in Luke 4:18-19) and added,
"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing." ( Luke 4:21) |
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As a bridegroom rejoices over his
bride, so will our God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:5,
Old Testament
)
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"Therefore I am
now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak
tenderly to her." —God, talking to the prophet
Hosea about His people (Hosea
2:14, Old Testament
)
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"In that day," declares
the LORD, "you will call Me 'my husband'; you will no longer call Me
'My master...' " —God,
talking to the prophet Hosea about His people (Hosea 2:16, Old
Testament
)
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"For
the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself
ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear."
... "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the
Lamb!" —an angel and a multitude in heaven speaking
to John (Jesus' disciple/apostle) during Jesus' revelation to John
of future events and the final showdown between God and Satan.
(Revelation 19:7-9)
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"I will betroth you to
Me forever; I
will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and
compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will
acknowledge the LORD."
—God,
talking to the prophet Hosea about His people (Hosea 2:19-20, Old
Testament)
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The LORD said to me, "Go,
show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is
an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though
they turn to other gods ..." (Hosea 3:1, Old
Testament)
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"I long to redeem them but they speak
lies against Me. They do not cry out to Me from their hearts but
wail upon their beds." —God,
talking to the prophet Hosea about His people
(Hosea 7: 13-14, Old Testament
)
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"When Israel was a child, I
loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. But the more I called
Israel, the further they went from Me. They sacrificed to the
Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught
Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it
was I Who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness,
and with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down
to feed them." —God,
talking to the prophet Hosea about His people (Hosea 11:1-4,
Old Testament
)
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| "How can I give you up,
Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? ... My heart is
changed within me; all My compassion is aroused. I will not carry
out My fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I
am god, and not man—the Holy One among you. I will not come in
wrath." —God,
talking to the prophet Hosea about His people (Hosea 11:8-9, Old
Testament)
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"I will heal their waywardness and
love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them."
—God,
talking to the prophet Hosea about His people
(Hosea 14:4, Old Testament) Surely
he took up our
infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by
God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:4-5, Old Testament)
"O Israel, I will not
forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your
sins like the morning mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."
—God, talking to
the prophet Isaiah about His people (Isaiah 44:21-22, Old Testament) |
| "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost."
—God,
talking to the prophet Isaiah about His people (Isaiah 55:1, Old
Testament)
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Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man
his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on
him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. (Isaiah
55:7, Old Testament)
"As
surely as I live," declares the Sovereign LORD, "I take no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their
ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will
you die, O house of Israel?" —God, talking to the
prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 33:11, Old Testament)
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| "Come
to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden light."
—Jesus
(Matthew 11:28-30) Then you will call, and the LORD
will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I. —God,
talking to the prophet Isaiah about His people
(Isaiah 58:9, Old Testament) "He said,
'Surely they are My
people, sons who will not be false to Me'; and so He became their
Savior. In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel
of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy He redeemed
them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
—God,
talking to the prophet Isaiah about His people
(Isaiah 63:8-9, Old Testament) |
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In the past
He humbled the land
of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor Galilee
of the Gentiles by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people
walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land
of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Isaiah
9:1-2, Old Testament) When Jesus heard that John had
been put in prison, He returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, He
went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of
Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet
Isaiah: "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the
sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in
darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the
shadow of death a light has dawned." (Matthew
4:12-16) |
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| "As
the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you."
—Jesus (John 15:9)
"And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." —Jesus' final words in the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 28:20)
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The Son is the radiance
of
God's glory
and the exact representation
of His being ...
(Hebrews 1:3) |
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Then there's the story of God
testing Abraham (whom God referred to as "my friend")
by asking him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. (This
story used to really make me wonder if God was good or
not—until I learned what God was really doing here.)
Isaac was the son through whom God's promise to Abraham, the
father of the Jewish nation, would come:
"I will make
you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your
name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
(Genesis 12:2-3, Old Testament)
So when God asked Abraham to take Isaac
and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains He
would tell him about, Abraham probably wondered what was going
on. But God was about to show Abraham—and the world—what
He would do out of His love for us 2,000 years later on
that same mountain.
"Abraham took the wood for
the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself
carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on
together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham,
'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire
and wood are here' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God Himself will
provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
(Genesis 22: 6-7, Old Testament)
Now look
ahead in the New Testament to the Gospel of John (one of Jesus'
disciples).
"The next day John (the Baptist) saw
Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, Who
takes away the sin of the world!'
(John 1:29)
Finally,
look at the last book in the New Testament, Revelation—also
written by the disciple John after Jesus had ascended back
into heaven, about 30-40 years after His crucifixion and
resurrection. This book is Jesus' revelation to John about
the future. Basically, the "scroll" here must be
opened to read God's "last will and testament"—His
plan to end evil and bring all His people to live with
Him. (There's more to it than this, but that's a brief
summary.)
"Then I (John) saw in the right hand
of Him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides
and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel
proclaiming in a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to break the seals
and open the scroll?' But no one in heaven or on earth or
under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside
it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was
worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the
elders said to me, 'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is
able to open the scroll and its seven seals.' Then I
saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the
center of the throne ... He came and took the scroll from the
right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had
taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb ... And they sang a new song:
'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men
for God from every tribe and language and people and
nation." (Revelation
5:1-9)
(Also see "We
ALL Cost a JESUS!")
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