Bulletin Articles
Are You Fair-Weather Friends with God? - As Certain as the Dawn
Reading through the Old Testament, there is a continual cycle of disobedience and reconciliation with God. In the book of Hosea, God’s people have once again turned away. To communicate the heartache of this rejection and turning away, God commands Hosea to marry a woman that is adulterous. This relationship of a sacred covenant tainted by unfaithfulness becomes all too real for Hosea. Through a cycle of adultery and restoration with Gomar, Hosea intimately understands the prophecy he declares to Israel.
“What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears” (Hosea 6:4).
God’s people could not hold up their end of the covenant even if they promised because their faith did not endure. Their inconsistency was an image of adulterous actions, disappearing dew, and empty promises that were not followed through.
In similar imagery, Jude 12 compares an ungodly group of people to clouds without rain, blown along by the wind.” These people had also slipped in their faith, breaking their covenant with God.
Is our faith in God a fair-weather friend that comes around during the good times of our life? Does our love for God dwindle like the early dew, or is it enduring through every season that comes our way?
“So let us know, let us press on to the know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” (Hosea 6:3)
In contrast to Israel’s faithfulness being compared to the early dew that disappears (Hosea 6:4), God’s faithfulness is as unwavering and consistent as the dawn. Just as you can count on the first appearance of light in the morning as the sun begins to rise, you can count on God to be there when we seek Him.
Hosea called on Israel to “return to the Lord” (Hosea 6:1). Like Israel, we all have been unfaithful to God (Roman 3:23). But despite our unfaithfulness, God is still willing to come and spiritually nourish us again like the “spring rain watering the earth.” Not only can God wash away our sins, but He can also empower us to produce spiritual fruit such as love, joy, and faithfulness (Gal. 6:22).
Only through Christ can we truly have spiritual renewal, rebirth, and new beginnings. May He come to us like the spring rain “in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
