The Broken Power of Death

Scripture Focus: Hosea 13.14
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; 
I will redeem them from death. 
Where, O death, are your plagues? 
Where, O grave, is your destruction? 

Psalm 146.3-5
3 Do not put your trust in princes, 
in human beings, who cannot save. 
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; 
on that very day their plans come to nothing. 
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, 
whose hope is in the Lord their God. 

Isaiah 25.8
8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. 

1 Corinthians 15.54-56
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 

     55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
         Where, O death, is your sting?” 

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection: The Broken Power of Death

By John Tillman

Hosea and Isaiah’s ministries overlapped and their writing echoes each other. Paul paraphrases their promises of resurrection into one of his brightest, most hopeful refrains. This chorus of hope comes most directly from one of the darkest chapters of Hosea.

Rather than rely upon God, Israel and Judah had turned to political alliances and the gods those allies worshiped. But these “princes” would soon commit atrocities. These sound eerily familiar to ones committed by today’s powerful countries who bomb maternity wards and civilian evacuation corridors.

Death is not only dispensed at the whim of greedy empires but is carried on the wings of disease and aging. What hope can we have against death? This question is common to the people of Israel and Judah in Isaiah and Hosea’s day, to downtrodden outcasts under Rome’s rule, and to those targeted by empires and dictators today.

The poor and the powerless are overrun by death. They have no defenses and little strength to resist or slow its advance. They are helpless.

Wealth and power do much to extend life. The wealthy can easily flee conflict and the powerful are welcomed to new countries rather than crammed into inhumane camps. Experimental and expensive life-saving and life-extending medical treatments are common among the powerful. Absent these extreme examples, even simple, quality of life differences add years to the lives of the wealthy. However, in the end, the rich, the powerful, and the poor all die. The teacher of Ecclesiastes would call these efforts meaningless or absurd. (Ecclesiastes 3:19)

To the unbelieving world, for whom mortal life is all there is, death is ultimate. It is the worst thing that can happen to a person and there is no remedy.

Death is not the worst thing that can happen to us and it does not have the final word in our lives but that does not mean we should not grieve it. Lazarus was only four days in the grave, yet Jesus wept. (John 11.35) We weep and mourn death, but not without hope. (1 Thessalonians 4.13)

While we flee or delay death, scripture describes death’s defeat. God promises the grave will not be our final destination. We will only pass through and when we leave, we will be led by Christ himself. For those in Christ, death is a toothless predator, a limbless wrestler, who cannot hold us down for long.

Death which swallows all, will be swallowed up.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Short Verse
“I am the Alpha and the Omega” says the Lord God, “who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” — Revelation 1.8

Today’s Readings
Hosea 13  Listen – 2:26)
Psalm 146-147  (Listen -3:09)

Read more about Too Much to Hold
In Christ, we’re made to be like him
Too much for Death to hold
Grasped by him for a moment
But he cannot hold our souls

Read more about Stealing Death’s Sting
Untie our grave clothes and strip us of the trappings of this world.
Let us walk into the light and follow your loving voice.

Daughters of Saul and Sons of Moses

Scripture Focus: Psalm 145.1-4
1 I will exalt you, my God the King; 
I will praise your name for ever and ever. 
2 Every day I will praise you 
and extol your name for ever and ever. 
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; 
his greatness no one can fathom. 
4 One generation commends your works to another; 
they tell of your mighty acts.

1 Chronicles 15.29
29 As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.

Luke 19.39-40
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Reflection: Daughters of Saul and Sons of Moses
By John Tillman

Yesterday, Palm Sunday, we celebrated Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem and the week leading to the crucifixion and resurrection. (Matthew 21.1–11; Mark 11.1–11; Luke 19.28–44; John 12.12–19)

Like David’s procession of the Ark of the Covenant entering Jerusalem, Jesus’ processional was met by a joyous crowd. In both cases, there were those who wanted to steal the joy of the moment.

Michal, daughter of Saul and wife of David, critiqued the celebration. (1 Chronicles 15.29) She claimed to be concerned about propriety and modesty, but David’s response implied that her moralizing concealed a concern about power. (2 Samuel 6.20-23) The daughter of Saul despised this lowly king.

Likewise, religious leaders objected to crowds singing about Jesus “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118:25,26) They publicly voiced concerns about blasphemy but privately they were concerned about power. They didn’t want to upset Rome. (John 11.48) The sons of Moses despised this lowly teacher.

Psalm 105
is the Psalm listed in Chronicles as one David (or Asaph at David’s direction) sang on the occasion of the Ark’s entry. (1 Chronicles 16.7-11) However, despite Psalm 145 not having a date or event attached, one could certainly imagine its celebratory tone going well with the procession David led or the procession of Jesus the Son of David.

Those traveling up to Jerusalem would sing psalms on their ascent, preparing for and celebrating being in the presence of God. We can pray and sing these psalms with the same sense of anticipation. Jesus comes to us as he came to Jerusalem, humble and lowly. We can welcome him with shouts, cries, and joyous abandon that some will not understand.

Welcome him this week and every week as the only rightful king of our hearts. We must depose our affection for other Saul-like kings. We must abandon vestiges of religion which grasp at power rather than righteousness.

Do not let daughters of Saul or sons of Moses steal your joy in the lowly king, the humble teacher. Let us exalt him with pure praise and abandon. Let us ensure the next generation joins in with us.

“I will exalt you, my God the King; 
I will praise your name for ever and ever. 
Every day I will praise you 
and extol your name for ever and ever. 
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; 
his greatness no one can fathom. 
One generation commends your works to another; 
they tell of your mighty acts.”

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
…They cried out: “Blessed is he who is coming as King in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!” Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Master, reprove your disciples,” but he answered, “I tell you, if these keep silence, the stones will cry out.” — Luke 19.37-40


Today’s Readings
Hosea 12  Listen – 1:51)
Psalm 145  (Listen -2:19)

Read more about A Way Back for Strivers
If we wrestle with you God, you will bless…If we will return to you, God, you will heal

Read more On Psalm 145: Praying as Music
If music is a universal language, prayer can be similarly described.

Confessing Hostility—Guided Prayer

Scripture Focus: Hosea 9.1
1 Do not rejoice, Israel; 
do not be jubilant like the other nations. 
For you have been unfaithful to your God;

Reflection: Confessing Hostility—Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

We originally published this prayer during the contentious week of the 2020 election in the United States. We need this confession no less now than we did then. 

May we continue to seek repentance, patience, peace, and faith. Pray for these things over this weekend using words adapted from today’s reading from Hosea. 

Confessing Hostility
Lord, we confess that our sins and hostility have been great.
We have been
Hostile toward leaders
Hostile toward our brothers and sisters.
Hostile to mercy and justice

The days of punishment are coming, 
the days of reckoning are at hand. 
Let Israel know this. 
Because your sins are so many 
and your hostility so great, 
the prophet is considered a fool, 
the inspired person a maniac. — Hosea 9.7


Prophets spoke against violence. We called them foolish.
People were inspired to protest. We called them maniacs.

The prophet, along with my God, 
is the watchman over Ephraim, 
yet snares await him on all his paths, 
and hostility in the house of his God. — Hosea 9.8


Preachers spoke the truth. We shouted them down.
Watchmen called out warnings. We attacked them.

Because of their sinful deeds, 
I will drive them out of my house. 
I will no longer love them; 
all their leaders are rebellious. — Hosea 9.15


Like rebellious, prodigal children, our hostility breaks fellowship with you and with our brothers and sisters.

What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, 
on the feast days of the LORD? 
Even if they escape from destruction, 
Egypt will gather them, 
and Memphis will bury them. 
Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, 
and thorns will overrun their tents. — Hosea 9.5-6


We have loved religious posturing and procedures rather than our neighbors and trusted in ceremonies for righteousness while denying justice.

My God will reject them 
because they have not obeyed him; 
they will be wanderers among the nations. — Hosea 9.17


May you relent, O God. Do not reject us as we deserve.
May you hear our repentance and sorrow, Lord.
May you run to us, prodigals returning.
May we humble ourselves under your rule, no matter what king you place over us.

May renewed faithfulness make us jubilant in obedience to you.
May you restore us to fruitfulness and joy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Everyone will stand in awe and declare God’s deeds; they will recognize his works. — Psalm 64.9

Today’s Readings
Hosea 9Listen – 2:52)
Psalm 140-141(Listen -3:04)

This Weekend’s Readings
Hosea 10Listen – 2:47)Psalm 142-143(Listen -2:35)
Hosea 11Listen – 1:53)Psalm 144(Listen -1:56)

Read more about God Changes—Guided Prayer
As ones who deserve your judgment, Lord, we cry to you.

Read more about Have Mercy—Guided Prayer
Have mercy on us, O God
You are our only holiness

Red Flags God Watches For

Scripture Focus: Hosea 8.11-13
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, 
these have become altars for sinning. 
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law, 
but they regarded them as something foreign. 
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me, 
and though they eat the meat, 
the Lord is not pleased with them. 
Now he will remember their wickedness 
and punish their sins: 
They will return to Egypt. 

Reflection: Red Flags God Watches For
By John Tillman

Israel and Judah thought they were God’s nation. Religious activity was constant and ubiquitous. Their national identity was wrapped up in worship of Yahweh and their countryside was dotted with many, many places of worship. 

Rituals, sacrifices, laws, regulations, and worship activities were completely integrated into daily life. “Separation of church and state” did not exist but that didn’t mean the nation wasn’t as far from God as they could possibly get.

A nation’s identity can be wrapped up in the worship of God without that worship being of any spiritual value. Eating the meat of their sacrifices (Hosea 8.13) symbolized eating with God, enjoying his presence. However, despite its frequency and fervency, God despised their worship and rejected them. 

Hosea refers to these “many altars for sin offerings” as great sources of sin. The reasons their worship was sinful are many. How does God decide that a nation’s worship is corrupted? 

One red flag is idolatry. Some locations, often called “high places,” were on hills or mountains where cultic idolatry had previously been practiced. These locations sometimes mixed worship of Yahweh with worship of false gods. Eventually, this led to shrines and altars to these other gods being added to the central Temple in Jerusalem.

However, there is one consistent red flag indicating a nation’s insincere worship. Every time in scripture where God rejected prayers, condemned worship, or called down judgment on his people, he mentioned the suffering of the poor, the foreigners, the widows, and the orphans.

God holds nations responsible for the welfare of these vulnerable people. When idolatry rises in the culture, these populations suffer.

If we wonder what God thinks about the righteousness of our nation or the worship in our sanctuaries, one red flag to watch for is suffering people in the streets. If there is great suffering among the poor and the outcasts, it is a good indicator that there is idolatry mixed in our worship.

Christians often judge nations by the freedoms we, as Christians, enjoy. But…freedom to do what? To do justice? To love mercy? To walk humbly? To see the poor, the foreigners, the widows, and orphans cared for?

The frequency and fervency of our worship mean nothing to God when we ignore the vulnerable. “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25.45)

Additional Reading:  Eleven-Year-Old Boy Discovers Ancient Fertility Amulet in Israeli Desert — Smithsonian Magazine (Thanks to Erin for providing this link with a concise summary of the use of fertility idols in 1st Temple Israel.)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. — Psalm 85.9

Today’s Readings
Hosea 8  Listen – 1:58)
Psalm 139  (Listen -2:26)

Read more from The Language of a Good Neighbor
The words we speak plant seeds that come from our hearts. When those seeds are violent winds, we reap the whirlwind of violent actions.

Read more about After the Whirlwind
To paraphrase Hosea, we have sown the wind with our violent rhetoric and we may reap the whirlwind of violent outcomes.

Dead Man Walking

Scripture Focus: Hosea 7.13b-14a
…I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me falsely.
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts
    but wail on their beds…

Reflection: Dead Man Walking
By Erin Newton

Neither red nor blue can save you. Neither can apathy. Elizabeth Achtemeier says, “Anyone who thinks that the concerns of faith should never be mixed with the concerns of politics will have a difficult time with Hosea, chapter 7, for it is with Israel’s political life that this section deals.” 

Israel has reached a level of corruption that reveals she has reached rock-bottom. Like a cancer that has spread to every vital organ in a body, there remains no sign of health. Prophets were the faithful minority of the nation and even in this case, Hosea is married to a woman with a tainted reputation. 

The people are deceitful, thieving, and unfaithful. They sin with the flippant attitude that God doesn’t see. Israel is hedged by sin like a wildfire. Either they don’t know or simply don’t care. 

During the 8th century BCE, the political powers began to shift with the rise of the Assyrian Empire. Israel rushed to appease the Assyrians by paying an enormous tribute (2 Kgs 15) and later the nation appeased the Assyrian king with more money after a failed attempt to get help from Egypt (2 Kgs 17). Within Israel, four of the kings were assassinated during the two decades leading up to Israel’s demise in 722 BCE. 

Israel was desperate for help; she got in bed with any political alliance that promised security. The people were covenanted with the Creator of the universe, yet Israel preferred to reach out for any other tangible companionship. Playing the harlot, she gave herself to powers that seemed advantageous. Israel forgot her unique identity.

Israel was supposed to be different. God had called them from bondage and into freedom through a relationship with Him. The nation is described as a man with gray hair. As a sign of aging, these metaphoric gray hairs go unnoticed. She is terminal; Israel is a dead man walking. 

Cancer starts with microscopic cells that begin to divide uncontrollably. These errant cells spread to the surrounding tissue. Unchecked, cancer corrupts every healthy part. Like cancer, sin begins in small ways. Israel was no exception to this rule. We are no exception to this rule. The small sins which we believe God cannot see can take root and infect our entire being.

Without repentance, we are dead men walking. He longs to redeem us if we call on him and not our tempters.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Bow down your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and in misery.
Keep watch over my life, for I am faithful; save your servant who puts his trust in you. — Psalm 86.1-2

Read more about Come Out of Babylon 
For some Christians, political parties have become our true religion.

Read more about Pain and Healing
Hosea shows how far God is willing to go to heal and restore…God is committed to our healing and restoration. Call on him.
https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/pain-and-healing